ORR Pushes Outdoor Care Into Healthcare for 110,000 Businesses as It Seeks Reimbursement Path
Updated
Updated · Healthcare Brew · May 28
ORR Pushes Outdoor Care Into Healthcare for 110,000 Businesses as It Seeks Reimbursement Path
1 articles · Updated · Healthcare Brew · May 28
Outdoor Recreation Roundtable is pressing to embed outdoor activity in healthcare, arguing 120 minutes outside a week can improve sleep, cut stress, ease depression and support immune function.
Nature prescriptions are central to that push: doctors direct patients to parks, playgrounds or green spaces instead of—or alongside—drug treatments when outdoor time could address health gaps.
REI-backed research and training are helping build the case, while ORR has launched two grant programs to link outdoor infrastructure with rural health and economic development in communities across the country.
Barton Health’s Tahoe wellness walks are being watched as a proof point for whether hospital-based outdoor programs can shorten healing times and be replicated elsewhere.
The broader goal is reimbursement—letting outdoor gear, park access and related activities qualify through insurance or HSA/FSA spending as preventive care that lowers healthcare costs.
With Medicare now funding lifestyle interventions, could your next prescription be a park pass paid for by insurance?
As doctors prescribe nature, how can we prevent green spaces from becoming exclusive, medically-gated resources?