SAN DIEGO, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To further advance patient safety when delivering pain medications, Hospira, Inc. today introduced its LifeCare PCA(R) infusion system, a new patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device with additional capabilities that allow hospital patients to control the flow of their pain medication, within carefully specified limits. Hospira, one of the largest hospital products manufacturers in the United States, designed LifeCare PCA to help hospitals reduce the potential for human error in administering pain management medications, primarily analgesics (narcotics), the drug class with the highest frequency of adverse drug events (ADEs).
LifeCare PCA is the first and only pain management medication delivery system with a built-in bar code reader that is compatible with pre-filled, bar-coded medication vials -- including pharmacy-generated bar codes for custom-filled medication vials.
“As the market leader in patient-controlled analgesia, we are committed to providing innovative products that not only enhance patient safety at the bedside, but also improve the efficiency and efficacy of medication delivery throughout the hospital,” said Patrick Keely, vice president and general manager, Medication Management Systems, Hospira. “Our new LifeCare PCA infusion system builds on our successful 20-year track record of responding to customer feedback to continually advance PCA infusion-device technology.”
“At St. John Medical Center, advancing patient care is paramount, and LifeCare PCA will provide an effective way for us to manage our patients’ pain,” said Robert Cather, D.Ph., director of pharmacy, St. John Medical Center, Tulsa, Okla. “Its compatibility with Hospira MedNet software combined with the built-in bar code reader will help us reduce the potential for errors when administering pain medication.”
LifeCare PCA offers enhanced safety features through its compatibility with Hospira MedNet software, a customizable software system that helps hospitals define medication dose limits and track intravenous (I.V.) drug delivery to help prevent errors. Hospira MedNet software helps prevent drug errors by ensuring that the medication in the bar-coded drug vial inserted in the pump is infused within hospital-defined dose guidelines. The software gives hospitals the flexibility to develop and program dose recommendations for up to 450 pain medication entries, including Hospira’s pre-filled drug vials as well as custom-filled medication vials with pharmacy-generated bar codes that are not available as a pre-filled vial. Hospira MedNet software also offers “hard” and “soft” dose- and rate-setting limits that alert clinicians if they’ve programmed a medication dose outside of the best- practices guidelines set by the hospital.
Hospira MedNet software also allows hospitals to create customized clinical decision rules for up to 18 different clinical-care areas (CCAs) of the hospital, such as the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), oncology and pediatrics. To help avoid human error, the system can automatically select the correct drug name and concentration in the device’s drug library by using the drug vial’s bar code. The device reads the bar code on the vial and also matches it with the appropriate medication rule set in the drug library.
LifeCare PCA with Hospira MedNet is scalable and upgradeable, allowing hospitals to tailor their level of technology based on their needs. Hospira MedNet offers wireless capabilities, enabling real-time reporting, data gathering and library updates to ensure compliance with hospital best practices. This new system expands Hospira’s portfolio of general infusion and PCA devices with Hospira MedNet -- helping customers standardize care across hospitals’ networks.
Hospira has a strong history of leadership in the PCA market. In 1984, the company, as the core hospital products business of Abbott Laboratories, introduced the industry’s first patient-controlled analgesia pump. Today, seven out of 10 PCA devices used in hospitals in the United States are Hospira products.
To learn more about LifeCare PCA with Hospira MedNet, please visit Hospira (booth #2008) at the 2006 meeting of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Feb. 12 through Feb. 16 in San Diego.
About Hospira
Hospira, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company dedicated to Advancing Wellness(TM) by developing, manufacturing and marketing products that help improve the productivity, safety and efficacy of patient care. With 70 years of service to the hospital industry, Hospira’s portfolio includes one of the industry’s broadest lines of generic acute-care injectables, which help address the high cost of proprietary pharmaceuticals; integrated solutions for medication management and infusion therapy; and the leading U.S. injectable contract manufacturing business. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., north of Chicago, Hospira has approximately 13,000 employees and 14 manufacturing facilities worldwide. Hospira’s news releases and other information can be found at www.hospira.com.
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CONTACT: Media, Shannon Gore, +1-224-212-2003, or Financial Community,Lynn McHugh, +1-224-212-2363, both of Hospira, Inc.
Web site: http://www.hospira.com/
