In an era of increasing complexity in healthcare, consultants can help organizations address inefficiencies, improve patient experiences, and set overall strategy. The most successful consultants do so through a lens of authenticity, recognizing that earning their clients’ trust is key to achieving their full potential in this critical role.

The Healthcare Consultant’s Handbook: Career Opportunities and Best Practices offers insight into the essential role of the healthcare consultant. Author Scott A. Mason draws on more than 40 years of experience to reveal the realities of management consulting for healthcare organizations and the traits and strengths necessary for success. He looks at the common challenges healthcare consultants face and how best to overcome them.

The book explores the role of the independent consultant, offers practical guidance on what to expect when working for a consulting firm and reveals what it takes to be an exceptional consultant. Various types of consulting are identified, along with types of consulting firms—profiling several prominent companies—and strategies for determining what type of firm is the best fit.

Mason also provides a detailed look at:

• Myths surrounding healthcare consulting
• The client–consultant relationship from all perspectives
• Unique elements of the healthcare sector that consultants often focus on
• Differences between healthcare consulting and general management consulting
• Key lessons learned from challenging client engagements

With this book, new and prospective healthcare consultants will gain a greater understanding of the craft and practical insight into what truly makes a consultant exceptional. 

Scott A. Mason, DPA, FACHE, is a managing partner of SKM Advisors, LLC in Williamsburg, Virginia. Dr. Mason has spent his career as a thought leader in healthcare strategy and an advisor to the executive teams and boards of hospitals, health systems, and health-related companies. In addition to starting his career at Booz Allen and founding his own firm at the age of 30, he has worked for several different types of consulting firms and held executive positions with diverse organizations, including Cushman & Wakefield and ECG Management Consultants.

Dr. Mason has completed more than 100 strategic plans and mergers worth more than $20 billion involving the formation of more than 35 regional health systems from coast to coast. His more recent focus has been on creating ambulatory care as a strategic business unit within regional health systems, as well as establishing greater “systemness” through shared clinical service lines and the adoption of retail strategies.  He has taught a popular seminar for the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) on “Growth in the Reform Era” for more than seven years. An established writer and speaker at many board retreats and events, he received ACHE’s Dean Conley Award for Best Article of the Year in 2016.