Leading healthcare consultants speak out. Interview by Bill Childs

In 1993 American consulting firms worked overtime helping executives of healthcare delivery systems cope with recent developments and anticipate coming events. From vertical integration to mergers and acquisitions, from reengineering to downsizing, it appeared that industry activity amounted to full employment for consultants. Recently Bill Childs, Healthcare Informatics' editor-in-chief and market observer, took the opportunity to visit with two leaders in the healthcare consulting field--Jim Reep, Chairman of First Consulting Group, Long Beach, Calif., and Richard Helppie, CEO of Superior Consultant Co., Farmington Hills, Mich.--and record their views of the state of the industry and their visions for its future. Excerpts from their discussions follow.