The Metaverse Will Save Lives: Healthcare Innovation in 2022 and Beyond
9 November, 2022 · John Whyte
WebMD's Chief Medical Officer John Whyte shares insights on how the metaverse will impact the future of healthcare.
When it comes to innovations in healthcare, we tend to focus on the use of wearables, trackers and sensors that provide personalized data such as number of steps taken, calories burned, sleep quality, and heart rate. Nearly half of Americans currently wear this type of smart jewelry (e.g. watch, ring, wrist band). Don’t worry though if you haven’t adopted the use of one because the next innovation in wearables won’t even be something we wear – we will be talking “near-ables.” These are devices that we don’t need to wear but rather ones that can be near us – such as a light bulb – that can record our vital signs each time we are in its range. Pretty cool!
But when it comes to healthcare, the real innovation, however, may be in the role of the metaverse. By metaverse, I don’t mean the company “Meta” – instead I’m referring to the space where we use technologies to bridge the physical and digital worlds. Two of the most talked about tools are Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). It’s these technologies that could completely reshape how we think about and deliver health care.
VR creates a 3-D fictional world, often requiring a headset, that allows one to immerse oneself in a virtual environment. Already, we have seen a role for this tool in the area of pain control. In fact, two years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted breakthrough-device designation to a VR system designed to treat low back pain as well as fibromyalgia.
AR merges virtual images with the real world. This tool allows your doctor and other health professionals to visualize things in front of them using augmented reality that they otherwise couldn’t – such as arteries through different parts of the body, or the exact size and shape of a diseased liver, or the location of broken bones as well as lab results and other parts of the health record – without taking their attention away from you to look at some other screen. Imagine how this helps at the point of care such as during a surgery! It also will play a critical role in medical education. At a time when there are shortages of cadavers, AR will allow surgeons to learn the necessary skills and decision-making that will improve health outcomes. It will provide a whole new level of sophisticated simulation! I believe it will also play an important role in improving care of patients with cancer – all the information in one place for multiple providers to collaborate, in real-time, on a comprehensive treatment plan.
The key, with any new technology, is to make sure that everyone has access to it. With both public and private funding, the metaverse can dramatically improve health care for people around the world.
John Whyte
John J. Whyte, MD, MPH, is a physician, strategist, and health care innovator who has spent his career guiding organizations through disruption, transformation, and public scrutiny. As CEO and executive vice president of the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician organization, he leads one of health care’s most influential institutions at a moment when trust, innovation, and resilience are critical across every industry. Previously, Dr. Whyte served as chief medical officer at WebMD, where he helped position the platform at the forefront of digital health innovation. He expanded strategic partnerships, created new business opportunities, and helped evolve WebMD from a content destination into a digital health resource connecting consumers directly to care. Earlier, he held senior roles at the FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where his work advanced clinical trial modernization, real-world evidence, payment policy, and innovative models to improve health care outcomes. He also served as chief medical expert and vice president of health and medical education at the Discovery Channel, creating programming that brought medical insight to mainstream audiences. A board-certified internist, Dr. Whyte earned his MD from Hahnemann University School of Medicine, completed his residency at Duke University Medical Center, earned his MPH in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University, and previously served as a health services research fellow at Stanford University. He is the author of five bestselling books and has been named one of the Top 20 Health Influencers. Dr. Whyte’s journey gives him rare insight into how to lead in complex, regulated environments, communicate clearly during crises, and drive innovation without losing stakeholder trust. For business audiences, his lessons go beyond health care. He equips leaders with frameworks to anticipate disruption, embrace digital transformation, and build organizations that thrive under pressure. Audiences leave his sessions with actionable strategies for leading with clarity, strengthening resilience, and inspiring trust in an era of rapid change. Why Audiences Will Be Better Off for Having Hired Him