MEET THE FOUNDER

Melissa Gilkes-Smith

Healthcare operations consultant, patient experience strategist, and creator of the Nine Pillars of Patient Experience Framework.

MG

Melissa Gilkes-Smith

Principal & President

DHA(c), MHA

HER STORY

A career built inside healthcare – and a company built to transform it.

Melissa Gilkes-Smith is a nationally recognized healthcare operations consultant, patient experience strategist, and founder of Healthcare Management Consulting Group (HMCG) — a Virginia-based consulting firm dedicated to helping healthcare organizations improve access, optimize operations, and drive sustainable growth.

With over 15 years of progressive leadership experience spanning private practices, multi-site clinic networks, surgery centers, and government contracting, Melissa brings a rare combination of frontline operational expertise and executive-level strategic vision. She has held senior roles including Chief Operations Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and Director of Operations across organizations such as Vascular Health Partners, Gastro Health, and Center for Vein Restoration, where she oversaw $35M+ in revenue and led large-scale operational transformations.

“I built HMCG because I spent years watching practices struggle with problems that were entirely fixable — if someone was willing to look at the full patient journey and design it intentionally. That’s what we do.”

As the creator of the proprietary Nine Pillars of Patient Experience Framework, Melissa helps healthcare organizations diagnose inefficiencies, redesign workflows, and build cultures of accountability, empathy, and excellence. Through HMCG, she delivers operational audits, custom leadership coaching, and fractional COO services that produce measurable results — from improved patient satisfaction scores to increased referrals and revenue growth.

THE NINE PILLARS FRAMEWORK

A framework built from the inside out.

As the creator of the proprietary Nine Pillars of Patient Experience Framework, Melissa helps healthcare organizations diagnose inefficiencies, redesign workflows, and build cultures of accountability, empathy, and excellence.

The framework maps the complete patient journey across 8 critical touchpoints and one long-term outcome — giving practices a structured, reproducible way to evaluate and improve every stage of the patient experience. It didn’t come from a textbook. It came from years of watching where patient trust was earned and where it was quietly lost, interaction by interaction.

A remarkable patient experience doesn’t happen by accident — it happens by design.

The Nine Pillars Framework is the foundation of HMCG’s audits, coaching programs, and training offerings. It’s what makes the work uniquely effective — because it was designed specifically for the operational realities of healthcare practice management.

SPEAKING & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A recognized voice in healthcare operations and patient experience.

Melissa is a nationally recognized speaker and thought leader on the topics she knows best — patient experience strategy, healthcare operations, and building cultures of care that produce measurable results.

She speaks to healthcare leaders, practice managers, conference audiences, and executive teams — bringing real-world experience, proprietary frameworks, and a compelling delivery style to every engagement.

The Nine Pillars of Patient Experience

How every touchpoint shapes trust, loyalty, and growth in healthcare practices.

Building a Culture of Care

Transforming healthcare teams through accountability, compassion, empathy, and collaboration

Operational Excellence in Healthcare

Transforming healthcare teams through accountability, compassion, empathy, and collaboration

FOLLOW MELISSA’S INSIGHTS

Melissa shares regular insights on patient experience, healthcare operations, and leadership on LinkedIn and through the HMCG Insights blog.

Invite Melissa to speak at your next event

Whether you're hosting a conference, hosting a leadership summit, or running a team development day — Melissa brings practical expertise and a compelling point of view to every stage.

Keynote presentations

Panel discussions & moderation

Workshop facilitation

Webinars & virtual events

Podcast & media appearances

To the Healthcare Leaders Reading This,

I didn’t start HMCG because I saw a gap in the consulting market. I started it because I couldn’t unsee what I had witnessed for over 15 years working inside healthcare organizations at every level.

I watched practices invest deeply in their clinical teams, their technology, and their facilities, and still lose patients. Not because the care was poor. But because the experience surrounding that care was broken in ways nobody was taking responsibility for. A missed call here. A confusing bill there. A patient who left a visit feeling unheard, even when the diagnosis was right.

I knew those problems were fixable. I had fixed them, as a COO, as a CAO, as a Director of Operations. But I also knew that most practices didn’t have someone in their corner whose only focus was the full patient journey, from first impression to long-term relationship. That’s why I built HMCG.

I believe that a remarkable patient experience doesn’t happen by accident, it happens by design — through intentional systems, a team that leads with a culture of care that treats every touchpoint as an opportunity to build trust.

What I want for the people I serve is simple: I want your patients to feel it. I want them to feel the difference the moment they find you online, the moment they call your office, the moment they walk through your door. I want your team to feel it too, the clarity that comes from knowing exactly what excellence looks like and having the tools to deliver it consistently.

You built your practice to make a difference. I built HMCG to help you do exactly that. If you’re ready to take a closer look at your patient experience, I’m ready to help you design something remarkable.

Founder & Principal, HMCG

Melissa Gilkes-Smith, DHA(c)

Ready to work with Melissa?

Whether you need a consulting partner, an operational audit, or a speaker for your next event — let’s start the conversation.