Kathi Cox, M.B.A., B.A., wasn’t planning to stay at Texas Health in 1993, when she started a temp job as a Secretary IV in administration — she was waiting to hear back about a position elsewhere.
But when she got the other offer, Cox turned it down. “I looked around at all the people and said, ‘Nope, I don’t want that job.’ The people here were so amazing I just knew it was where I was supposed to be.”
From the very beginning, Cox said her 27-year career has been about staying fearlessly open-minded.
“Every job I had was brand new when I went into it, so the roles throughout my career were based on what the organization needed at the time,” said Cox, now senior vice president of Integrated Experience, which includes more than 200 people in Digital Experience, Patient and Family Experience and the Virtual Care Center.
But those who know Cox say she embodies another quality that has been key to her success: authenticity.
“Kathi has been an effective leader across Texas Health because she understands that success – in whatever role – is about authentic relationships,” said Winjie Miao, senior vice president and chief experience officer, who has worked with Cox in different capacities over the years. “Whether creating trust and transparency within teams at Texas Health or interacting one-on-one with a consumer, Kathi has the ability to build enduring and lasting relationships.
“This trait coupled with her capacity to translate ideas into action have made her an invaluable member of the senior leadership team at Texas Health and a trusted adviser to many, including myself.”
‘Prove to me you’re qualified’
Cox laughs when she says she “bobbed and weaved” through the organization. “I never wanted to be anything.” But she found early on, when she took a position in patient and guest services, that she had an innate ability to listen to consumers and take action to improve their healthcare journeys.
“I wound up becoming a manager and worked a night job doing patient advocacy, working with insurance and the patient journey,” she said. “I’ve always been really passionate about that.”
Cox received gifts from happy patients’ families, but had difficult days, too.
“Nothing gave me greater pleasure than helping someone appeal something about their (insurance) carrier that wasn’t right — when they were mad and I made them happy,” Cox said.
That focus has stayed with her, though she moved away from intense one-on-one interactions with patients because of family challenges. Through the years, she has never hesitated to shift focus or move to part-time work to devote time to her son Garrison, now 22, who has special needs.
“The more I see and learn about all of us, we’re all on our own journey with our kids,” she said. “There is no easy, breezy path. If you say it’s easy breezy, you’re a big fat liar. He’s a joy and he’s definitely a blessing.”
Cox took a big step away from direct patient interactions by using her gift for software applications as the organization began the move to electronic health records. She reached out to Mary Beth Mitchell, then chief nursing informatics officer, who retired last year. Mitchell’s response, Cox said, was “prove to me you’re qualified.”
Cox wrote up her qualifications, which included building a patient complaint database, previous work in ITS including building the initial centralized scheduling tool for centralized OR scheduling and breast center scheduling, and significant project management experience as CareConnect was implemented systemwide.
Mitchell gave her another job in ITS and after three years at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas she became a regional director.
“There was a time when I wanted to be president of a hospital, but that’s not where I’ve been led so far,” Cox said. “I think that a lot of people have in their mind where they think they want to go. Healthcare provides so many opportunities.”
‘You always know where you stand with her’
Debbie Jowers, vice president, ambulatory ITS Services, started working at Texas Health at about the same time Cox did, and their roles have overlapped through the years.
“She totally understands this business and she very quickly learned and was always willing to learn,” Jowers said. “She’s always looked at what is the right thing to do. It’s easy to do the easiest thing but is it always the right thing to do? There’s a big difference between ‘Can we do this?’ versus ‘Should we do this?’ She has the vision of this is what we should do, and she sells it. You always know where you stand with her.”
After going part-time for a period and helping Miao open Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance, Cox returned to her passion for consumers as senior director, System Integration and Innovation Office, the precursor to her current position.
“When we think about the consumer journey, it’s a lot of fits and starts,” Cox said. “Our goal is to hold their hand and walk through it side by side together. When we created the new vision of partnering with you for a lifetime of health and well-being, that’s what made me want this job.”
Today, Cox said, she’s using all the pieces of her career as she leads a team working to improve the consumer experience, from scheduling initial appointments to how information is presented when patients are discharged.
“Every single thing I’ve ever learned has pulled through into this position,” she said. “Especially my understanding of the consumer journey.”
By Judy Wiley • Posted June 1, 2021
