Over the past decade, the behavioral health landscape has experienced significant growth in the form of startups and innovative solutions designed to address mental health and substance use challenges. However, most of these startups have focused their efforts on lower-acuity care for commercially insured patients or employer-based programs. While these initiatives have proven valuable, a crucial segment of the population has been largely overlooked: the underserved individuals relying on public health insurance.
Enter Nashville-based Peregrine Health. Founded in 2019, Peregrine is focused on breaking the paradigm that has long excluded Medicaid beneficiaries and other underinsured individuals from accessing essential behavioral health services. By partnering with Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), and other primary care providers, Peregrine is helping bring behavioral health services for underserved populations in a sustainable, accessible, and impactful way.
Recently, Peregrine completed a $5 million equity funding round led by BIP Ventures, Martin Ventures, and Chapman Capital, positioning the company for continued growth and innovation in the space. With this infusion of capital, Peregrine plans to further enhance its technology, expand its reach, and bolster its operational infrastructure to ensure its behavioral health services for underserved populations can continue to meet the needs of vulnerable populations across the country.
Primary Care Clinics: A Gateway to Behavioral Health Services
Primary care practices, particularly FQHCs and RHCs, serve as the front door to the U.S. healthcare system for many individuals, especially those from underserved communities. These clinics provide essential healthcare services to populations covered by Medicaid and other public insurance programs, which are often the most vulnerable. Despite their critical role, many of these clinics are under-resourced, lacking the specialized staff and infrastructure needed to address behavioral health issues effectively.
Ryan Chapman, founder and CEO of Peregrine Health, explained that the company’s core mission is to help these clinics expand their capabilities by providing the staffing and operational support necessary to integrate behavioral health services for underserved populations into their offerings. According to Chapman, Peregrine partners with primary care providers, including FQHCs and RHCs, because they are the ones serving the underserved communities in the U.S.
“We partner with them, bringing practice care and clinical support. That includes staffing, predominantly through Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs), MDs, psychiatrists, and all the oversight required,” Chapman told Behavioral Health Business. “We provide telehealth and in-person visits, along with all the operational support to make it possible for these clinics to integrate behavioral health services for underserved populations without overburdening their staff or resources.”
In other words, Peregrine acts as a force multiplier, enabling primary care clinics to offer comprehensive, integrated care that includes behavioral health services for underserved populations, while ensuring that the operational and staffing challenges typically associated with these services are effectively managed.
Addressing the Challenges of Low Reimbursement Rates
One of the primary obstacles facing behavioral health providers in serving underserved populations is the low reimbursement rates associated with Medicaid and other public health insurance programs. These rates often fail to cover the cost of providing high-quality behavioral health care, causing many providers to shy away from serving Medicaid beneficiaries altogether.
Peregrine’s partnership model is specifically designed to overcome this challenge. By collaborating with FQHCs and RHCs, which receive higher reimbursement rates due to their government designations, Peregrine is able to offer behavioral health services for underserved populations in a financially sustainable manner. These clinics already have an established reimbursement structure for serving Medicaid patients, which allows Peregrine to provide critical behavioral health services while ensuring that the services remain profitable and sustainable.
Chapman further emphasized the significance of this model, stating, “The FQHC and RHC infrastructure are government designations that were created to provide healthcare services to those covered by federal payers. They receive a reimbursement rate that makes it possible to sustainably provide behavioral health services for underserved populations under that structure. We’re able to care for those who need those services in a way that is financially sustainable by leveraging that reimbursement structure.”
This partnership approach ensures that underserved populations not only have access to the behavioral health services for underserved populations they need but that it can be provided in a way that is financially viable for all parties involved.
Scaling Impact: Peregrine’s National Reach and Future Plans
As of now, Peregrine has formed 43 partnerships across 17 states, covering approximately 650,000 patients. These partnerships are a testament to the company’s ability to scale its model and make a real impact in communities across the U.S. Despite the rapid growth, Peregrine is committed to maintaining the quality of its services while continuing to expand its reach.
With the new round of funding, Peregrine plans to focus on enhancing its technology infrastructure and ensuring the availability of data for better decision-making and care delivery. The company also plans to address the ongoing need for qualified staff to meet the demand for behavioral health services for underserved populations.
“We’re making sure that the necessary data is available and that we’re scaling our staffing capabilities to ensure that we can meet the needs of our partners and the patients we serve,” Chapman said.
Although Peregrine currently operates primarily on a fee-for-service model, Chapman sees the company transitioning toward value-based care models in the future. He believes that Peregrine’s work aligns closely with the principles of value-based care, which focuses on improving patient outcomes while reducing costs. As the company continues to refine its model and expand its reach, it will be well-positioned to explore value-based arrangements that can help further improve access to care for underserved populations.
“We are doing incredible work for people who either didn’t have access to services before or had extremely poor access,” Chapman said. “Before we came along, many people had to drive hours just to find a therapist willing to take Medicaid. Our model is already doing incredible work, and we believe it lends itself very well to value-based care arrangements in the future.”
A New Paradigm for Behavioral Health Access
Peregrine’s innovative approach to behavioral health services for underserved populations is not only addressing a critical gap in the healthcare system but is also redefining how care can be delivered to underserved populations. By partnering with primary care providers that already serve vulnerable communities, Peregrine is ensuring that individuals who rely on public insurance can access the behavioral health services for underserved populations they need without the barriers that have historically kept them from getting care.
As the company continues to grow, its focus on integrating behavioral health into primary care settings and leveraging technology and operational support will likely set a new standard for the industry. With its unique partnership model, Peregrine is proving that it’s possible to provide high-quality behavioral health services for underserved populations in a sustainable, impactful way—one partnership at a time.
With the support of new funding, expanding partnerships, and a future-focused approach to care, Peregrine is positioned to continue transforming the behavioral health space and changing the lives of underserved individuals across the country.
