Healthcare Consultant:
If you've ever asked a consultant what they do, they might explain their role with the typical corporate jargon:
"Consulting is the synergistic process of leveraging outside-the-box ideation to optimize strategic initiatives to achieve maximum ROI.”
Confused? Don't worry, so was I.
That's why, this past summer, I decided to dive headfirst into the consulting world as a healthcare consulting intern. My goal? Well, honestly it was to get a full-time return offer but also to decode this mysterious yet prestigious field and figure out what consultants really do all day (besides inventing new buzzwords).
So, what exactly is consulting, if not a field as mysterious as it is prestigious?
Let me break it down for you, jargon-free, based on what I learned during my internship.
Definition of Consultants:
Consultants are like doctors for the healthcare system itself. Clients come to us with problems, just like patients with symptoms, but they aren't sure what's wrong.
Just like doctors provide guidance to patients, we provide advice and strategies to help organizations run smoothly, treat their customers better, and keep their finances healthier.
The Consulting Process: More Than Just Expensive Advice
Have you ever been to a doctor's office with a problem, only to be met with a generic solution like only to be told, "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning"? Then, you receive a $300 bill for a 15-minute appointment.
Many people think consultants operate the same way: they swoop in, offer a one-size-fits-all solution like "cut 50% of your workforce," and then jet off with a fat paycheck.
While that stereotype might hold for empathy-challenged, aspirin-pushing doctors of the consulting world, the reality is that healthcare consulting is much more nuanced.
Three descriptions to describe what consultants do:
Let me walk you through the process:
Diagnosing the Problem:
Imagine a patient comes to you with a stomachache but doesn’t remember eating anything out of the ordinary. Similarly, a client may come to you and say, "Our hospital is losing money, and we don't know why." A client's problems at face value are just the tip of the iceberg, and a hospital's financial woes or a seemingly simple stomachache aren't always simple to diagnose. Consultants and doctors need to investigate the “why” of it all.
In the case of our patient with a stomachache, we will run several tests, such as doing lab work, doing a physical check, taking the temperature, asking questions, etc., to find the root cause of the problem. Similarly, for client problems, we dig deep, asking lots of questions, poring over data, and conducting extensive research to really understand and diagnose the problem.
Developing a Treatment Plan:
Once we've diagnosed the problem, it's time to develop a treatment plan. While patients may come in with similar symptoms, each case is unique, so it is up to the doctor (consultant) to come up with a unique treatment plan and approach that will work for the patient.
Consultants don't have to reinvent the wheel when coming up with solutions; we work with lots of clients with similar problems, take things we have learned from past clients, and just apply them to our current clients. Obviously, one solution does not fit all our clients or patients’ unique healthcare needs, and we need to make adjustments to fit the unique needs of the business.
Delivering the News:
Once you have your diagnosis and potential treatment plans, now comes the time to present your findings to your patient and inform them of their situation. However, you can't go in there and hand them their lab results with no explanation of what they mean, so it requires distilling complex information into clear, concise, and convincing content.
Consultants do this by taking all their analysis and findings and putting them into PowerPoint presentations, or as consultants like to call them, slide decks, which is honestly 80% of my internship.
But even if you present the patient with solutions, such as “exercise more” or “take this medicine,” none of that matters if they don't comply. Patients need to be convinced by understanding the impact this has on their health and the risks associated if they don’t take action.
Similarly, the clients need to be convinced that this solution is the best fit for their company, and this involves storytelling. We don't just list facts; we weave them into a compelling narrative that shows why our solution makes sense. We use easy-to-read slides and relatable examples to explain complex ideas, and we anticipate and address doubts before they arise.
Our goal is to make our case so clear and convincing that the client/patient not only understands our recommendation but is eager to act on it.
Seeing the Next Patient:
Once you have treated your patient, you send them on their way with the treatment plan in hand (and make sure that you bill their insurance for all the services provided and lab tests run). Similarly, once you have diagnosed, developed a treatment plan, and convinced the client that it needs to be treated, you can walk away with the hefty paycheck and move on to the following case and start the process all over again.
