Some customers use MILT to create, manage and verify bar codes for smart pumps. These bar codes are used to identify each channel, on each pump, for systems that can program the pump for the correct delivery of medication for a patient over the facility network.
Unlike unit-dose medications where many copies of the same label and bar code are printed for a few different medications, smart pumps need one special label and bar code for each of many pumps and channels. There is a completely different workflow needed to manage this process, and the introduction of the Pump feature in Update 4014 was designed to help.
If you are interested in using this feature, please contact Medi-Dose Support at 800.523.8966 to discuss implementation plans and the cost of this special feature.
Once activated, a new "Pumps" button will appear on the main screen that allows access to the Pumps Menu.
Pumps Menu
The Pumps Menu is where you can add new pumps to your database, verify existing pumps, and adjust the settings for the pump features.
Pumps - Settings
This is where you can set all the options for the Pumps feature. Only the SUP user can access the Settings screen.
Fields
By default, these are the first six fields on the main screen of the program. With the Pump feature, some of the choices have special functions to create the data for that field when you add a new pump:
Prefix: Selected in the Options below, the Prefix will be part of the Channel Bar Code for a new pump
Pump #: This field will be created as the result of the Pump Bar Code scan being processed by the Pump AI selected below.
Channel #: Each channel on a new pump is assigned a number from 01 to 26. If you ask for four channels, they will be 01, 02, 03 and 04.
Channel Letter: Each channel on a new pump is assigned a letter from A to Z. If you ask for four channels, they will be A, B, C, D.
Pump BC #: This will be the full scan of the bar code from the pump.
Channel BC #: This will be the bar code that is printed on a label and affix to each channel on the pump. The pattern of this bar code is set in the Option Channel BC below. The data in this field will be encoded in the bar code on the printed label.
Options
These are the rules that MILT will use to create new pumps.
Prefix: The Prefix is the text that will often be appended to the front of the Channel Bar Code.
Pump AI: The Pump AI is the rule MILT will use when it reads Pump Bar Codes. See the Pump AI section below for more information.
Channel BC: This is where you can set the pattern for MILT to create the new Channel Bar Code when you add a new pump. So in the example above, if the Prefix = HN, the Pump # = 1234 and the Channel # = 01, the resulting Channel Bar Code will be HN123401, which will be created in the Channel BC # field that was selected above.
Label: When you add a new pump, MILT will assign that item to this label.
Template: When you add a new pump, MILT will assign that item to this template.
Verify: If turned on, MILT will prompt the user to verify the printed label by scanning the pump and channel bar codes. This helps to ensure that the user is putting the new label on the right pump.
Active: This box needs to be checked for the settings to be active.
Pumps - New
From this screen you can add new pumps. The pump will be created with the rules you set in Pumps - Settings.
To add a new pump:
1. Select Pumps on the Main Screen, and then New on the Pumps Menu
2. In the Channel Qty field, select the number of channels on the new pump.
3. In the Pump Scan field, scan the bar code on the pump.
4. When you click the OK Button, this information will be used to create a new pump with the number of channels selected, and will then return you to the main screen with that new pump open to the first channel.
If the pattern of the Pump Scan is incorrect, MILT will not create the new pump. If this happens, either the wrong bar code was scanned, or the Pump Settings and/or Pump AI are not correct.
Pumps - Verification
This feature allows users to verify that a Channel Bar Code matches a Pump Bar Code. Successes and failures are recorded in the User Activity Log discussed in a section below.
1. Channel Letter: Select the letter of the channel you are verifying.
2. Channel Bar Code: Scan the channel bar code here.
3. Pump Bar Code: Scan the pump bar code here.
4. Press the Verify Button to test the information. Feedback will be provided, and results will be saved to the User Activity Log.
If you launch this feature from the Pumps Menu, compliance is optional. If you have Verify active on the Pump Settings Menu, the screen will appear after each print job and is mandatory. If the user can't verify the pump and chooses to cancel, a record of the failure to verify will be recorded in the User Activity Log.
Pumps - User Activity Log
In addition to the normal events that are recorded in the MILT User Activity Log, the Pumps feature records special events that are unique to the pump processes. To see this log, go to Reports (1), select User Activity as the Type (2), and then one of the pump events as the Event (3).
Events
Pump Creation: A record of each new pump created.
Pump Setting Saved: A record of each time the pump settings are saved.
Pump Verification: A record of each time a pump verification succeeds or fails.
Pumps - AI
Application Identifiers (AI) are strings of characters included in bar codes to identify each item in the bar code. MILT already had a feature where you can manage AI's in Settings-Bar Codes-AI. For the Pump feature we use this built in function to extract the part of the Pump Bar Code that we need to create the Channel Bar Code.
In the example above, when MILT scans a bar code and encounters the characters "+$$+7" it will return the next 8 characters. This is the part that will be used in the Channel Bar Code.
See the Application Identifiers section of this documentation for more general information about this feature.