CentralReach Joins Roper: A Pivotal Moment for the ABA Market
Today’s announcement that CentralReach has been acquired by Roper Technologies marks a defining moment in the evolution of ABA technology.
Roper will acquire CentralReach from Insight Partners for a net purchase price of approximately $1.65 billion, including a $200 million tax benefit. The company expects CentralReach to deliver sustainable 20%+ organic revenue and EBITDA growth, contributing an estimated $175 million in revenue and $75 million in EBITDA by mid-2026. The deal is expected to close by May 2025.
Scott’s CentralReach Platform Vendor Deep Dive here
For those of us who’ve been close to the ABA technology landscape, this outcome is both validating and thought-provoking.
👏 A Win for CR’s Leadership — and for the ABA Sector
Congratulations to the CentralReach leadership team. Just a few years ago, the platform faced serious challenges around uptime, scale, and usability. The fact that they’ve now become a $1.65B platform acquired by one of the most disciplined tech operators in the world says a lot about their turnaround — and about the growing importance of ABA as a sector.
CentralReach now joins Roper’s Application Software segment, a group known for long-term margin expansion and intelligent capital allocation. It’s a strong match — and a clear signal that ABA is no longer a niche corner of healthcare, but a strategic market with room to grow.
🔄 CentralReach: Widely Used, Deeply Debated
I have talked to hundreds of ABA executives, clinicians, and technology vendor staff; one thing is clear: everyone has an opinion about CentralReach. It’s the default operating system for much of the industry, yet it remains a source of frustration for many.
Common feedback from ABA leaders includes:
Dominant integrated solution: It is largely seen as the most straightforward choice by many looking for enterprise, comprehensive solutions encompassing both Practice Management and Clinical Data collection.
Pricing pressure: Many organizations feel squeezed, especially as contract reimbursements lag behind wage growth and inflation.
Clinical usability concerns: Therapists and BCBAs often feel that there are more ‘intuitive’ competing tools that can be used in-session, prompting some to adopt alternate solutions for clinical data collection.
Integration friction: CR handles a lot — but not everything. Providers frequently integrate it with other systems like Salesforce, ADP, Greenhouse, Relias, Catalyst, and assessment platforms like VB-MAPP or Vineland.
Despite those tensions, CentralReach remains mission-critical. That’s what made it so attractive to Roper — and what makes the next chapter so interesting.
🤖 AI: The Future of ABA Ops — If the Data Is Ready
Roper’s CEO, Neil Hunn, called CentralReach a “high ROI, high retention, mission critical” solution. And it’s clear they also see CR’s AI investments as a strategic differentiator.
From ClaimCheckAI and ScheduleAI to new tools like ARAgent, CR has leaned heavily into automation and decision support. These tools promise faster workflows, fewer denials, better scheduling, and smarter supervision.
But here’s the truth: AI is only as good as the data it learns from.
To deliver on Roper’s expectation of 20%+ organic growth and margin expansion, CentralReach will need to ensure:
🔹 Clean, Structured, and Accessible Data
Years of iterative builds have made CR’s data model complex. Performance, historical tracking, and field reliability vary by module. Continued investment here — in both backend architecture and reporting quality — is essential if AI is to scale across the customer base.
🔹 Enterprise-Scale Interoperability
Some of the most valuable AI applications require data that lives outside of CR:
Employee sentiment and burnout models from payroll, surveys, and cancellation behavior.
Reimbursement optimization based on contracts, historical rates, General Ledger and RCM data.
Hiring & Onboarding actions drawn from Applicant Tracking Systems, CRM market data and mentoring programs.
To enable those use cases, CR will need to become more open — not just offering APIs, but making data flows seamless across payroll, HR, ATS, CRM, and clinical tools.
🔹 Clinical Workflow Optionality
Many providers — especially large ones — want more flexibility on how data is collected. Some prefer modern tools purpose-built for therapist use, like Hi Rasmus, Motivity, or SpectrumAi. If CR wants to remain the core data platform, it may need to separate control of the workflow from ownership of the data infrastructure. That’s a tough balance, but may become a necessary one.
🔮 What This Means for the Ecosystem
For ABA Providers: Expect more polish, more automation, and likely more pricing complexity. Now is the time to clarify your priorities: will you invest in AI that works across your stack, or is it more effective to double down on CR as your all-in-one?
For ABA Vendors: Roper’s entrance raises the bar. But if you offer best-in-class UX, niche clinical tools, or cleaner data interoperability — you still have room to win.
For ABA Investors: This deal validates ABA tech as a maturing vertical. But the next wave of value creation won’t come from billing software alone — it will come from platforms that enable data-driven decision-making across people, payors, and outcomes.
✍️ Final Thoughts
CentralReach’s acquisition by Roper is the largest signal yet that the ABA technology space is entering a new era — one defined by scale, structure, and intelligence.
But sustaining that momentum will depend on more than just growth metrics. It will require enabling the kind of AI that empowers therapists, informs supervisors, improves margins, and strengthens outcomes.
If you’re a provider, vendor, or investor navigating this transition — let’s connect. The playbook for the next phase of ABA is being written right now.