“VA is focused on quickly administering the COVID-19 vaccine to Veterans, especially Veterans who live in rural areas.”
“Thanks to VEText, a text message appointment reminder system for Veterans with the potential to decrease no-shows, developed through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Innovation Ecosystem (VHA IE), VA already had systems in place to begin doing just that.”
“VEText is alerting Veterans about COVID-19 information, vaccine availability and scheduling. As a result, Veterans receive trustworthy and timely information about the vaccine.”
“The creation and support of VEText through the VHA IE’s Innovators Network (iNET) meant that when rapid messaging and appointment scheduling was needed for COVID-19, VHA was already ready…”
System was in use in March 2020
“The new VEText COVID-19 services are built off the innovative work already done by the VEText team and VHA IE. The service shows the practice’s incredible ability to expand and adapt to the needs of Veterans. VA looked for a way to inform Veterans rapidly and accurately during the COVID-19 pandemic. It turned to VEText, which began disseminating COVID-19 information in March 2020.”
“The texts sent by the COVID-19 Information Mass Messaging initiative provided links to VHA’s COVID-19 response resource page. The page answers frequently asked questions (FAQs), provides mental health and well-being information, and more.”
“The service hasn’t stopped there, and the team innovates further. VEText is now being used to streamline COVID-19 screenings for Veterans coming to medical facilities, deliver “I Am Here” alerts so Veterans can be checked in remotely, keep Veterans informed of vaccine roll out and processes, and be alerted to and schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments.”
Many ways VEText is being used
“VEText is now being used in a variety of ways by VA facilities across the country. For example, it is helping Veterans schedule their COVID-19 vaccination appointments:
- COVID-19 Screening Tool Integration: To streamline the entrance process at VA facilities, the VEText team partnered with the COVID-19 Screening Tool team to allow Veterans to send a keyword to receive the COVID-19 Screening Tool via text message. Veterans can complete this screener on their mobile phone and show the results to a VA employee at the entrance.
- VEText – I Am Here feature: To protect Veterans, caregivers and VA employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, VA facilities must follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on physical distancing for in-person appointments. Many VA clinics have small waiting rooms that do not allow for proper distancing. The VEText team developed a feature to allow VA facilities to check Veterans in remotely, while ensuring physical distancing.
- COVID-19 Keep Me Informed initiative: As VA works to get COVID-19 vaccines to Veterans as quickly and safely as possible, the OCTO needed to develop a process to keep Veterans informed at every step. To support this initiative, the VEText team built an Application Program Interface (API) to transmit the submitted data to VHA to allow VA staff and facilities access to this information. VEText also developed a dashboard to track key metrics…” Read the full article here.
Source: VEText: From local innovation to national COVID-19 support — By Allison Amrhein, April 28, 2021. VAntage Point.
