You’ve likely heard of robot waiters, robot factory workers or delivery robots, but what about…a robot pharmacist?
Health systems across the United States are using robotic dispensing technology to create a more automated and data-driven process for medication inventory and dispensing. And UAlbany graduate Denise Cox ’91 is on the front lines of this revolution.
Since 2020, Cox has served as senior vice president and chief customer officer for Omnicell, a leading health technology company that specializes in medication management and adherence solutions for health systems and pharmacies. Omnicell is an industry leader in developing advanced robotics and information technology to increase operational efficiency, reduce medication errors and ultimately enhance patient safety.
The need is clear: pharmacists spend a large amount of time – up to 75 percent of their day – on manual, non-clinical activities like tracking down inventory or verifying prescriptions.
“Medication management is a complicated process that has lots of room for error,” Cox explained. “Our job is to help ensure that the right patient gets the right medication at the right time, every time. And by automating the process, we’re helping to free up pharmacy staff to allow them to better serve the needs of their patients.”
Cox leads a team of customer experience experts who work closely with their hospital partners to implement the technology and ensure proper training for the staff. But their job doesn’t end there. “Who cares if we have the best robots in the world?” noted Cox. “Our job is to continuously monitor that technology to ensure it consistently delivers the best outcomes, while constantly looking for opportunities to enhance functionality.”
“Who cares if we have the best robots in the world if they don’t deliver a great customer experience?”
Prior to joining Omnicell, Cox led global customer experience organizations for over 15 years at technology innovators Cisco and NetApp, and held senior management roles at telecommunications leaders AT&T and MCI. Her path to success in the technology sector can be traced directly back to a telecom class she took at UAlbany.
“I always enjoyed writing and was working toward my communications degree, but I also had a passion for technology and science,” Cox said. “That class opened my eyes to the possibility of combining both disciplines, and it all clicked into place.”
Cox started her career in the burgeoning telecommunications field at a time when the industry was mostly dominated by males, many ex-veterans who had received technology training in the military. Gaining success in that male-dominated world required Cox to see past sexist attitudes; she recalled one occasion where a male counterpart entered a conference room and asked her to make copies – before realizing that Cox was the manager who was running the meeting! At every phase of her journey, Cox is grateful that she was able to lean on mentors, both male and female, who helped her to grow.
Cox attributes her success to lessons learned from her mom, a nurse and single mother, who taught her “If something needs to be fixed, you have to have the strength and determination to fix it.” She also credits the nuns at her Catholic high school – who, back in the 1980s, presciently suggested that she pursue a career in computers. Finally, she acknowledges her highly supportive husband, David (Class of ’89), whom she met while attending UAlbany.
What advice would Cox give to women starting out in the technology industry today? “Ask for help. And more importantly, accept it. No one can succeed alone.”
