Creating a culture of patient safety has been an ongoing focus of the federal government, the medical community and patient advocacy organizations. While some medical providers have implemented high-tech safety processes such as diagnostic computer programs and interactive records systems. Other medical professionals have successfully reduced medication errors and improved patient safety in an extremely low-tech way: no interruption zones (NIZs.)

In 2008, medical errors cost the American public $17.1 billion dollars. Nearly 100,000 people die each year due to the common medical error of hospital-acquired infections. One in every seven Medicare recipients is a victim of medical errors, and medical errors occur in about one-third of all hospital admissions across the nation. Reduction of medical errors could save billions of dollars and countless lives.

In 2010, experts reported the 10 basic elements that contribute to medical errors. Among these elements, environmental factors were prominent. Caregiver distractions during drug administration or care administration increase the risk for adverse medical incidents. To solve this problem, professionals devised NIZs, also called quiet or med-zones, in which nurses could prepare orders without distractions.

A number of hospitals across the country are piloting interruption-free zone programs. Under some existing NIZ programs, nurses wear designated markings, such as colored sashes or vests and work in clearly marked designations. In others, large signs above medication carts and red tile borders on the floor were used to create the NIZ. During this time, members of the nursing staff process medication orders and administer medications.

Applying the NIZ practice to hospital environments was born out of a recommendation from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. The North American nonprofit fashioned the practice after the aviation industry's "sterile cockpit rule." The idea is that minimizing distractions reduces the potential for serious errors. In one hospital the system reduced medication errors by two-thirds.

Many, including Dr. Donald Berwick, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), applaud this practice. Harvard-trained, Berwick is acutely aware that even very conscientious doctors and nurses can make serious and costly mistakes, and that systems must be in place to reduce these risks.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Pressing for better quality across healthcare, Noam N. Levey 4 October 2011