By Eric Wicklund, mHealth Intelligence | March 29, 2019

The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking more than $1 billion in federal funding to expand its telehealth network for veterans.

In testimony on Capitol Hill this week, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie noted the agency topped 1 million virtual visits in 2017, a 19 percent increase over the prior year, and wants to increase the number of veterans using connected care from the current rate of 13 percent to 20 percent.

“Telehealth is a critical tool to ensure Veterans, especially rural Veterans, can access health care when and where they need it,” he told a House appropriations subcommittee. “With the support of Congress, VA has an opportunity to continue shaping the future of health care with cutting-edge technology providing convenient, accessible, high-quality care to Veterans.”

Wilkie’s budget request is part of a campaign aimed at helping the nation’s estimated 18.2 million veterans access healthcare when and where they most need it, while also taking the strain off of the VA’s network of 170 hospitals and 1,063 outpatient care sites.

Along with a number of telehealth and telemedicine programs, the VA maintains an mHealth platform called VA Video Connect, which facilitated 105,000 app-based video visits between veterans and care providers in FY 2018.

Also in 2018, the agency launched is long-anticipated “Anywhere to Anywhere VA Health Care Initiative.” Among other things, the program enables VA-sanctioned providers to treat veterans via telemedicine no matter where the doctor or patient are located, bypassing state laws that might hinder connected care.

More recently, VA officials have announced partnerships with Walmart, T-Mobile, Philips and Verizon, as well as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, to expand access to care for veterans through telehealth and mHealth platforms.

“These types of events will help accelerate our shared journey to fully-integrated, seamless access to healthcare, no matter where a veteran resides,” Wilkie said in a press release issued earlier this month. “Indeed, from anywhere to anywhere.”

The current request calls for $1.1 billion in federal funds, a 10.5 percent increase ($105 million) over the FY2019 budget. Wilkie said the funding is part of a five-year plan to push telehealth and mHealth resources out to veterans across the country, including the estimated 45 percent living in rural regions, where access to care is limited.

He’s also calling for more emphasis on telemental health – particularly in preventing suicides, which claim an estimated 20 veterans and active-duty service members a day, 14 of whom are people who were not seeking care at the time of their death.

“In addition to reaching where we don’t have a strong physical presence, it is the wave of the future for mental health because this affords our veterans the opportunity to be in a comfortable setting without the pressures of a large institution,” he reportedly told legislators.