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Annie Terms of Use and Privacy and Data Collection Agreement for Patient Generated Health Data

Annie Terms of Use and Privacy

What is the VA Text Messaging Program named Annie, and How Can it Help Me?

"Annie" is a text messaging application developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that you can use with either a basic cell phone, smartphone, or computer. Annie helps you take a more active role in your health care. Annie is not a person. Annie is a computer system that sends pre-programmed text messages that provide information to help you manage your health and that remind you to complete health tasks. For example: tracking your blood pressure and taking your medication.

How Will Text Messages From Annie Work?

Important! This text messaging program is not for urgent or emergency issues.

After you agree to participate in the program and exercise your right of access, Annie will send text messages to your mobile phone. Text messages from Annie will be from the health subscriptions you self-subscribe to or are assigned by your VA health care team. Some text messages will simply be reminders of your health care plan. Others will ask you to text back a reply with information, such as your blood pressure or blood sugar readings. All text messages are for your self-care. Sending a text message to Annie does not send a text message directly to your VA health care team; rather, your messages will be stored in the computer system. Your health care team will have the capability to see your text messages, but they may not be read regularly or at all by your care team.

What Do I Have to Do to Use Annie?

You need to know about your responsibilities and the risks associated with using Annie.

  • If your VA care team registers you to use Annie, they will communicate with you about how Annie will be used as part of your personal health care plan. Additionally, you will be able to choose any health self-subscription of your choice.
  • If you register on your own to use Annie, you will have the option to select the health self-subscriptions of your choice. To receive additional information, ask your health care team if Annie can be used as part of your personal health care plan.

You are Responsible for:

  • Your health. If you do not feel well or if you receive messages from Annie that advise you to contact your health care team, you are responsible for taking appropriate action to seek professional care.
  • Your treatment plan. You are responsible for monitoring your health, such as tracking blood pressure levels, taking recommended medication and treatments, and keeping your scheduled VA appointments, even if you do not receive a reminder message from Annie.
  • Informing your provider. Let your health care team know if you are not able to follow your treatment plan.
  • Text messaging costs. You will need to pay any text message charges billed to you by your phone company because of using Annie. Message and data rates may apply, and message frequency will vary primarily based on the health subscriptions you use. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Contact your cellular provider with any questions.
  • Your phone number. If you plan to change your phone number, follow the steps below in the section What If I Change My Cell Phone Number.
  • Your phone. Always keep your cell phone safe and in your possession.

What are the Risks with Using Annie?

As with any text messaging, sending and receiving SMS texts with Annie is not secure. Text messages are not encrypted (scrambled to make it hard for people to get and read your information) when being sent and received and when on your cell phone. Texts can remain on a phone and with the companies that transmit the messages forever. If anyone else has access to your phone, they may be able to read text messages from Annie intended only for you. VA has no way of knowing who is using your phone. VA will assume that any texts from your designated phone number are from you, and will send texts to that phone number. By agreeing to use Annie, you accept these risks and consent to the exchange of unencrypted SMS text messages, including those with personal and health information, as a method of communication with VA.

Text messages sent by Annie and your text replies to Annie contain your health and personal information. This information may be used to identify you. In addition to collecting your health readings, such as blood pressure readings, VA will collect personal information such as your cell phone number and time zone, as part of your registration in the program.

Use of Annie Online for Veterans

If you prefer not to send and receive messages and information via SMS text messaging, you can use Annie Online to send and receive messages related to your health subscriptions. Annie Online requires use of a login and password. You must be able to securely log into Annie using a VA approved method: https://mobile.va.gov/login-information. It is important to understand that any person who can access your login information will be able to read your personal information in Annie. When using Annie Online, you can elect to receive general text messages that notify you when secure messages are available in Annie Online. You can also sign up to receive important announcements and educational messages from VA on specific topics of your choice.

How Do I Start and Stop the Program?

After registration, to start the program, you simply need to sign up for a health subscription, or have your health care team assign one. You can also stop the service at any time using simple text replies to Annie. Texting STOP will completely end your participation in the Annie program. If you stop, but wish to restart and subscribe to new health subscriptions, you will need to text START to Annie or seek assistance from your health care team.

What If I Change my Cell Phone Number?

If you plan to change your cell phone number, please take either of the below actions:

  1. From the Annie Online for Veterans complete the following steps as needed:
    1. Log into Annie Online.
    2. Access 'My Settings' and edit your number in the 'My Information' section.
    3. Click the 'Save' button.
  2. You can also call the help desk at 877-470-5947.

How Do I Get Help?

If you are experiencing problems with Annie you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can get help directly from the Health Resource Center Help Desk at 877-470-5947 weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Privacy Act Statement and Policy - How Does VA Use My Information if I Use Annie?

VA knows the value you place on the privacy and safeguarding of your personal information. Your use of the Annie program is voluntary and will not impact any benefits or care to which you may be entitled. When you use Annie, you are asked to share your personal information as well as your use of the program. The collection of this information is authorized by Federal law, 38 U.S.C. Section 501, and is subject to the Privacy Act 5 U.S.C § 552a. VA may use the collected information to provide health care to you and for other purposes permitted by law. As such, data resulting from the use of Annie will be made available to VA staff for purposes of clinical care, Veteran population management, VA approved quality efforts and VA approved research. VA may also make "routine use" disclosures of the information as outlined in the VA Privacy Act System of Records Notice, #173VA005OP2, and published Veterans Health Administration Notice of Privacy Practices. We will explain these practices upon further request. You can also read further about VA privacy policy at https://mobile.va.gov/va-web-and-mobile-app-privacy-policy.

Data Collection Agreement for Patient Generated Health Data

VA may store personal and self-entered information and data that a user has chosen to share with VA licensed software. VA web and mobile services use encryption to securely store and transmit all data including personal and self-entered information, unless you utilize Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging to share your information. SMS text messaging does not use encryption and is not secure.

VA use and/or release of your information, including your health information, must comply with Federal privacy laws and regulations. Access to your VHA information may only be given to an agency or an individual as permitted by law and policy as outlined in the downloadable PDF at this link: VHA Notice of Privacy Practices.

Examples of data that can be shared with VA are self-entered or patient generated health data (PGHD) from mobile health applications, wearable devices or Bluetooth devices. Though VA health care team members can access this data, they may not regularly monitor it. It is the responsibility of VA Patients to track their self-entered or device generated health data, monitor their output, and communicate with their health care team if health concerns occur. If you want any specific data viewed by your health care team, please contact your health care team directly.

VA may partner with outside parties to provide users with health information or information services. Patient generated health data may be copied into your VA health record by a member of your VA health care team.

VA staff may analyze Patient Generated Health Data (PGHD) shared by Veterans for many purposes such as:

  • Clinical Care – sharing your data helps your VA care team understand your daily activities (sleep, diet, and exercise etc.) in between your visits. This data helps you and your VA healthcare team make informed decisions about your care plan.
  • Veteran Health Data – sharing your data helps your VA care team monitor or even predict your risk factors for certain health conditions. Your data adds value to the larger data pool and can help VA care team understand these health trends and patterns. This data can be used to adapt care plans for you, and fellow Veterans, to stay as healthy as possible.
  • VA approved quality efforts – sharing your data helps VA learn how to improve care using health technologies such as virtual care tools. This data can be used to add virtual care tools into care plans for you, and fellow Veterans.
  • VA approved research – sharing your data helps VA researchers better understand how to prevent and manage certain health conditions. This data can be used by your VA care team to adapt care plans for you, and fellow Veterans.

Users can stop sharing health data at any time. Self-entered data is manually entered, therefore, to end sharing, simply stop manually entering data. Data shared through wearable or Bluetooth devices is constantly sharing data through the connection between application and device. Deleting the application will not end this connection. To end data sharing from a wearable or Bluetooth device, you must disconnect the device or its account. Please refer to your device manufacturers instructions. To request previously shared data be removed from your health record, you must submit a privacy amendment request to the VA medical facility Privacy Officer where you receive care.

By using this application, I acknowledge that the data I choose to enter or share is being shared with VA for purposes of clinical care, Veteran population management, VA approved quality efforts and VA approved research.