VA Pilot Brings Together mHealth And EHRs For Better Care

Through its focus on mobile technology and patient-centric features like the Blue Button Initiative, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has proven itself a leader in the difficult task of getting patients to engage with their providers on a meaningful level.  In July, the VA announced the beginning of the Family Caregiver Pilot, which paired seriously wounded veterans and their caregivers with iPads, pre-loaded with a suite of health management tools.

More than four months into the successful project, Dr. Neil Evans, Associate Chief of Staff of Informatics and Co-Chief of Primary Care at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center spoke to EHRintelligence about the effectiveness of mHealth tools and the starring role of technology in the VA’s healthcare ecosystem.

How is mHealth integrated into overall care for your patients?

We feel like the real value of mobile applications for patients or for their caregivers are things that either make it easier for the caregiver or their veteran to communicate with their healthcare team or with the VA in general to empower better communication.