What Freed Associates does

Freed Associates is a privately held, women-owned (WBENC-certified), family-owned healthcare management consulting firm founded in 1991 by Dava Freed and headquartered in Kensington, California. The firm exclusively serves healthcare organizations across three sector verticals: Health Plans (commercial, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and integrated), Providers and Health Systems (hospitals, IDNs, academic medical centers, physician practices, and post-acute care), and Public Sector (California state agencies and publicly funded programs). Its service portfolio comprises five core consulting practices, Healthcare Operations, Strategy, Analytics & Technology, Regulatory Compliance, and Revenue Cycle, augmented by a specialized Health Equity practice. Methodologically, the firm applies Lean, Six-Sigma, and Agile frameworks and brings recognized depth in California's healthcare regulatory environment, including CalAIM, OHCA, CCPA/CPRA, CMS interoperability, and information blocking rules.

The firm does not develop or license proprietary technology products. It advises clients on technology strategy, system selection, and implementation (e.g., EHR, data warehouse, HIE integrations, digital transformation) but does not sell software platforms. Its business model is project-based professional services revenue, with all engagements individually scoped and quoted. Customer acquisition is driven by thought leadership content (an annual U.S. and California Healthcare Trends & Predictions Report, a Knowledge Center of 2,670+ insights, the Healing Healthcare podcast/webisode series, and a quarterly newsletter), industry event participation, and a strong referral engine. Repeat client rate has ranged from 71-88% over 2020-2024 (86% in 2024), and the firm's client NPS in 2024 was reported to rank above those of top global consulting firms. Named enterprise clients include Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, Stanford Health Care, Blue Shield of California, CalOptima Health, and IEHP.

Freed is privately held with no institutional investors, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity. Headcount sits in the 101-250 range. The firm has been recognized as a Fortune Best Small Workplace (2025), a Modern Healthcare consulting firm expecting growth through 2026, and a top Bay Area management consulting firm. Founder Dava Freed remains active as CEO, with a CEO succession plan announced in September 2025.

Name

Freed Associates

Legal name

Freed & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://freedassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Freed Associates is a privately held healthcare management consulting firm founded in 1991, serving health plans, providers, health systems, and public sector entities. It delivers senior-led, project-based consulting across operations, strategy, analytics, regulatory compliance, revenue cycle, and health equity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Management Consulting

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

Keywords

• Healthcare management consulting
• Healthcare operations consulting
• Regulatory compliance consulting
• Revenue cycle management
• Healthcare strategy consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Healthcare Management Consulting Services: Freed Associates generates revenue by providing customized healthcare management consulting engagements to health plans, providers, health systems, and public sector entities. Revenue is earned through project-based professional services engagements, typically scoped and delivered by senior healthcare consultants. The firm has maintained client loyalty above 71% for repeat engagements over multiple years, indicating recurring professional services revenue from an established client base. Pricing is quote-based and engagement-specific.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Freed Associates provides customized healthcare management consulting services to health plans, providers, health systems, and public sector entities. Engagements are delivered by senior, healthcare-exclusive consultants across five core practices (Operations, Strategy, Analytics & Technology, Regulatory Compliance, and Revenue Cycle), a Health Equity specialty, and three sector service lines. The firm applies Lean, Six-Sigma, and Agile methodologies to deliver operational, strategic, regulatory, and technology-enabled outcomes.

Product overview

Freed Associates is a healthcare management consulting firm offering a portfolio of specialized consulting services rather than a unified software product. The core service offerings include five integrated consulting practices: Healthcare Operations Consulting, Healthcare Strategy Consulting, Healthcare Analytics & Technology Consulting, Healthcare Regulatory Compliance Consulting, and Healthcare Revenue Cycle Consulting. These are complemented by Health Equity Consulting as a specialized practice and three sector-specific services targeting Health Plans, Providers and Health Systems, and Public Sector entities. The services work together to provide end-to-end consulting support across the healthcare ecosystem, from operational improvements and strategic planning to regulatory compliance and technology enablement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Healthcare Operations Consulting

Quantifiable outcome

• Hospital imaging center revamp generated $10.3M in revenue in year one
• +10 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBEs)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs part of its public sector work, Freed Associates partners with certified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBEs) to meet California state contracting requirements and support veteran-owned organizations. This partnership enables Freed to fulfill DVBE participation goals on state-funded healthcare consulting engagements and provides DVBE firms with opportunities to participate in complex healthcare transformation projects.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Nordic Consulting Partners: Healthcare-focused consulting firm specializing in EHR implementations, data analytics, and technology-enabled operational improvement. Comparable to Freed on the healthcare analytics & technology and EHR implementation work.
• The Chartis Group: Boutique healthcare management consulting firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, providing strategy, operations, and transformation advisory to providers, payers, and health systems. Directly comparable to Freed in scope, scale, and healthcare-only positioning.
• Health Management Associates (HMA): National healthcare consulting firm with deep public-sector healthcare expertise, serving state agencies, Medicaid programs, providers, and payers. Closely comparable to Freed's public-sector and health plan consulting practices, including regulatory navigation work.

Broad incumbents

• Accenture (Health practice): Global professional services firm with a dedicated Health practice focused on digital transformation, operations, and technology implementations for payers, providers, and public health entities.
• McKinsey & Company (Healthcare practice): Global management consulting firm with a major Healthcare Systems & Services practice serving payers, providers, and public-sector clients on strategy and transformation. Sets the competitive benchmark for senior-led healthcare consulting.
• Deloitte (Healthcare practice): Big Four professional services firm with a large global healthcare practice covering strategy, operations, technology, and regulatory advisory. Competes with Freed for enterprise healthcare engagements with substantially greater scale and geographic reach.
• FTI Consulting: Global advisory firm with a Healthcare & Life Sciences segment offering strategy, operations, and transaction advisory. Comparable on large healthcare transformation and regulatory engagements, with broader industry reach.
• Premier Inc. Healthcare improvement company combining GPO services with consulting and technology solutions for hospitals and health systems. Comparable on provider-side performance improvement and population health engagements.
• Huron Consulting Group: Larger global consulting firm with a substantial healthcare practice spanning strategy, operations, technology, and revenue cycle. Competes with Freed on enterprise healthcare mandates while also serving non-healthcare clients.
• Optum Advisory (UnitedHealth Group): Advisory and consulting arm of UnitedHealth Group serving payers, providers, and public-sector health entities with technology-enabled solutions. A deep-pocketed incumbent competing on similar payer and provider transformation mandates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freed-associates

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Freed Associates