Vecna Technologies

Vecna Technologies, Inc.
Private
Industry Healthcare IT, Robotics, Software, Consulting
Founded 1998
Headquarters Cambridge, MA
Products The Patient Information Exchange (patient self-service), QC PathFinder (electronic infection surveillance software), QC Bot (logistics robot), VGo (robotic telepresence), The Bear (military robot)
Website www.vecna.com

Vecna is an IT solutions company with product offerings in healthcare and logistics. Vecna's healthcare IT products include the Patient Information Exchange (a patient self-service platform including pre-registration, onsite registration, queuing, clinical messaging, eforms, and business intelligence modules)and QC PathFinder (electronic infection surveillance software). Vecna's robotic logistics solutions include QC Bot (logistics robot) and VGo (robotic telepresence solution).

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 2015, Vecna was awarded the Kinetic Process Innovation Award for providing patient self-service technology to Boulder Community Hospital.[1] In 2015, the Robotics Business Review named Vecna one of the top 50 robotics companies to watch. [2] In 2014, Vecna was listed as #10 on the list of Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts. [3] 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.[4] [5] In addition, in 2012, Vecna was named to the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts by the Boston Business Journal. [6] In 2011, the Small Business Administration selected Vecna as one of 44 recipients of the Tibbetts Award for driving innovation and creating jobs. [7]

After a series of close partnerships, in 2015, Vecna bought telepresence robot manufacturer VGo Communications and moved employees from Nashua, New Hampshire to Vecna's Cambridge offices.[8]

Solutions

Patient Information Exchange

Vecna's patient self-service solution includes pre-registration, onsite registration, queuing, clinical messaging, eforms, and business intelligence modules.

The platform can be accessed by healthcare kiosks, personal computers and mobile devices. The online application lets patients 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.

Patients review their demographic information, verify insurance coverage, pay bills, and check in at the point-of-service or online. Patients who have completed registration activities online to check in with a barcode.

Queuing manages patient flow and provides administrative oversight. The solution supports audio and visual paging, patient estimated wait times, throughput forecasts, and customizable patient surveys.

The American Hospital Association endorsed Vecna's self-service Patient Kiosk. [9] The Patient Kiosks are also being rolled out across the U.S to medical centers of the Veteran's Administration. [10]


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). [11] QC PathFinder also automatically generates clinically validated institutional antibiograms that inform clinicians on appropriate antimicrobial choices for pathogens within their hospital. [12]

QC Bot

QC Bot is a logistics solution for healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and warehousing. [13]

VGo

Vecna acquired VGo in 2015. VGo is a robotic telepresence device that allows a user to log in from a distant location and to move around and interact with their environment as if they were physically there. VGo is active in the Education, Healthcare, and Business verticals. [14]

Research

Vecna's research and development efforts are funded by government grants. [15] [16]

Bear Robot

Vecna developed the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (The Bear™).[17] 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.[18]

Vecna Cares

Vecna donates IP to the Vecna Cares Charitable Trust to develop the CliniPAK, a rugged electronic medical record for use by rural and underserved communities. The CliniPAK is a mobile health record system, including a server and solar charger. Vecna Cares is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. [19]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "2015 Kinetic Process Innovation Award Winners Announced". Kinetic Process Innovation Awards via MarketWire. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  2. ↑ "RBR50 Top 50 Robotics Companies to Watch". Robotics Business Review. Retrieved 2015-02-16.
  3. ↑ "Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts". bostonglobe.com (The Boston Globe). Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  4. ↑ "Ninth Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards Luncheon". Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (MassEcon). Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  5. ↑ "Mass. Economic Impact Award finalists". boston.com (The Boston Globe). Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  6. ↑ "The BBJ announces its Top 100 Women-led Businesses of 2012". Boston Business Journal. 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  7. ↑ "SBA Announces Winners of 2011 Tibbetts Awards". U.S. Small Business Administration. 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  8. ↑ http://www.betaboston.com/news/2015/07/16/cambridge-based-vecna-technologies-acquires-vgo-maker-of-telepresence-robots/
  9. ↑ "American Hospital Association endorses Vecna Medical kiosks". kioskmarketplace.com. 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  10. ↑ "Veterans Authorizations and Preferences (VAPii), Work Effort Unique Identifying #20120112 , Business Requirements Document from the Department of Veteran's Affairs" (PDF). U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. April 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ "Vecna's QC Bot". The Boston Phoenix. 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  14. ↑ "VGo". VGo Communications,Inc. 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  15. ↑ "Visually Guided Robotic Hand / Eye Coordination". U.S. Small Business Administration, SBIR program. 2010. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  16. ↑ "SBIR Phase I: High Performance Hydraulic Actuation for Mobile Robots". U.S. Small Business Administration, SBIR program. 2009. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  17. ↑ "Bear robot rescues wounded soldiers". BBC News. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  18. ↑ "New Army technology could save soldiers' lives". CNN. 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  19. ↑ "Vecna Designs Mobile Health Systems for Rural Care". Xconomy. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
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