October 7, 2011

Vecna CEO to speak at RoboBusiness 2011 Leadership Summit

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna's CEO, Deborah Theobald, will participate as a panel member at the RoboBusiness 2011 Leadership Summit on November 3 in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. This seventh annual convocation of executive-level leadership provides a forum for the robotics industry’s investors, key developers, and end-users to share best practices and expectations for business development in the rapidly evolving automation market.
[ Full Article ]

Septmeber 8, 2011

Vecna Robotics announces new family of mobile hydraulic power units

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Technologies unveiled the PowerBox™ family of compact, mobile hydraulic power units for application in military, academic, and commercial robots.
[ Full Article ]

June 12, 2011

Vecna Medical to exhibit at 2011 HFMA ANI

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical will showcase its patient self service solutions at the 2011 HFMA ANI Healthcare Finance Conference. Vecna's exhibits will include demos of its kiosks, portal, and mobile device products. The American Hospital Association (AHA) has awarded its exclusive endorsement to Vecna's products which are used in leading health care institutions such as the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Kaiser Permanente and numerous other hospitals and health systems.
[ Full Article ]

June 10, 2011

Vecna Medical to exhibit QC PathFinder® infection surveillance solution at APIC conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical will demonstrate the latest version of QC Pathfinder™ infection control and surveillance software at the 2011 APIC Conference. QC PathFinder® is the industry leading infection surveillance software that automatically alerts infection preventionists of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and enables them to monitor, analyze and report HAIs more effectively. The software also allows them to track antimicrobial resistance trends in their facilities in order to better manage their formulary.
[ Full Article ]

June 3, 2011 - via mass.gov

Governor Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Murray join Vecna to celebrate Veterans' Affairs contract and new jobs

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Building on the Patrick-Murray Administration's commitment to supporting our veterans and creating jobs, Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray joined more than 50 employees and executives from Vecna Technologies at the company's Cambridge facility to celebrate the awarding of a $120 million contract, which will ultimately lead to 100 new jobs over the next two years. The company, which received the contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will improve healthcare for veterans and reduce hospital costs at VA facilities.
[ Full Article ]

June 1, 2011

Vecna's Bear™ robot featured in TV Tokyo's survey of the US robotics industry

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna's Bear robot, the strongest humanoid robot in the world, continues to impress in yet another TV appearance. This time, a crew from TV Tokyo, one of Japan's six major broadcasting channels, traveled across the globe to visit Vecna.
[ Full Article ]

May 24, 2011

Vecna Medical to exhibit QC PathFinder® infection control solution at CHICA conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical will demonstrate the latest version of QC Pathfinder infection control and surveillance software at the 2011 National Education Conference hosted by the Community and Hospital Infection Control Association – Canada. QC PathFinder® is an innovative infection surveillance software tool that automatically alerts infection preventionists of potential infections and enables them to monitor, analyze and report HAIs.
[ Full Article ]

May 24, 2011

Vecna Medical will exhibit its patient self-service kiosk and web portal solutions at NAHAM

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical will be exhibiting at the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) 37th Annual Educational Conference and Exposition. Vecna's patient self–service solutions are used by leading health care institutions such as Johns Hopkins Hospital, National Naval Medical Center, and Ingalls Memorial Hospital to improve patient satisfaction and financial performance. Since 2009 Vecna's patient self-service solutions has had the exclusive endorsements from the American Hospital Association (AHA).
[ Full Article ]

May 13, 2011

Vecna Medical announces Kiosk Lite: intelligent queuing software without integration

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Vecna Medical introduces Kiosk Lite to an extensive family of patient self-service products. Kiosk Lite streamlines patient check-in without a full-scale systems integration.
[ Full Article ]

May 12, 2011

Vecna President Daniel Theobald to speak at Military Robotics Conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Vecna President and CTO, Daniel Theobald, will speak on the current and future state-of-the-art in unmanned robotic systems and technology in military applications at the Military Robotics Conference.
[ Full Article ]

April 18, 2011

Vecna Mentors FIRST Robotics Team to Regionals

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Engineers from Vecna Technologies mentored a team of high school students from the Cambridge Rindge Latin School (CRLS) in building a robot to compete in this year's FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) on April 7th - 9th. CRLS team 97, The Cow, competed in eleven matches earlier this month.
[ Full Article ]

April 3, 2011

Veterans Affairs uses Vecna Medical's QC PathFinder® software to compare regional and institutional antibiograms

CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) presented at SHEA 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting in Dallas, TX results from a study that explored the possibility of using regional antibiograms at the facility level. Smaller health care facilities, like many individual VA medical centers, often lack sufficient data to generate institutional antibiograms. Antibiograms are used by clinicians to choose early and appropriate antibiotics for patients. The project, which was conducted by VA's Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research (OPHSR), and presented by Dr. Patricia Schirmer, MD, utilized antibiograms generated by Vecna Medical's QC PathFinder® electronic infection surveillance software and showed that in many cases regional antibiograms can be used at the facility level. The abstract of this research can be found at the SHEA Conference web site.
[ Full Article ]

April 2, 2011

Vecna Robotics impresses military end-users with innovative products at NDIA Ground Robotics Conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Vecna Robotics' new generation of innovative robotics hardware attracted significant interest at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Ground Robotics Conference, held on March 22-24, 2011.
[ Full Article ]

March 18, 2011

Vecna Medical launches QC PathFinder® version 6.0 with updated NHSN reporting capabilities and pharmacy intervention tracking

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical, developer of the industry leading infection control software QC PathFinder®, launched version 6.0 this month. QC PathFinder® is a web–based software that automatically collects and analyzes laboratory, pharmacy, and other clinical data in real–time to detect infections and adverse drug events.
[ Full Article ]

March 11, 2011

Vecna's Bear™ Robot featured in the Economist and to appear in "Modern Marvels" episode "Weird Machines"

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna's Bear Robot, the strongest humanoid robot in the world, was featured in March 10th issue of the Economist and will be making its second appearance on the History Channel's Modern Marvels program in an upcoming episode called "Weird Machines," scheduled to air sometime late this month or early April. Modern Marvels examines the ways in which technology fundamentally changes the world and our daily lives, covering a broad range of topics from science and engineering to food and agriculture. The episode "Weird Machines" will focus on the unique and unusual technologies developed by inventors to solve everyday problems in unexpected ways.
[ Full Article ]

March 1, 2011

Vecna Cares brings smart phone health delivery technology to Africa

NAIROBI, KENYA – Vecna Technologies' software development engineers are teaming with the Vecna Cares Charitable Trust to bring advancements to medical records and eHealth in Kenya and Tanzania.
[ Full Article ]

February 27, 2011

QC Bot™ One Robot. Many Uses.™ — QC Bot Version 2.0 draws crowd at HIMSS 2011 Conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical's latest version of QC Bot generated a lot of buzz at the HIMSS11 Healthcare IT Conference in Orlando, FL early this month. The unique robot attracted interested hospital attendees over the course of the show.
[ Full Article ]

February 15, 2011

Vecna Technologies awarded the Tibbetts Award for exceptional innovation

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded the Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for its high-performance healthcare solutions. SBA presents the awards to companies and individuals that have advanced technological innovation and economic growth.
[ Full Article ]

February 14, 2011

Vecna Medical to exhibit patient self-service and infection control solutions at HIMSS

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical will showcase a number of exciting products at the 11th Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference and Exhibition, including the latest models of its award-winning, AHA–endorsed patient self–service web portal and kiosk solutions. Additionally, Vecna will demonstrate the latest version of QC Pathfinder™ infection control and surveillance software which allows infection preventionists and hospital staff the ability to monitor, analyze and detect outbreak trends.
[ Full Article ]

February 10, 2011

Vecna Robotics to exhibit new products at NDIA Ground Robotics Conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Robotics will showcase a number of new and innovative robotic technologies at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Ground Robotics Conference on March 22–24, 2011. The conference draws key players from the defense robotics industry, academia, and government to showcase innovative technologies and share ideas that better equip soldiers and domestic first responders.
[ Full Article ]

February 5, 2011

Vecna Medical completes installation of patient self-service kiosks at the National Naval Medical Center

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Technologies is pleased to announce the successful installation of patient self–service kiosks at the National Naval Medical Center, located in Bethesda, MD. The National Naval Medical Center is one of the nation's premier military medical centers. According to Bill Donnell, Vecna's VP of Sales and Senior Account Executive, "The leadership at National Naval identified the need to improve and streamline the patient check-in process. Vecna is delivering a solution that does just that. We are making it easier for military personnel and their families to check-in for their health care visits while providing staff with enhanced monitoring to assess wait times and manage patient flow in real-time."
[ Full Article ]

January 17, 2011

Vecna to unveil new version of QC Bot™ at Sidney Garfield Health Care Innovation Center

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna will be demonstrating its QC Bot Version 2.0 health care assistance robot at Kaiser Permanente's Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center in San Leandro, CA on January 20th, 2011. QC Bot v2.0 is the first robot of its kind to truly focus on the needs of patients by combining automated delivery, patient self–service, and the latest in telepresent interaction with physicians and staff.
[ Full Article ]

January 1, 2011

New intelligent queuing functionality improves work flow efficiency at hospital waiting rooms

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Medical announced today that it is introducing an intelligent queuing, visual paging, and display module to its already extensive line of self service products.
[ Full Article ]

News – 2010

December 10, 2010

Vecna Consulting Wins Contract to Support the Defense Health Services System

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Vecna is pleased to announce the award of a new engineering based contract to support the Defense Health Services System (DHSS). Vecna will be working with KSJ and Associates, Inc., to assist in providing for a wide variety of highly specialized Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance to DHSS in support of the mission of the Information Technology Section.
[ Full Article ]

December 9, 2010

Vecna Mentors High Schoolers in FIRST Robotics Competition

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Technologies employees are donating their time to mentoring students at the Cambridge Rindge Latin School (CRLS) and Montgomery Blair High School in preparation for the annual FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).
[ Full Article ]

December 5, 2010

Vecna's Bear™ Robot to Appear in Zoot Pictures' "Remote Control War" Documentary

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Vecna Robotic's Bear robot, the strongest humanoid robot in the world, will be making a guest appearance in the Zoot Pictures documentary “Remote Control War,” slated for an early 2011 release in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship documentary series, “Doc Zone.” “Remote Control War” focuses on the implications of a new war-fighting approach in which human operators in the U.S. and its allies pilot robotic drones and tanks in battlefields on the other side of the world in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
[ Full Article ]

November 12, 2010

Vecna Cares Brings Mobile Health Solutions to Kenya

NAIROBI, KENYA — Vecna Cares Charitable Trust, an extension of Vecna Medical, launched a project in Nairobi, Kenya to bring updated reporting solutions to local health clinics via mobile health technology. The work is being done in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania and is funded through the National Institutes of Health.
[ Full Article ]

November 8, 2010

Vecna Medical presents patient-self service at Northeast Regional NAHAM Conference

STAMFORD, CT — Deborah Theobald, CEO of Vecna Medical, spoke at the 2010 Northeast Regional NAHAM Conference to an audience of 70 healthcare professionals. Ms. Theobald, alongside Susan Adams, Director of Patient Financial Services at Ingalls Memorial Hospital, presented information about patient self-service and patient satisfaction.
[ Full Article ]

November 8, 2010

Massachusetts General Hospital upgraded to the latest version of QC PathFinder®

CAMBRIDGE, MA, – Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is the most recent hospital to be upgraded to QC PathFinder® Version 5.1 and joins an increasing number of hospitals using the latest version.
[ Full Article ]

October 5, 2010

Vecna Medical partners with RediClinic to Deliver Patient Self-Service Kiosks

CAMBRIDGE, MA, - Vecna Medical announced today that it is partnering with RediClinic® to introduce self-service kiosks into the world of retail-based convenient care.
[ Full Article ]

October 1, 2010

Vecna Medical's electronic infection surveillance solution wins multi-year contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

CAMBRIDGE, MA, – Vecna Medical won a multi-year contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement its enterprise-wide electronic infection surveillance solution. The VA is the largest provider of healthcare services in the U.S. with over 150 medical centers across the country. The new contract provides funding for features development and data and systems architecture definition that would help drive VA enterprise-wide adoption.
[ Full Article ]

September 25, 2010

Vecna Cares Sponsors Charitable 5K Road Race

COLLEGE PARK, MD, – Vecna Technologies, Inc. sponsored its 6th annual College Park Cares 5K (CPC5K) charitable road race to benefit community health. Over 200 runners and 40 private and corporate sponsors contributed donations, raffles, and prizes.
[ Full Article ]

September 15, 2010

Vecna Medical and Cycom Canada Corporation Joins Forces to Tackle Hospital–Acquired Infection in Canada

TORONTO, ON – Vecna Medical and Cycom Canada Corporation jointly presented Vecna’s QC PathFinder® electronic infection surveillance solution to an audience of healthcare professionals at Cycom’s 8th annual Healthcare Technology Fair in downtown Toronto. The Fair drew attendees from several hospitals in the Toronto area.
[ Full Article ]

August 20, 2010

Vecna Robotics Releases new Bear video

CAMBRIDGE, MA, August 20, 2010 – Vecna Robotics continues to develop the Bear platform and has released a video compilation of testing footage

July 23, 2010

Temple University Hospital and Holy Name Hospital Live on QC PathFinder® Version 5.1

CAMBRIDGE, MA, July 23, 2010 – Vecna Medical, the leading provider of electronic infection surveillance and patient self-service solutions, today announced that the latest version of its QC PathFinder® infection control solution, Version 5.1, is now generally available and live at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey.
[ Full Article ]

News – 2009

November 9, 2009

FHS Corp. Announces Partnership with Vecna Technologies

Financial Healthcare Systems (FHS Corp) and AHA endorsed Vecna Technologies announced today a partnership that provides patients more control when interacting with providers by understanding their out–of–pocket expenses prior to service. FHSCorp's HFMA peer reviewed product, ClearQuote, will integrate with Vecna Technologies' QC Kiosk™ adding patient estimation services to point–of–care and patient self–service registration kiosk functionality. [ Full PDF ]

November 5, 2009

National Institutes of Health Award Northrop Grumman Bioinformatics Resource Centers Contract

RESTON, VA., Nov. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a follow-on contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to create a resource that supports research of pathogenic viruses and that will lead to new medical treatments and preventive measures for humans. [...] Work will be performed at the Northrop Grumman facility in Rockville, MD., and at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UTSMC). In addition to UTSMC, other teammates on the program include Vecna Technologies, Inc., Greenbelt, MD. [ Full Story ]

September 4, 2009

Vecna awarded slice of $3.6M robotics grants

The Robotics Technology Consortium has given out $3.6 million to a group of robotics companies including local firms iRobot Corp. and Vecna Technologies Inc. [ MASS HIGH TECH ]

September 2, 2009

CDC Issues H1N1 Flu Vaccine Planning Guides

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released several documents to help healthcare providers and others plan H1N1 flu vaccination campaigns. The resources include a planning checklist, answers to common questions about vaccine planning and distribution, and vaccination guidelines for pregnant women.

Vecna continues to monitor the spread of the H1N1 virus with PathFinder™.

August 30, 2009

Influenza Research Database

Vecna is pleased to announce the award of a new influenza bioinformatics contract. This new web-based resource project will be called the Influenza Research Database, or IRD. Sponsored in whole by NIAID, this multimillion dollar, four year award is to Northrop Grumman, UTSW, Sage Analytica and Vecna Technologies, Inc., and marks the continued development of a powerful database and research resource for the influenza community. Spun out of a prior contract, BioHealthBase, which concerned the informatic analysis of genomes of pathogens causing TB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), Tularemia (Francisella tularensis), Microsporidial infections, and poisoning by Ricin toxin of the Castor plant, the new resource focuses exclusively on Influenza research, and will mark the largest collection of flu isolate data worldwide. It is under the direction of Dr. Richard Scheuermann at UT-Southwestern (Dallas) and stems from the renewal of the Influenza portion of the BioHealthBase work. It will expand focus to include work from Los Alamos National Labs (LANL, Catherine Macken), UC-Davis (Dr. Nicole Baumgarth), and will incorporate data from the many Influenza Centers of Excellence (CEIRS). Vecna will provide engineering and science expertise to the new web resource, with bioinformatics analysis pipelines, algorithms, and workflows.

The web location will be found at fludb.org.

Please direct inquiries regarding this vehicle to Vecna's Federal Program Director, Rob Lecker. (703) 998-5333 rlecker@vecna.com

August 27, 2009

Fox News Reports on the Bear™

Fox News interviews Vecna President Daniel Theobald about the Bear.

To watch the video, Click Here

The Bear is the world's most powerful human sized robot. Originally conceived to rescue wounded personnel from the battlefield, the military soon noted that a robot capable of lifting and carrying up to 500 pounds could also be used for numerous other applications. From logistics (loading and unloading trucks) to assisting with chem/bio detection and IED handling, the Bear could be used to help military personnel perform many important and often dangerous tasks. Bear has the power and balance to maneuver from a crouched position to a standing position. At over 6 feet tall it can reach high objects, and see over obstacles. Bear has an ultra-efficient hydraulic power system that gives it extraordinary strength and allows it to move quickly and quietly, all while running on a rechargeable batteries with several hours of run-time. Bear has impressive hands, too. They are dexterous and strong, with each finger capable of lifting 100 pounds, while being able to sense forces as small as a few ounces. Bear is able to perform many tasks with little to no operator input. The Bear is currently in late-stage R&D and could be fielded within 2 to 4 years.

August 22, 2009

CNET Reports on the Bear™

"While unmanned air vehicles are putting pilots out of business, a new U.S. Army–funded robot could do the same for rescuers and stevedores." [ CNET ]

Covered by: Liputan6 Media (Indonesian Translation), GIZMODO, Student Tech News, CrunchGear, POPSCI.

August 21, 2009

Bear™ Featured on BotJunkie

Developed by Vecna Robotics, Bear is a humanoid torso on tank treads designed to bring mobile heavy lifting capabilities to military, search and rescue, and industrial applications. Bear's two arms can lift 500 pounds between them, and it's capable of dynamically balancing on its unfoldable tracked ‘legs.’" [ BotJunkie ]

Covered by: Ready 2 Beat

August 17, 2009

Vecna Combats the High Costs of Healthcare

Mass High Tech writes about do–it–yourself healthcare and the effects that medical kiosks can have in driving down healthcare cost. [ MASS HIGH TECH ]

August 15, 2009

TMA HIPAA Electronic Standards Support

The TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) Strategic Planning, Enterprise Architecture, and Requirements (SPEAR) Division has awarded Vecna Technologies, Inc., a contract to support Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Electronic Standards Program Coordination. Vecna will be working with AXIOM Resources to assist in overall program and task coordination; analyzing, developing and implementing requirements; and tracking compliance with the HIPAA mandated electronic standards. In addition, the Vecna/AXIOM team will provide analysis and coordination of the tasks and activities required to achieve compliance with the electronic standards requirements of HIPAA and HHS and achieve business process improvements and simplification. Vecna is honored to assist the Deputy Director, Requirements Design Management to simplify the MHS and TRICARE business by implementing the HIPAA electronic standards, code sets and identifiers.

Please direct inquiries regarding this vehicle to Vecna's Federal Program Director, Rob Lecker. (703) 998-5333 rlecker@vecna.com

August 5, 2009

Vecna's QC PathFinder® installed as the technical solution component of Quality Compass throughout Adventist Health

In an effort to enhance quality patient care and safety, Adventist Health has instituted Quality Compass throughout its system. The infection surveillance and control software program—piloted at Sonora Regional Medical Center in October 2008—has been successfully implemented at almost all system hospitals. Full Article

August 3, 2009

Why Giving Matters

Arthur C. Brooks writes that acts of charity–giving money, serving others, even donating blood–create a remarkable return, lifting us spiritually and financially. This supports Vecna's commitment to give back to the communities in which we work and live. Full Article

July 17, 2009

AHRQ Health IT Portal Infrastructure Management and Website Design and Usability Support.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded Vecna Technologies, Inc. an IDIQ/Task Order contract through which individual Task Orders will be awarded to maintain, serve, and support the AHRQ National Resource Center for Health Information Technology (NRC). Vecna Technologies' Consulting Division will support the Research Triangle Institute ( RTI) by serving as domain experts on Health IT Portal Infrastructure Management and Website Design and Usability Support.

The AHRQ NRC is a vital component of the Department of Health and Human Service's strategy to improve healthcare quality and efficiency through the widespread adoption of health IT. The AHRQ NRC serves a unique role in that it is the only federally funded body that provides direct funding for the implementation and evaluation of various forms of health IT, including but not limited to: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), telemedicine, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), and Health Information Exchange (HIE). Because of its central position as a research clearinghouse for grantees across the nation, the AHRQ NRC can quickly disseminate knowledge and best practices observed by the projects it supports. By way of the AHRQ NRC web site, health providers, administrators, and researchers share lessons learned for how best to improve healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency in the United States through successful health IT adoption and usage. This knowledge is available to the public in various forms, including informal discussion boards, national teleconferences, peer-reviewed white papers, issue briefs and official reports.

Please direct inquiries regarding this vehicle to Vecna's Federal Program Director, Rob Lecker. (703) 998-5333 rlecker@vecna.com

June 10, 2009

Vecna announces partnership with the Winkenwerder Company, LLC

Vecna Technologies, Inc. announced today an agreement with The Winkenwerder Company, LLC to perform as strategic advisors to the company in relationship development and growth of their world class products and services in both the public and private sectors. Vecna's success in providing solutions to the Military Healthcare System and the Veteran's Administration is complemented by a rapidly growing portfolio of private healthcare clients. Earlier this year Vecna's Patient Self–Service Kiosk and Portal Solution were endorsed by the American Hospital Association and its PathFinder Infectious Disease Surveillance Solution expanded into international markets. Vecna and the Winkenwerder Company will work together to continue strategic market positioning of these two products.

May 6, 2009

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announces $50M to reduce HAIs in hospitals.

At a speech before the AFSCME Nurses Conference, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius challenged hospitals to work to reduce healthcare associated infections. Published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the annual 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report and 2008 National Healthcare Disparities Report indicate that patient safety measures have worsened and that a substantial number of Americans do not receive recommended care. Upon issuing the reports, Sebelius also announced the availability of $50 million in Recovery Act resources to fight healthcare associated infections and improve patient safety.

May 1, 2009

Vecna announces tracking outbreak of H1N1 North American 'swine' flu.

Vecna announces it is tracking the outbreak of H1N1 North American 'swine' flu, using enterprise bioinformatics methods. With new geolocation methods to gather public health information from the CDC, WHO, and public records, the clinical sciences team is now able to display influenza cases in real time as they are isolated, in a browser based mapping system built for http://www.biohealthbase.org, the Influenza Bioinformatics Resource Project. The goal of the work of Drs. Al Ramsey and Christopher Larsen with Northrop Grumman is tracking individual flu isolates across geopolitical boundaries, to HIPAA compliant latitude and longitude, using modern epidemiology and software tools. This can allow estimation of public health impact, predict the number of cases, enable management of outbreak routes, optimal therapy shipping, and serve as a basis for determining the factors that manifest themselves from pathogenic viral features. Vecna will continue to analyze the virus in detail as it spreads and wanes, using these new geolocation tools.

April 26, 2009

Vecna introduces CliniPAK™ at ATA conference in Las Vegas.

Vecna attends ATA conference in Las Vegas and receives warm welcome of self–service vitals kiosk and CliniPAK mobile health solution. Many of the sessions held at the Las Vegas conference focused on new technologies for support of international health initiatives and medical disaster management. The topics were particularly timely as the news of the H1N1 swine flu outbreak progressed minute–by–minute at the conference. Vecna's Field Assessment, Triage and Patient Administration Kit (CliniPAK) was recognized as a viable platform supporting community care in a pandemic as well as a powerful enabler of primary healthcare services in the international domain by many attendees.

April 12, 2009

Vecna's Field Assessment, Triage and Patient Administration Kit (CliniPAK) deployed to community health centers in Kenya.

Vecna health workers deployed the CliniPAK healthcare information technology platform and trained community health workers servicing Maasai tribes in the Transmara district to run standardized and automated primary care protocols and infectious disease surveys. Within one week community healthcare workers had achieved full acceptance of the technology features and clean, complete data sets were aggregated from the two clinics for validation and surveillance purposes. Data will continue to be aggregated and reviewed while new feature and service delivery continues in parallel over the next several months during this evaluation pilot.

April 6, 2009

Vecna unveils Self–Service Vitals Kiosk at 2009 HIMSS annual conference in Chicago.

Vecna attends annual HIMSS conference in Chicago as the only AHA endorsed vendor of patient self–service kiosks and patient–provider portal solutions. Despite the economic downturn, HIMSS conference attendance was strong, thanks to the promise of a stimulus bill and a need for cost reduction strategies and tools. Vecna's documented cost savings through the implementation of patient self–service kiosks and portal solutions drew attention, especially as the only vendor endorsed by the AHA and showing a 100% integration success rate. Vecna's new offering, a self–service vitals capture kiosk, also drew in healthcare thought leaders as an example of successful technology evolution in the self–service space.

March 29, 2009

Vecna wins national VA deployment contract for QC PathFinder®.

The Department of Veterans Affairs awards a contract to Vecna to deploy QC PathFinder® throughout the VA's nationwide healthcare system.

January 31, 2009

AHA endorses Vecna's Patient Self–Service Kiosk and Portal solution

Download

January 16, 2009

CNN Covers the Bear™ in Story on Army Science Convention

Vecna's Bear was among the scientific and engineering advancements mentioned by CNN in their coverage of the Army Science Convention. The story, titled New Army Technology Could Save Soldiers' Lives CNN, focuses on advancements that will help protect and heal American soldiers. The "video" tab contains footage of the Bear.

News – 2011

September 19, 2008

Vecna Open House on Sept. 23, 3–6 PM

Please join Vecna at our Cambridge Research Lab's open house this Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 from 3pm – 6pm. Come tour our facility, see our robots, meet our engineers and enjoy refreshments. We are conveniently located next to the Alewife T station in Cambridge.

August 11, 2008

Bear™ featured on Discovery Military Channel

Vecna's Bear, along with its team of engineering caretakers, is currently featured on the Discovery Military Channel's program "Backyard to Battlefield" beginning Monday, August 11th. The program will follow the Bear's development from loose parts, to standing tall, highlighting how engineering ingenuity and persistence can positively affect lives on the battlefield and beyond. "Backyard to Battlefield" will be airing regularly, so check your television schedules for details.

June 18, 2008

Vecna Clinical Analyst Jenn Noppenberger Cook speaks with Department of Veterans Affairs ICP's about upcoming QC PathFinder® VA Implementations

Jennifer Noppenberger Cook, RN, CIC, presented to a group of VA Infection Control Practitioners led by Gina Oda, Associate Director of the VHA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research. At a meeting held during the Annual National APIC Conference, Ms. Cook highlighted the upcoming implementation of QC PathFinder's automated infection control surveillance system at additional sites across the Veterans Administration facilities. Ms. Cook's presentation focused on upcoming training, including on–site training and training tools, as well as a review of the structured tiered system post–implementation. Representatives from the next "Go Live" sites expressed enthusiasm for participating in the upcoming implementations.

February 9, 2008

Vecna CEO Deborah Theobald presents at Industry Conference

Vecna's CEO, Deborah Theobald, presented "The State of Healthcare Technology" at the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium Healthcare IT Conference. Ms. Theobald emphasized that if financial institutions can be successful, so can healthcare in moving services beyond the limitations of physical institutions for on–demand patient consumption. Vecna is leading the way in healthcare technology advances by providing patient self–service solutions including automated check–in, registration and triage/assessment kiosks and extended web–based capabilities.