Position Overview
A consultant, by definition, is a person who helps an organization become more efficient. He or she aids in reducing costs, yet increasing profit, at the same time ensuring that efficiency does not come down.
A healthcare consultant is a management analyst, analyzing the structure of the organization and determining where there are glitches reducing efficiency, then addressing those glitches and improving the overall system.
Education
To work as a healthcare consultant, you must have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in management, business or a related field.
Certification is also often preferred, so if you want to advance in your field you must get that.
However, a degree is a must. It will ensure that you know the most important things needed in a healthcare organization, and how to cut costs here without impairing the patients’ health.
Skills and Abilities
Of course, you must always have excellent communication skills and be able to work both as a part of a team and be a team leader.
You must be extremely detail-oriented, and be able to devise strategies based on standard business practices, yet make solutions unique enough to cater especially to the needs of the organization in question.
See also: Healthcare Consultant Resume
Healthcare Consultant Job Description and Duties
• Identify the reason for the problem that the healthcare facility is facing.
• Examine data concerning the problem shared with you by the organization, then do primary research yourself.
• Analyze the data gathered and hypothesize the problem.
• Come up with a solution to the problem, and communicate it to the facility head.
• Estimate how much time the problem can be solved.
• Give an approximate cost, if any, to get the solution going.
• Have an alternative solution ready in case the employers do not like the original.
• Be ready to stay on and help facilitate the change, if necessary.
• Be able to handle the employees in case you are put in charge of the project.
• Conduct workshops to help employees understand the problem and its solution.
• Analyze long term goals of the organization, and offer ideas on how to improve them and their working.
• Travel to different areas where the organization has branches to see if the same problems are taking place everywhere, or if there are different problems to be solved.
• Write a detailed report outlining all that you have discovered as well as the potential solution.
• Perform outreach tasks in order to provide patients and families with healthcare information