Hospitals' Billion-Dollar Consulting Bet Fails to Deliver Results

A groundbreaking empirical study of nonprofit hospital spending reveals that hospitals invested over $7.8 billion in management consulting services from 2010-2022 with no statistically significant improvements in patient outcomes or financial metrics. This finding challenges the widely held assumption that consultant expertise drives hospital efficiency and raises critical questions about accountability for tax-subsidized healthcare spending. As hospitals face mounting budget pressures, understanding whether consulting investments deliver tangible value has become essential for hospital leadership and healthcare policymakers.