Editor’s Note: We are profiling the McKnight’s 2020 Women of Distinction honorees daily through the program’s July 28 online awards ceremony. To learn more about this digital celebration, the Forum the next day (which offers three free continuing education credits July 29) or the program in general, visit mcknightswomenofdistinction.com.
Kate Catizone’s love of numbers and data have made a difference at her employer, Villa Healthcare in Skokie, IL.
As an example, while sitting in a pharmacy meeting, the director of clinical applications heard about patients and residents being prescribed excessive amounts of medications. Catizone wanted to understand the issue better, so she pulled data on every patient and resident and their number of medications.
During 2019, she managed to reduce the number of people on 20 or more medications from 150 to fewer than 50, and she has applied the same problem-solving attention to weight loss and long-stay pressure injuries. Catizone has helped decrease weight loss among residents from 8.5% to 4.6% and long-stay pressure injuries from 7.9% to 6.7%.
Catizone’s “commitment to quality, using data, and finding trends is what has proven her skills as a problem-solver for the organization,” Director of Communications Linsey Cherveny wrote, adding that Catizone “feels passionate about data and analyzing information to create solutions for problems and most importantly, improve patient care.”
Surprisingly, Catizone, who describes herself as a “late bloomer,” discovered senior living only a few years ago. After graduating from college in 2005, she worked as a transporter at a hospital. She then moved onto managing a lab’s plasma donation services as a training supervisor, and then to account management at a waste disposal company. But volunteering with seniors helped her find her calling. Within three years of accepting a position as executive assistant with Villa Healthcare, she was promoted to a director position.
“I’ve never loved a job like this. I’ve never learned and grown so much,” she said.
The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. The program’s Diamond sponsor is PointClickCare. Silver sponsors are OnShift and PharMerica, and the Signature sponsors are Acadia Pharmaceuticals and Enquire.
