A system, method and computer program for programming a medical device to administer a medication to a patient includes the medical device, a scanner that may be associated with a point of care (POC) system, and a medication management unit (MMU). A computer in the POC system can directly program the medical device with the permission of the MMU after a full “five rights” check or the “right patient” check can be delayed until after the pump program is downloaded. Other workflows are disclosed for programming the medical device in manual, semi-automatic and automatic modes, with safety checks incorporated at various points.