Relias Partners With Health Scholars, Leading Healthcare Virtual Reality Company, to Improve OB Provider Care

Partnership bolsters obstetrics training platform to save lives and ensure compliance

Relias, trusted partner to more than 11,000 healthcare organizations and 4.5 million caregivers, announced today that it has partnered with Health Scholars, the leading provider of virtual reality (VR) clinical training for healthcare professionals, to further Relias’ commitment to pursue innovative technology by enhancing its obstetrics (OB) product offerings.

Headquartered in Westminster, Colo., Health Scholars specializes in realistic simulations coupled with the latest AI technologies to deliver dynamic, immersive clinical training experiences for healthcare providers. VR-based training allows clinicians to augment typical modes of instruction to help perfect their skills and maintain requisite standards of care in 100% risk-free environments.

“Clinicians rely on exceptional training programs to help develop and maintain the high level of skill and working practices their roles demand,” said John Harrington, CMI, Vice President of Clinical Solutions at Relias. “As immersive technologies continue to advance, it’s a natural and exciting next step for Relias to expand into the VR space to better offer modes of training that give clinicians a competitive edge.”

This partnership serves to help solidify Relias’ commitment to reducing variation in care within the obstetrics / prenatal arenas, which have garnered much-needed attention as U.S. maternal mortality rates continue to raise concern. Health Scholars’ VR simulations address areas of focus within obstetrics where improved training and clinician assessment are critically needed.

The company’s offerings include VR applications for obstetric hemorrhage and obstetric emergencies. These immersive experiences incorporate elements that incentivize and challenge clinicians in engaging ways, utilizing AI-enabled voice technology. In addition to helping clinicians, VR training benefits hospitals by eliminating strain on resources, as it reduces the amount of time that clinicians are out of service to train, and units don’t have to be shut down to accommodate training activities.

“Simply having enough time for necessary training has been increasingly hard to come by over the last couple of years. But that should never be reason to forgo or limit training efforts,” said Michael Meguerdichian, MD, MPH-Ed, Senior Assistant Vice President of NYC Health + Hospitals/Simulation Center (NYCHH) in New York City. Health Scholars developed its obstetrics hemorrhage offering in collaboration with NYCHH, the largest public healthcare system in the United States.

Meguerdichian added, “The Health Scholars VR application allows our providers to individually work on critical skills in a team setting that accommodates their busy schedules. And the gaming component lets clinicians repeat and practice these skills, enabling best practices to be effectively hard-wired into the important work they do every day.”

“This collaboration with Health Scholars brings a first-of-its kind, blended learning solution to our OB education clients and makes it that much easier for practicing clinicians to meet learning requirements,” said Lora Sparkman, RN, BSN, MHA, Partner, Clinical Solutions at Relias. “The combination is a great value for busy clinicians and helps them reach their education goals using a model that’s both effective and efficient.”

“We’re confident that our joint offering with Relias can make a real difference in improving maternal health in America,” said Scott Johnson, CEO at Health Scholars. “Getting this technology into the hands of more clinicians will help labor and delivery nurses and physicians on the front lines reduce maternal mortality. Everyone here at Health Scholars is committed to the work we’re doing and excited about the ongoing collaboration with Relias.”

Relias will be demonstrating Health Scholars’ VR offering at its booth during this year’s AWHONN convention, June 25-29 in Aurora, Colo. To request a demo or learn more about Relias’ personalized obstetrics learning offerings, visit www.relias.com.

About Health Scholars

The best training isn’t watched or read. It’s experienced. At Health Scholars we’re reimagining healthcare training with virtual reality (VR). Our mission is to ensure every provider has the clinical experience needed to be competent and confident in any situation by providing immersive, interactive, and on-demand VR performance training. As the only VR training developed in partnership with medical professional societies, we’re setting a new training standard that improves quality of care. For more information, visit HealthScholars.com or follow us on LinkedIn.