Over the next several years, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will replace its electronic health record (EHR) system with a new system as part of the department’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program. The new EHR system will transform health care for Veterans, allowing VA clinicians, staff and community health care providers to access their full medical history on a single platform without them or their provider needing to track down previous health information.
As part of this change, Veterans will begin using a new patient portal called My VA Health once their local VA health care facility installs and begins using the new EHR. At that time, Veterans will use My VA Health to:
- Schedule, review and cancel VA appointments
- Request refills and renewals of VA prescriptions
- Send secure messages to their VA health care teams
- Manage their current health care records
The legacy My HealtheVet patient portal will remain in service and Veterans who receive health care services at VA facilities that have not yet installed the new EHR will continue to use My HealtheVet to manage their health care, including prescription refills and renewals, for those facilities.
When do Veterans need to take action?
As a VA health care facility readies itself to install the new EHR, Veterans will receive information about how and when to begin using My VA Health. In the meantime, it is always good practice for Veterans to make sure VA has their correct contact information by logging into VA.gov or by contacting their local VA facility.
Will Veterans need to use two VA patient portal accounts?
As part of this transition to the new EHR, Veterans will use a new online patient portal called My VA Health, which will support their care. Veterans must continue to use the My HealtheVet patient portal to request prescription refills or renewals for medications ordered by VA providers from other VA medical facilities not using the new EHR. Prescriptions from VA medical facilities not using the EHR will not be transferred to My VA Health.
Will My VA Health work on any web browser?
My VA Health is available on any device with internet connectivity. VA recommends using the following browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari when using My VA Health for the best online experience. VA does not recommend
using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser, as Microsoft will no longer support it in the future.
Is My VA Health safe and secure?
Yes, the new patient portal is secure. VA follows strict security policies and practices to protect personal health information. Only Veterans with appropriate login credentials will have access to their information in My VA Health. If a Veteran prints or downloads messages or health records, they will need to take responsibility for protecting that information.
