Baxter's Spectrum IQ System Receives FDA Clearance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced clearance of Baxter International Inc.’s Spectrum IQ Infusion System with Dose IQ Safety Software.

The Spectrum IQ system is the first of its kind to be designed for integration with bi-directional electronic medical records (EMR). The system builds upon Baxter’s existing Spectrum infusion pump technology.

According to their website, the Spectrum IQ system allows a clinician to transfer a patient’s medication order directly from the EMR to the pump. This automatically programs the pump, improving standardization and guarding against typing errors.

“EMR integration is an important step in making infusions safer, which is why Baxter designed the Spectrum IQ system with features that simplify EMR integration and help customers overcome EMR integration adoption barriers,” said Scott Luce, general manager, US Hospital Products, Baxter, in a statement. “These features set a new standard for medication administration, helping enhance both patient safety and clinician efficiency.”

For the Spectrum IQ system, Baxter is collaborating with First Databank (FDB) to incorporate FDB Infusion Knowledge™—an evidence-based library of IV medications—into the Dose IQ Safety Software, making the delivery of infusions safer.

“Creating and maintaining drug libraries used for configuring smart pumps requires substantial research and development time,” said Charles Tuchinda, MD, MBA, president of First Databank. “Dose IQ Safety Software powered by FDB Infusion Knowledge helps save time by providing a knowledge base of suggested infusion parameters for the Spectrum IQ Infusion System, including dose limits, concentrations and durations.”

The Spectrum IQ pump automatically defaults to the installed drug library without requiring clinicians to complete extra steps to use safety features and wireless drug library updates. This and other features were incorporated to promote the highest levels of drug library compliance in the industry.

“Integrating evidence-based practices into the clinical workflow helps facilitate improved patient safety, expedited drug library creation, and efficient deployment and implementation of the Spectrum IQ pump, which helps protect more infusions,” said Tuchinda.

The system incorporates several features designed to increase hospital efficiency, including DeviceUve Asset Tracking Application, which is a built-in component that displays pump status and location data on a PC, tablet, or smartphone without relying on third-party real-time location systems.

The Spectrum IQ Infusion Dashboard with Charge Capture helps optimize outpatient IV billing by automating the collection of start, stop, and duration times. The technology also helps achieve up to 53% cost savings in IV tubing sets and up to 30% reduction in IV tubing usage.

Additionally, the Spectrum IQ Infusion System helps reduce excessive alarms and alerts sent to nursing staff by sending alarm messages directly from the pump to secondary Alarms Management Systems, including smartphones or work stations.