Collaboration Aims to Assist Veterans Through Virtual Reality Solutions

With the goal of assisting veterans in accessing necessary care, the VA Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL) partnered with Penumbra to create and test virtual reality (VR) solutions.

Combining the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, the Simulation Learning, Evaluation, Assessment, and Research Network, and the Center for Care and Payment Innovation, OHIL aims to promote healthcare delivery through innovation. This often occurs using emerging healthcare technologies and products.

Based in Alameda, California, Penumbra specializes in the development of innovative therapies.

The formation of this collaboration came with the goal of handling veteran needs, especially those that are related to rehabilitation. Alongside this mission, the collaboration aims to increase access within community-based outpatient clinics and at home.

“Our goal is to produce thoughtfully designed, developed and implemented solutions based on a deep understanding of Veterans’ health care needs,” said OHIL Immersive Technology Lead Anne Lord Bailey, PharmD, BCPS, in a press release. “We believe immersive technology is defining a new reality in Veteran health care, and we’re excited to see how this expansion in rehabilitation care furthers that vision.”

Regarding uses, the solutions will focus mainly on orthopedics, neurorehabilitation, chronic condition management, and chronic pain management. OHIL also noted intentions to consider the further adoption of technologies for remote therapeutic rehabilitation, remote therapeutic monitoring, and remote patient management.

“The technology is visionary. We foresee this will allow an extension of our clinics and education tools beyond brick and mortar. The patient, the caregiver and the interdisciplinary team will be able to improve access, functional outcomes, and [there will be] less downstream costs while having a mix of services available,” said Physical Therapy Executive Mark Havran, in a press release.

Available at VA sites in Richmond, Asheville, Los Angeles, Des Moines, Orlando, and Eastern Colorado, this three-year collaboration also intends to promote asynchronous communication between patients and providers.   

Amid efforts to create more efficient care delivery methods, the creation and application of VR solutions for healthcare are becoming increasingly common, largely due to the growth of digital technology.

In March, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) described its plans to engage in a randomized controlled trial with Rocket VR Health to determine the efficacy of a VR digital therapeutic, and its ability to improve symptom burden, distress, and self-efficacy.

MGH noted that the trial would include blood cancer patients admitted to the hospital for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Those who engage in this procedure often face symptoms that affect their quality of life; however, the tool would aim to diminish this issue.

Also, following a grant from the National Science Foundation in May 2022, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) began creating a virtual reality care center.

Known as the Center for Medical Innovation in Extended Reality (MIXR), the care center aimed to create and test new technologies and their relationship with healthcare.