A new patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device, LifeCare PCA, has additional capabilities that allow hospital patients to control the flow of their pain medication within carefully specified limits.
The device is the first and only pain management medication delivery system with a built-in bar code reader that is compatible with prefilled, bar-coded medication vials, including pharmacy-generated bar codes for custom-filled medication vials.
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 drug delivery to help prevent errors.
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 matches it with the appropriate medication rule set in the drug library.