Pediatric Therapy Provider Cortica Raises $80M from JPMorgan Entity, Specialty Venture Firms

Autism provider Cortica has raised an $80 million equity round. The funds will help the San Diego-based multispecialty pediatric therapy provider beef up its in-house-build technology stack to improve its precision medicine approach, deepen its market presence and help land innovative value-based care contracts. “We already have a great model that works extremely well,” Neil […]

[Updated] Who Does the Accrediting? New Autism Therapy Regulation Highlights Big Question for the Industry

Last month, Massachusetts became the first state to require applied behavioral analysis (ABA) providers to become accredited. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services adopted the new rule in October after the Massachusetts attorney general and inspector general questioned the level of quality control at ABA clinics in the past year. Providers who […]

Scale, Capacity and Margins: How Whole-Person Care Models Help Autism Therapy Win Clinically and Financially

Caring for those with autism often fails to account for the totality of the person, let alone their health. But an increasing number of behavioral health organizations are recognizing the clinical need — and the business opportunity — for whole-person care models in various settings. Indeed, leading clinicians and executives in the field maintain that […]

How Autism Therapy Practices Can Evolve to Support Authenticity, Reduce Masking

“Masking” or “camouflaging” are behaviors in which autistic individuals exhibit learned behaviors to hide traits that have been deemed different from the neuro-normative standard. These behaviors can greatly impede an autistic individual’s ability to self-regulate, feel confident and advocate for themselves, industry insiders told Autism Business News. They can also keep autistic people from diagnoses, […]

How Autism Therapy’s Continued Evolution Is Pushing Providers to Deliver Better, More and Different Services

The next chapter of the autism therapy industry’s story will look very different from previous ones. Already, the industry has gone from obscure and mom-and-pop to mainstream and private equity backed. Now, the forces driving the industry require it to do much more than ever before. To some degree, these forces will require the industry […]

Autism Therapy Execs ‘Had to Learn the Hard Way’ Relationships Are Crucial for Successful Treatment

The autism therapy industry needs to continue its strategic and cultural evolution. That goes for all its constituents — providers, payers and investors alike. This evolution has been ongoing to varied degrees for years now. The expansion of the industry through private investment accelerated it. Today, the industry must take care to ensure an ethical […]

Autism Services Executives to Watch

It’s no secret the autism services space is in flux. Over the last few months a slew of autism CEOs have stepped down. This included some of the biggest names in the industry. For example, Rob Marsh, former CEO of 360 Behavioral Health, left the autism sector for addiction services and took the helm at […]

From VR to Oxytocin: Pioneering Autism Therapies

The number of U.S. children diagnosed with autism has dramatically increased to one child out of every 36, according to a Centers for Disease Control study published last year. That’s nearly double the amount of diagnoses a decade prior. Meanwhile, most commercial insurance and Medicaid health plans must cover at least some autism treatments, and […]

‘I Think Clinical Efficiency Is Going to Be Huge’: AI Is Coming to Clinical Aspects of Autism Therapy

The autism therapy industry will first see AI applied en masse to business-focused functions. Not far beyond that more advanced trend, providers should expect AI to become an increasingly common part of their clinical work. Several industry leaders told Autism Business News that clinicians will never be replaced by AI. However, many see it eventually […]