Private equity investment in health care services.

Sophisticated private equity investors in health services provide venture capital for early-stage companies, growth capital for mid-stage companies, and equity capital for buyouts of mid-stage and mature companies. They pursue opportunities in provider sectors that are large and have a stable reimbursement environment, such as acute care services; sectors with room to execute consolidation strategies, such as labs; alternative-site sectors, such as "storefront" medicine; and clinical services, such as behavioral health, that are subject to profitably increasing quality and lowering costs. The innovations created through private equity investments could challenge established health services organizations.