This document governs the clinical relationship between you (“Member,” “you,” “the veteran”) and the independent, licensed healthcare providers (“Provider,” “Providers”) you access through the Veteran Health Network platform (“VHN,” “the Platform”). It is separate from, and in addition to, the Client Services Agreement (CSA), which governs fees, guarantees, and your membership status, and the Notice of Privacy Practices, which governs how your health information is used and disclosed. Where this document and the CSA both apply, both apply, neither one overrides the other except where they directly conflict, in which case the CSA governs financial and guarantee terms and this document governs clinical and consent terms.
Please do not use the Platform for emergencies. For any emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
1. What VHN is, and what VHN is not
VHN is a coordination company. VHN connects veterans with independently licensed medical professionals who evaluate them, arrive at their own diagnoses, and produce a complete clinical record. VHN then facilitates a courtesy introduction to a vetted, independent VA-accredited representative, or you may take your record to any representative or Veterans Service Organization (VSO) you choose, including one at no cost to you.
VHN does not practice medicine. VHN does not employ your Provider as a clinician, does not supervise or direct any Provider’s clinical judgment, and does not diagnose, treat, or render medical opinions. Every diagnosis, finding, recommendation, and clinical document produced during your care is the independent professional act of the licensed Provider who examined you, and that Provider, not VHN, is responsible for it.
VHN does not practice law and does not prepare, file, or advise on VA claims. The medical record produced through your evaluations belongs to you. What you or your accredited representative do with it, and what the VA decides, is outside VHN’s role and outside VHN’s control.
2. The provider relationship
Every Provider who evaluates you is an independently licensed physician, psychologist, or other licensed clinician. Providers are independent contractors, not VHN employees or agents. Each Provider:
- Holds their own active license in good standing and their own professional liability (malpractice) coverage;
- Exercises independent clinical judgment in every diagnosis, finding, and recommendation, uninfluenced and undirected by VHN;
- Is solely responsible for the clinical decisions made in your care.
VHN’s role is limited to coordinating scheduling, records, and communication between you, your Provider, and your case manager. VHN does not tell a Provider what to find, what to diagnose, or what to write. If a Provider’s judgment does not support a diagnosis, a functional limitation, a connection to your military service, or a specific document (including a Disability Benefits Questionnaire or independent medical opinion), that Provider does not produce it, for you or for anyone else. That independence is what makes the record credible, and it is not negotiable, including at your request.
3. Consent to evaluation and care
By enrolling in VHN membership and proceeding with a scheduled encounter, you give your Provider permission to evaluate and care for you. You may withdraw this consent at any time by no longer seeking care through the Platform. Withdrawing consent does not entitle you to a refund except as described in your CSA.
Evaluation may include a physical examination, a mental health evaluation, standard laboratory and blood panel work, and any additional testing your Provider determines is clinically indicated. You may decline the mental health evaluation, laboratory work, or any specific component in advance without affecting your eligibility for the remainder of your membership benefits; see your CSA and case manager for how declining a component affects your delivery timeline.
Your Provider may request your medication history from pharmacies or health plans to screen for drug interactions and treat you safely. By proceeding with evaluation, you authorize this request.
Encounter modality. Some evaluations are conducted in person; some are conducted by telehealth; some are a combination of both. In-person encounters can produce direct physical measurements (range of motion, strength testing, and similar findings) that telehealth cannot. Telehealth encounters can fully produce diagnosis, clinical reasoning, and documentation of continuity of care, but cannot produce a hands-on physical measurement. Your case manager will confirm with you, before any appointment is scheduled, what your selected modality will and will not produce for your specific conditions. That conversation is a disclosure, not a recommendation; the choice of modality is yours.
Telehealth-specific consent. If any portion of your care is delivered by telehealth, you additionally acknowledge: the encounter occurs over a secure video or audio connection; telehealth carries the limitations described above compared to an in-person exam; your condition may turn out to need in-person care or, in a true emergency, immediate emergency care, and your Provider will tell you if that applies; and you must be physically located, at the time of the encounter, in a state where your Provider is licensed, and you agree not to use any technology or technique to obscure or misrepresent your location. Where a state requires telehealth disclosures beyond what is in this section, those are provided as a separate addendum at the time of your appointment.
4. No guarantee of diagnosis, findings, or outcome
Your Provider’s evaluation is independent and cannot be predicted or promised in advance, by VHN or by anyone else. Specifically:
- VHN does not guarantee that any particular condition will be diagnosed.
- VHN does not guarantee that any specific document, including a Disability Benefits Questionnaire, an independent medical opinion, or documentation of a connection between a current condition and your military service, will be produced. Whether any such document is produced is the Provider’s independent clinical decision, made only where the clinical evidence supports it.
- VHN does not guarantee, estimate, or imply any VA rating, decision, or benefit outcome, and no VHN representative, Provider, or platform communication should be understood as making such a promise. Any statement to the contrary does not bind VHN.
5. Your responsibilities
Your Provider’s ability to produce a complete, credible clinical record depends on the information and cooperation you provide. You agree to:
- Give complete and accurate information about your health history, symptoms, and military service history to the best of your ability;
- Attend scheduled appointments, or give reasonable notice if you cannot;
- Provide access to prior medical records you have available;
- Tell your Provider promptly if a symptom, condition, or circumstance changes.
Incomplete information affects the completeness of your record. This is true of any medical evaluation, from any provider, and is not unique to VHN.
6. Refusal of recommended care
If your Provider recommends follow-up testing, a specialist referral, additional treatment, or any other clinical step, and you decide not to pursue it, you have the right to do so. You also acknowledge and agree to the following:
6.1 Effect on your record. Declining a recommended test, referral, or treatment may leave your clinical picture incomplete for that condition. A record with a documented but unpursued recommendation is not the same as a record where the recommended step was completed. Neither your Provider nor VHN is responsible for gaps in diagnosis, documentation, or downstream decisions (including VA decisions) that result from a recommendation you chose not to follow.
6.2 No liability for the consequences of your decision. Where you have been informed of a Provider’s recommendation and have declined to follow it, your Provider and VHN are released from liability for any adverse health outcome, diagnostic limitation, or documentation gap that results directly from that decision, to the fullest extent permitted by law. This release applies to the consequences of your informed decision to decline recommended care. It does not waive, and is not intended to waive, any claim arising from a Provider’s own negligence in the care actually delivered to you.
6.3 How refusal is documented. Your Provider may ask you to sign a separate, specific acknowledgment at the time you decline a particular recommendation (an “Informed Refusal Acknowledgment”), describing what was recommended and confirming you understood the recommendation and the effect of declining it. This point-of-care acknowledgment, where obtained, applies in addition to, and not instead of, this section.
6.4 You may change your mind. Declining a recommendation is not final. You may return to your Provider or request the recommended step at a later date, subject to your membership’s included services and timeline.
7. Not for emergencies
VHN and its Providers do not provide emergency care. If you are experiencing a medical emergency or a mental health crisis, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. If you are in crisis, you can also reach the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and selecting 1, or texting 838255.
8. Your medical record
The clinical record produced through your evaluations belongs to you. VHN facilitates its delivery to you and, at your direction, to your accredited representative or VSO. Your authorization for how your health information is used and disclosed is governed separately by VHN’s Notice of Privacy Practices and any release you sign. That your record may be useful for a VA claim is a byproduct of complete, accurate medical care. It is not what your Provider is evaluating you in order to produce, and your Provider’s findings are not shaped by that use.
9. Accredited representative introduction
As a courtesy benefit of active membership, VHN will facilitate an introduction to an independent, VA-accredited representative. This introduction is a courtesy: no payment flows between VHN and any representative in connection with it, and it does not obligate you to work with that representative. You are free to work with any accredited representative or VSO of your choosing, including a Veterans Service Organization at no cost to you. Your case manager is not a claims representative, not a clinical provider, and not a legal advisor, and does not advise on claims strategy.
10. Fees
Membership fees are flat and are set out in full in your CSA. Your fee is earned when the medical care described in your membership is delivered and is never contingent on any VA decision or outcome. This document does not alter your CSA’s fee or guarantee terms; see your CSA for those terms in full.
11. Electronic communications
By using the Platform, you agree that VHN and your Provider may contact you about your care, your appointments, and your membership by email, text message, phone, or secure message, including through automated systems. You can opt out of non-essential communications, such as appointment reminders sent by text, through your account settings or the opt-out instructions in the message itself. You cannot opt out of communications VHN is required to send you, such as changes to these terms or notices about your medical record.
12. Right to discontinue care
A Provider may decline to continue treating you, and VHN may suspend or end your access to the Platform, where you provide false or misleading information in connection with your care, engage in abusive or threatening conduct toward a Provider or VHN staff, or engage in conduct VHN reasonably believes is intended to produce a fraudulent medical record. Where a Provider discontinues care, VHN will help you find a replacement Provider where reasonably possible, consistent with your CSA.
13. Disclaimers
EXCEPT WHERE A LOSS IS CAUSED BY A PROVIDER’S OWN NEGLIGENCE OR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT, AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VHN AND ITS PROVIDERS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS, INJURY, OR DAMAGE, INCLUDING PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE PLATFORM OR THE MEDICAL SERVICES COORDINATED THROUGH IT.
14. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VHN WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST INCOME OR LOST BENEFITS OF ANY KIND, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE PLATFORM OR THE MEDICAL SERVICES COORDINATED THROUGH IT, EVEN IF VHN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO PART OF THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
15. Dispute resolution and governing law
Client Service Agreement governs dispute-resolution terms
16. Termination and survival
Your access to the Platform and to Providers ends when your membership ends, whether by completion, cancellation, or termination under your CSA. Ending your membership does not undo evaluations already completed: your medical record remains yours, and VHN will retain copies of your health records for the period required by applicable law, even after your membership ends. The provisions of this document concerning provider independence, no guarantee of outcome, refusal of care, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution survive the end of your membership and continue to apply to care already provided.
17. General provisions
This document, together with your CSA and VHN’s Notice of Privacy Practices, makes up the entire agreement between you and VHN about the clinical relationship described here, and replaces any earlier agreement on the same subject. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under this document to anyone else. VHN may assign this document in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. If any provision of this document is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Questions about this document can be directed to legal@myvhn.org
18. Changes to these terms
VHN may update this document from time to time. Where a change is material, VHN will post the updated version and notify you, generally at least 30 days before it takes effect, and will ask you to re-acknowledge before your next scheduled encounter where required by law. The date at the top reflects the most recent version.
19. Your acceptance of these terms
You accept these terms by enrolling in VHN membership and by proceeding with any scheduled evaluation. Where a Provider asks you to sign a separate acknowledgment at the point of care, such as the Informed Refusal Acknowledgment described in section 6.3, that acknowledgment applies to the specific event it covers and does not replace your acceptance of this document as a whole