Did you know more than 9 million health care appointments made by veterans through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) go unutilized each year due to missed appointments? To increase access to health care for all veterans, the VHA has developed VEText, an interactive mobile solution to remind Veterans of upcoming appointments via text messaging. The  goal of the VHA is to offer veterans a quick and easy way to confirm and/or cancel appointments.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is sending text messages to the millions of veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. The texts deliver the latest VA information, resources and local guidance. VA’s next wide-scale VEText message will be on how Veterans can access virtual mental health care.

VEText Reminds Veterans Of Their Medical Appointments And Open Slot Options

With VEText, veterans can receive an interactive text message reminder of the veteran of upcoming medical appointment’s date, time and location a week beforehand. Then VEText sends a second reminder a couple of days before the appointment. The Open Slot Management feature will send a text offering a sooner appointment if there is one available and if you are scheduled more than 30 days from your provider-indicated appointment date. You can reply at a convenient time to CONFIRM or to CANCEL the appointment. If you do not respond to the text message reminder, your appointment will remain scheduled.

Future enhancements include expanding the text reminder feature to pharmacy notifications, benefit claims status updates and direct deposit notifications.

Update Your Contact Information 

Every veteran with a cell phone number listed in their health record is automatically enrolled in the VEText program, so it is very important for veterans to ensure that their local VA medical center (VAMC) has their current phone numbers. Veterans may update their phone numbers during check-in at their next appointment, or use the self-service kiosks located throughout VA facilities.

If you are not receiving these important updates, it’s possible that VA doesn’t have your updated contact information. Login to VA.gov to view your profile, make any updates, and select your notification preferences–such as receiving VEText text messages on important information from VA. For more detailed instructions, see Veterans can now update their contact information online.

Veterans can easily opt-out anytime by replying STOP to end the messages. All appointment reminder messages contain instructions on how to end the text messages.

For additional information concerning VA compensation and pension benefits, visit:

VA Compensation and Pension Benefits