T-Mobile is providing 70,000 lines of wireless service to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to help make telehealth services more accessible to veterans.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has tapped T-Mobile to provide 70,000 lines of wireless service to the health care providers and support staff across all VA hospitals, clinics and outpatient facilities around the nation, making T-Mobile the primary wireless provider for the agency. T-Mobile’s agreement with VA is part of the U.S. Navy’s Spiral 3 Wireless and Telecommunications Services contract, worth $993.5 million over five years.
Why It Matters
Many veterans today drive 25 miles or more for their health care visits. Through its partnership with T-Mobile, the VA is making health care providers more accessible from virtually anywhere. As the nation’s largest integrated health care system, the VA is pushing toward its goal of making 100% of its patient care facilities capable of delivering telehealth services by 2020— and with the help of T-Mobile— more VA doctors, nurses, mental health workers, social workers and will be more connected to each other and to their patients.
The VA currently operates 1,243 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,062 outpatient clinics across the nation, serving over 9 million enrolled veterans each year. T-Mobile will continue to support and grow its relationship with VA as it works to expand its healthcare network with more physical locations in rural areas and telehealth services that bring access to care closer to home for hundreds of thousands of veterans.
“Deploying this type of service across all of our locations not only connects VHA staff with the people and data they need, it makes them more accessible to our veterans as well,” said Dr. Steven Lieberman, executive in charge, Veterans Health Administration. “Whether it’s at a medical center, a community clinic or via the VA Video Connect telemedicine platform, our ongoing goal is to improve patient outcomes by reaching veterans wherever they are.”
