A Cambridge, Mass.-based health technology and robotics company called Vecna Technologies has designed an armchair that may help cut down on patient wait times in physicians' offices, according to a report from The Boston Globe.
Vecna's new armchair is equipped with blood pressure cuffs, a thermometer and an iPad-like interface that allows patients to record their vitals while they wait to see their physician. That information can be delivered to the patient's physician and incorporated into their health record, streamlining the process, Vecna Vice President Bill Donnell told the Globe. To keep patient data secure, the chair does not store any health data. Instead, it transmits it immediately to the server.
"If somebody were to take a Vitals Chair . . . they are not taking something that contains patient information," Mr. Donnell told the Globe.
Already, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has installed the chair in two locations and expressed interest in using the tool in facilities all over the country, according to the report.