What's the difference between the best Epic consultant and the worst? About $15 an hour.
It sounds like a punchline, but it reflects something real: Epic consultants are increasingly being commoditized.
What's driving this?
It's not just health systems focusing on cost, though that's part of it. The market has expanded significantly. More consultants, more staffing firms, more MSPs, more VMSs, more marketplace apps. The supply side has exploded, and the result is a race to the bottom on bill rates.
In my 15 years in this industry, consultant bill rates have stayed remarkably stagnant. Often within a $20 range regardless of experience, track record, or the complexity of the engagement. And too often, certification is treated as the primary qualifier, as if passing a proficiency exam is the sole measure of whether someone can deliver.
Certification is a baseline, not a differentiator
The best consultants bring far more than a certification badge. They bring operational expertise. Technical depth. Problem-solving instincts built over years of working inside live health systems. Strategic thinking. Adaptability. The ability to walk into a complex environment and make things better, not just keep them running.
None of that shows up on a certification checklist. But it shows up in outcomes.
The real cost of commoditization
This dynamic has created a market where top-tier consultants, people with years of experience and proven results, are forced to compete in a price-driven environment that undervalues their contributions. Health systems end up comparing resumes that look similar on paper but deliver very different results in practice.
And the savings from hiring on price? They often vanish when a project takes longer, requires rework, or stalls because the person in the seat didn't have the depth the engagement required.
Not every role needs a top performer
This isn't about overpaying for every seat. Sometimes you need someone to keep the lights on, and compensation should reflect that. But when projects require more, when the work is complex, the timeline is tight, or the stakes are high, taking a thoughtful, strategic approach to talent is what separates a successful engagement from a painful one.
Compensation should align with the expertise the engagement requires. And the hiring process should be designed to distinguish between consultants who check the box and consultants who move the needle.
Where the industry needs to go
The current model treats Epic consultants as interchangeable. They aren't. Until the industry builds better mechanisms for recognizing and rewarding the people who actually deliver, health systems will keep paying for mediocre outcomes at what looks like a reasonable rate, and top talent will keep getting squeezed.
At Bloomforce, this is the problem we're built to solve. We don't forward resumes. We vet for the qualities that certifications can't measure, and we match consultants to engagements where their experience actually matters.
Grow with us
Zach Alpern
Founder & CEO, Bloomforce
