Printer Friendly Version - Barbara Katz Publishes Instructional Text For Improvement Within The Healthcare System

Barbara Katz (center), vice president of clinical program development for VNA Community Healthcare & Hospice, poses with her recently published text titled Connecting Care for Patients: Interdisciplinary Care Transitions and Collaboration with colleagues and supporters at the launch party for the book, held March 6 at La Cuisine in Branford.Photo courtesy of Abigail Storiale

VNA Community Healthcare & Hospice Vice President of Clinical Program Development Barbara Katz recently celebrated the publishing of her second book. A book launch party was held March 6 at La Cuisine in Branford.

Katz’s work, Connecting Care for Patients: Interdisciplinary Care Transitions and Collaboration, addresses practical strategies for creating connected, seamless, and transparent health care for patients in settings outside of the hospital. It was published by Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Dorothy Baker, PhD, FNP, MN, RN, who works as a senior research scientist for the Yale School of Medicine, called the text a “go to guide” for clinicians with sufficient clinical experience to witness gaps in care and question how the healthcare system operates.

“Given the breadth of perspectives and literature cited, it could serve as a guide for many disciplines to examine the situation that exists and ponder how things might be improved to the benefit of those in their care,” she said.

In the book, Katz presents antidotes to healthcare fragmentation caused by inefficient care, patient safety problems, patient dissatisfaction, and higher costs. In addition to focusing on work within the clinical setting, she explores tools for patient self-management support and family caregiver engagement as well as techniques for addressing health disparities and other high-risk care gaps.

The text blends conceptual information with practical tools and strategies for connecting care for patients by describing research and evidence-based techniques while translating them into actionable tools.

Katz has decades of experience in the hospital and health care industry, including 20 years with VNA Community Healthcare & Hospice, a nonprofit home healthcare agency based in Guilford that serves 35 towns in New Haven and Middlesex counties through home health and hospice services, as well as a wide variety of community wellness programs and its Caregiver Support Network.

For more information or to purchase Connecting Care for Patients: Interdisciplinary Care Transitions and Collaboration, find the book on Amazon.com or visit www.jblearning.com.