In 2024, the autism therapy industry faced a year mainly focused on finally reconciling many of the challenges that the coronavirus pandemic foisted upon the industry.
In 2024, workforce challenges normalized or improved, some previously stuck payer rates are seeing incremental movement and the financial markets are moving in such a way to make dealmaking more feasible.
But 2025 is going to be something different altogether. Autism Business News reached out to some of the top leaders in the space to get what they have on their minds as we approach a new year.
In short, the pressure on autism therapy providers to be ever more savvy, effective and efficient will only increase.
Many executives contacted said they expect greater involvement and accountability from families and payers. Technology will be increasingly relevant to ensure care quality and operating efficiency. Several forces will collectively drive providers to establish multidisciplinary models. And employees will expect clearer career pathways and less burdensome clinical practices.
Read on for autism executives predictions for 2025. (The answers to the following questions have been edited for brevity, clarity and style.)
What are your predictions for the autism therapy sector in 2025?
“In 2025, we believe that technology will continue to improve the delivery of autism services both clinically and operationally. … Through investments we have made in PrioraCare, our proprietary ABA practice management software, we are providing our clinicians with the tools they need to develop individualized treatment plans and track the outcomes across regions, supervisors, technicians, and clients.
“We are also looking to integrate AI software to automate even more aspects of data collection and reporting. The bottom line is that the field of ABA and autism can still benefit from the opportunities that come from technological advancement, and many of those will be happening next year.”
— Helen Mader, CEO of Behavior Frontiers
“There will continue to be a migration towards ‘whole-child’ care, particularly in recognizing and treating co-occurring medical conditions and root-cause biology. Sleep, GI issues, nutrition and feeding, mental health, appropriate medication management, neurophysiology, and more should be core to treatment and improvement of holistic outcomes that matter to parents.
“Care will also increasingly become neurodiversity-affirming, recognizing that every human being brings unique gifts to the world.”
— Neil Hattangadi, CEO of Cortica
“I am optimistic. The field continues to grow to meet a demand for services that continues to increase. We have learned a lot over the years, and advances in technology should play a big role in making ABA more accessible.”
— Doreen Granpeesheh, CEO of Center for Autism & Related Disorders (CARD)
What workforce changes do you predict?
“There will be more efforts to retain a long-term workforce in autism care. Physicians and masters-level professionals tend to stay in the field long term. We will continue to make this field appealing to them by reducing administrative tasks and increasing multidisciplinary collaboration. We also will see ongoing efforts to retain the behavioral technologist workforce with guaranteed hours, professional training and career advancement.”
— Neil Hattangadi, CEO of Cortica
“Each year more people are becoming BCBAs and we are seeing more BCBAs available for hire. We predict that it will be easier to hire BCBAs in 2025 due to this continued growth in new BCBAs entering the field. With regard to the behavior technician workforce, Behavior Frontiers grew our behavior technician headcount by 40% over the last 2 years, and we expect that companies with effective recruiting strategies and software automation will continue to experience this high level of growth from the large talent pool.”
— Helen Mader, CEO of Behavior Frontiers
“Insofar as behavior technicians are concerned, labor shortages have persisted year after year, but we may see some increased willingness to return to the workplace as large corporations have eliminated or reduced the flexibility to work remotely. Conversely, as the effectiveness of telehealth becomes increasingly apparent, providers may leverage that option to build their remote workforce of behavior analysts.”
— Doreen Granpeesheh, CEO of Center for Autism & Related Disorders (CARD)
What might the payer segment’s approach to autism therapy look like in 2025?
“We’ve noticed increased payer scrutiny of treatment dosage levels and more record reviews that slow/prevent payment and increase the likelihood of recoupment. As access to ABA increases and payers try to manage their spend within the segment, I anticipate this trend will continue. I believe it will result in providers allocating more resources and investment to compliance and higher administrative costs. I also think it will create more barriers to care for patients.”
— Brad Zelinger, founder and CEO of Stride Autism Centers
“Every payer is talking about whole-person care across their entire portfolio (e.g., diabetes, obesity, CKD, cancer) and autism and neurodevelopment should not be an exception. They will need to move on two vectors: from fragmented to whole-person care and from fee-for-service to value-based payment. Payers are thinking deeply about how they add value in the health care ecosystem, and there are great, well-meaning people at health plans constructing programs with the most innovative providers to help in particular for complex, chronic conditions.”
— Neil Hattangadi, CEO of Cortica
“We have seen a lot of payers recognizing the need to adjust ABA rates upward to make up for years of stagnant rates. As regulators redouble their efforts to enforce the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, payers will have to justify rates that have remained unchanged for years while their rates on the medical/surgical side have increased steadily year after year.”
— Doreen Granpeesheh, CEO of Center for Autism & Related Disorders (CARD)
“Regarding the payors, they are becoming more interested in viewing and analyzing outcome data from ABA providers. At Behavior Frontiers, we are excited that we have the ability to provide our payors with clinical and operational outcome data from our software, PrioraCare, regarding the excellent progress their patients are making in our ABA program. We will continue to provide more client outcome data to our payor partners in 2025 and advance the conversation regarding creating standards in the field of ABA care.”
— Helen Mader, CEO of Behavior Frontiers
How might investment (PE/VC fundraising, M&A, etc.) evolve in 2025?
“It’s difficult to predict this given it is also a year of new administration and possible changes in taxation. However, many sponsors are sitting on assets invested in circa 2018, so they will be in year seven of the holding period, and this may indicate an increase in M&A.”
— Doreen Granpeesheh, CEO of Center for Autism & Related Disorders (CARD)
“ABA will continue to be an attractive market for investors in 2025. The macro-economic factors that surrounded COVID are long gone, and sophisticated providers, such as Behavior Frontiers, will continue to be able to provide more access to care for individuals with autism in the new year. In particular, Behavior Frontiers continues to see demand for both our center and home-based services and we plan to expand our capacity to service clients through both of those modalities going forward.”
— Helen Mader, CEO of Behavior Frontiers
How do you expect government regulations to change, if at all?
“I don’t expect regulations to change, but with RFK Jr. leading HHS, there will be an increased emphasis on child health and the root causes of the rise in chronic childhood conditions over the past 50 years. I’m hopeful the administration will remain science and medicine-based, but at the same time put greater emphasis on the role of nutrition, limiting processed foods, exercise, and overall wellness for childhood health.”
— Neil Hattangadi, CEO of Cortica
“At the federal level, policy experts have expressed concerns that Medicaid funding could be altered or state Medicaid waivers seeking to limit Medicaid eligibility could be granted. We hope to preserve existing access to Medicaid for children with disabilities, and that will be our public policy focus, if necessary. We also feel a responsibility to educate our families about the health plans that will cover ABA if the new administration allows proliferation of insurance coverage that isn’t compliant with the Affordable Care Act, which has done a lot to protect the population we serve.”
— Doreen Granpeesheh, CEO of Center for Autism & Related Disorders (CARD)
“We don’t expect much to change related to government regulations regarding autism care in the next year. However, there are provider organizations with lobbyists who are working in coordination with autism parent support groups to seek legislative improvements to current laws to allow for more access to care.”
— Helen Mader, CEO of Behavior Frontiers
How do you expect consumer/patient/family behavior to change in 2025, if at all?
“Parents seem to be more interested in accessing comprehensive ABA programs for their children and want to be more involved in the therapy process. This aligns well with Behavior Frontiers’ service model because we offer comprehensive ABA programs and we have a robust parent education program, which helps parents understand the importance of the interventions as well as learn how to use ABA methods to successfully engage with their children. Behavior Frontiers’ parent education program also includes the use of person-centered planning surveys that help parents collaborate with our clinicians to develop meaningful goals that can improve their family’s overall quality of life.”
— Helen Mader, CEO of Behavior Frontiers
“Well, as a behavior analyst, I see the potential to shape behavior to promote positive behaviors, and this would include prioritizing health care. I won’t speak for consumers as a whole, but CARD will work to help families understand the importance of prioritizing ABA.”
