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UNDERSTANDING HEALTHCARE CONSULTING

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A healthcare consulting firm acts as a contracted third-party advisor to a given player in the healthcare sector. Every healthcare organization could potentially contract one of these advisory firms to assist in improving organizational competency, including

  • Healthcare providers such as hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other facilities

  • Managed care organizations and payors such as insurance companies and government entities

  • Pharmaceutical companies

  • Pharmacies

  • Medical equipment companies

 

The role of a healthcare consulting firm is to optimize efficiency, revenue generation, and structural improvements. This can take many forms, with various specializations emerging within the healthcare consulting sector:

  • Strategic consulting

  • Technology implementation

  • HR and people management

  • Legal and regulatory affairs

  • Marketing

  • Contract specialists

  • Revenue and reimbursement experts

 

The main goal of all of these segments within the wider healthcare consulting space is to guide management to make better decisions and, in effect, improve the organization’s profit potential. 

Most healthcare consultants work on a short-term project basis, meaning that a healthcare organization will contract a consultant or a team of consultants for a specific goal. 

 

However, some larger healthcare organizations could potentially have a consulting firm on retainer and continuously receive evaluation and advisory services to improve performance over a longer period of time. This is especially the case with large healthcare organizations with the financial power to employ a vast supply of consulting services. 

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEALTHCARE CONSULTING EXPLAINED

 

In many ways, the healthcare consulting sector mirrors the high level of role variation that defines the healthcare industry. There are various types of healthcare consultants with specific specializations. Let’s take a look at each in a bit more detail. 

 

STRATEGY CONSULTING

Strategy consulting is one of the most dominant fields in any consulting industry. These advisors are typically generalists who have a strong business acumen mixed with deep knowledge of the healthcare sector. 

 

The goal of strategic consulting within healthcare is two-fold:

  • To develop a strategic plan for a healthcare organization in accordance with its main goals, vision, and mission

  • To deter the company from making business mistakes or to remedy past issues

 

In most cases, strategic consulting is focused on the growth and development of an organization. Amaka Consulting, Inc. will assess all parts of the organization, including the following:

  • Finances

  • External and internal relationships

  • Management and staff

  • Business model

  • Past performance

  • Future projections

  • Organizational mission, vision, and values

 

Because strategic consultants provide the most well-rounded assessment of a healthcare organization, they are typically considered a one-stop-shop in the sector and can provide the basis for contracting more specialized consulting services.

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TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING

 

Technology continues to have a major effect on how every business operates, including healthcare organizations. Unfortunately, navigating through technological implementation represents a challenge for most healthcare players.

 

The solution? Technology consultants. 

Over the past decade, technology consulting has emerged as another dominant field in the industry. As more and more businesses require specialized know-how on implementing technology into day-to-day operations, technology consulting has deepened its hold on the healthcare sector. 

Technology consultants have various roles within the industry:

  • Evaluating an organization’s technological applications

  • Advising on IT implementation and selection of systems

  • Installing new systems and providing guidance on utility

  • Monitoring this implementation and providing support services to team members

There have been various technological innovations in recent years that have transformed the healthcare sector and created a solid market need for technology consultants:

  • Automated medical record applications

  • Device integration technology

  • Machine learning and artificial intelligence platforms

Healthcare providers need to understand and learn how to use these systems, so they contract technology consultants to facilitate this process. 

HR AND OPERATIONS CONSULTING

 

Just like any business, healthcare organizations must responsibly manage their human resources and operations departments. People management has become increasingly important in an era when performance is continuously linked to job satisfaction and professional development opportunities. 

HR and operations consultants are specialists in stimulating a positive work atmosphere and managing people and hiring efforts effectively. Some of the most important roles of HR and operations consultants include the following:

  • Developing hiring standards and techniques

  • Providing guidance on professional development 

  • Retainment efforts

  • Promotions

  • Diversity

  • Management training

  • Best practices for employee and company policies

 

Because effective people management can have such a major effect on the overall performance of a business, healthcare organizations are contracting these consultants to overhaul their HR and operations departments. 

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MARKETING CONSULTING

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The days when healthcare organizations required little to no marketing efforts are over. The sector has become increasingly competitive across segments, forcing every healthcare organization to consider marketing initiatives to remain competitive and maintain patient flow. 

Unfortunately, most healthcare organizations retain limited knowledge and capability when it comes to marketing. 

For this reason, healthcare marketing consulting has emerged as a useful mechanism to implement marketing strategies among healthcare organizations. Marketing consultants provide several services to healthcare organizations, including:

  • Determination of marketing requirements, if any

  • Formulation of a marketing strategy

  • Implementation and monitoring of that strategy across channels

  • Continued assessment of the efficacy of marketing initiatives

The length and scope of marketing consulting services vary depending on the time requirements associated with these activities. Larger organizations typically work with marketing consultants on a long-term basis and smaller ones contract them for specific campaigns. 

REVENUE-SPECIFIC AND CONTRACT CONSULTING

 

Revenue and contract management might be one of the most blatant complexities within the healthcare space. While large hospitals and insurance companies will employ a team responsible for managing the various elements of financial management and profit generation, most healthcare companies require short-term assistance to negotiate and manage financial systems. 

There are two consulting fields worth noting here:

  • Contract management

  • Revenue cycle management

Contract management consultants will assist healthcare providers in managing the full life cycle of contracts with payors, including the following tasks:

  • Analyzing each payor contract

  • Understanding billing codes

  • Determining which contracts provide benefits and drawbacks

  • Standardizing contracts across payors

  • Re-negotiating better terms for providers

  • Training staff on how to work with each contract

  • Automating the contract management process

Revenue cycle management is intricately linked and requires a deep dive into reimbursement policies to determine whether they are fair and how they can be improved.  

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