INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY&INNOVATIONFOUNDATIONARVR's Potential in Health CareALEXAMBROSEIJUNE 2025ARVR innovation needs to accelerate in order to meet the critical demands of health carePolicymakers should empower and fund immersive technologies in the health-care industrybecause of the long-term cost saving benefits and positive impact on patient careKEYTAKEAWAYS Immersive technologies enhance traditional methods of health care and oresent newtreatment options to explore. ultimately saving monev and oroducine better outcomesforpatient healthFrom medical student training to physical therapy rehabilitation, VR technologies providepatients and providers with safer and more personalized experiences than they wouldreceive in traditional care settings.AR/VR can address critical health-care industry challenges such as provider burnout, careaccess disparities. and care desertsAmericancompaniesdominatetheAR/VRmarket-amarket expected to growover 10times in the next decade-and health-care applications remains a key driver of U.S.innovation.For this innovation to continue, Congress should refine the Food and Drug Administrationand Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services' scope to better include immersivetechnologies in their approval pipelines.itif.org
CONTENTSKevTakeawa...........。1Introduction..Who IsUsingARNRIn-Hel±.....DoctorsandPratio...白Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Researchers and Develbor.r...Patients..18mies...Ras.-PolicyRecommendaio.膈....2j Support Federal Privacy Legislation to Create Consistent Protectionof AR/IR.±.at.......2Ponde Publi-Phivate Partershipsto Adan AR.VR Heath-Care ano.a......Increased Integration of AR/VR in Health-Care Education and Workforce DevelopmentProgram.........Continue to Develop Standards for AR/VR In Health.Ca.e...222Continue to Fund Research Into Immersive Technologies' Impact on Public Health,Fndnotes......INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY&INNOVATIONFOUNDATIONIJUNE2025PAGE2
INTRODUCTION While augmented and virtual reality (ARNR)-or extended reality (XR) more broadly-is popularlyknown for gaming applications, health care is quickly becoming the largest use case for these technologies. Doctors, surgeons, and medical students are not the only ones usingXR forhealtcare, either, as immersive environments can also put personal health technology in the hands ofleveryday consumers. In both practitioners and patients ' hands, medical XR (MXR) has thepotential to ease some common burdens in the health-care industrv. such as low health-careworker morale and retention, care deserts where a specialist is not locally available, and possiblyhealth care have driven demand. while advances invances in artificial intelligence(Al)havetions with Al tools such as chatbots and dat, from diagnosis to treatment topersonalizoractice surgical simulations. teachstudents about anatomv. and providepatient-specific dliagnoses on virtual humans and digital "twins" ofexisting patients.?Thesehighlv detailed anatomical models move bevond traditional...
