Dr. Kourtney Koslosky is chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Greenwich Hospital and assistant chair of the Yale Department of Psychiatry at Greenwich Hospital. She oversees adult and adolescent outpatient services, interventional psychiatric services and psychiatric services for emergency department and hospital patients.
She also sees patients and teaches and mentors Yale medical students.
What makes you a Healthcare Hero?
What I find most significant is my work in developing Care Signature Pathways for psychiatry and behavioral health for use across our hospital system. These are condition-specific algorithms created by clinicians that promote evidence-based approaches to psychiatric care. I have been on five clinical pathway development teams (acute mania, opiate use disorder, first episode psychosis, acute agitation, substance use in the hospital) and serve on the Clinical Care Signature Council, which oversees and approves all proposed treatment pathways.
Care Signature Pathways have been used frequently since their implementation to provide patients with consistent care of the highest quality.
Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome.
My job has its challenges, especially as it pertains to the mental health field. Stigma surrounding mental health unfortunately remains, so every day I try to improve this perception by communicating openly with patients and families, and providing as much education as possible to help folks better understand mental illness, its treatment, and how to support their loved one who may be struggling.
What’s your next major goal and/or challenge?
As I approach being a year into my role as chair, I am thrilled about what we have accomplished as a team thus far, and where we will go next. I am hoping to expand educational opportunities for our team members, encouraging attendance at conferences and participation in training courses to learn the most up-to-date advances in our field to best help our patients and improve access to care.
