HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
View All ProductsTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
View All ProductsProvide an easier way to view healthcare staff capacity insights while seeing a patient’s journey with HealthStream’s operational intelligence and machine learning products.
View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreIn a recent conversation with Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo, Ph.D., Director Medical Virtual Reality-Institute for Creative Technologies, and Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, he shared his perspectives on the development and future promise of VR in the clinical setting.
Is VR a Magical Tool?
Dr. Rizzo indicates that “There’s nothing magical about VR, although you might get that experience if you do a well-executed VR application—you may feel it is ‘magical.’ But there’s nothing magical about the technology. It’s simply a tool, which is what the term technology derives from in the original Greek words, techne and logos. In our clinical use, it’s a tool to deliver a treatment in a novel way that might engage people, which might afford more opportunities to precisely control the stimulus conditions in imaginative ways, and draw people into therapy that they may benefit from, but would never seek in the traditional format. And within the controlled and engaging stimulus environments that VR can deliver we may be able to provide better opportunities for the real time measurement of performance or behavior in response to those simulations that represent the challenges that people face in everyday realities.”
Should we “Virtualize” Everything?
“I’ll be the first one to say, our intention is not to virtualize everything about mental health, rehab, and healthcare. There are some approaches that are not suited to become ‘virtualized.’ But where the clinical approach is well-matched to the assets that VR provides, then I think there is a quantum leap just ahead. There are more VR startups in the last two years than in the previous twenty. Some of those companies will shake out, and there will definitely be wreckage along the way because, in a lot of cases, some of these companies come out of a game development ecosystem rather than a healthcare ecosystem where different forces are at play. Sometimes people see a research paper and want to start a company around it, but they don’t understand that this isn’t the game industry where you build a cool game and people pay to play it. This is healthcare—in healthcare we have a higher calling.
”Where Are We Headed? What is on the Horizon for Healthcare Virtual Reality?
“Things are still shaking out, but there’s been a renewed interest in VR since around 2012, particularly with the level of investment that’s been put into the field, again driven by the gaming and entertainment media industries. There’s still certainly a lot of over-hype right now—similar to the mentality that was around in 1993 and 1994. But when you sift through the hype and you actually look at the functional nature of what a VR simulation is, you can see more clearly than before where it can add value. VR can do some things you simply cannot do in a traditional format, and now we have a lot of research behind it. And that is essential when developing VR healthcare applications—you’ve got to be able to document that what you’re doing actually does what you claim it does. You need the research support to do that.”In looking at the future of VR, Dr. Rizzo highlights a number of key success factors.
“Now is the time to be supporting some of the research where you can show some wins. The first win, of course, being better clinical outcomes. But you also have to think about cost. How do you reduce cost? How do you engage people in their own treatment in ways that promote wellness? I think those answers exist, but not in a straight line. You’ve got to be smart about it.
We are now at a point where we have developed some advanced research prototypes (and some products like BRAVEMIND), but these research-supported systems are now “screaming” to escape the lab for dissemination. We are always interested in partnering or collaborations to move this effort forward. That’s my mission now—to be more focused on getting things out the door and doing things on a larger scale than what we’ve been able to do in the past. The technology has caught up with the vision, and this brings us to a point where these applications are well-poised to have a wider-scale impact on public health and wellness.”
This article is taken from our recent complimentary eBook, The Future of Learning: New Technologies Influencing Clinical Development. Download the eBook here.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsImprove the preparedness of your staff, increase survival rates, and cut costs with the advanced resuscitation training services from HealthStream.
View All ResuscitationNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsDelivers everything you need to request, gather, and validate information about a provider to create a single source of truth for downstream processes.
View All CredentialingMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
View All ProductsProvide an easier way to view healthcare staff capacity insights while seeing a patient’s journey with HealthStream’s operational intelligence and machine learning products.
View All Products