Healthcare consultant

Description

Healthcare consultants advise health care organisations on the development of plans to improve patient care and safety. They analyse health care policies and identify issues, and aid in the development of improvement strategies.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to healthcare consultant:

retirement healthcare advisor
healthcare advisor
healthcare management adivsor
healthcare management consultant
management consultant

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as healthcare consultant. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Healthcare consultant is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Healthcare consultant career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to healthcare consultant.

public health policy officer
healthcare institution manager
competition policy officer
regional development policy officer
community development officer

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of healthcare consultant. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of healthcare consultant with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of healthcare consultant.

Health care legislation: The patients` rights and responsibilities of health practitioners and the possible repercussions and prosecutions in relation to medical treatment negligence or malpractice.
Government policy implementation: The procedures related to the application of government policies at all levels of public administration.
Public health: The principles of health and sickness affecting the population, including the means for health promotion and prevention and community and primary care.
Health care system: The structure and function of health care services.
Manage healthcare staff: The managerial tasks and responsibilities required in a health care setting.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of healthcare consultant.

Advise policy makers in healthcare: Present research to policy makers, health care providers, and educators to encourage improvements in public health.
Implement policy in healthcare practices: Establish how policies should be interpreted and translated within the practice, implementing local and national policies, as well as those of your own practice and proposing developments and improvements to service delivery.
Maintain relationships with government agencies: Establish and maintain cordial working relationships with peers in different governmental agencies.
Comply with legislation related to health care: Comply with the regional and national legislation that is relevant to one`s work and apply it in practice.
Contribute to public health campaigns: Contribute to local or national public health campaigns by evaluating health priorities, the government changes in regulations and advertising the new trends in relation to health care and prevention.
Assess health services within the community: Assess the effectiveness and efficiency of health services for the community with a view to its improvement.
Analyse community needs: Identify and respond to specific social problems in a community, delineating the extent of the problem and outline the level of resources required to address it and identifying the existing community assets and resources that are available to address the problem.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of healthcare consultant. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Project management principles: Different elements and phases of project management.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of healthcare consultant. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Carry out strategic research: Research long term possibilities for improvements and plan steps to achieve them.
Maintain relations with local representatives: Maintain good relations with representatives of the local scientific, economic and civil society.
Address public health issues: Promote healthy practices and behaviours to ensure that populations stay healthy.
Liaise with local authorities: Maintain the liaison and exchange of information with regional or local authorities.
Lead healthcare services changes: Identify and lead changes in healthcare service in response to patient needs and service demand in order to ensure continuous quality improvement of the service.
Establish collaborative relations: Establish a connection between organisations or individuals which may benefit from communicating with one another in order to facilitate an enduring positive collaborative relationship between both parties.
Apply strategic thinking: Apply generation and effective application of business insights and possible opportunities, in order to achieve competitive business advantage on a long-term basis.
Communicate effectively in healthcare: Communicate effectively with patients, families and other caregivers, health care professionals, and community partners.
Analyse health problems within a given community: Effectively assess the healthcare needs and problems of a community.
Promote inclusion: Promote inclusion in health care and social services and respect diversity of beliefs, culture, values and preferences, keeping in mind the importance of equality and diversity issues.
Report on social development: Report results and conclusions on society’s social development in an intelligible way, presenting these orally and in written form to a range of audiences from non-experts to experts.
Perform project management: Manage and plan various resources, such as human resources, budget, deadline, results, and quality necessary for a specific project, and monitor the project’s progress in order to achieve a specific goal within a set time and budget.
Analyse goal progress: Analyse the steps which have been taken in order to reach the organisation’s goals in order to assess the progress which has been made, the feasibility of the goals, and to ensure the goals can be met according to deadlines.
Manage government policy implementation: Manage the operations of the implementation of new government policies or changes in existing policies on a national or regional level as well as the staff involved in the implementation procedure.
Implement strategic planning: Take action on the goals and procedures defined at a strategic level in order to mobilise resources and pursue the established strategies.
Perform market research: Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.

ISCO group and title

2422 – Policy administration professionals

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Healthcare consultant – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022