Special to myKNCT.com

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently released new capabilities, increasing Veterans’ ability to securely manage and interact with their health care information using apps across Android and iOS mobile devices.

These latest mobile health applications – iBlueButton  and MyLinks – published in November 2019, are free, and allow Veterans to easily set and achieve their health care goals regardless of the device.

For Veterans who have Android mobile phones-iBlueButton and MyLinks are their first bite at the apple. iBlueButton combines Tricare and Medicare records with VA military treatment facility records and provides potential warnings about drug interactions and opioids. It also delivers medical care insights and graphical trends of their lab results.

MyLinks assists Veterans and their family members with coordinating care and records from their VA health care providers and from providers outside the VA system, manage multiple family records and send a link to tele health providers. Additionally, Veterans can keep a journal and store and share other important documents and images with the app.

To ensure data security, a Veteran must authorize access to their health information using a VA-approved authentication method before an app can access their data. At any point, Veterans can change or remove access permissions within either app.

VA is fostering private-sector collaboration to increase interoperability, ease the flow of information and ultimately make care safer and better for Veterans. VA anticipates that many organizations will leverage VA Lighthouse, an open platform for innovators, to connect Veterans directly to software, personal devices, and health providers, enabling seamless access to the benefits they have earned.

For questions related to this news release, please contact the following individuals:

Susan Carter –Susan.carter2@va.gov

Randy Noller –Randal.noller@va.gov

Tatjana Christian –Tatjana.christian@va.gov