GET READY FOR THE 2025
AUTISM INVESTOR SUMMIT
APRIL 7-9, 2025 | BEVERLY HILTON, BEVERLY HILLS, CA
Attendee Registration opens December 1st
2024 keynote speaker
Allison Kluger, Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Reputation Rules!
Our reputations are defined not by who WE think we are, but how other people perceive us. In business and in your personal lives, a strong and positive reputation can be like currency. A strong reputation will open doors for you, create lasting bonds, and present valuable opportunities. In today’s seminar we will discuss how to repair a damaged reputation, how to make a great first impression, what to be aware of your online reputation, and strategies to curate and maintain a positive working reputation among your colleagues and clients. Also covered will be topics that explore personal, team and corporate reputation. The good news is that no one is stuck in a reputation they don’t want. Reputation is on a continuum, and we are the masters of our reputation destiny.
Allison Kluger is a four-time Emmy-nominated Producer with over 25 years of experience in broadcast media and entertainment, from network television to new media platforms including electronic retail, interactive television, and digital media. She is also a freelance writer and media consultant. Her superpower is being an innovative content creator and media coach across all platforms.
Presently Allison is a Lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in four courses: Reputation Management, Strategic Communication, and two classes she created: Personal Branding (which she teaches with Tyra Banks) and Strategic Pivoting for Your Next Chapter (Alex Rodriguez guest speaker). She also teaches the electives: Executive Presence for Women and Media Training.
Allison is the recipient of the Dorothy J. King Lecturer in Leadership for 2017-2018. She is an advisor for many of her graduate students’ new ventures, she mentors young women and men in leadership, communication tactics, and personal branding and gives lectures and keynote speeches all over the world. In her spare time, she is a voracious reader, is writing a book, officiates weddings, and raises her two boys and Australian Shepherd with her husband.
about the SUMMIt
The Autism Investor Summit provides a unique opportunity for autism service providers, investors and key stakeholders to meet in a private setting to discuss the autism services landscape, opportunities for investment and to discuss and learn about best practices and innovation in all areas of autism services.
The mission of this conference is to advance autism services and the outcomes for consumers by bringing together stakeholders from all aspects of the industry- service providers, advocates, legislators, payers, consumers, investors and researchers- to meet, network, share information and understand what the future holds for the autism industry.
Attendees will get to:
- Meet one-on-one with industry investors, service providers, investment bankers and professionals
- Learn the latest information on funding, legislation and clinical operations
- Enhance your personal database with valuable new connections- share both ideas and contact information
- Meet fellow service providers with the opportunity to have new and different conversations regarding the market, service needs and future of the industry
- Understand which service models have the most robust outlook and how outcomes will impact the future of autism services
- Hear from investors what they look for when exploring acquisitions
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Learn the right questions to ask when conducting due diligence on companies in the industry
- Learn about the current critical factors impacting autism service delivery models today
- Discover what to look for in an investor and how to know when investment is right for you
- Understand the keys to differentiation in the market place
Opportunity
Investors are in a strong position to consolidate, expand, and create the kinds of economies of scale that are common in other sectors of healthcare, and in other industries. The autism service market is a highly fragmented marketplace with many opportunities for consolidation, favorable returns on investment and the elevation of regulation, meaningful clinical outcomes, professional development and oversight of care. Because autism treatment is a fairly new field, the industry lacks regulation and oversight. While this is a challenge when evaluating the quality of treatment centers, it’s also an opportunity to implement cutting-edge treatments and technologies. It is vital that investors understand the nuances of autism services and the issues service providers face when scaling their businesses.
Important Factors in the Current Autism Provider Landscape
Intervention
The predominant treatment for autism is based on the science and methodology of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is one of the few areas that attracts bipartisan political support and as of August 2019, all 50 states in the U.S. mandate insurance coverage of autism services. Services are provided in the home, at center-based programs, at school, or in hybrid models that serve multiple locations. ABA is considered the gold standard of treatment for autism. The National Research council recommends a minimum of 25 hours per week of student engagement. While many service providers offer ABA-based programs, not all ABA is the same. It is critical to assess the quality of programming and service delivery when considering an investment in an autism company.
DEMAND
The ABA market is growing at twice the rate of other multi-site healthcare businesses. With greater awareness, we are seeing the beginnings of a reduction in the social stigma of autism and a formal diagnosis of autism leading more families to seek intervention and support. As funding for autism services and awareness of autism is expanding, more and more families are seeking services nationwide. Most providers report waiting lists for assessment and diagnosis, as well as intervention, leading to rapid growth in this industry. In addition, there are many underserved communities where services are lacking bringing multiple organic growth opportunities to existing providers.
Providers
In recent years, significant investments in autism service providers have occurred resulting in the beginning of consolidation of this market. This interest and investment trend is driving a new level of competition and increasing the standards against which providers need to comply and perform. Despite this growth, however; less than 20% of the autism service industry is owned by consolidators providing much opportunity for continued investment in this market. As consolidators continue to buy up the market, issues such as the integration of clinical methodologies, operational processes, regulatory compliance and administrative functions bring new challenges, especially because the industry is relatively young and unsophisticated from a business operations standpoint.
Market
The total annual costs for children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) in the United States are estimated to be between $11.5 billion and $60.9 billion — a significant economic burden. It is estimated that the current ABA service provider market is about $7bn with a TAM (total addressable market) of between $50-70bn. The ABA therapy market is expected to grow at a 25% CAGR over the next 3-5 years. The needs of the aging autism population are grossly under serviced providing significant needs across the nation and additional opportunities for investors and providers. Many autism treatment organizations, and some of the largest competitors are located in California. This is due to the fact that funding for treatment programs has been in place there for over 5 decades, prior to the insurance mandates that were later put into place.
schedule
Welcome Reception
Meet fellow attendees while enjoying your favorite beverage. The event will focus on creating meaningful connections in small groups to facilitate networking and learning.
Sponsored by CentralReach
Breakfast
Sponsored by TripleTree
Coffee with Sponsors
Welcome & Introductory Remarks
Sara Litvak, Co-Founder of the Autism Investor Summit, welcomes everyone to the 2024 Autism Investor Summit!
Keynote: Autism Services M&A: Down, But Not Out
At last year’s conference, we noted the beginnings of a falloff in autism services M&A – down from a record breaking 46 transactions posted in 2019, but not by much as in each of the past three years, we recorded 41-43 transactions. Headwinds were gathering from many directions, but it was unclear how the sector would hold up. A year later, it’s clear that after an extraordinary 5-year run, autism services M&A has taken a hit. In this session, we will discuss why activity has stumbled, how autism has performed compared to other health care sectors and the broad market as a whole, the outlook for 2024, and initiatives prospective sellers can execute now to take advantage of the inevitable rebound.
Session 2A: Negotiating Better Reimbursement Rates: Changing the Payor-Provider Dynamic from Transactional to Relational
Do you have a solid working relationship with your commercial and Medicaid Payors? Or is your relationship merely transactional and often frustrating?
It all starts with investing in the Payor relationship, then building a strong Payor Relations Platform. This disciplined approach impacts almost every department of your autism therapy practice and is often the most overlooked. Whether it is rate negotiation, contracting, credentialing, VBC, APMs, clinical performance, accounts receivable, growth, or just creating open lines of communication, developing a working relationship with your Payors is imperative to growth and success.
This presentation will focus on the key components necessary for building a sustainable relationship with your payors.
This presentation is targeted to:
- Providers seeking to increase reimbursement rates and improve, build, and enhance strong working relationships with Payors.
- Investors seeking to grow and scale existing markets and target acquisitions locally, regionally, and nationally
- Payors and other industry experts seeking trusted provider partners
Session 2B: M&A 101
In this session, we will begin with an introduction to a standard M&A process, defining terms and process steps. We'll review the ways to prepare your organization for a sale, what buyers are looing for and what a typical transition looks like.
Session 2C: Strategic Real Estate Moves for Growth & Efficiency
Are you in a rapid growth phase? Is your team trying to figure out the most strategic sites that will optimize patient care and earning potential?
In this session we will explore various challenges that Autism providers are facing and how we take a data-driven approach to make sound real estate decisions. Some themes include:
- How to scale while maintaining the integrity of your organization
- Sustainable growth – avoid the pitfalls of launching too many sites too quickly
- How to determine locations that attract and retain quality providers and staff
- Using demographics, claims data, and competitive landscape to identify profitable areas
- Avoiding internal cannibalization of your own sites by analyzing trade areas with mass mobile data
Sponsored by CBRE
Break
Sponsored by Holland & Knight
Session 3A: Behind Closed Doors: How Do Potential Buyers Discuss Your Business?
In this panel, we will discuss conversations that investment committees are having when valuing businesses and make investment decisions. This starts with how buyers put together their investment thesis and strategy to create a context under which we are evaluating potential targets. Will talk through how different companies choose which targets to evaluate to start with. How does the strategy differ if it is a brokered deal, or if it’s a proprietary deal? Then will walk through the key items that affect valuation up or down. What are the things we care the most about? What can the process look like, and what can you learn about how the deal process is progressing? Will include explanations of the questions we love to hear from sellers, and also what are the red flags we see from a seller. What range of negotiation we typically expect and the kinds of negotiating tactics that are more appealing, and which are less appealing.
Session 3B: Game Changing Culture: Private Equity Has Nothing To Do With Bad Culture
The development of this paper and presentation is the culmination of an unpredictable journey that started many years ago. Early in 2000, our third child was diagnosed with Autism which spawned a lifetime of learning and appreciation for clinicians. Meanwhile, my career brought me to senior level positions with multibillion-dollar retail businesses. The one common thread of success and the edge was creating a purposeful, joyful, and winning culture. Yet, many companies believe they have great culture, but, like the emperor with no clothes, it's apparent they don't.
And now in the ABA world with JoyBridge Kids, it's more important than ever to manifest a game changing culture because our kids and clinicians depend on it. At the same time, the ABA world is cynical and does not trust Private Equity. PE has nothing to do with bad culture, it's the leadership team.
In a little over year, we have gone from one clinic to nine clinics and we're helping over 200 kids and families in a profound way at the highest level of clinical quality. Here are the seven principles of Game Changing Culture:
1. Build a Cohesive and Unshakable Leadership Team
2. Articulate a Genuine Mission That Resonates - It's About the Kids
3. Create Absolute Clarity in Direction and Focused Operating Disciplines
4. Massively Overcommunicate
5. Keep the Lines of Communication Wide Open - Build Proactive Trust
6. Teach and Develop the Clinic Leaders Like Crazy
7. Create a Halo of Joy
Session 3C: Unlocking Economies-of-Scale in ABA: The Power of Bots Encoded with Best Practices
In today's ABA landscape of limited reimbursement rates, operational efficiency is paramount to win BT talent and serve the excess demand to fuel growth. During this session you’ll learn innovative strategies that address the challenges of consolidation and achieving economies of scale in the ABA sector.
Our discussion will delve into the power of automation and how it can reduce M&A and operational costs, enabling providers to flourish without having to become business experts. We will also showcase real-world examples of how the concept of encoding best practices into bots can transform ABA operations.
By attending this panel discussion, providers and investors will gain valuable knowledge on strategies for how to minimize M&A costs and unlock economies-of-scale.
Sponsored by Simple Fractal
Session 4A: The National Autism Data Registry, More Than Just Data Collection
AIS is excited to feature a session spotlighting the National Autism Data Registry (NADR), a pioneering data platform designed to elevate the standard of autism care.
The NADR is an innovative system aimed at understanding, measuring, and improving autism treatment and outcomes through critical data aggregation across process, structure, outcome, and cost measures. It supplies unparalleled insights for ABA providers and payors into treatment efficacy and outcomes.
Discover practical applications of NADR, shared by early adopters, showcasing its transformative potential in business practices, patient outcomes, and constructive payor discussions. We'll also focus on NADR's robust security measures and ML algorithms, safeguarding patient data and refining care quality assessments.
Session 4B: Reality Check: Where the ABA Industry is Falling Short and How to Change Words Into Action
The ABA industry in 2024 brings as many headwinds as tailwinds: labor and staffing challenges, payer reimbursement rate depression, and inadequate network access even as the need for services keeps growing. In many ways, the industry is as volatile as it has ever been, with both shutdowns of national organizations and an explosion of startup clinics just in the last year.
Join us for an intimate session that will combine your first-hand experiences with unique data-driven view of the issues around commercial payer rates, network access by geography, and provider wages by clinical levels.
We’ll first kick off with a brief overview of some of the most pressing challenges on the ABA landscape, then break into small groups to discuss specific on-the-ground issues we face today.
We’ll also be asking for audience participation in these small groups to take a few requests of specific states and payers to review reimbursement rates by ABA treatment codes. The case studies, including our data assets and resources, will be distributed freely to attendees. If you’d like to participate, please come with states, payers, and treatment codes for which you’d be interested in analysis.
At the end, we’ll open the floor to a candid open discussion and share specific coalition initiatives taking place right now that can turn words into action.
Sponsored by Juniper
Session 4C: Financial Best Practices Learned from Recent Acquisitions
The presentation will cover prospective buyers' key areas of focus on financial statements & KPIs, risks/issues identified during recent M&A processes, and how companies can best prepare for & mitigate potential deal issues before going to market.
"Speed Dating" — One-on-One Meetings with Investors
Lunch Break
Session 5: Fireside Chat with Doreen Granpeesheh, Moderated by Jon Krieger
Doreen Granpeesheh built the Center for Autism and Related Disorders into a national chain and sold it to private equity firm Blackstone in a $600 million deal. Now, in an unexpected twist, she bought the bankrupt company for a much smaller sum.
Jon Krieger sits down with CARD Founder and CEO, Doreen Granpeesheh nearly 6 months post-reacquisition to discuss what happened, how we got here, and where do we go from here. This intimate discussion will address the future of both the organization and Dr. Granpeesheh's outlook on the ABA and behavioral health market.
Break
Session 6A: AI Use Cases Along the Autism Patient Journey: Learnings from the Data Trenches
For many, artificial intelligence (AI) had its coming out party in 2023. Now it’s time for AI to live up to the hype to address challenges facing ABA such as: increased ASD prevalence exacerbating access challenges; the rate of new providers entering the field; and payers seeking to understand and optimize their networks. For those feeling behind, fortunately, many example AI use cases demonstrate significant improvement in all aspects of a patient’s ABA journey for autistic individuals. In this presentation, we describe the current landscape of AI use cases aimed at improving care quality while maintaining/reducing cost along the autism patient journey. Clinically, for example, AI is being used to better: identify patient profiles with novel granularity; identify provider profiles based on their organizational expertise and service delivery styles; match patients to providers to optimize patient outcomes; identify optimal hours of ABA; and recommend treatment goals/pathways that maximize patient outcomes. Operationally, for example, AI is being used to: automate and optimize scheduling; automate or minimize billing-related tasks; and monitor the individual and group-level provider performance. As the saying goes, “AI is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” Audience members, including investors in ABA practices who seek to further differentiate their services and compete for value-based care contracts, will come away with tractable ways their company can add AI into their clinical and operational processes to separate themselves from their peers on overall impact to care quality and cost.
Session 6B: Innovation of Autism Award - Fast Pitch Sessions
Hear from emerging startups as they pitch their startup to a panel of judges, competing for the Autism Innovator Award.
Hosted by:
Amanda "Mandy" Ralston, NonBinary
Judges:
Dr. Ronit Molko, Empowering Synergy
Sangam Pant, Pantogran, LLC
Dan Tarman, Autism Impact Fund
Neil Devani, Necessary Ventures
Sponsored by SimiTree
Session 7A: Magnificent Minds: The New Whole-Child Approach to Autism. A Discussion on Her Upcoming Book Launch with Suzanne Goh MD, BCBA, Moderated by Sara Litvak, BCBA
Dr. Suzanne Goh, pediatric neurologist, BCBA, and co-founder of Cortica will discuss her new book Magnificent Minds: The New Whole-Child Approach to Autism (release date April 9, 2024 by publisher Penguin Random House).
Demystifying a wide range of diagnostics and therapies and offering new insights into the neurological, biochemical, behavioral, and social factors that play a role in successful outcomes, the book is an essential resource for understanding all of autism—a strengths-based approach that helps parents and professionals design a comprehensive, whole-child therapy program.
The session will highlight
• how to navigate medical testing, nutritional and pharmacological interventions, device-based therapies, as well as developmental, behavioral, and mental health strategies.
• how to understand a child's unique neurodevelopmental profile and support every aspect of a child's health
• how to create optimal learning experiences at home, in therapy sessions, in school, and in the community
• how to nurture a child's intelligence, abilities, and gifts, using the principles of neurodiversity
Cortica's approach brings together optimal medical treatment with the most effective strategies for advancing cognition, communication, and behavior, enabling a future for autism care that is whole-child and value-based.
Session 7B: The Importance of Parents to a Child’s Treatment Success: A Payer’s & A Provider’s Perspective
What’s the ROI of strong parent engagement? In our experience: it’s one of the most important (yet least invested in) activities that ABA providers need to do to ensure their child stays - and thrives - in treatment. We’ll share both a payer’s and a provider’s model of parent engagement that lead to higher achievement of intended graduation rates, and improved parent satisfaction.
Session 7C: Story-Telling Sessions
Join us for a session of community, story-telling, and inspiration from individuals who have perspectives or experiences that will expand the way you think about common approaches to supporting autism.
Networking Reception
Sponsored by Jade Health
Breakfast
Sponsored by Triumph Behavior Support
Coffee with Sponsors
Opening Remarks and Autism Innovator Award Ceremony
Anya Perea, CEO of Jade Health, welcomes everyone back for Day 2 of the 2024 Autism Investor Summit and Mandy Ralston, last year's winner of the Autism Innovator Award, presents the 2024 Autism Innovator Award winner.
Autism Innovator Award Sponsored by SimiTree
Keynote: The Changing Behavioral Health Market Landscape: Implications For Consumers, Providers, Payers & Investors
The market landscape for serving consumers with autism is evolving. The market is being reshaped by changing workforce dynamics, new treatment approaches, evolving models for care management and benefit coverage, and new technologies coming to market. This keynote session will provide an executive snapshot of the market trends that are reshaping perspectives.
Session 2A: Revolutionizing Autism Care through Medical Device & Biotech Clinical Innovation
Our scientific understanding of the underlying biology in autism has greatly improved in the past several years, and the medical advances continue to accelerate. This panel will discuss the scientific innovation and rigorous clinical trials driving the next generation of ASD technologies. The panel will span precision diagnostics and therapeutics, across medical technology and biotech innovation, advancing autism care beyond ABA alone to a whole-child care model.
All technologies represented on the panel have been (or are currently being) studied in randomized controlled clinical trials, with objective endpoints selected for FDA approval. Many are founded based on scientific advances from leading academic medical centers including Yale, Emory, Caltech, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Innovations being discussed are virtual reality (Floreo), eye tracking (EarliTec), catecholamine modulation (Yamo), and microbiome regulation (Scioto and Axial). The panel is moderated by the Cortica Innovation Network, the country’s largest network of pediatric neurology and developmental-behavioral pediatrics trial sites dedicated to ASD and neurodevelopment, which has conducted rigorous clinical trials in four of the five technologies discussed.
Session 2B: You Can't Scale an ABA Company without Humans
We love ChatGPT, but as much as AI has/will continue to change our lives it will not replace the need for humans to work in ABA companies. Therefore, recruiting and retaining humans is one of the primary priorities (and often a huge pain point) for ABA companies that want to scale.
This panel will propose a framework for recruiting & retaining ABA employees based on strategies that have been implemented by each of the panelists. Specifically, the panelists will discuss best practices in recruiting (hint: it doesn't involve $10k sign-on bonuses), the case for effective and compassionate employee policies and procedures and why supporting the well-being and health of your employees will yield a strong ROI and will increase your ability to scale your ABA company.
Break
Sponsored by Rethink Behavioral Health
Session 3A: Payor Perspectives on the Next Generation of Autism Service Providers
In recent years, the landscape of autism service provision has undergone significant evolution, driven by advancements in research, technology, and therapeutic approaches. As the demand for specialized services continues to rise, it is imperative to understand the perspectives of payors, who play a crucial role in shaping the accessibility and quality of care for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This presentation delves into the insights and considerations of payors regarding the next generation of autism service providers. Through a comprehensive exploration of payor perspectives, attendees will gain valuable insights into the evolving needs, challenges, and opportunities within the autism services ecosystem. Key topics to be addressed include reimbursement models, evidence-based interventions, regulatory compliance, and the integration of innovative practices. By fostering dialogue and collaboration between payors and service providers, this presentation aims to promote the development of sustainable, person-centered solutions that enhance outcomes and improve the lives of individuals with ASD and their families.
Session 3B: Just Be a Great Leader
There is no silver bullet to the current workforce crisis the healthcare industry is facing. No one can “solve” the problem and magically eliminate the shortages we face. Those are facts… That said, you can do something about it. This session will offer a message of how true leadership can ensure your organization will thrive in the race to acquire and retain talent. Attendees will walk away feeling inspired to lead their teams in a positive way, thereby fostering a culture that propels talent toward the organization, which will inevitably create additional value for the organization. With a focus on excellent, employee centric leadership, positive organizational results will follow and your organization will be positioned for greatness! Learn methods to not only be inspired to develop themselves as a leader, but commit to developing their team’s leadership abilities.
Closing Session: The State of Autism Care: Benchmarks and Data Trends to Watch for in 2024
With a 48% year-over-year increase in the demand for autism services, the demand for ABA services shows no signs of slowing down, but new expectations for care delivery, benchmarks, and trends are emerging that providers will need to consider as they scale services in 2024.
Based on a dataset of nearly 1,000+ ABA providers and a continuation of the 2023 Autism Investors Summit findings, Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach, will deep dive into the factors impacting the industry at a macro level and how providers, and their clients are responding to those pressures. Sullens will discuss the:
- Outlook on growth in the demand for autism services
- Evolution of care delivery and the settings where care is provided
- The changing trends with payors, specifically Medicaid, state by state
- Caregiver engagement and its role in clinical outcomes and financial growth
- Trends in service composition and which providers are seeing the most growth
- And, more.
Adjourn
Sponsorship
2024 Sponsorships are Now on Sale
This event provides a unique opportunity for autism service providers and investors to meet in a private setting to discuss the autism services landscape, understand best practices for service delivery and clinical outcomes, and explore opportunities for investments in autism services.
2024 Sponsors Include
Partner
Partner
Platinum
Platinum
Gold
Gold
Silver
Silver
See all of this year’s Summit Sponsors, helping to lead the conversation about best practices and innovation in all areas of autism services.
PRICING
Investor / Investor-Backed Service Provider / Other Industry Professional
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Space is Limited
Investor / Investor-Backed Service Provider / Other Industry Professional
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Space is Limited
Have questions about the event or registration options? See our FAQs or get in touch.
When
April 7–9, 2025
Where
The Beverly Hilton
9876 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Who
ABA Providers
Payors
Investors
Other Industry Professionals
