Demand for autism therapy and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) continues to rise. Multidisciplinary models of care are especially becoming more prevalent.
Those are just a couple of takeaways highlighted in a new market-insights report from CentralReach. The report pulls from CentralReach’s CanaryBI dataset, which encompasses billions of anonymized clinical and financial data points.
Broadly, data in CanaryBI captures metrics such as insurance payments, claims, client volumes, service hours and session-based learning opportunities. Types of therapy represented in the data set include applied behavior analysis (ABA) and speech therapy, along with occupational therapy (OT) and other services.
“The [report] was designed to help you track industry trends, benchmark your organization’s performance, and identify opportunities for growth,” CentralReach CEO Chris Sullens explained in its foreword. “While this report isn’t a clinical guide, the data-driven insights it provides may help drive both business and clinical improvements, strengthening outcomes for providers and the individuals they serve.”
In terms of demand, CentralReach projects a 15% increase in autism therapy and IDD services appointments by the end of 2025. Looking at a broader window, appointment volumes are expected to climb more than 32% between 2024 and 2026.
While these growth figures are promising, they come amid longstanding operational challenges, according to the report.
Most notably, high turnover among registered behavior technicians (RBTs) and therapists remains a top concern. Staffing shortages not only affect providers’ ability to meet demand, but they also contribute to the underutilization of authorized care hours – another issue the report spotlights.
According to CentralReach’s data, practices, on average, are only delivering 42.6% of the service hours authorized by payers.
“Several factors contribute to this underutilization, including staffing shortages, scheduling challenges for both families and providers, and others,” the report explains. “Addressing the barriers to utilization may enable practices to increase billable hours and corresponding revenue performance.”
For authorized family service hours specifically, the utilization rate in 2024 was just 26%.
And while parent training utilization rose by two percentage points in late 2024, overall engagement remains low. Providers that did invest in caregiver training, however, saw some clear benefits.
For example, some achieved a 30% reduction in client churn, which, in turn, translates into improved care continuity and better financial performance for organizations, the report points out.
Multidisciplinary models and clinic-based care gain momentum
Another trend highlighted in the report is the move toward clinic-based care models.
In 2025, a growing number of ABA and multidisciplinary providers are expected to continue favoring in-clinic services over in-home delivery. This shift is occurring in the majority of U.S. states and is largely driven by operational efficiencies and family preference for more structured environments, according to CentralReach.
California is a notable outlier, where in-home care remains more prevalent than in other markets.
The CentralReach report also affirms what industry observers have previously shared with Behavioral Health Business: the continued growth of multidisciplinary service models.
Since 2020, these models have grown at a 30% compound annual rate, with no signs of slowing in 2025.
This growth is being fueled by providers expanding beyond their original areas of focus. ABA organizations are increasingly adding services like speech and OT to their portfolios, while other health care providers are moving into ABA.
Generally, this convergence of services is often seen as a way to improve care coordination and increase revenue streams while better meeting the complex needs of individuals with autism and IDD.
“To me, the whole concept of whole-person care is a reflection that people are more than one thing,” Patrick Maynard, CEO of the Worthington, Ohio-based I Am Boundless, said during a panel at the BHB INVEST 2024 conference. “It’s a disservice if we’re only going to do one line of service; we need to do all of them.”
