VA Online Scheduling (formerly known as the Veteran Appointment Request (VAR) App) allows Veterans who are in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system to self schedule and request primary care appointments. Depending on a facility’s capabilities, Veterans may also use online scheduling to self schedule or request audiology, optometry or outpatient mental health appointments. Veterans can also view appointment details, track the status of requests, send messages about the requested appointments, get notifications about appointments, receive recall reminder notifications and cancel appointments.

To use VA Online Scheduling you must:

• Be enrolled in VA health care and be seen for care at a VA Medical Center (VAMC) or Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). If you would like to learn more about the enrollment process, visit va.gov/healthbenefits/apply or call 1-877-222-VETS. To find a facility near you, visit VA’s Facility Locator: http://www.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp.
• Have either a My HealtheVet Premium Account or a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account. VA Online Scheduling accesses your VA Electronic Health Record (EHR) and therefore, for your security, requires either a My HealtheVet Premium Account or a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account. If you do not have a My HealtheVet Premium Account or a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account, or you are not sure, visit myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/user-login or mobile.va.gov/dslogon for more information.
• Be registered at a VA health care facility that supports self scheduling and/or appointment requests for the type of appointment you are making. Eligibility requirements vary by VA facility (e.g., some sites might require you to be an established patient within a service line while others might be open to anyone enrolled at the facility). Other eligibility requirements include:
  • For Primary Care self scheduling:
    • You must be aligned with a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT). Your appointment will always be at your PACT clinic.
    • You can only self schedule primary care appointments at participating VAMCs where you have had a primary care appointment in the past two years.
  • Not all types of appointments are available to be self scheduled or requested to be scheduled. Each facility determines what type of care may be scheduled at its site and how (i.e., self schedule or request) that type of care may be scheduled.

VA Online Scheduling is an easy and convenient way to self schedule or request a primary care, audiology, optometry or outpatient mental health appointment at your local VA facility. Instead of having to call your VA facility to speak directly with a scheduler, you can self schedule or submit a request at any time of day. You can also receive recall reminder alerts. For requests, you can clearly designate your preferred times, dates, locations and providers for appointments. You can track the status of your requests and view your upcoming appointments, which can help you stay organized.

Veterans can access VA Online Scheduling through:

• My HealtheVet: https://www.myhealth.va.gov/
• VA App Store: https://mobile.va.gov/app/va-online-scheduling
• VA Launchpad: https://veteran.mobilehealth.va.gov/launchpad/
• Direct Link: https://www.va.gov/health-care/schedule-view-va-appointments

VA Online Scheduling can be used on any device using the following types of browsers:

• Internet Explorer 10 and higher
• Safari 8 and higher
• Firefox 24 and higher
• Google Chrome 47 and higher

You can self schedule and request primary care, mental health, audiology and optometry appointments. These can be for many reasons, from routine follow-up visits to new issues to medical concerns. You may only submit one primary care appointment request at a time. You should not use online scheduling in emergencies or for severe health concerns. If you have an emergency, you should always dial 911 or call your local VA facility.

No, submitting a request does not mean an appointment has been booked; VA schedulers review the requests and officially schedule appointments based on clinic availability.

VA Online Scheduling will not provide email reminders or notifications about appointments that are already booked for you. However, you can view a list of upcoming appointments on the home screen.

You can elect to receive email updates notifying you of changes/updates to your appointment requests when creating the request. To enable VA Online Scheduling to send you emails when changes are made, tap the four-line menu icon with a silhouette in the upper right corner of the screen, and a slide-out User Menu will appear. Tap Preferences, and a pop-up Preferences box will appear. Tap Yes or No to receive emails on updates regarding your appointments and requests. If you tapped Yes, tap the bar under Email, and type in your email address. Tap Save to save your settings.

If you are on the VA’s appointment recall list, you will receive an email. Additionally, a recall reminder notification will pop-up in VA Online Scheduling.

No, not at this time.

When you log into VA Online Scheduling, you will see four main navigation sections:

• Appointments/Requests – list of appointments and requests, which allow you to track statuses easily or tap on each appointment/request for more details.
  • Appointments – Upcoming, confirmed appointments that you have booked through online scheduling, or that a VA scheduler has booked for you. NOTE: This includes all appointments, not just those scheduled through online scheduling.
  • Requests – Pending appointment requests that you have requested through online scheduling, but that have not yet been booked by a VA scheduler.
• New Appointment/Request – buttons at the top right and bottom right of your screen, which allow you to self schedule or get help scheduling an appointment.
• User Menu (four-line icon with a silhouette) – a slide-out menu in the upper right corner of your screen that allows you to access About, Help, Feedback, Preferences, Launchpad and Logout.
• Notifications – A button under New Appointment/Request shows you notifications about scheduled and requested appointments.

Tap the circular arrow going counter-clockwise in the upper left corner to refresh the home screen and view the most current appointment and request information.

First you must be a member of a PACT team to self schedule a primary care appointment. Tap New Appointment/Request in either the top right or bottom right of your screen. Tap the drop-down menu under Type of Care, and tap Primary Care. Tap the circle next to Schedule Myself under Scheduling Method. More information will populate below, and you will see your primary facility and VA care team based on your VA health records. Fill out your facility, clinic, reason for appointment, preferred date, email preferences and email. Tap Schedule Appointment, and you will go to an Appointment Details screen that confirms your request has been submitted and provides an overview of the details.

Tap New Appointment/Request in either the top right or bottom right of your screen. Tap the drop-down menu under Type of Care, and tap Primary Care. Tap the circle next to Submit a Request to VA Scheduler. More information will populate below, and you will see your primary facility and VA care team based on your VA health records. Fill out the preferred type of visit (Office Visit, Phone Call or Video Conference), date/time, phone/verify phone, best time for VA to call, calls from VA, email preferences and email. Tap Submit Request, and you will go to a Request Details screen that confirms your request has been submitted and provides an overview of the details.

Tap New Appointment/Request in either the top right or bottom right of your screen. Tap the drop-down menu under Type of Care, and tap Audiology, Optometry or Outpatient Mental Health. Note that not all appointment types may be available to schedule for your location. Tap the circle next to Schedule Myself under Scheduling Method. More information will populate below. Fill out your clinic, preferred date, email preferences and email. Tap Schedule Appointment, and you will go to an Appointment Details screen that confirms your request has been submitted and provides an overview of the details.

Tap New Appointment/Request in either the top right or bottom right of your screen. Tap the drop-down menu under Type of Care, and tap Audiology, Optometry or Outpatient Mental Health. Note that not all appointment types may be available for appointment requests at your location. Tap the circle next to Submit a Request to VA Scheduler. More information will populate below. Fill out the following details: purpose of visit, type of visit, date/time, phone/verify phone, calls from VA, message, email preferences and email. Tap Submit Request, and you will go to a Request Details screen that confirms your request has been submitted and provides an overview of the details.

Appointments can be scheduled 90 days out.

No, but you can schedule appointments one day in advance, provided there is availability.

No, online scheduling does not have this functionality. You should call your clinic directly if you have questions about any lab work that may need to be completed prior to your appointment.

While it may vary from facility to facility, typically you can have one primary care and two audiology, optometry and mental health appointment requests in process at a time. After that, VA must process your requests and either confirm or cancel them before you can submit additional requests.

On the Home screen, you will see two lists, one of booked appointments and one of requests, which show you the status of that appointment. To view more details, tap the specific appointment you would like to view.

Yes. On the Home screen, you will see a list of booked appointments, which shows you the date, time and location of the appointment. (If you had requested an appointment and it was booked by a scheduler, it will move from the Requests section and into the Appointments section as a booked appointment). To view more details, tap the specific appointment you would like to view, and you will go to an Appointment Details screen, which provides an overview of your appointment. When your appointment has been scheduled, to add the appointment to your calendar, tap Add to Calendar, and an .ics file will download. Open the file to add the appointment to your calendar.

When a VA scheduler reviews your appointment request and books your appointment, you will see the request move from the Requests section of your Home screen to the Appointments section as a booked appointment. If you opted into email updates, you will also receive an email notification that your appointment has been officially booked.

VA staff should respond within the next business day but have up to five (5) calendar days to process appointment requests for primary care, audiology, optometry or outpatient mental health appointments.

Yes. On the Home screen, you will see a list of booked appointment. Tap the specific appointment you would like to cancel. You will go to an Appointment Details screen. Tap the circle next to Yes under “I need to cancel this appointment,” and a Reason for Cancellation bar will appear. Tap Select, and tap the reason for the cancelation. Tap Cancel Appointment, and a pop-up Confirmation box will appear. Tap Yes, and you will go to a screen that confirms your appointment has been canceled.

Yes. Below the booked appointments list on the Home screen, you will see a list of requested appointments. Tap the specific appointment request you would like to cancel, and you will go to a Request Details screen. If your appointment request is pending, tap Cancel Request, and a pop-up Confirmation box will appear. Tap Yes to confirm the cancellation.

You can cancel all primary care appointments that you have made. You can also cancel select other appointments. You can determine which appointments you can cancel by clicking the appointment in the appointment list on the home page. Online scheduling will either allow you to cancel the appointment or tell you to call the facility to cancel the appointment.

You may cancel appointments up to the day before the appointment. You will have to call the facility to cancel an appointment on the same day.

A My HealtheVet Premium account is only for Veterans and/or VA Patients. It gives users the highest level of access to My HealtheVet features. To get this type of account you need to go through Authentication and have your My HealtheVet profile information (full name, Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth (DOB) and gender) linked to VA/DoD records.

You will need either a My HealtheVet Premium Account or a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account to use online scheduling. Online scheduling can access your VA Electronic Health Record (EHR) and therefore, for your security, requires a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account or My HealtheVet Premium Account.

If you do not have a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account or are not sure, visit http://mobile.va.gov/dslogon or dial 1-800-983-0937 for assistance.

If you do not have a My HealtheVet Account or are not sure, visit myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/user-login or dial 1-877-327-0022 for assistance.

DS Logon (Department of Defense Self-Service Logon) is a secure logon ID, created by the Department of Defense (DoD), that verifies the identities of individuals affiliated with DoD or VA and allows them to access secure websites and digital resources across DoD and VA using a single username and password.

You will need either a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account or a My HealtheVet Premium Account to use online scheduling. Online scheduling can access your VA Electronic Health Record (EHR) and therefore, for your security, requires a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account or My HealtheVet Premium Account.

If you do not have a DS Logon Level 2 (Premium) Account or are not sure, visit http://mobile.va.gov/dslogon or dial 1-800-983-0937 for assistance.

If you do not have a My HealtheVet Account or are not sure, visit myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/user-login or dial 1-877-327-0022 for assistance.

Tap the four-line menu icon with a silhouette in the upper right corner of the screen. A slide-out User Menu will appear, and tap Launchpad. You will go to the VA Launchpad and stay signed into online scheduling.

Tap the four-line menu icon with a silhouette in the upper right corner of the screen. A slide-out User Menu will appear, and tap Logout. You will go to the VA Launchpad and be logged out.

If you leave VA Online Scheduling idle for 15 minutes, you will be logged out. This is for your protection – it ensures that no one can pick up your device or access your computer and view any of your appointment information or schedule an appointment on your behalf.

No, VA Online Scheduling does not integrate with Secure Messaging. However, VA Online Scheduling does have a messaging feature where Veterans and Schedulers can send up to two messages per request each to one another. These messages should only be regards to scheduling the appointment and should not be used to replace Secure Messaging.

In order to use online scheduling, cookies must be enabled on your device. Check your browser's instructions to ensure that cookies are enabled.

If you are receiving VA Medical Care, your PACT (or Patient Aligned Care Team) will consist of the clinical staff you see at the VA facility where you normally receive care. If you have received care at other VA facilities previously, you may be able to request appointments at those facilities through online scheduling, but those appointments will need to be booked by a VA scheduler.

VA Mobile is a program to improve Veterans’ health by providing technologies to expand care beyond the traditional office visit. As part of VA Mobile, VA is releasing a series of secure apps that take advantage of the popularity of wireless technologies to support Veterans, Caregivers and VA care teams.

No. VA created the VA Launchpad to house all mobile apps that connect to VA’s electronic health record. By signing into the VA Launchpad once, you can access multiple apps from one location—without having to log into each one individually.

If you need assistance with online scheduling, dial 1-877-470-5947 to speak with a VA representative. For TTY assistance, dial 711. For clinical questions regarding your personal medical information, please contact your VA care team.

You should never use online scheduling in an emergency. If you encounter an emergency, call your local medical center or dial 911. If you are in crisis, call 1-800-273-8255, and Press 1 or chat online to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

If you have questions about your DS Logon account, visit http://mobile.va.gov/dslogon or dial 1-800-983-0937 for assistance.

If you have questions about your My HealtheVet Account, visit myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/user-login or dial 1-877-327-0022 for assistance.

Additional information about other available VA apps can be found on mobile.va.gov/appstore as well as mobile.va.gov in the VA Mobile Apps General FAQs.