Veterans increasingly used Department of Veterans Affairs' telehealth application VA Video Connect for medical appointments this year.
The app can be accessed by smartphone or tablet and uses the device's camera to connect veterans with their VA providers for virtual appointments. In June, VA partnered with Verizon to expand veterans' access to the app wherever Verizon's 4G-network covers.
Three things to know:
1. In 2019, VA Video Connect usage increased 235 percent, according to a news release emailed to Becker's Hospital Review.
2. Almost 10,000 veterans used the telehealth app from their homes rather than visiting a VA facility in person.
3. VA released VA Video Connect as an update for iPhones in March 2018. In fiscal year 2018, the department completed more than 1 million video-based telehealth visits.