Cortica & the Push Towards Integrating Value-Based Care with ABA Therapy

🔦 Operator Spotlight: How ABA Providers are striving to deliver better Whole-Person Clinical Outcomes

Scaffolding Innovation in an Industry Still Catching Up

At a recent Behavioral Health Business (BHB) webinar on Value-Based Care (VBC) hosted by Laura Lovett, Cortica CEO Neil Hattangadi offered a powerful look into what a more integrated, whole-child approach to autism care could look like.

Since its founding in 2014, Cortica has invested heavily in clinical coordination, data infrastructure, and technology—going as far as to scaffold together two separate EMRs to support its multidisciplinary care model. That’s no small feat, especially in an industry where most providers operate off of a single, often limited, EHR system.

The result? A platform that connects ABA, neurology, pediatrics, feeding therapy, parent training, and even tools like Floreo VR—all under one care model. ABA is just one piece of a broader treatment strategy aimed at long-term outcomes and whole-family support.

🤝 Now Partnering with Traditional ABA Providers

Cortica is now seeking to extend that model through partnerships with traditional ABA providers—helping those organizations move toward more holistic, outcomes-driven care without reinventing their operations from scratch. This signals a strategic inflection point, where tech-enabled integrated care may be delivered in partnership, not just internally.

📊 Navigating Payor Complexity

Despite all this progress, VBC implementation remains a heavy lift—even for well-resourced organizations. Hattangadi described the ongoing challenge of dealing with siloed payor systems, often requiring multiple agreements with the same insurer just to get VBC initiatives off the ground.

Notably, ABA-specific outcome metrics are still lacking—not because providers like Cortica aren’t measuring progress, but because payors haven’t yet agreed on what matters most or how to pay for it.

As a result, most value-based care arrangements rely on broader indicators—like avoiding hospitalizations or residential placements—rather than progress within ABA therapy itself.

This isn't unique to Cortica. A recent BHB survey of 108 behavioral health executives found:

• 65% said none of their revenue comes from VBC.

• Only 5% have more than half of their revenue tied to outcome-based contracts.

• Reimbursement reductions and administrative friction remain the top concerns across the board.

As BHB’s Chris Larson put it:

“The vibe on VBC = downtrodden… Providers haven’t seen their efforts acknowledged.”

💡 ABA Mission Perspective

Cortica is a compelling example of what might be possible in autism care—if the payment infrastructure can catch up.

They’ve shown that:

• Building true care integration requires deep investment and operational will

• Partnerships between innovative and traditional providers could be the key to scale

• Even with insurer backing, payor alignment takes time and persistence

For ABA providers watching this space, the opportunity is to:

• Align internally on measurable, cross-disciplinary outcomes

• Get strategic about data capture, even without formal VBC contracts

• Engage payors early—not just with metrics, but with a narrative that connects outcomes to cost savings