AppliedVR, a leading pioneer of therapeutic virtual reality (VR), and S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech, a health equity accelerator embedded within the University of California San Francisco, today announced a collaborative research project to identify barriers and facilitators to digital therapeutics, including VR treatment from AppliedVR, for vulnerable populations such as Medicaid patients. Underserved and diverse patient populations are unable to access health technology for various reasons, and the joint effort will help ensure no patient is left behind in the digital health revolution.
“The opportunity to work alongside AppliedVR in its quest to deliver virtual reality treatment to all patients helps fulfill our mission because of the sheer unmet need in the space of safe and effective pain management,” said Urmimala Sarkar, MD, MPH, UCSF Professor of Medicine and co-founder of S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech. “The unique ability of virtual reality to create an immersive and interactive environment has the potential to be a cost-effective strategy to deliver pain management for diverse patients, in the time and place of their choosing.”
Under a Collaboration Agreement, S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech will conduct qualitative analyses by interviewing different healthcare practitioners on how to best integrate VR and novel digital health solutions into health systems that treat underserved populations. By identifying the barriers companies like AppliedVR can face when integrating novel treatment into health systems, the two organizations intend to improve health and reduce health expenditures for diverse populations.
“Patients who face socioeconomic or social determinant-related burdens and challenges should not be limited in treatment options – especially if or when in need of novel or non-pharmacological treatment alternatives,” said Matthew Stoudt, cofounder and chief executive officer of AppliedVR. “Through this collaboration with S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech and our commitment to pioneering VR as a new standard of care, AppliedVR aims to help move the needle towards health equity, reduce health care costs, and most importantly, improve health outcomes for patients.”
The study began in December 2019. S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech will advise AppliedVR on the design and approach for future prospective studies, which include variable collection around participant subgroups and implementation outcomes.
About AppliedVR
AppliedVR is pioneering virtual reality therapeutics to address unmet needs and improve clinical outcomes for patients with serious health conditions. AppliedVR has established world-class research and commercial partnerships and continues to build the infrastructure to establish VR as a standard of care in healthcare by 2025. Today, through evidence-based, non-invasive general wellness VR programs AppliedVR comforts patients experiencing pain, stress, and anxiety. As the most widely used and deeply researched VR Care Platform in healthcare, AppliedVR is the first company to make VR widely available in clinical care, having immersed more than 30,000 patients in over 240 hospitals. To learn more about AppliedVR, Inc, visit: https://appliedvr.io/
About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, as well as affiliations throughout the Bay Area. Learn more at https://www.ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.
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