Healthcare Strategy + Advisory
I help healthcare organizations navigate innovation without losing the human side of healthcare.
Healthcare is changing quickly. AI, digital health, new care models, shifting economics, and changing expectations are forcing organizations to rethink how they operate, grow, and deliver care.
I’m Rafi Salazar—a healthcare strategist, advisor, speaker, author, occupational therapist, and practice owner. I work with healthcare companies, provider organizations, investors, and leadership teams on strategy, commercialization, clinical operations, technology adoption, and growth.
STRATEGY GROUNDED IN THE REAL WORLD
Healthcare is complicated. Your strategy doesn’t have to be.
Successful healthcare innovation requires more than a good idea. It requires understanding the people who deliver care, the organizations paying for it, the businesses operating within it, and the patients ultimately depending on it.
My work sits at the intersection of clinical care, healthcare operations, technology, and business strategy-helping organizations tum good ideas into solutions that actually work in the real world
HOW I HELP
Practical strategy for complex healthcare challenges.
Successful healthcare innovation requires more than a good idea. It requires understanding the people who deliver care, the organizations paying for it, the businesses operating within it, and the patients ultimately depending on it.
My work sits at the intersection of clinical care, healthcare operations, technology, and business strategy-helping organizations tum good ideas into solutions that actually work in the real world
PLATFORM STRATEGY
Advising digital health startups and healthcare platforms on clinical strategy, enterprise adoption, MSK strategy, product-market alignment, and M&A integration.
GROWTH + GO-TO-MARKET
Developing positioning, commercialization, sales enablement, and GTM frameworks designed around how healthcare organizations actually evaluate, select, and adopt new solutions.
DIGITAL HEALTH + AI
Helping organizations implement and commercialize digital health, AI, Telehealth, RTM, SaaS, and technology-enabled care models.
DUE DILLEGENCE
Providing independent analysis of clinical workflows, operations, adoption risk, market positioning, and healthcare considerations for investors and organizations evaluating opportunities.
HEALTHCARE OPERATIONS
Designing workflows, operational systems, SOPs, implementation strategies, and organizational processes that translate strategy into execution.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Helping leadership teams navigate AI integration, technology adoption, hybrid care, and organizational transformation without losing clinician engagement.
FROM STRATEGY TO EXECUTION
Experience solving real healthcare problems.
My work has ranged from large-scale public-sector healthcare transformation to AI, digital health, commercialization, enterprise GTM, virtual care, and healthcare operations.
SELECTED CONSULTING WORK
From Strategy to Execution
I’ve worked across healthcare-from direct clinical care and practice ownership to state government initiatives, digital health startups, technology companies and healthcare organizations.
- Digital Health Product Strategy
- Healthcare Platform Strategy
- Go-to-Market & Sales Enablement
- Technology + Care Delivery Strategy
- Due Diligence + Market Analysis
His understanding of the industry landscape, the gaps and opportunities were second to none.
We got the first version of Spry audited by him. His feedback definitely made the product better which improved our conversions.
Besides understanding of the current landscape he also has views of what the future should be. I am excited to partner with him in building towards that future.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF HEALTHCARE ADVISOR
Clinical perspective. Operator experience. Business strategy.
I started my career as a staff Occupational Therapist in direct clinical care. Since then, I’ve worked as a clinical leader, healthcare management consultant, graduate professor, healthcare regulator, startup executive, entrepreneur, board member, practice owner, author, and advisor.
That matters because healthcare strategies rarely fail on PowerPoint. They fail when they collide with clinical workflows, reimbursement realities, organizational incentives, stakeholder behavior, and implementation.
I help healthcare organizations bridge that gap.
MY PHILOSOPHY
Technology should make healthcare more human—not less.
Healthcare doesn’t need innovation for innovation’s sake.
Technology should reduce friction. Strategy should create clarity. Innovation should strengthen relationships.
The organizations that define the future of healthcare won’t necessarily be those that adopt the most technology.
They’ll be the ones that use it to improve care, empower clinicians, strengthen trust, and create sustainable value.
That’s the philosophy behind my consulting, speaking, writing, and research.
WORK WITH RAFI
Speaking & Executive Education
Keynotes, workshops, and training on AI, digital health, healthcare innovation, leadership, patient engagement, and the future of care.
Explore Speaking →
Expert Witness
Independent expert analysis grounded in rehabilitation practice. clinical standards documentation. healthcare operations, and evidence-based care.
Expert Witness Services →
BETTER OUTCOMES
Exploring what’s next in healthcare.
Better Oucomes is where I explore healthcare strategy, AI, digital health, business, healthcare leadership, policy, and the changing healthcare landscape.
BOOKS
Practical ideas and strategies for building a more human healthcare system—and a career within it.
COURSES + RESOURCES
Tools and education for healthcare professionals and organizations.
NEWSLETTER
Analysis and insights for healthcare leaders
PODCAST
Conversations with clinicians, founders executives, and innovators.
Navigating complex changes in healthcare?
Whether you’re commercializing a healthcare technology or solutions, evaluating an opportunity, entering a new market, implementing AI, improving clinical operations, or simply trying to determine the right next move, let’s talk.
About Me
I'm Rafael E. Salazar II, MHS, OTR/L (Rafi), an occupational therapist, healthcare strategist, entrepreneur, practice owner, author, and speaker. For more than 14 years I've worked across clinical care, healthcare operations, digital health, academia, consulting, and executive leadership.Today I help organizations navigate healthcare's biggest changes while keeping people at the center of care.Technology should make healthcare more human—not less. I host The Better Outcomes Show, a podcast that explores the possibilities of a new healthcare. I'm also the CEO of ProActive Rehabilitation & Wellness, a multidisciplinary outpatient specialty rehab clinic serving patients with musculoskeletal and orthopedic conditions and chronic pain. I've written a few books: Better Outcomes: A Guide to Humanizing Healthcare, published through Business Expert Press; as well as From Clinician to Something More and From Clinician to Owner