IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association)

What IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association) does

IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association) is a private, member-driven professional association headquartered in Washington, DC, dedicated to advancing the adoption of VR, AR, MR, and XR technologies in healthcare. Founded around 2016–2017 (firmographic sources differ: the inaugural Global Symposium was held at GW Hospital in 2017, while the company record cites a 2016 founding date), the organization convenes providers, technology vendors, academic researchers, and government health agencies around shared clinical, training, and research use cases. Its stated purpose is to reduce fragmentation between clinicians and XR developers and to surface evidence-based best practices for immersive healthcare applications.

The association does not develop or sell proprietary technology products; its platform is organizational rather than software-based. Core deliverables include the Annual Global Symposium (9 editions completed since 2017), the Annual Europe Symposium (6 editions completed since 2018), and four specialized sub-events: the Inaugural Behavioral Symposium (Univ. of Colorado, 2019), Inaugural Tech Transfer Symposium (VCU, 2022), Inaugural Pediatrics Symposium (Yale, 2023), and Inaugural VR Healthcare Hackathon (Ringling, 2024). Members additionally receive access to an online directory, news publication, on-demand webinars (e.g., the XR Nurse Training Platforms session), and partnership referrals through allied media and journal organizations such as VR Voice, AMXRA, and the Journal of Medical Extended Reality.

The business model is subscription/recurring membership-based. IVRHA generates revenue from organizational membership fees paid by healthcare systems, XR technology companies, research institutions, and government agencies (e.g., the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and NIH are listed members). Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The organization has scaled to 100+ member organizations across at least 19 countries, with operational execution supported by Cool Blue Media (website copyright holder), Executive Director Robert Fine, and Advisory Board Chair Dr. Walter Greenleaf. No venture capital, private equity, or public funding is disclosed.

Name

IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association)

Legal name

IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association)

Website

https://ivrha.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IVRHA is a private, member-driven professional association headquartered in Washington, DC that convenes healthcare providers, XR technology vendors, academic researchers, and government agencies through annual global and regional symposiums to advance the use of VR, AR, MR, and XR in clinical and research settings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: IVRHA generates revenue through organizational membership fees from healthcare providers, VR/XR technology companies, research institutions, and other stakeholders in the extended reality healthcare ecosystem.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IVRHA is a member-driven professional association that advances virtual reality and extended reality (VR/AR/MR/XR) technologies in healthcare. It delivers value through organizational membership, an annual Global Symposium, an annual Europe Symposium, and specialized symposia (Pediatrics, Tech Transfer, Behavioral), along with a member directory, industry news, and on-demand webinars for healthcare providers, technology vendors, researchers, and government agencies.

Product overview

IVRHA is a professional industry association dedicated to advancing virtual reality and extended reality technologies in healthcare. Rather than offering a product portfolio, IVRHA operates as a membership organization that connects VR healthcare innovators through annual symposia, educational events, a directory of member organizations, and industry news publication. The association does not develop or sell its own products; instead, it facilitates collaboration among member organizations including healthcare providers, technology companies, academic institutions, and startups working in VR/AR healthcare applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IVRHA Organizational Membership Annual membership for healthcare providers, VR/XR technology vendors, academic and research institutions, and government agencies, providing access to the member directory, event registration, industry news, and the IVRHA network.
• Annual Global Symposium Flagship in-person annual event for the medical XR community, hosted at major healthcare and academic institutions (GW Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Univ. of Arizona, Vanderbilt, Penn Medicine, Ringling/Moffitt). Nine editions held since 2017, with the 10th announced for 2026.
• Annual Europe Symposium Annual European regional symposium for the medical XR community, hosted in rotating European cities including Zurich, Dublin, Lisbon, Helsinki, and Geneva. Six editions held since 2018.
• Specialized Symposiums (Pediatrics, Tech Transfer, Behavioral) Themed single-track symposiums focused on specific medical XR domains, including the Inaugural Behavioral Symposium at the University of Colorado (2019), the Inaugural Tech Transfer Symposium at VCU (2022), and the Inaugural Pediatrics Symposium at Yale (2023).
• IVRHA Member Directory and Online Portal Digital platform on ivrha.org providing event registration, member organization listings, industry news, and professional networking resources for the VR/AR healthcare community.

Quantifiable outcome

• 9 Annual Global Symposiums and 6 Annual Europe Symposiums conducted since 2017
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SoldierPointcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 April 2026SoldierPoint Digital Health (acquired by GovCIO in 2025) partnered with Healium to support the VA's largest in-home VR mental health initiative. SoldierPoint handles logistics and technology-enabled services, enabling Veterans to receive world-class healthcare through digital health solutions.
• VA ImmersivecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026VA Immersive Team collaborates with VA clinicians and Healium to deploy over 700 in-home VR mental wellness kits nationwide. The initiative delivers non-pharmacological tools for Veterans to self-manage stress.
• NiceDay NederlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021NiceDay Nederland partnered with emteq labs for the PSYCH-AID project, creating E-PTSD platform combining VR, AI, and biofeedback for remote PTSD treatment including adaptive EMDR therapy.
• emteq labscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021emteq labs developed the E-PTSD platform with NiceDay Nederland for AI-based mental healthcare, incorporating proprietary sensor technology for measuring emotions through facial gestures and biometric responses.
• CareerCertminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020CareerCert partnered with Health Scholars to expand VR ACLS training through CareerCert's online training platform, helping emergency and healthcare departments access consistent VR-based training.
• VR VoiceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerVR Voice is listed as a partner organization, providing cross-promotional content and media coverage for IVRHA events and member news.
• AMXRAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAMXRA (Association of Medical XR Americas) partners with IVRHA for industry advocacy and cross-promotion of extended reality healthcare initiatives.
• Journal of Medical Extended RealityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic journal partnership for publishing research and studies on medical extended reality applications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Telemedicine Association (ATA): ATA is the principal U.S. telehealth industry association, lobbying and convening stakeholders in virtual care delivery. It overlaps with IVRHA where XR meets clinical care delivery, especially in mental health and remote patient engagement.
• XR Association (XRA): XRA is the broad cross-industry XR trade association whose members include the major headset and platform vendors serving healthcare. It is comparable as a peer XR-industry association but with a much broader mandate beyond healthcare.
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS): HIMSS is the largest healthcare IT trade association globally, convening providers, payers, and vendors around digital health adoption. It is comparable as a broad-incumbent analog in healthcare technology - much larger scope, but running a similar membership, conference, and content model.
• AdvaMed: AdvaMed is the leading U.S. medical device industry association with broad membership across device manufacturers. It is comparable as a much larger trade-association analog whose members increasingly include XR-based device vendors like those IVRHA represents.
• American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA): AMIA is the professional association for informatics in healthcare, with a similar membership-plus-annual-meeting model and academic/clinical mix. It intersects with IVRHA at the clinical decision support and digital health frontier.

Direct peers

• AMXRA (Association of Medical XR Americas): AMXRA is listed as a partner association of IVRHA with overlapping mission of advancing medical extended reality; both operate as industry associations convening vendors, providers, and researchers, and they explicitly cross-promote events and advocacy.
• Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH): SSH is a long-established healthcare simulation society running the annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare; comparable as a membership association serving hospitals and educators, with substantial overlap with IVRHA's clinical-training and simulation focus areas.

Others

• Journal of Medical Extended Reality: The Journal of Medical Extended Reality is IVRHA's academic publication partner, providing peer-reviewed outlets for member research. It is thematically adjacent as a content-distribution peer rather than a competing membership organization.
• VR Voice: VR Voice is IVRHA's media partner operating the VRVoice.co domain that has historically hosted IVRHA event microsites (e.g., health20.vrvoice.co). It functions as a content/media-adjacent peer, amplifying IVRHA's XR coverage rather than competing for members.

Emerging players

• Osso VR: Osso VR is a venture-backed surgical and medical training VR platform; a representative commercial VR-healthcare vendor whose company type contrasts with IVRHA's association model. It is comparable as a member-organization archetype within IVRHA's ecosystem and as an adjacent voice in XR clinical training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ivrha

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association)