VR can help underserved patients, but reimbursement challenges stymie broader adoption, study finds
Healthcare providers, including users and non-users of VR, identified a lack of reimbursement for the technology as one of the biggest barriers for adoption, the UCSF-AppliedVR research found. More payers that support underserved populations will need to adopt reimbursement pathways to ensure VR can be prescribed by a provider and paid for by a payer, according to the researchers.
“There is a tremendous unmet need in the U.S. to deliver evidence-based digital therapeutics to the broader population, and virtual reality for pain management holds significant interest for front-line pain management clinicians and leadership in safety-net health settings,” said Urmimala Sarkar, M.D., UCSF professor of medicine and co-founder of S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech. “But, it will require collaboration across industries to overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of wider adoption, including commitments from payers for more reimbursement and adapted content that tailors to the needs of diverse populations.”
There is a huge supply issue with non-pharmacologic options for chronic pain sufferers, Josh Sackman, [ Los Angeles-based ] AppliedVR co-founder and president, told Fierce Healthcare.
See the full story here: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/virtual-reality-can-help-vulnerable-populations-chronic-pain-but-there-are-barriers-to-access
