About communicating with your VA health care team online
Get answers to common questions about communicating with your VA health team through secure online messages.
How secure health messages work
Secure health messages work much like email but in a secure system to protect your health information. Here's what to know:
- You must sign in with a Login.gov or ID.me account, or a DS Logon username and password (available through September 30, 2025), to send and receive secure messages.
- You can use messages to communicate with any VA health care team member who has signed up to participate.
- You can send non-urgent, non-emergency messages at any time of the day or night. Your VA health care team should respond within 3 business days. Business days mean Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except federal holidays.
- If you’d like, you can set up your account to send a notification to your personal email when you receive a new message.
Questions about using secure health messages
Do I need to pay a copay when I use secure health messages?
No. You won’t pay a copay for using secure health messages to communicate with your care team.
If you have other health insurance, we may bill your other insurance provider for your care―including for communicating through messages. But we won’t bill you for any charges that your other insurance doesn’t cover.
If you have copay charges that you think are incorrect, you can dispute the charges. You must dispute any changes within 30 days of receiving your copay bill.
Who can I send secure health messages to?
You can send messages to VA providers and staff on your care team. Most VA providers use messages―but some don’t. Ask your care team if sending messages is the best way to communicate with them.
You can't use messages to communicate with providers in our community care network or other non-VA providers.
Can I send secure health messages to community (non-VA) providers?
No. You can communicate only with your VA providers who’ve agreed to use secure health messages.
Who will reply to my secure health messages?
When you send a message to a VA provider on your care team, that provider may answer your message themselves. Or, another provider or staff member on your care team may reply.
In some cases, we may decide that a different team needs to reply. We'll reassign the conversation to that team so they can reply to you. But only VA providers and staff will be able to read your messages.
Will VA protect my personal health information online?
Yes. We follow strict security policies and practices to protect your personal health information.
If you print or download anything from our online tools, you’ll need to take responsibility for protecting that information.
Can I use secure health messages for emergencies or urgent needs?
No. If you have an emergency or urgent need, please don’t send a message online. It may take a few days for you to get a reply.
If you think you have a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
If you don’t have an emergency, but you’re not sure what type of care you need, call your nearest VA health facility.
Find your nearest VA health facility
If you have questions about a non-life-threatening health issue, you can also connect with VA staff members through the VA Health Chat app.
Learn more about VA Health Chat
If you need to talk with someone right away, contact the Veterans Crisis Line. Whatever you’re struggling with—chronic pain, anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, anger, or even homelessness—we can support you. Our Veterans Crisis Line is confidential (private), free, and available 24/7.
To connect with a Veterans Crisis Line responder anytime, day or night:
- Call 988. Then select 1.
- Start a confidential chat
- Text 838255
Questions about getting support
- Call the My HealtheVet help desk at 877-327-0022 (TTY: 800-877-8339). We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET., or
- Contact us online
At this time, VA has 2 health portals: My HealtheVet and My VA Health.
These medical centers now use the My VA Health portal:
- Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (North Chicago, Illinois)
- Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center (Walla Walla, Washington)
- Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center (Spokane, Washington)
- Roseburg VA Health Care System (Roseburg, Oregon)
- VA Central Ohio Health Care System (Columbus, Ohio)
- VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics (White City, Oregon)
All other VA medical centers and health facilities use the My HealtheVet portal.
No matter which portal your facility uses, you can sign in to manage your health care online with My HealtheVet on VA.gov. We’ll then help you get to the tools you need in the right portal for you.
We continue to work to bring all your VA health care information together—so you can manage all your health care and benefit needs in one place.
Call the My VA Health help desk at 888-444-6982 (TTY: 711). We’re here 24/7.
You can also review our My VA Health user guide and other Veteran resources to help you use the portal.