The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing care to a patient, comprising a patient care device having a number of configuration databases stored in a memory in the device. Each configuration database preferably includes protocols, operating limits, rule sets and/or operating features that collectively define an operating environment, or personality, of the device. Selection of a specific configuration database preferably is based at least in part upon patient-specific information obtained from any location in a distributed hospital network. Examples of such patient-specific information include patient age or size, patient medical characteristics, a location of the patient or a location of the care device. In a preferred embodiment, programming a patient care device to deliver a drug to a patient entails activating a configuration database and scanning a machine-readable drug label identifying a particular protocol stored in the activated database. The selected protocol includes default parameters for delivering the drug, and the label optionally includes instructions for deviating from the default protocol.