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Forta Health has rolled out its latest iteration as one of the nation’s few digital-only autism therapy companies.
On Friday, San Francisco-based Forta Health said that its virtual applied behavior analysis (ABA) service has expanded to 47 states, making it a widely available digital alternative for certain autism patients. This latest shift is a far cry from Forta Health’s original model.
In its earliest days, Forta Health focused on training parents to become registered behavior technicians (RBTs) and receive compensation for treating their children under the guidance of the company’s master’s-level board-certified behavior analyst. In July 2024, the company bailed on that model. Still, the company maintains a degree of focus on training parents of autistic children, a typical service provided by traditional providers.
This previous strategic shift and the announcement of a near-nationwide rollout of its present service come after an eye-catching funding round last year. In January, Forta Health announced a $55 million funding round led by Insight Partners. The company has not announced funding actions since.
The summer before that, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), a private entity that sets the certification standards for clinical professionals in behavior analysis, said that parents treating their own children violated the organization’s code of ethics.
Forta Health’s announcement leans into a message of accessibility, one common among various telehealth and digital health options, in contrast to traditional care settings that are plagued by long waitlists and the patient commitment challenges required to go to a clinic for care or to host a clinician for a session.
The company accepts over 300 insurance plans, including Medicaid, in each of its 47 states, a news release states. It also helps patients get access to grant money, presumably to help pay for Forta Health’s services. The release states that 65% of Forta patients qualify for $600 per month in grants from federal, state, local and nonprofit sources.
Forta Health’s services include live sessions with BCBAs and RBTs and parent coaching in ABA techniques. It offers services within 90 days and offers evening and weekend services.
“While competitors treat virtual care as a secondary offering, Forta was purpose-built for virtual delivery,” Ritankar Das, founder of Forta Health, said in the release. “Our data shows children achieve greater progress learning in their natural environment with active parent involvement.”
Many brick-and-mortar autism therapy providers offer virtual services as a secondary or supportive option to in-person services. Few players in the all-virtual-care space offer ABA and related autism therapy services. One other organization that focuses on telehealth ABA services is AnswersNow, a startup based in Richmond, Virginia. In March, that company expanded its leadership team. It raised $11 million in 2023.
Forta Health has not responded to a request for comment.
