A system and method for creating, managing and loading selected configurationdatasets used to program a patient care device to have a selected behavior isprovided. A common configuration database includes medical treatmentguidelines and device operating characteristics for a plurality of patientcare device types. A processor operatively connected to the configurationdatabase is programmed to construct at least one device-specific configurationdataset for a selected device behavior from the common configuration databaseand load the device-specific dataset into the memory of a patient care device.Further, the device-specific configuration datasets may contain devicecommunication information, including communication protocols and datastructures, for a plurality of patient care devices types and behaviors toenable communication between patient care devices.
