about us

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about us

EXPERTS IN HEALTHCARE CONSULTING

Download some of our latest publications:

Five things about healthcare in Australia (over 2,500 views on LinkedIn!)
Reconfiguration of outpatient services to reduce waits and improve patient experience
Reducing your elective surgery backlog (as surgery is now restarting after a Covid-19 pause)

New High Consulting Pty Ltd is a Strategic consultancy specialising in health strategy and delivery. Through our team and associate network, we are focusing on the following areas:

Strategy Development – whether you are starting at the beginning (development of a purpose, vision, mission and strategic framework) or you require support to develop a full strategic plan, our team of experienced healthcare professionals, leadership experts and technology implementation gurus can help you.

Deep understanding of healthcare in Australia and Internationally – healthcare is currently facing some of its biggest challenges yet around chronic diseases in an ageing population, workforce shortages, financial constraints, a technology explosion and increased patient expectations and understanding. These can be mitigated via strategies such as capitation and system level planning, avoiding unnecessary hospitalisations and the use of technology to increase care available locally and at home.

Training course delivery and workshop facilitation – running training courses with a reputation for professional facilitation in client meetings. Feedback from training events has always been excellent.

Creating clarity from complexity with data – “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” but often the time is not available for deep data analysis, so we assist with developing and presenting results as easy to understand strategic conclusions to assist decision making. We help clients obtain the value of using all available data sources to come to a conclusion.

Program and change management – using strategies that help make change stick in client organisations, particularly where clinical engagement is required to deliver a goal.

P0st Covid-19 Priorities - We are experts in strategic interpretation of information and data. As such we can assist your organisation with understanding what the myriad of data available actually means for you together with predictions and scenario planning around the new normal and how to take advantage of the current opportunities for change. We have a team of expert healthcare consultants has over 80 years experience between them, working with healthcare data (from ED and Inpatient to Outpatient, Theatres, Diagnostics and Costing) and facilitating discussions to drive improvement and change. Please contact us for more information.

People

Paul White - Managing Director

Paul is a highly experienced executive and management consultant with a deep understanding of the challenges currently facing healthcare based upon 15 years’ experience in the sector. Paul’s style is to work collaboratively with senior managers and his operational experience is centred on appropriate strategic decision making (providing challenge and support where necessary) backed up by a detailed understanding of data and evidence. Paul has worked in Australia, the UK, Europe and USA bringing a wealth of knowledge of different operating models and cultures across healthcare. He has an excellent academic background (1st Class Degree, University of Oxford) and he has delivered training courses and presentations at national and international events. Paul’s key capabilities are as follows:

Deep understanding of health in Australia and internationally: Paul understands that healthcare is currently facing some of its biggest challenges yet around chronic diseases in an ageing population, workforce shortages, financial constraints, a technology explosion and increased patient expectations and understanding. His work to date means he is experienced in strategies and innovations to help deal with these issues such as capitation and system level planning, avoiding unnecessary hospitalisations and the use of technology to increase care available locally and at home.

A champion of high quality and patient centred care: Paul has worked with the Royal College of Physicians in the UK to develop an accreditation and quality improvement scheme which is still running today. He is a champion of the idea that reducing unnecessary activities and inefficiency releases the time to focus on quality in a cost neutral way, and actively spreads the message that high quality care is in fact also the lowest cost care.

An expert in analysis and ‘Big Data’: Most of Paul’s work to date has an analytical component because he is a firm believer that “it is impossible to improve what you can’t measure”. He also has a deep understanding of Australia healthcare data, and knows the best strategies to manipulate and present information rich conclusions from the available data to drive continuous change with clinicians and managers in health systems.

People centred and culturally aware: Paul has managed many teams both within his own business and in client organisations. He understands that a positive team culture essential to a productive team. Paul builds trusted relationships for addressing complex business or organisational dilemmas.

DAVID LEGG - DIRECTOR

David is committed to improving public services by supporting leaders to make better use of resources and pursue operational excellence. His values-driven approach combines with rounded experience acquired through a successful consulting career.

While David’s success is underpinned by his strong foundation in finance and operations, his collaborative, warm and engaging style sets him apart as a highly effective consultant. He is highly adept at enabling complex transformation initiatives by galvanizing leaders and teams around a common purpose, building commitment to action and embedding robust tools and processes. David’s key skills are in 3 areas:

Transformation: Supports public services to transform performance by harnessing the motives and efforts of the whole organisation, galvanizing around a common purpose and approach.

Healthcare strategy: Experienced in designing and leading programmes of strategic change that empower clinical leaders to produce stretching, evidenced-based plans that are responsive to today’s needs.

Business planning: Develops actionable business cases and plans to provide public service organisations with stronger futures. Extensive experience in demand and capacity planning, financial analysis and modelling, workforce, estates and digital strategy and planning.

KAREN TOMKIES - SENIOR MANAGER (PROCESS IMPROVEMENT AND REDESIGN)

Karen is a Business Process and Strategy Consultant with experience in strategy development, process improvement and redesign, and project management. She has worked across a number of organisations including financial service companies, New Zealand District Health Boards and a NSW State health provider. Karen has worked both “in” the business in operational leadership roles and “on” the business in process, project, and strategic roles.

This background in both business operations and projects means she can link business strategy to operational decisions. Karen has worked as an independent consultant since 2010. Prior to that for Capital and Coast District Health board in New Zealand and in various project management and process improvement roles in financial organisations. Karen has a Batchelor’s degree in History and Criminology from Victoria University of Wellington.

IAN TEBBUTT - SENIOR ANALYST

Ian has 25 years’ experience as an IT professional, with deep competencies in health data analysis. Working as the data lead for Health Round Table he designed and implemented benchmarking projects for 80% of Australia’s public and private hospitals. In 2016 he also cofounded cohortIQ a predictive analytics company aimed at keeping chronic complex patients out of hospital. A key part of the analysis was looking at why lower socio-economic individuals spend more time in hospital, with a further lens of the impact of indigenous status and highly remote locations on health outcomes.

Ian is based in regional Victoria and has worked with the SWARH network of hospitals so has a hands-on appreciation of the challenges of delivering healthcare to remote communities. He recently delivered a webinar focussed on the Aged Care Royal Commission, examining the increased role of IHPA, and linking their new data gathering requirements with the benefit of benchmarking and process improvement, especially in the use of chemical restraints. Ian has worked as an independent consultant for 19 years focused on health data analytics. Ian has a Batchelor’s degree in Computer Science from Kingston University, UK.

ELIZABETH NORMAN - ANALYTICAL STRATEGY AND CLINICAL ENGAGEMENT

Elizabeth is a qualified Allied Health clinician, specialising in dietetics. She joined one of New Zealand’s largest District Health Boards in 2016 to support data driven change. She has in-depth view of New Zealand healthcare from inside and out, and applies her years of experience in process improvement, quality control, risk management and stakeholder engagement to a range of healthcare projects today. She specialises in clinical survey and audit design, benefits analysis.

Elizabeth’s experience over the last 5 years includes 2 years working with the Health Roundtable helping hospitals to use their benchmarking data and reports to drive innovative change and project management work with the Health, Quality and Safety Commission in New Zealand. Elizabeth is a keen believer in doing everything possible to enhance patient safety and patient experience in our health systems.

ANDY WARD - INTERNATIONAL HEALTH SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT

Andy is an established and versatile executive and leader, with a track record of building, managing and advising in healthcare and technology. With over 20 years of advisory experience, he has also led businesses for GE Healthcare and Deloitte, and commercially advised organisations such as McLaren’s Applied Technology business. He has advised governments and healthcare providers from the way providers, commissioners and regulators work together; at the frontline he has developed leaders and ran patient flow work in hospitals.

Andy has a deep understanding of the interfaces between people, patient flow, workflow and technology. Andy has worked internationally in healthcare, particularly in the UK, Australia (which he is itching to get back to), The Middle East and the US. He is also co-founder of ideation.AI, a MedTech company focused on building Clinician’s Virtual Assistants in the ICU and is co-chair of the UK International Healthcare Management Association.

OTHER CONSULTANTS - CHANGE, SERVICE PLANNIng & ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

We have links with a number of other boutique consulting firms and subject matter experts and believe in making connections. If you have a particular need as part of a team based approach, please get in touch.

Case Studies

LEADING THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS FOR MULTI-SITE A PRIVATE HOSPITAL GROUP.

New High Consulting were asked to design and execute a strategic planning process to assist in the development of a vision, mission and a 5-year strategic plan for the organisation. This was the first strategic planning exercise that had been undertaken since 2015 and it was obvious that buy in and ownership from the management team and staff would be an essential part of this journey.

New High Consulting engaged with the organisation to conduct an overview environment scan, stakeholder interviews (board and management team), a community / member survey and the design and execution of 2 days of off site workshops to develop the purpose, vision, mission and outline strategy. A final report along with a set of key recommendations was provided to assist the organisation in the next stage of its strategic journey.

DESIGN AND EXECUTION OF FACILITATED LEARNING GROUPS FOR SENIOR HEALTH MANAGERS

In collaboration with the Australasian College of Health Service Management we have designed and executed 2 facilitated learning groups (so far) run virtually as 10 x 90 minute sessions over a 20 week period. The program helps emerging leaders complete the requirements of the Certified Health Manager program by satisfying the Workplace Project element of that Program.

Groups who have undertaken the course so far have had an exclusive opportunity to hear from experts and share problems, ideas, and solutions with 15 – 20 of their peers, focused on transformation of health service design and delivery. Each participant is provided with an opportunity to discuss their issues and complete a practical workplace-based project that will benefit from the wisdom of the group, and invited experts, during the program. Feedback from the programs so far:

“To Paul you are a great facilitator & the guest speakers were also great.”

“Love this style of learning and sharing”

“Paul, Thanks for everything. Really enjoyed the sessions and learnt a lot.”

“I really enjoyed the sessions. Thanks again and I am sure we will cross paths again in the small work of Healthcare.”

COMMERCIAL GOVERNANCE SUPPORT

New High Consulting have provided senior commercial governance and analytical support around the management of a large outsourced health contract. The initial negotiations for this contract were carried out with sub-optimal levels of knowledge about how health industry providers and insurers operated, and what commercial rules should be in place. The phrase ‘Medicare and relevant professional society business rules will apply’ was included, but not really applied.

Our team set up a program to deliver a comprehensive review of these business rules which would stand up to scrutiny by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) and satisfy the requirements of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability (PGPA) Act. The ‘Commercial Leakage’ identified has resulted in a significant saving for the public purse both since contract inception and going forward. Client feedback has been overwhelmingly positive:

“New High’s health expertise, industry contacts and strategic analytical insight helped drive this program forward, making an immediate impact. The flexibility of an embedded team member also ensured the learning would be retained in the future.”