The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network’s Clinical Contact Center is growing by leaps and bounds and making a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands Veterans who rely on VISN 8 facilities for their care. Since the center launched last July, more than 300,000 calls have been serviced by the growing number of professionals employed by the center.
The VISN 8 Clinical Contact Center is a 24/7 virtual urgent care center. Veterans can call 1-877-741-3400 from their home or wherever they may be to get immediate care, pharmacy support, ask general questions, and more.
Professionals employed by the center include medical support assistants, nurses, advanced registered nurse practitioners, physicians, and clinical pharmacists. Currently, care is delivered telephonically and through the use of VA Video Connect – VA’s secure video chat application that allows Veterans to connect and discuss their health care concerns using a secure mobile app.
The center has added VA Health Chat as another option for Veterans to connect for care and assistance. The VA Health Chat App provides easy, secure, online access for Veterans to chat with VA staff when they have health care needs, questions, and more.
“Our goal is to provide as many virtual access points as possible and deliver services and care to Veterans based on their preference while achieving first contact resolution,” said Suzanne M. Klinker, Deputy Network Director for the VISN 8 Clinical Contact Center.
“Like VA Video Connect, VA Health Chat is another great technology that we are adding to the clinical contact center for Veterans who prefer an online chat option over telephone and video. The bottom line is that we want to meet Veterans where they are, and deliver the care and support they need, expect, and deserve.”
VA Health Chat is currently available at some locations across the country and is available to Veterans enrolled for VA health care in Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The app is available for both Android and IOS equipped devices. To read more about the app, please visit https://mobile.va.gov/app/va-health-chat.
