VA Health Connect delivers emergency care to Veterans at home

When a persistent cough began to worsen, Army Veteran Christa Seals called VA Health Connect hoping to connect with a nurse about her symptoms and get guidance. Four months pregnant and a busy entrepreneur, she was not excited about the prospect of waiting in an emergency room to see a provider. So, she asked if there were any other options for care.

Fortunately, VA recently launched tele-emergency care across the country for situations just like hers.  

Tele-emergency care is a part of VA Health Connect, VA’s phone service that Veterans can call nationwide to speak to a clinical triage nurse, who will connect them to tele-emergency care when clinically appropriate. Tele-EC providers can evaluate the Veteran over the phone or on video and recommend treatment or follow-up, including in-person care if needed. In life-threatening emergencies, the clinical triage nurse also calls 911 and stays on the line until help arrives. 

In Seal’s case, she was evaluated by an emergency physician by video in under an hour and resolved her concerns without leaving home.

“It was a huge benefit to not only me as a Veteran, you know, that has my own life, but to me as a mother, to me, as you know, someone who still works,” she explained.

Tele-Emergency Nurse Manager Vibeka Wilt and acting Director of Emergency Care Services Dr. Neil Patel have also seen the benefit to Veterans.

“We get to help a Veteran stay home and that’s fantastic.”

Reflecting on her experience working with Veterans through VA Health Connect, Vibeka shared, “Sometimes we’ve had had really good catches and good outcomes where I worry that if a Veteran stayed at home, it would have been a bad outcome. But getting to have that one-on-one conversation, they got to get to the right place. So yeah, sometimes we get to help a Veteran stay home and that’s fantastic. And sometimes, it’s having the time to see what their needs are, discuss them holistically and get them to the right place so they can get sometimes lifesaving care.”

“Waiting rooms are not a great place to be, right? Especially in flu season. If you came in with something, you’re walking out with the respiratory illness. And so, for us, emergency care is, ironically, a cool way of using technology to bring back the old school doc with a black bag, coming into your home to take care of you,” said Dr. Patel.

According to Patel, over half of the cases referred to tele-emergency care are able to be resolved without an emergency room visit.

Josh Geiger, a Veteran employee who championed the effort, is excited about the impact it is already having, “to hear stories like like Christa’s and to hear about how it’s given back to Veterans and made it so convenient. That’s really, in all honesty, the honor of my life.”

It is important to note Veterans experiencing a life-threatening emergency should immediately contact 911, versus seeking support via tele-EC.

Veterans enrolled in VA health care can call their local VA medical center and select option 3 to speak with a nurse who can refer them to tele-emergency care if needed. They can also download the VA Health Chat app.

To hear more about VA’s tele-emergency care option, watch Episode Seven of New Horizons: Bringing Veteran Health Care into the Future or listen wherever you get your podcasts.