Navigating the healthcare industry’s maze of increasing costs, regulatory changes, and complex administrative procedures is a frustrating journey, which can negatively affect the healthcare experience of everyone involved, from hospitals to providers to patients.
Healthcare organizations’ primary goal of providing premium care and positive patient experiences can often be undermined by administrative concerns. Inefficient workflows, out-of-date technology, and compliance obligations can hinder organizations’ progress in ensuring improved patient outcomes. That’s where the work of a healthcare consultant comes in.
Healthcare consultants are experts who advise a range of healthcare organizations, including pharmacies, hospitals, insurance companies, and health clinics. A healthcare consultant’s goal is to improve the quality of patient care and services while reducing operating costs and overhead.
These niche professionals are often experts in business and healthcare. At a high level, they use their knowledge of both to advise health organizations on how to optimize their workflows and increase efficiency.
Some healthcare consultants are generalists; others may specialize in specific aspects of health operations. Areas of expertise may include:
Depending on the issues that a given organization plans to tackle, their needs may be best met by an expert in that niche.
A healthcare consultant helps organizations formulate comprehensive strategies to streamline processes and procedures. Similar to business and management consultants, healthcare consultants help their clients’ businesses run more smoothly.
Doing so involves complex planning, so, what do healthcare consultants do to start the process? They begin by identifying areas of improvement that will raise quality of care, maintain or increase revenue, and simplify operations. Healthcare consultants then tailor their recommendations to the individual organization’s needs.
The information-gathering process can include:
Once the consultant has holistically assessed the business, they will compile their recommendations to present to the client. Among their recommendations may be ideas about human resources planning, automation of administrative tasks, setting quality benchmarks and procedural guidelines, or upgrading technologies.
What is a healthcare consultant going to offer, for example, in the case of a merger or acquisition? Because organizations involved in M&A will face challenges integrating technologies, a healthcare IT consultant would provide strategies for the data integration between incompatible systems, while a human resources specialist would help merge and revise staff organization charts.
Working closely with their client’s leadership, the consultant helps set these projects in motion.
Most healthcare consultants’ education consists of a bachelor's degree in business management, public health care, or nursing. Many also have complementary master’s degrees in a second area of study.
In addition to college degrees, a healthcare consultant may also pursue further education or certification in areas related to communications, data analysis, and finance.
Some professionals may choose to work as freelancers, while others join existing health organizations or work for a consulting firm.
When looking to hire a healthcare consultant, keep in mind that those with specializations may go by a variety of titles, such as “health systems manager,” “healthcare quality manager,” or “public health consultant.”
There are a variety of healthcare challenges causing organizations to seek the help of consultants, from an increase in chronic diseases and rising medical costs to the adoption of AI technologies and cloud computing. Implementing new systems and processes can streamline operations and improve patient outcomes, but many organizations lack the in-house resources to see those projects through.
With ongoing competition in the health space, particularly since virtual care skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for healthcare consultants is only expected to grow.
Smaller organizations will likely look to freelancers or consulting firms to render their expertise, since keeping such a specialist on staff may be incompatible with operating budgets.
Larger organizations may make the investment of hiring specialists in-house, depending on their ongoing needs or plans to expand services. For example, to avoid missteps and fines during a rapid growth phase, an organization may decide it’s in its best interest to have a full-time consultant to stay on top of HIPAA and GDPR regulations.
During the pandemic, healthcare organizations were forced to pivot to digital care to meet consumer needs, resulting in an industry boom – but what does the future of healthcare consulting look like? Research indicates that the need for healthcare consulting services will continue to grow, hitting approximately $63B by 2032.
Several of the main drivers of consultancy needs – privacy and data regulations, digitization, AI technology advancements, and data analytics – are only projected to rise. Healthcare consultants will become increasingly in demand as organizations seek to optimize care, streamline revenue, and remain profitable in their highly competitive industry.
If you’d like to know more about how a healthcare consultant can help your organization, contact Elxo for information on services that match your unique needs.