The September 2026 issue of The Self-Insurer asks how private equity continues to reshape American healthcare — and, unusually for coverage of this topic, gives the argument room on both sides.

TPN.health CEO Trevor Colhoun was featured in the section on PE's role in stabilizing and strengthening health systems, speaking to what capital has meant for behavioral health specifically.

The context: behavioral health has been the most undercapitalized corner of healthcare

The article documents how heavily PE has moved into the space. One report cited in the piece found that 60% of all PE deals since 2018 have involved behavioral health organizations. Roughly 6.2% of mental health agencies and 7.1% of substance use agencies are PE-owned nationally, with states like North Carolina and Colorado reporting about a quarter of their behavioral health facilities under private ownership. The American Psychological Association notes that PE has also funded behavioral health technology and apps that extend treatment to people who previously had none within reach, including in rural areas.

That flow of capital landed in a sector that had been running on razor-thin margins, delayed reimbursements and outdated infrastructure — conditions that made it nearly impossible for smaller provider entities to invest in the technology they needed.

From CEO Trevor Colhoun:

"Private equity's role in healthcare is a net positive when success is measured the right way. These investments push the industry toward better efficiency. In behavioral health specifically, it's injecting real energy into a space that's needed it for a long time."

Why it matters to self-funded plans

The article makes the connection to plan sponsors directly. Employers operating in regions where specialty access is thin watch their members face longer waits, delayed diagnoses and greater reliance on expensive emergency services. Expanding the set of providers actually available in network reduces out-of-network exposure.

The measurement question

Both things being true is the point of Colhoun's qualifier. Capital is not the variable that determines whether members are better off; measurement is. If the scorecard is short-term revenue per encounter, the incentives point one direction. If it's whether a member got matched to the right provider quickly and stayed in treatment, they point somewhere else entirely.

That is the standard TPN.health builds toward: a 95.2% patient-provider match accuracy rate, a 65% reduction in treatment dropout, and a first visit within 7 days on average. Investment that improves those numbers lowers the total cost of care as a byproduct. Investment that ignores them can raise costs while every deal-level metric looks healthy.

Read the full feature

Read the complete piece in the September 2026 issue of The Self-Insurer.