Adviser to hospitals, health systems and health-related companies, Scott A. Mason, DPA, FACHE, is an independent consultant, board member and serial entrepreneur. His career has spanned diverse strategy assignments with more than 400 organizations in 40 states. In addition to joining the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and founding his own firm early in his career, Mason has held senior executive positions with numerous private and public companies. Mason has also served in a variety of interim management positions, including as a hospital executive and president of a regional health system. After selling his consulting firm to a health technology company in 1997 (after 17 years), he helped start two other technology firms related to EHRs.

 

Mason is a recognized thought leader in healthcare strategy. A trusted advisor to executive teams and boards, he has written extensively and established himself as one of the industry’s prominent voices in dealing with key trends and their implications. His consulting practice was always focused on the strategic success of his clients. The focus of Mason’s strategy engagements has evolved over the years from aggregating regional hospital systems (more than $20 billion in hospital mergers and almost 40 regional health systems formed) to conducting post-merger integration following these initial mergers. Mason was an early advocate for clinical service lines as an essential component of a growth strategy. Recently, his focus has shifted toward improved management through “systemness” related to what he calls “disruptive collaboration,” including shared clinical service lines. He emphasizes improving the customer experience by adopting retail strategies and embedding them into modern ambulatory care facilities that extend into strategic community-based locations.

 

As a Fellow and faculty member of ACHE, Mason has taught an evolving two-day seminar to senior healthcare executives titled “Growth in the Reform Era,” for almost a decade. He is proud of previously being elected chairman of the American Association of Healthcare Consultants and, more recently, being appointed chair of the ACHE Healthcare Consultants Forum Committee.

A popular speaker at regional meetings and board retreats, Mason has published extensively. In 2016, he received ACHE’s coveted Dean Conley Award for best article of the year for his article, “Retail and Real Estate: The Changing Landscape of Care Delivery,” published in Frontiers of Health Services Management. His next book—Executive Turned Consultant: Transitioning from Experienced Executive to Trusted Advisor in Healthcare—will be published in 2022. This is a companion book to the acclaimed Healthcare Consultant’s Handbook: Career Options and Best Practices, published in 2021.

 

Mason is a graduate of Duke University, where he majored in neuroscience and was a walk-on basketball player. He completed a master’s degree at Pennsylvania State University (and residency at M.S. Hershey Medical Center), and a doctoral degree in healthcare management at George Washington University. He also serves as an Executive Partner for the Mason School of Business at the College of William & Mary.

Books published by Health Administration Press: