FAQs
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Frequently Asked Questions
The NCCMMS exists to help bring modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities proven valuable in non-healthcare markets into the healthcare market space. Companies interested in diversifying their portfolios and their market reach - and that have ideas for, or proven M&S products or services - can contact us for help navigating the complexities of the U.S. healthcare system.
The NCCMMS helps to identify the opportunities inherent in your problem-solving ideas or products, collaboratively develop and refine these ideas or products, and further collaborate and advise you regarding commercialization of a resulting product or service. The NCCMMS is open to variations on this theme, including potential commercial collaboration.
You relationship with the NCCMMS starts with a phone call or email to Bob Armstrong. Bob will work with you to better understand your idea's relevant opportunities. As discussions progress, a plan will emerge that will take the idea through a collaborative process that will ultimately result in a business model and prototype, ready for market testing and eventual commercialization. The process is very much akin to that experienced by startups and entrepreneurs; there is ample opportunity to tune, tweak, test, and pivot to ensure the final product is successful.
In 2001, Drs. Don Combs (EVMS) and Bowen Loftin (VMASC, ODU) discussed the need to "jump start" the use and development of modeling and simulation (M&S) tools in the comprehensive healthcare arena. While patient manikins, task trainers, and standardized patients were becoming popular educational tools, the investment in these technologies and services was orders of magnitude less than the investment in M&S tools to support the Department of Defense (DoD), which at that time was the main focus of VMASC. Combs and Loftin understood that the best path to "catching up" the healthcare industry was to repurpose the products and tools developed for the DoD. From this idea, the NCCMMS was launched, officially created via Congressional language. Today, the NCCMMS continues on the mission to translate M&S technologies from other industries into the healthcare domain.
The NCCMMS is a program within the Sentara Center for Simulation and Immersive Learning (SCSIL) at Eastern Virginia Medical School.