Post on 15-Aug-2020
Patient Experience, Therapeutics and Empathy: Deployment of Virtual
Reality in the Healthcare Setting
Julie Reisetter, MS, RN
VP, Innovation UCHealth
University of Colorado Health System
Our missionWe improve lives.
In big ways through learning, healing, and discovery.
In small, personal ways through human connection.
But in all ways, we improve lives.
Our visionFrom health care to health.
Our valuesPatients first
Integrity
Excellence
UCHealth CARE Innovation Center
• Established in 2016
• Bringing together experts in clinical
care delivery, informatics, analytics and
implementation science to partner with
industry to create innovative solutions
to modern healthcare challenges
• Hub for developing, testing, and
implementing healthcare innovations
• Springboard for launching process
improvements and products, and
bringing them to market in order to
improve healthcare delivery
Dr. Richard Zane
Chief Innovation Officer
Co-Founder, CARE
Innovation Center
Dr. Jennifer Wiler
Executive Director &
Co-Founder, CARE
Innovation Center
Julie Reisetter, MS, RN
VP, Innovation
v
What Makes UCHealth Attractive for Partnerships?
Denver Ranked #1
Best Place to Live
Colorado Digital
Health Boom
World Class Living Laboratory
Product
development and
testing “shoulder
to shoulder” with
clinicians
Rapid adoption
Wayfinding
Condition-specific contentPatient-provided data
EHR embedded pathwaysSimplifying the external
patient story
Data science embedded in
IT systemsRemote surveillance
Virtual CareOnline Scheduling
High Priority Focus Areas
Wearable devices
Innovation Portfolio2% 3%
3%
92%
Vetting Special Projects Contract Dismissed
Only the most promising technologies,
developed by motivated teams committed
to our vision of health innovation, make it
through our pipeline.
That means saying no – a lot…
Over 250 local, national and international
companies have sought partnerships with
UCHealth
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A Future So Bright, You Gotta Wear…
• Current technologies and concepts are founded on more than 30 years of
research and development
• Recent changes in cost and access make VR affordable
• After years of validation and use by early adopters - VR technology is poised
to move to the mainstream
Virtual Reality Technology For Medicine
Virtual Reality at UCHealth
Three focus areas
• Patient experience
• Experience validation in outpatient infusion center
• Incorporate UCHealth content
• Business plan for scale across settings
• Therapeutics
• Understand impact of VR interventions to improve mobility & decrease opioid use
• Empathy/Care-giver support/Care-giver burnout
Research Objectives
The objectives were as follows:
• Investigate patient perceptions and affinity toward virtual reality
offerings
• Evaluate effectiveness of virtual reality interaction during patient
care in reducing discomfort
• Understanding what programs/modules of virtual reality work best
for the UCHealth patient care environment
• Explore other virtual reality offerings that would be of value to
patients
Current list of distractions include:
Methodology
• Qualitative interviews conducted in outpatient infusion in our three major regions: Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins
• Goal: 60 patients, 20 staff members and 15 caregivers
• Process:
• Pre-demonstration questions (background, virtual reality familiarity, treatment, experience).
• 2-3 minute demonstration of virtual reality
• Post-demonstration questions (evaluation, benefits, challenges, future use)
• To reduce the number of variables, patients were given a choice to see 1 of 2
program offerings:
• Vincent Van Gogh - A Starry Night
• Angel Falls*
*Towards the end of the research “Angel Falls” removed as an offering and replaced with “The Lantern Festival” or “Fly Over of Mount
Everest” (4 patient interviews and 5 caregiver interviews)
Themes based on interviews
• It gave patients something to look forward to
• It created an atmosphere, where the concept of time disappears
• It was a true distraction from their environment. But it was more, it was an
escape
• Some patients reported that virtual reality provided a means to escape from
their illness, even if it was a brief moment
• Some patients reported it to be beneficial in altering mood and reducing anxiety.
• However, virtual reality isn’t for everyone…a few individuals wanted to be aware
of their care team and their surroundings
Insights…
You get something cool to go
back and say ‘hey look what I did
when I had chemo today’ instead
of just ‘I had chemo today’.Male, 45 – Denver
Don’t have to watch the
clock and have
perception of time.
Male, 64
Sometimes you have to
separate yourself from cancer.
You don’t want to hear it every
day, you just want to live your
life. This takes you away. For a
few seconds you have relief –
you can be somewhere else.
I’m on cloud nine. You
took me back to my
childhood days.Male, 65+
I like to watch - I’m curious and
want to be aware of the needles.
My dad jokes and calls me a
‘professional patient’.
Female, 34
It’s amazing. The beauty and depth
gives patients perspective – there’s
something bigger than what they are
experiencing right now. This is just a
hurdle – there’s a bigger picture. It
provides a sense of hope.
RN
Female, 45
The positivity and support for virtual reality implementation was
overwhelming
What you’re doing instills confidence for me – it makes you feel like the
hospital is on the pulse of new and innovative things, which is great. They care
about patients and their experience. Female, Caregiver – Denver
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Can VR live up to its hype as “The ultimate empathy machine?”
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• Clinical empathy
• Gender/race blind hiring practices
• Simulated patient interactions
• Military pre-deployment cultural immersion
• Diversity / harassment / assault training
• Mental illness simulation experiences
Professional Training
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• Lack of evidence-based, user-informed content
• How do you get people who need it to see it?
• VR still not adopted widely
• Logistical concerns
• Validation and evaluation
• VR just for the sake of it
• VR alone probably won’t do much
• Still learning why VR works
• Cost
Real World Implementation Challenges
“Never innovate to compete, innovate to change the rules of the game.”
David O. Adeife