Carlyle, Longshore, Serent go for RCM platforms; Federal rules drive SEVA to healthcare price transparency sector
Morning Hubsters,
Happy Fri-yay! John R Fischer here with the US Wire from the New York newsroom.
Rising healthcare prices are driving patients to outpatient specialties, many of which have different billing revenue cycle management (RCM) needs. Vendors providing these services are attracting attention from PE dealmakers, like Carlyle, Longshore Capital Partners and Serent Capital. We’ll discuss a few of these transactions in my eight-deal listicle.
Sticking with our medical billing theme, we’ll turn to healthcare price transparency for Friday Focus. It’s a sector where SEVA announced an investment this week, backing a software and data intelligence business.
Better positioned
As patients seek lower-cost outpatient care, demand for RCM systems that focus on specific clinical specialties is on the rise. Private equity has taken note, and dealmakers are pursuing these specialty-focused RCM businesses, Brad Armstrong, partner at Lovell Minnick Partners, told PE Hub.
“In the RCM space, we’re particularly drawn towards the post-acute and ambulatory sectors and other areas where there are persistent tailwinds,” he said. “We have found those sectors to be more AI-resistant and the RCM platforms in those markets are better positioned to be the harnessers of AI and automation, because they are highly-focused on the provider landscape that they’re serving.”
In 2023, Lovell Minnick invested in ACU-Serve, an RCM services provider for the post-acute, home care industry. In 2025, the company merged with Pinnacle, a provider of home infusion and ambulatory infusion center services; and acquired Tanyr, a provider of infusion RCM services.
PE is also pursuing M&A around AI, automation and data analytics to help RCM platforms verify payment accuracy, reduce denials, automate manual tasks and better navigate a reimbursement environment as it grows in complexity.
These trends, along with high fragmentation, have continued to drive PE-backed deals in the RCM segment in 2026.
I rounded up eight deals dating back to the beginning of the year. Here are two recent ones:
In July, Longshore Capital Partners announced an investment it made in Prochant, which provides technology-enabled RCM services for home-based care providers.
Prochant is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The investment is expected to help Prochant enhance client experiences and outcomes, develop more revenue cycle services, expand service capacity and operational scale and recruit talent.
The company also expects to add advanced technologies, analytics, AI and automation capabilities, and pursue similar growth opportunities within its core markets.
Also in July, Raintree, a portfolio company of Serent Capital, announced the acquisition of Spike Technologies, a developer of agentic AI voice technology for healthcare.
Raintree is based in Chandler, Arizona, and is an electronic health record and practice management platform for rehabilitation and physical therapy organizations. Serent Capital invested in the company in 2021.
Spike Technologies was founded in San Francisco in 2022 and is backed by Silicon Valley and EU-based investors, including Practica Capital, TheVentureCity, Plug & Play, Geek Ventures, CEAS Investments and NVIDIA Inception.
Beyond the completed deals in our listicle, more are coming. Earlier this week, Francisco Partners agreed to take Weave private for $650 million. Based in Lehi, Utah, Weave is a patient engagement and payments software business that works with healthcare practices. The deal is expected to close in Q4.
Also this week, TowerBrook Capital Partners- and CD&R-backed R1 agreed to acquire Humata Health, which specializes in touchless prior authorizations. That transaction is expected to close at the end of Q3. In June, Med-Metrix, an RCM services provider backed by Harvest Partners and A&M Capital Partners, agreed to acquire CanAide from HCAP Partners. CanAide is a healthcare revenue cycle and Medicaid eligibility services provider. The closing date has not been disclosed, but the deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
Friday Focus
Rising healthcare costs are driving demand for price transparency to help patients shop around for affordable care. Providers are also facing pressures from federal US mandates to be more upfront about pricing. Tech advances, such as AI and automation, paired with better interoperability are making it possible to track, compare and optimize pricing. In turn, these trends are in turn creating opportunities for private equity.
Earlier this week, SEVA announced a minority investment in Serif Health, a provider of healthcare price transparency data and intelligence.
Based in San Francisco, Serif Health cleans, validates and standardizes information from payers, hospitals and rate records for providers, payers, employers and third-party administrators.
Despite federal rules requiring hospitals and payers to disclose negotiated rates for healthcare services, they often present error-filled data that is unstandardized and lacks validation, according to a press statement. This makes it hard for patients to understand and apply the data to their care. The company’s AI application, Signal Ask enables users to read pricing information in plain language without needing billing codes, data structures and dataset searches, the statement added.
Under SEVA, Serif Health expects to accelerate its sales and growth initiatives, and its pipeline of new product functionality and data application program interfaces.
Well, that’s it for me. As always, if you have questions, comments or want to chat, drop me an email at john.fischer@pei.group.
Nina Lindholm will be back on Monday in the Europe chair, while Rafael Canton will be on US Wire duty while MK Flynn takes a well-deserved break.
Cheers,
John
