On March 1, XRHealth plans to launch its first virtual reality telehealth clinic in eight states and Washington DC. 

The new technology is set to bring VR therapy into the patient’s home by combining therapeutic software, telehealth support and a VR headset to deliver remote rehabilitation services. Patients can use this service for a number of conditions including traumatic brain injury, stroke rehabilitation, stress, anxiety, chronic pain, hot flashes and spinal cord injuries. 

Patients will be given an assessment by one of XRHealth’s telehealth clinicians. Following this assessment, patients will then get a VR headset in the mail, if they do not already have one. Next a patient will have virtual training, during which the clinical staff will be able to remotely control what is shown on patient’s VR headset and be able to adjust the therapy. 

Eventually the patient will be able to use the headset independently. However, a patient’s data will continue to be collected during the therapy and analyzed. The clinician can take a look at this data and monitor the patient's status regularly. 

The company said that the new service is covered by Medicare and most major insurance providers. 

WHY IT MATTERS 

As VR continues to make waves in the healthcare world, its primary use case has been at brick-and-mortar clinics and hospitals. This new telemedicine VR clinic will offer a new means of bringing the technology into the patient’s home, and supporting their therapy in real time. 

“We are utilizing the most advanced forms of technology like virtual reality to provide patients with optimal care in the comfort of their own homes while providing top-notch clinicians with ongoing status of their progress,” Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth, said in a statement. “Patients can now ‘go’ to a virtual clinic without the need to leave their homes at all.”

THE LARGER TREND 

Formerly called VRHealth, the company was founded in 2016. It has since made deals with a number of partners in the VR space. In 2018 it inked a deal with Oculus on a range of healthcare-focused VR applications, including experiences for mothers experiencing labor pain and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. 

It has also been developing new therapies. For example, in 2018 it launched software designed to help individuals experiencing hot flashes. More recently the company announced that it is opening up its platform to third-party developers.