Consulting in Healthcare - Dr. Adam Powell | Ep. 8
Dr. Adam Powell — Health Economics Consultant
Dr. Adam Powell on what a healthcare consultant actually does: proving that a product works, modelling its return, and why trust decides which problems a client will hand you.
Key Takeaways
Consulting runs on trust
A new problem for an old client, or an old problem for a new client. Never a new problem for a new client. 13:54
The job is showing that it works
Much of his work is contract research: analysing a client's own data to show whether its service does what it claims. 0:55
Open-source tools travel
Sensitive data stays on the client's servers, and free, vetted software such as R is the easiest to get installed there. 16:39
Apps complement care
Mental health apps work as a first self-assessment, as telemedicine with a counsellor, or as support alongside in-person care. 25:01
AI will take on diagnosis
He expects AI working with a less-trained person to handle routine diagnosis, leaving physicians to treatment and procedures. 28:01
“You can solve a new problem for an old client. You can solve an old problem for a new client. You cannot solve a new problem for a new client.”
Chapters
- 0:00Intro1 min
- 0:44What Payer+Provider does2 min
- 2:16Why he founded it1 min
- 3:44What “quantitative” means1 min
- 4:33Projects he can talk about2 min
- 6:19Who becomes a healthcare consultant1 min
- 7:29Common pitfalls2 min
- 9:09Boutique versus big firms3 min
- 11:50Economist versus consultant2 min
- 13:24Career advice2 min
- 15:01Working with data, and why R3 min
- 17:44Talking versus analysis2 min
- 20:06Society for Digital Mental Health3 min
- 22:49Do mental health apps work?5 min
- 27:19Healthcare in ten years4 min
- 30:50Robotics2 min
Mentioned in This Episode
About this Guest
Dr. Adam Powell
Health Economics Consultant
Healthcare economist and President of Payer+Provider Syndicate. He holds a PhD from Wharton and teaches health economics and informatics at Northeastern and Thomas Jefferson University.