Healthcare Management Consulting 2018
Who Can Help with Healthcare’s Biggest Challenges?—An Executive Perspective

CxO Perceptions of Consulting Firm Expertise

Premier, Optum, The Chartis Group Valued for Focused Expertise

Led by Deloitte, McKinsey, and Huron, Cross-Industry Firms Top of Mind for Variety of Intensifying Challenges

Deloitte received the highest number of mentions overall for being best positioned to help with healthcare’s top business challenges. Reasons include Deloitte’s broad capabilities, experience with large, complex projects, and creative and collaborative problem solving. Healthcare executives cite strategy-focused firm McKinsey’s cross-industry knowledge, highly intelligent consultants, and ability to think outside the box as top reasons the firm is considered. Concerns about cost, inflexibility, and a lack of humility are mentioned. Huron and Navigant have high overall mindshare but are primarily thought of for financial improvement, an area in which executives feel they deliver good outcomes.

It is noteworthy that some other large cross-industry management consulting firms—including Accenture, KPMG, and EY—receive little mindshare from interviewed executives. Selective with their engagements and generally partnering with very large health systems that need help with enterprise-wide transformations, Accenture has lower mindshare compared to other cross-industry firms. KPMG and EY, well known for financial planning and improvement work, don’t have a significant presence in healthcare.

Do Perceptions Match Reality?

For Deloitte, Navigant, & Premier, Perceptions Largely Match Reality; For McKinsey and Huron, Not So Much

Perceptions don’t always match reality. Low-performing firms may have high mindshare, or executives may hesitate to engage a firm they view as well positioned to help. Deloitte and Navigant have broad capabilities and consistent performance, so their high mindshare largely jives with their actual performance. Additionally, Deloitte is identified as a go-to option by the highest number of respondents, who cite as strengths the firm’s relationships, consistent results, long-term perspective, and healthcare expertise. However, it should be noted that a comparative number of executives would hesitate to engage Deloitte, describing the firm as bureaucratic or saying they would have difficulty trusting the firm again. Organizations who view Navigant as their go-to firm see them as strategic, experienced, and capable of producing results on time. PwC and Kaufman Hall are other well-performing cross-industry firms, but they are thought of less by executives.

In contrast, cross-industry firms McKinsey and Huron have high mindshare but are the two lowest-performing firms in this report. The number of executives who would hesitate to use McKinsey is twice the number who identify the firm as a go-to partner. Those who are wary of McKinsey mention high costs, an arrogant attitude, and a lack of focus and healthcare experience. Huron has a large client base and high mindshare for financial work. Executives who name Huron as their go-to firm say Huron has the right resources for the projects they need completed. However, as indicated by Huron’s low overall performance score, several clients have had poor experiences; common issues include cost, low value, lacking tools and methodology, and unachieved outcomes. Other large cross-industry firms EY and Accenture also perform below average, though they have less mindshare.

Healthcare-specific firms provide a more consistent experience across clients. Premier, The Chartis Group, and ECG Management Consultants are all top-performing firms known for consistent track records, quality resources, and specific areas of expertise. Optum, including the recently acquired Advisory Board, is the one healthcare-specific firm with a higher percentage of executives reporting hesitation. Some view Advisory Board’s prices as high; others did not achieve the results or value they hoped for in previous engagements with the firm.