rule of three

What rule of three does

rule of three (d/b/a ro3) is a privately-held strategic healthcare advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 2020. The firm delivers consulting services that integrate strategy and transformation with operations and execution, targeting healthcare organizations navigating the reimbursement shift from fee-for-service to fee-for-value. Its client base spans five named segments: Providers (e.g., Ochsner Health Network), Plans, Purchasers, Policy Organizations (e.g., The Leapfrog Group), and Pioneers (e.g., Axuall, Inc.). The business model is professional services revenue from custom, engagement-based advisory work, with no publicly disclosed pricing.

The firm operates three interconnected service lines. The core is Strategic Healthcare Advisory Services — bespoke consulting that pairs ro3 advisors with client leadership to bridge strategic planning to operational outcomes. The second is the March Healthcare Classic, an annual bracket-style tournament that crowdsources and showcases the year's most impactful healthcare trends using a panel of nearly 20 expert analysts and community voting; this functions as a proprietary thought-leadership and demand-generation engine. The third is a Healthcare Industry Insights content platform (blog) covering trends and tournament commentary.

ro3 is a boutique operation, with 11-50 employees and a three-person C-suite: CEO Josh M. Berlin (JD), CSO Philip J. Shelato (MBA), and CFOO W. Bracey Halbrook (MHA), whose prior experience includes senior roles at HCA Healthcare and Ardent Health Partners. A February 2024 strategic alliance with the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) extends the firm's reach into healthcare quality and safety workforce development. The firm has no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and currently operates as a single-country (US, Southeast) entity.

Name

rule of three

Legal name

rule of three, LLC

Website

https://ro3.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

rule of three (ro3) is an Atlanta-based healthcare strategic advisory firm that provides strategy, transformation, operations, and execution consulting to providers, plans, purchasers, policy organizations, and healthcare innovators, supported by an annual March Healthcare Classic trend tournament and insights platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

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

Revenue model

1. Healthcare Advisory Services: Professional advisory services providing strategic consulting to healthcare organizations navigating transformation and operational challenges

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

rule of three is a healthcare consulting firm that delivers strategic advisory, transformation, operations, and execution services to healthcare provider, payer, purchaser, policy, and innovator organizations. Its core offering centers on helping clients bridge the gap from strategic thinking to operational execution, navigating inflection points such as the transition from fee-for-service to fee-for-value, value-based care strategy, and business model disruption. Services are delivered as custom engagements by a small team of well-tenured healthcare advisors, supplemented by an annual thought-leadership event (March Healthcare Classic) and an industry insights blog.

Product overview

rule of three (ro3) is a strategic healthcare advisory firm offering three interconnected service lines: Strategic Healthcare Advisory Services (their core consulting practice combining strategy and transformation with operations and execution), the annual March Healthcare Classic (a bracket-style competitive analysis event showcasing top healthcare trends with expert analyst and community participation), and Healthcare Industry Insights (an ongoing content platform delivering analysis on healthcare trends and industry developments). The firm serves diverse healthcare clients including providers, plans, purchasers, policy organizations, and pioneers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Healthcare Advisory Services Strategy and operations consulting services that blend strategic transformation with operational execution, helping healthcare organizations navigate complex industry challenges (e.g., fee-for-service to fee-for-value transition) and achieve high-value outcomes. Designed for healthcare providers, plans, purchasers, policy organizations, and pioneers.
• March Healthcare Classic An annual bracket-style tournament that compares and showcases the year's most impactful healthcare trends, with expert analyst input and community voting to determine which trends reign supreme in the healthcare industry.
• Healthcare Industry Insights A content platform providing ongoing analysis, commentary, and reporting on healthcare industry trends, the March Healthcare Classic tournament results, and strategic healthcare topics through blog posts and articles.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 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.

• National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 February 2024Strategic alliance for transforming healthcare quality and safety competencies. The relationship allows access to scalable workforce development programs. Chicago, IL (February 16, 2024).

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kaufman Hall: Kaufman Hall provides management consulting and advisory services exclusively to healthcare organizations, covering strategy, financial planning, and operational performance. Like rule of three, it is a healthcare-native consultancy focused on transformation, M&A, and value-based care execution for providers and payers.
• Huron Consulting Group: Huron is a professional services firm with a sizable healthcare strategy, operations, and revenue cycle consulting practice serving providers and payers. Comparable to rule of three's strategic and operational execution services but with broader portfolio and greater scale.
• Sg2 (Vizient): Sg2, now part of Vizient, is a healthcare strategy consulting and intelligence firm advising hospitals and health systems on growth, service line strategy, and value-based care planning — directly comparable to rule of three's provider-focused strategic advisory offering.
• Chartis Group: Chartis Group is a leading healthcare-focused strategy and management consulting firm serving providers, payers, and healthcare technology companies. It is the closest direct competitor to rule of three in delivering strategic transformation, value-based care advisory, and operational execution services within healthcare.
• Health Management Associates (HMA): HMA is a national healthcare consulting firm focused on publicly funded health programs, behavioral health, and population health strategy. It overlaps with rule of three on value-based care, payer/provider transformation, and policy-oriented advisory work.

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company (Healthcare): Bain & Company's Healthcare practice advises payers, providers, and services companies on strategy and value-based care transformation. Like rule of three, it focuses on healthcare strategy, but as a top-tier global consultancy it competes for the same enterprise mandates at much larger scale.
• Guidehouse: Guidehouse (which absorbed Navigant) is a large management consultancy with a deep healthcare practice covering payers, providers, and public-sector health programs. Comparable to rule of three at the segment/strategy layer but operating at vastly greater scale as a broad incumbent.
• Accenture (Health): Accenture's Health practice provides strategy, digital, and operations consulting to providers, payers, and life sciences clients globally. As a broad incumbent, it competes with rule of three on enterprise transformation and value-based care mandates but at much larger scale and with broader service breadth.
• Premier Inc. Premier is a large healthcare performance improvement company offering consulting, data, and collaboratives for providers and payers. It is a broader incumbent that, like rule of three, helps healthcare organizations navigate transformation, though it also operates a technology and group-purchasing platform.

Emerging players

• Cedar Gate Technologies: Cedar Gate is a healthcare technology and services firm focused on value-based care analytics, payer/provider enablement, and population health management. It is an emerging player that intersects with rule of three's value-based care advisory offering but does so with a technology-enabled, analytics-led model rather than pure advisory.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ro3llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 rule of three