ABA Mission May 2025 Monthly Newsletter

1. Welcome & Intro

Hi – I’m Scott Dickson, founder of ABA Mission. I’ve spent years working across the ABA ecosystem—leading technology and data at a P/E-backed provider, supporting payor-side innovations, and shaping the ABA industry’s most widely adopted software platforms. My goal remains the same: bridge strategy, operations, and technology so ABA organizations can scale efficiently and deliver better outcomes—with broader access to care as the north star.

Welcome to the May edition of the ABA Mission Newsletter—and a special thank you to all our new subscribers. Since our first issue in March, we’ve grown to hundreds of readers across providers, platforms, and investment teams. Your engagement is helping build a smarter, more connected conversation around the future of autism services.

In this month’s newsletter, we dig into:

• Technology Platform updates—including some highlights from CASP
• Agentic AI and what it means for ABA automation
• The ongoing challenge of scheduling at scale
• And why Jade Health's NADR may become a defining benchmark for care quality

You’ll also find fresh SCUBA insights on hiring and tech positioning, a spotlight on Behavior Frontiers, and a breakdown of the evolving vendor landscape.

As always, this newsletter pulls from my direct work with operators, investors, and platform leaders—plus ongoing research and conversations happening across the ABA space. Let’s keep moving the field forward, together.

2. Platform Highlights

The past few weeks brought two major events that shaped the ABA Tech Platform conversation: the Autism Investor Summit (AIS) and The Council of Autism Service Providers 2025 Conference. AIS centered on capital allocation, platform strategy, and data-driven growth. CASP, on the other hand, brought together clinicians, compliance leaders, and operational executives on the front lines of care.

What stood out across both events was the growing number of software platforms competing for mindshare and market share—a clear signal that technology remains at the center of ABA’s next chapter. I’ll explore the implications of this platform saturation in an upcoming issue.

Artemis ABA Inc. - Fresh off a newly announced partnership with Frontera, Artemis is positioning itself as a Salesforce-based platform for enterprise reporting, operational workflows, and scalable revenue management. Their tight integration with Plutus RCM adds depth to the billing and collections layer—suggesting a broader play to unify data, claims, and outcomes in a single operational fabric. Hint: With Frontera, Salesforce, and Plutus in the mix, the big question is how seamlessly Artemis can connect these layers in real-world provider environments—and whether that integration drives measurable operational efficiency.

Boost - Built from the Sidis Health foundation, Boost made a visible push at CASP 2025. It is positioning itself as an operational backbone for ABA providers ready to scale more efficiently. Its automation-first approach tackles persistent pain points like (re)scheduling complexity, compliance tracking, and claims/billing workflows—all aimed at maximizing service hours and minimizing administrative burden. Hint: Boost is clearly tuned in to the operational challenges of ABA. The question now is whether it can continue building momentum and deliver the reliability and depth providers expect from a core system.

Brellium isn’t going after flashy features—it’s targeting a high-stakes, often-overlooked challenge: clinical documentation compliance. With a rules-based, AI-auditing engine (not LLMs), Brellium reviews every visit note against payor and clinical rules in real time. They already serve mental health and autism care providers nationwide and even offer a payor clawback guarantee. Hint: Brellium’s approach could be game-changing for ABA, where documentation risks are high and audits are rare. But success will depend on how well it integrates into the fragmented data infrastructure that still defines much of the ABA tech landscape. (More in Scott's blog post on Brellium.)

Therapy Brands Rebranding Therapy Brands has rebranded as Ensora Health, signaling a broader behavioral health focus. While Ensora still includes products like WebABA, AccuPoint, and Catalyst, there’s been no clear roadmap for ABA. Notably, the company did not attend CASP 2025, leaving ABA providers without an opportunity to ask how—or if—its ABA offerings will evolve.

3. Industry Trends & Insights

Jade Health & NADR – Building Benchmarks That Matter Jade Health’s National Autism Data Registry (NADR) is gaining traction with providers and payors alike. With structured, risk-adjusted scoring and early adoption by groups like Already Autism Health & JumpStart Autism Collective, NADR may become the data backbone that helps ABA measure—and defend—its value to stakeholders. (See Scott's NADR blog post.)

Agentic AI for ABA – From Promise to Workflow ABA’s real opportunity with AI isn’t in novelty—it’s in automation. Platforms and emerging vendors are increasingly exploring agentic AI to streamline repetitive workflows: think onboarding, documentation, supervision, and claims prep. But effective AI agents depend on horizontal data integration, which remains rare in ABA. The future will reward platforms and providers that invest in clean, connected data foundations. (See Scott's Agentic AI blog post.)

The Scheduling Problem – Still a Bottleneck Despite a wave of scheduling tools, most ABA providers still face friction when balancing geography, staff availability, payor rules, and authorization limits. From my blog post: the real challenge is real-time, context-aware scheduling—a capability most platforms still lack. Whether it’s enterprise-level optimization or just making rescheduling easier, solving this will be key to unlocking hours and reducing burnout. (See Scott's Scheduling blog post.)

4. SCUBA Reports: Providers & Platforms

Hiring Trends & Medicaid Uncertainty While job postings are slightly down, actual headcount continues to grow at many of the top 20 ABA providers. Some markets are stabilizing, but Medicaid rate pressure is beginning to slow hiring plans in more vulnerable states. Providers with stronger operational efficiency and payor diversification continue to scale, while others are holding back expansion. Top 20 Providers here.

Platform Positioning The ABA platform space remains crowded, and despite a flurry of announcements, no vendors have reported new traction among the top 35 ABA providers in the past month. Most larger providers continue to stick with their current systems—either out of necessity or a lack of clearly superior alternatives. The middle of the market remains fragmented, with hybrid environments still the norm. Top ABA Platforms here.

5. ABA Vendors by Category

A view of the ABA technology landscape:

• All-Inclusive ABA Practice Management Platforms
• Practice Management Platforms Requiring Clinical Tools Integration
• Clinical Tools
• Assessment Tools
• Revenue Cycle Management Vendors
• Automation Tools
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) – See Scott's Deep Dive
• Payroll
• HR Management
• Applicant Tracking Systems – See Scott's Deep Dive
• Accounting & Financial Management
• Service Ticketing
• Performance Management
• Employee Rewards

6. ABA Operator Spotlight

Behavior Frontiers COO Nik Smith – Process, Data, Discipline & Growth - Founded in 2004 by Helen Mader, M.A., BCBA Helen Mader, the firm has become one of the largest privately held ABA providers in the U.S. While its recent acquisition by NexPhase Capital, LP drew attention, the real differentiator has been its internal focus on systems and discipline.

Unlike most peers that tend to use commercial platforms like CentralReach, Behavior Frontiers built its own platform—PrioraCare—allowing for full control over clinical and operational workflows. With tight QA processes, clearly defined internal metrics, and platform-level control, the company has doubled in size over the past five years while maintaining consistency across regions.

By owning its data and tooling, Behavior Frontiers is better positioned than most to adapt to payor expectations, implement operational analytics, and move toward outcome-driven care.

See full write up on Behavior Frontiers here.

7. How ABA Mission Can Support Your Growth

ABA Mission provides strategic guidance at the intersection of technology, operations, and investment—helping organizations make smarter decisions in a rapidly evolving landscape. Whether you’re evaluating a new platform, preparing for growth, or conducting due diligence, I bring the firsthand experience and structured insight to accelerate your success.

I’ve had the opportunity to:

• Develop an Enterprise Data Repository for a leading PE-backed ABA provider
• Lead product strategy at a top ABA platform used by the industry’s largest providers
• Advise investors on platform diligence, market positioning, and tech integration
• Share post-conference briefings and insights from AIS and CASP

If you're:

• An investor assessing a platform or provider’s operational readiness
• A provider scaling through acquisition or looking to unify systems and data
• A platform aiming to improve adoption, integrations, or roadmap clarity

Let’s connect. I’d be happy to explore how ABA Mission can support your goals.

8. Reader Questions & Feedback

Have a topic you’d like to see covered in a future edition? I’d love to hear from you.

Feel free to reply directly to this newsletter, message me on LinkedIn, or reach out via abamission.com.

9. Closing & Call to Action

Thanks for reading the May edition of the ABA Mission Newsletter!

If you found it valuable, please consider sharing it with others in your network—especially those navigating platform strategy, provider growth, or investment in the ABA space.

To get next month’s edition and all future updates straight to your inbox, make sure you’re subscribed here.

Until next time, – Scott