What is a healthcare consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Ron Aubé Ph.D.

A healthcare consultant provides expert advice to healthcare organizations. They analyze healthcare systems and recommend improvements in areas like finance, operations, and management. Healthcare consultants work with hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, and government agencies to optimize patient care while reducing costs. They typically have a background in healthcare administration, business, or a related field, and may work independently or for consulting firms.

What general advice would you give to a Healthcare Consultant?

Ron Aubé Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor of Management, University of Georgia, Terry College of Business

Be humble and coachable. Get several mentors and absorb all the knowledge you can from them. Learn from experienced workers and share your own knowledge. Older generations are not always as savvy with technology and reverse mentoring has proven productive whereas older experienced workers can teach the younger cohorts about how to navigate organizational and decision-making issues. Remote work has made this a bit more challenging but not impossible. Build your network. Get involved in everything and anything related to your field of expertise. Be seen. Share your knowledge. Be confident, yet humble and open to new ideas.

As the workplace is still undergoing significant behavior change forced by Covid-19, probably the best advice I could give to a graduate beginning her/his career is to be adaptable and seek to work for an organization with a culture of agility and innovation. Organizations refusing to change and adapt are doomed to fail ultimately. As a young graduate with the knowledge of technology, you have an enormous advantage over workers not possessing the ability to navigate the digital world so easily. Take advantage of it.

ScoreHealthcare ConsultantUS Average

Salary

6.6

Avg. Salary $84,516

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.8

Growth Rate 11%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 11.68%

Black or African American 8.46%

Hispanic or Latino 9.17%

Unknown 4.53%

White 65.98%

Gender

female 55.89%

male 44.11%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

2.2

Work Life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Healthcare Consultant?

Pros

Competitive salary, benefits, and job security
Flexibility in work hours and location
Potential for career advancement and growth
Exposure to cutting-edge technology and industry trends
Opportunities for travel and networking

Cons

Stress due to deadlines and client demands
Long hours and frequent travel required for some positions
May involve ethical conflicts or dilemmas
May require specialization in a certain area, limiting opportunities for diverse experience
Can involve extensive paperwork and documentation

Key steps to become a healthcare consultant

Explore healthcare consultant education requirements

Most common healthcare consultant degrees

Bachelor's

61.7 %

Master's

20.6 %

Associate

10.0 %

Start to develop specific healthcare consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Cycle Management	11.08%
Business Processes	7.24%
Project Management	7.03%
Data Analysis	5.94%
Client Facing	4.84%

Complete relevant healthcare consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New healthcare consultants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a healthcare consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real healthcare consultant resumes.

Research healthcare consultant duties and responsibilities

Manage and coordinate health information technology projects for electronic health records (EHR), in physician practices.
Initiate research & manage conversion plan to new billing & EHR software with automate eligibility and appointment confirmation modules.
Experience in SDLC processes, and ability to manage application-relate projects from customer requirements definition to delivering application content solutions.
Create database SQL reports relate to compliance and billing.

Get healthcare consultant experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a healthcare consultant. The most common roles before becoming a healthcare consultant include staff nurse, consultant team lead and registered nurse.

Prepare your healthcare consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your healthcare consultant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a healthcare consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Healthcare Consultant Resume templates

Build a professional Healthcare Consultant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Healthcare Consultant resume.

Apply for healthcare consultant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a healthcare consultant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do healthcare consultants rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Healthcare Consultant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019

Cons

I DON'T LIKE DOING MISTAKES WHEN AM WORKING