California-based virtual reality therapeutic company AppliedVR announced it secured an expanded contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs via its Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning, dubbed VA Immersive, to provide veterans with VR-based chronic low back pain therapies. 

AppliedVR's RelieVRx (formerly EaseVRx) received FDA De Novo clearance in 2021 to be used in the treatment of chronic low back pain. 

RelieVRx is a self-guided, eight-week, in-home virtual reality program where patients can participate in VR sessions that use cognitive behavioral therapy to treat pain. The sessions offer content like exercises in breathing, mindfulness, relaxation-response and executive function.

"VA Immersive has been a trailblazer that is consistently at the forefront of health care innovation, actively fostering exploration and integration of cutting-edge technologies to enhance health care delivery and services," Matthew Stoudt, cofounder and CEO of AppliedVR, said in a statement.

"VA Immersive's mission to set national standards for leveraging VR will accelerate the adoption of immersive therapeutics across VA, enabling our wounded warriors to receive next-generation treatments like RelieVRx."

THE LARGER TREND

In 2020, AppliedVR partnered with the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, a division of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to explore use cases of VR programs within the VA system. 

AppliedVR announced its RelieVRx system could be used under a unique Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPSC) Level II code created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for reimbursement. 

The company relayed to MobiHealthNews earlier this month how AI will impact healthcare and the opportunities it sees in utilizing the technology in the VR realm. 

"We are entering the Cambrian explosion of AI in healthcare. Using algorithms to better respond to individual patients and personalize care will be a new frontier for AI, and in VR, there are opportunities to deliver AI-driven one-to-one and group therapy sessions as well as precision VR therapy based on each person's biofeedback data. I'm excited to see the impact AI will make across the ecosystem," Stoudt told MobiHealthNews.