Vecna Technologies

Vecna Technologies, Inc.
Private
Industry Healthcare IT, Robotics, Software, Consulting
Founded 1998
Headquarters Greenbelt, Maryland
Products Patient self-service (including Patient Portal, Patient Kiosk, and Patient Queuing), QC PathFinder (electronic infection surveillance software), QC Bot (health care robot), The Bear (military robot)
Slogan Better Technology, Better World(tm)
Website www.vecna.com

Vecna is a healthcare IT company. Vecna Medical's healthcare IT products include a suite of patient self-service products (Patient Portal, Patient Kiosk, and Patient Queuing), QC PathFinder (electronic infection surveillance software), and QC Bot (healthcare delivery robot).

Vecna is best known for its military robot, the Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot (The Bear™).

History

Vecna was originally founded to provide consulting and systems integration services to the United States Military Health System and Department of Veterans Affairs. The founders derived the name 'Vecna' from the Czech word věčný, fem. věčná, meaning 'eternal' implying that the company and its products are built to last. Vecna Technologies was founded in 1998 and has offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Greenbelt, Maryland.

In 2012 the company was awarded the Gold Massachusetts Economic Impact Award for Greater Boston by the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (MassEcon) because of the company's expansion in Massachusetts.[1] [2] In addition, in 2012, Vecna was named to the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts by the Boston Business Journal. [3] In 2011, the Small Business Administration selected Vecna as one of 44 recipients of the Tibbetts Award for driving innovation and creating jobs. [4]

Products

Patient Self-Service

Vecna Medical's patient self-service products include a Patient Portal, Patient Kiosk, and Patient Queuing.

The Patient Portal is an online application that patients use to complete administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments, registering for appointments, paying bills, and exchanging secure messages with providers. Patients can also view clinical information such as lab results, medication, and patient problem lists. A data exchange platform supports bi-directional data exchange with any brand of hospital EMR/EHR system via a range of interfaces, including HL7, X12, XML and web-services.

The Patient Kiosk is a hospital kiosk that lets patients review their demographic information, verify insurance coverage, pay bills, and check in at the point-of-service. It uses the same data exchange platform as the Patient Portal, which allows patients who have completed registration activities online to check in with a barcode.

The American Hospital Association has endorsed Vecna's self-service Patient Kiosk. [5] The Patient Kiosks are also being rolled out across the U.S to medical centers of the Veteran's Administration. [6]

Patient Queuing is a stand-alone solution that manages patient flow and provides administrative oversight. The solution supports audio and visual paging, patient estimated wait times, throughput forecasts, and customizable patient surveys.

QC PathFinder

QC PathFinder is electronic infection surveillance software that automatically alerts healthcare professionals of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs), pharmacy-related safety events, and facilitates reporting infections to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health Safety Network (NHSN). [7] QC PathFinder also automatically generates clinically validated institutional antibiograms that inform clinicians on appropriate antimicrobial choices for pathogens within their hospital. [8]

QC Bot

QC Bot is used by hospitals to deliver medication, food, linen, etc. It also provides video chat and can check-in patients and then lead them to their appointments. [9]

Research

Vecna has won several grants that support research and development efforts. [10] [11]

Bear Robot

Vecna developed the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (The Bear™).[12] The Bear robot is outfitted with infrared cameras and can be operated remotely. The BEAR robot was originally designed to rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield but the platform also has applications in logistics.[13]

Vecna Cares

Vecna donates IP to the Vecna Cares Charitable Trust to develop the CliniPAK, an EMR for use by popup clinics. Vecna Cares is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on improving healthcare in underserved areas around the world. The CliniPAK is a mobile health record system, including a server and solar charger. [14]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Ninth Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards Luncheon". Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (MassEcon). Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  2. ↑ "Mass. Economic Impact Award finalists". boston.com (The Boston Globe). Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  3. ↑ "The BBJ announces its Top 100 Women-led Businesses of 2012". Boston Business Journal. 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  4. ↑ "SBA Announces Winners of 2011 Tibbetts Awards". U.S. Small Business Administration. 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  5. ↑ "American Hospital Association endorses Vecna Medical kiosks". kioskmarketplace.com. 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  6. ↑ "Veterans Authorizations and Preferences (VAPii), Work Effort Unique Identifying #20120112 , Business Requirements Document from the Department of Veteran's Affairs". U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. April 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  7. ↑ "Development of Computerized Algorithms to Detect Bloodstream and Urinary Tract Infections: Early Conceptualization, Validation and Factors Related to Adoption in by Infection Control Teams". CIN: Computers Informatics Nursing. 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  8. ↑ "Validation of Electronic Antibiograms for the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System". Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections. 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  9. ↑ "Vecna's QC Bot". The Boston Phoenix. 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  10. ↑ "Visually Guided Robotic Hand / Eye Coordination". U.S. Small Business Administration, SBIR program. 2010. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  11. ↑ "SBIR Phase I: High Performance Hydraulic Actuation for Mobile Robots". U.S. Small Business Administration, SBIR program. 2009. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  12. ↑ "Bear robot rescues wounded soldiers". BBC News. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  13. ↑ "New Army technology could save soldiers' lives". CNN. 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  14. ↑ "Vecna Designs Mobile Health Systems for Rural Care". Xconomy. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-12-13.

External links