NeoThrive® Enteral Feeding System Addresses the Serious Risk of Tubing Misconnections in NICU Facilities

Englewood, Colo. – Baxa Corporation announces the launch of a new awareness campaign for its NeoThrive Enteral Feeding System. The exclusive NeoThrive System provides Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) a safer way to help their fragile patients grow. NeoThrive uses distinct "Enteral Only" orange coloring and a specialty connector to eliminate the risk of serious IV line misconnections. Together with the NeoThrive Enteral Pump, the Baxa system provides a dedicated enteral system that combines visual cues and clear identification to ensure the safety of enteral connections for NICU feeding.

The NeoThrive System includes the NeoThrive Enteral Syringes – the first syringes designed "only" for enteral feeding. With their unique, non-luer tips, these syringes will not mate to standard luer connections, preventing connection to an IV line. In addition, the NeoThrive Enteral Pump functions only with the NeoThrive Enteral Syringes, preventing the use of an IV syringe for enteral feeding.

"Our goal is to raise the awareness of the serious risk of enteral feeding misconnections among healthcare professionals, while offering the industry a safe and complete solution," notes Katie Calabrese, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and Baxa Clinical Support Specialist. "The effort is supported by two different media in order to ensure this critical information reaches a large audience," She continues. "Helping these fragile babies thrive is the reason Baxa produced the NeoThrive Enteral Feeding System."

A key component of this awareness effort is a new and improved Web site to better educate NICU professionals on the serious risk of misconnections - http://www.baxa.com/neothrive . The site serves as a portal for NICU enteral feeding specialists, where they can access an entire page of resources and related Web links. The second component in the awareness campaign was an email sent to NICU contacts in hopes of raising continued awareness of the serious risk of misconnections.

Since 1975, Baxa Corporation's focus has been to provide technology for health-system facilities that improves patient safety, reduces the risk of medication errors and facilitates compliance to USP, NIOSH and other regulatory requirements. Baxa is the market leader for dedicated enteral systems and the NeoThrive Enteral Feeding System uniquely fits the need for NICUs to safely help their patients grow.

About Baxa Corporation

Baxa, a customer-focused medical device company, provides innovative, solution-based technologies for medication handling and delivery. Its systems and devices promote the safe and efficient preparation, handling, packaging, and administration of medications. Key products include the PadLock® Set Saver, Rapid-Fill™ Automated Syringe Fillers, ExactaMed™ Oral Dispensers, MicroFuse® Syringe Infusers, Repeater™ Pharmacy Pumps, the IntelliFlow™ System and ExactaMix™ Multi-Source Automated Compounders; used worldwide in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Its subsidiary FHT, Inc. produces the IntelliFill i.v.® automation. Privately held, Baxa Corporation has subsidiaries and sales offices in Florida, Canada and the United Kingdom; direct representation in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Switzerland; and distribution partners worldwide. Further information is available at http://www.baxa.com

Contact:

Marian Robinson, Vice President, Marketing
Baxa Corporation - http://www.baxa.com - 800.567.2292 ext. 2157 or 303.617.2157
Email: marian.robinson@baxa.com