Practice management consultant vs practice manager

The differences between practice management consultants and practice managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a practice management consultant, becoming a practice manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a practice manager has an average salary of $107,374, which is higher than the $92,700 average annual salary of a practice management consultant.

The top three skills for a practice management consultant include financial services, project management and business development. The most important skills for a practice manager are patients, patient care, and customer service.

Practice management consultant vs practice manager overview

	Practice Management Consultant	Practice Manager
Yearly salary	$92,700	$107,374
Hourly rate	$44.57	$51.62
Growth rate	11%	28%
Number of jobs	123,902	38,196
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	4	6

What does a practice management consultant do?

Practice management consultants need a bachelor's or master's degree in business, health policy, or economics. They also need a strong skill set in communication, problem-solving, analysis, flexibility, and teamwork in order to be successful in this career. Those who choose this career path work with providers and practice managers to identify and quantify practice management issues and implement solutions to these problems.

What does a practice manager do?

A practice manager is responsible for supervising daily operations, especially on the side of the medical industry. Practice managers monitor staffing needs, train new employees, and evaluate the employees' productivity and performance. They also enforce strict guidelines and procedures, ensuring that the processes adhere to the legal standards and regulatory requirements. Practice managers also maintain budget goals, creating cost estimates and expense reports. A practice manager must have strong communication, analytical, and critical-thinking skills, as well as comprehensive knowledge of the medical industry practices.

Practice management consultant vs practice manager salary

Practice management consultants and practice managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Practice Management Consultant	Practice Manager
Average salary	$92,700	$107,374
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $130,000	Between $65,000 And $175,000
Highest paying City	-	Providence, RI
Highest paying state	-	Rhode Island
Best paying company	-	Davis Wright Tremaine
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between practice management consultant and practice manager education

There are a few differences between a practice management consultant and a practice manager in terms of educational background:

	Practice Management Consultant	Practice Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Pennsylvania

Practice management consultant vs practice manager demographics

Here are the differences between practice management consultants' and practice managers' demographics:

	Practice Management Consultant	Practice Manager
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 50.3% Female, 49.7%	Male, 25.3% Female, 74.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 11.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 7.9% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between practice management consultant and practice manager duties and responsibilities

Practice management consultant example responsibilities.

Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
Provide overall implementation of AllScripts EMR; develop and oversee implementation project milestones.
Solve lab EHR interface problems.
Implement all billing software upgrades and HIPAA compliance.
Provide in-service for physicians and staff on CPT coding.
Audit medical records for proper CPT (procedural) coding.

Practice manager example responsibilities.

Secure new engagements worldwide, and lead numerous ERP and CRM initiatives.
Manage a great team of 7 consultants that deliver outstanding ERP solutions.
Supervise and manage a staff of 12.5 FTE personnel and 4 FTE physicians.
Accomplish at applying knowledge of veterinary science and compassion for animals to ensure optimal care.
Manage all aspects of establishing, setting and implementing standards and work processes to ensure well running PMO.
Manage the selection process and implementation of the practice's EMR by reviewing and updating the system as needed.

Practice management consultant vs practice manager skills

Common practice management consultant skills

Financial Services, 15%
Project Management, 14%
Business Development, 8%
Human Resources, 8%
Client Relationships, 7%
Risk Management, 6%

Common practice manager skills

Patients, 17%
Patient Care, 8%
Customer Service, 6%
PET, 5%
Practice Management, 4%
Payroll, 3%

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Practice Management Consultant
Practice Management Consultant vs Practice Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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