Medicaid Care Experience Simulation Project

Medicaid Care Experience Simulation (MCarES) Project harnesses the power of immersive, virtual reality trainings to help frontline health care providers combat health disparities, reduce implicit biases, and improve the care of patients insured through Medicaid.

By collaborating with Ohio's Colleges of Medicine, the Ohio Department of Medicaid is using this initiative as a tool to address social determinants of health by educating Medicaid health care providers on cultural competency, awareness of implicit bias, and barriers people experience when accessing health care.

Virtual reality, augmented reality and simulated patient experiences from Ohio's medical schools include direct interpersonal feedback related to the interaction of patients and families. The schools collaborated with each other and clinical sites, like Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), community partners, and health professional associations, to deliver 13 simulations to over 900 Medicaid care providers across the state.