“As it works to innovate healthcare delivery, the Veterans Affairs Department is deploying immersive, extended reality technologies that can transport patients to an art museum, the beach, or elsewhere—without ever leaving their hospital beds.”
“Extended reality, or XR, is an umbrella term that encompasses virtual, augmented and mixed realities. Each, in their own way, essentially extends or simulates the world humans experience with help from wearable headsets. Last fall, the Veterans Health Administration launched the XR Network, which brings these emerging technologies to veterans across the U.S. as they embark on sessions to treat challenges like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and chronic pain. VHA now has more than 50 sites utilizing XR, and more than 200 VA employees are actively involved with the XR Network.”
“The agency this week confirmed plans to steer the network’s first-ever, multi-site quality improvement pilot.”
“’The goal of this pilot is to determine the utility of VR in falls risk assessments, neurological risk assessment, palliative care, procedural use, acute and/or chronic pain management, and anxiety,’ Dr. Anne Lord Bailey, chair of the XR Network and VHA emerging tech clinical specialist, told Nextgov in an email Friday.”
“VA frontline staff, researchers, medical experts and external stakeholders from other agencies, and the academic and private sectors, are involved in the network, which is steadily growing. Before it, XR initiatives had been siloed across the vast organization. Broadly, those participating aim to help scale XR in the enterprise, and support facilities at every step in projects along the way…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA Integrates Extended Reality Technology Across Sites and Treatments – By Brandi Vincent, June 11, 2021. Nextgov.
