Baxter International Inc. announced at the ASHP 2016 meeting the launch of the Sigma Spectrum Safety Management System, which adds features designed to help minimize infusion programming risks.

The first is Baxter's Infusion Analytics application, a software solution that provides advanced infusion data analysis and graphical reporting to help identify potential pump programming errors. The second is a suite of Remote Professional Services that offers 24/7 service and technical support along with regular cybersecurity monitoring and reporting.

"Baxter is committed to innovative technology for medication delivery, and Baxter's new Safety Management System further reinforces Sigma Spectrum's leadership helping hospitals meet their infusion safety goals," said David Ferguson, Global Head of Baxter's Fluid Systems franchise. "The new Infusion Analytics application provides an enhanced user interface designed to make infusion data easy to interpret, and new Remote Professional Services add an additional level of technical support to help protect data and maximize pump performance."

These updates join existing Sigma Spectrum features including the Master Drug Library (MDL) and Gateway. The MDL allows users to create and customize a list of medications and fluids within medically appropriate dose ranges to guide safe programming, avoiding mistakes before they reach the patient. The Gateway is a Web-based tool to publish drug libraries to the infusion pump fleet and view Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) data. Baxter is also collaborating with Omnicell to include an initial integration with Omnicell's Performance Center software, creating an efficient workflow for the pharmacy to access and review both infusion and medication data in one place.

Sigma Spectrum also includes features like integration with electronic medical record (EMR) systems--including Cerner and Epic--to help streamline clinical workflow and improve accuracy of IV infusion documentation.

Sigma Spectrum's hardware works in concert with the pump's software to encourage use of innovative features that are designed to help enhance patient safety and clinician efficiency.

Baxter provides a broad portfolio of essential renal and hospital products, including home, acute and in-center dialysis; sterile IV solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition; biosurgery products and anesthetics; and pharmacy automation, software and services.