Forty-one ideas of what you can do as a physician healthcare consultant
Category: Physician Career Resilience, Physicians in Business
Have you thought about developing a healthcare consultancy business “on the side” or as a physician career expansion idea? There are many physicians who work as healthcare consultants who not only provide tremendous value for their clients, but also enjoy the flexibility and diversity of the consulting life. Some consultants work for small or large firms; other appreciate the autonomy of owning their own consulting company.
Being successful as an independent consultant depends on many factors, but two are paramount: 1) developing a good business plan for your consulting business, and 2) knowing how you are uniquely qualified to help solve business problems for your client. You can tackle the first challenge by learning more about business planning. Here are some ideas that will help you tackle the second challenge, knowing how you add value. The nine categories and 41 ideas are as follows:
Nine categories and 41 activities where a Physician Consultant can bring Value
Adapted from What Color is Your Parachute? Robert N. Bolles (Ten Speed Press)
1. Research
Identify suppliers
Identify target markets or users for ideas or products
Identify talent
Identify experts
Identify commercial possibilities for ideas or concepts
Assess the public mood
Examine political realities
Trace problems, ideas to their source
2. Invent
Create commercial possibilities for abstract ideas or concepts
Design events
Improve on others ideas
Update others’ ideas
Adapt others’ ideas
3. Communicate
Arbitrate disputes
Negotiate agreements
Terminate people/projects/processes
Translate jargon
Help others express views
Help others clarify goals and values
Handle difficult people
Interview
4. Motivate
Sell an idea, program, or course of action to decision makers
Raise capital for nonprofit institutions
Raise capital for business ventures
Recruit leadership
Direct creative talent
5. Analyze
Classify data
Perceive and define cause-and-effect relationships
6. Synthesize
Summarize
Asses people’s needs
Extract the essence from large quantities of data
7. Evaluate
Assess monetary value
Judge people’s effectiveness
Identify and assess other’s potential
Analyze communication situations
8. Recommend
Suggest experts
Suggest suppliers
Allocate scarce resources
9. Forecast
Plan financial matters
Predict obsolescence
After you have reviewed the list once, read through it again and picture yourself in different client scenarios. The scenario might be a healthcare system, a pharmaceutical firm, a physician group practice, a technology or device company, an insurance company, a medical publications company, a health venture firm, or any number of other healthcare or non-healthcare related organizations.
Going through the list is also helpful for physicians who are contemplating career expansion beyond clinical practice. What resonates with you as you read through the list? If you can identify one or two categories that say “that’s me!” then you have taken a giant step forward in your personal career growth.