Most health and human service executive teams have revenue diversification as one of their strategic goals—looking for a financial cushion in the event that a key service line contract is terminated or rates are reduced (see Diversify Or Die and The Ripple Effect). It is a common business strategy, but the recent federal policy shifts, and the resulting market chaos, have made it more pressing (see Is Your Team Crisis Ready?).

There are two diversification questions for executive teams to answer—what services to invest in (for what consumers, service model, geography, payer, etc.) and whether diversification is best accomplished through organic development or some form of partnership. These questions were a focus of my presentation earlier this year—…