About VA Immersive
Established by Anne Lord Bailey, PharmD, BCPS, and Caitlin Rawlins, BSN, RN, in October 2019, VA Immersive harnesses and collates the immersive technology work being done at VA. We help improve care delivery and experiences by leveraging immersive technology for falls risk assessment, neurological risk assessment, pain management, anxiety, addiction recovery, physical therapy, recreation therapy, PTSD, employee education, and more. The result is a healthier reality for both Veterans and VHA employees.
VA Immersive Leadership
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Anne Lord Bailey, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Anne Lord Bailey is the Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives Lab. Dr. Bailey started her healthcare career as a pharmacy resident and then pharmacy practitioner for Western North Carolina VA Healthcare System in Asheville, NC, focused on Hepatitis C and innovative care models. In 2017, she began the Innovation Program at WNCVAHCS, and in 2020, she joined the VHA Innovation Ecosystem team to lead implementation of emerging technology. In 2021, Dr. Bailey became OHIL’s lead for Immersive Technology, establishing VA Immersive as a collaborative program across the office. She has worked with experts and thought leaders in government, academia, and industry, while co-leading the expansion of the VHA XR Network from the founding five facilities to over 160, engaging more than 2,000 VA employees. Recently, Dr. Bailey was awarded 2022 G2Xchange Change Agent Award and, along with other OHIL Immersive Tech team members, the 2022 Service to the Citizen Award. In October 2022, she received the International Virtual Reality in Healthcare Association’s 2022 Hero Award for dedication to the growth of immersive technology in healthcare.
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Caitlin Rawlins, MSN, RN, CHFM
Caitlin Rawlins has been a nurse for over ten years, with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 2017. In her first year of VA practice, she initiated the first positive distraction-focused virtual reality program for pain and anxiety management in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). She now aids in leading VHA Innovation as Director of Clinical Tech Innovation, co-lead of the VHA Extended Reality (XR) Network, and Program Manager of VA Immersive in the Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning. She has helped support the expansion of XR technology use from one facility to over 160 and network engagement to more than 2,000 VA employees, including the development of pilots, programs, and healthcare integration resources. Ms. Rawlins has been awarded the 2019 ANCC Pathway Award®, 2022 G2Xchange Disruptive Tech Program Award, IVRHA Hero Award, and, along with other OHIL Immersive Tech team members, was a recipient of the 2022 Service to the Citizen Award, 2023 ACT-IAC Innovation Impact Award, 2023 FORUM Health IT Innovation Award, and is a 2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals® Finalist for contributions to VA’s implementation of XR and development of the VHA XR Network.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Immersive technologies create distinct experiences by merging the physical world with a digital or virtual environment. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are two principal types of immersive technologies.
Extended Reality (XR) is an inclusive term encompassing both Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). While AR is utilized at VA, VR is currently the most common form of XR in use with Veterans and staff.
Virtual Reality (VR) means the user is fully immersed in the virtual experience and has no interaction with the real world. Example: Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management
Augmented Reality (AR) intertwines the real world and virtual worlds, allowing the user to interact with real and virtual worlds simultaneously through digital overlays.
Mixed Reality is a blend of both real-world objects and digital-world objects.
VA Immersive is available to VA staff, professionals from various industries, academic institutions, government partners, and other collaborators. They are all welcome to engage and interact with VA Immersive through virtual meetings, presentations, demonstrations, and a host of other opportunities.
VA employees are invited to join our Microsoft Teams Channel to stay connected. Additionally, they can further engage by participating in our monthly Community of Practice calls. To learn more, VA employees can email us at VAImmersive@va.gov.
If you are not a VA employee but are interested in getting involved with VA Immersive, we encourage you to email us at VAImmersive@va.gov to get more information.
Contact VA Immersive
Have a question or want to learn more about VA Immersive? Send us message at VAImmersive@va.gov and we will get back to you as soon as possible.