VEText enhances access and improves experience for Veterans

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Vietnam-era Veteran James Preston (pictured above) uses his mobile phone much like any other person.  He reads his email, surfs the net, streams video, even plays a game or two.  Like 5.6 million other Veterans, he also gets his VA health care scheduling reminders through VEText, an interactive mobile solution to remind Veterans of upcoming appointments via unsecured text messaging.

Facility and clinic location may be Included in VEText

VA launched VEText in March 2018 and since has made enhancements along the way.  Most recently, VA can now send facility and clinic location in their unsecured text message appointment reminders.  This feature improves the experience for Veterans because it offers them more detailed information about their scheduled appointments.

Deanna Callahan is an innovation specialist and the National Program Manager for VEText.  Working out of the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, she and her team recognized the community standard for health care scheduling was text message appointment reminders – and they wanted to bring that capability to VA.

“Text message appointment reminders were lacking in VA.  We were only using phone calls, ‘robo’ calls, and postal mail and we wanted to modernize our efforts to not only bring text message appointment reminders but go above and beyond and positively affect the No Show rate.”

What’s good for Veterans is good for VA

And the No Show rate that Callahan wanted to impact?  That has decreased from 13.7% to 11.7% since the VEText deployment.  Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of

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