2026 Summit Schedule

Gather for a warm welcome from the Behavioral Health Business team, as they set the stage for the high-impact sessions, networking opportunities and industry insights set to unfold.

What does "future-proofing" actually look like in a tightening market? As the autism therapy landscape matures, the tension between clinical rigor and financial sustainability has never been more visible. This panel serves as a state of the union for the industry and sketches an outline for the years ahead.

Take a breather between sessions to mingle with fellow attendees, exchange ideas, and build relationships with professionals shaping the future of the autism market.

Autism providers are navigating rising costs, tighter labor markets, evolving payer expectations and a shift toward value-based arrangements. Scale can help overcome those obstacles, but traditional M&A and private
equity models aren’t the only paths to scaling up. In this session, experts from Inperium will outline an affiliation-based alternative that preserves local identity while unlocking advantages such as capital access, enterprise-level back-office services and innovative technology. Drawing on over 35 transactions and a nonprofit network with almost $1 billion of consolidated revenue, speakers will share examples of how affiliations have stabilized operations, expanded programs, improved recruitment and retention, and accelerated tech adoption, outside of a traditional model.

Presentation Objectives:

Preserve identity, gain scale: Local clinical autonomy with shared services that lower administrative cost and raise quality.

Capital access and technology: Affiliations have unlocked capital and enterprise-level systems that individual providers can rarely access on a stand-alone basis.

Repeatable playbook: Lessons from over 35 affiliations. What works and what to avoid through an integration style that protects mission while adding capacity.

Explore how ABA organizations can build scalable revenue cycle infrastructure that keeps pace with growth. The discussion will focus on leadership alignment, RCM strategy, team structure, outsourcing models, and operational best practices that enable sustainable expansion.

As large multi-state operators and PE-backed chains dominate headlines, small and independent ABA providers face a critical question: Can we not just survive but actually thrive? This panel features successful small practice owners who are proving the answer is yes — by leveraging their unique strengths and building sustainable businesses that compete on quality, relationships, and agility rather than scale.

Comprehensive autism care often requires coordination across multiple disciplines, yet many providers struggle with the logistics, reimbursement complexities, and workflow integration of incorporating occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology into their service models. This panel brings together multidisciplinary clinic leaders, allied health professionals and billing experts to share practical strategies for successful integration.

BHB+ members are invited to join a collaborative discussion on the evolving landscape of the autism service market over an exclusive networking lunch.

Refuel and recharge with executives, investors and innovators in the autism industry by enjoying lunch, where meaningful introductions and collaborative conversations are always on the menu.

A founder can only be in 12 places at once for so long. Operators who’ve survived the shift to professional management share how to keep the heart of the org alive while building systems that can scale.

As the autism services sector attracts increased investor interest, providers face critical decisions about growth capital and strategic partnerships. This panel features autism service executives and investment professionals who will demystify the differences between venture capital and private equity funding, and what each means for your organization's mission, operations and long-term trajectory.

Examine how autism services organizations can drive sustainable value creation by building anti-fragile businesses that response to and benefit from market volatility and reimbursement pressures. Hear practical strategies and forward-thinking ideas around recruiting and retaining clinical leaders, leveraging technology, maintaining clinical quality, and navigating evolving payor rules and reimbursement challenges. This discussion will also cover disciplined growth strategies and key consideration when evaluating new states and markets.

Our panel will directly address latest market trends over the last couple of years that are driving investment in and value of ABA/autism providers today, whether that is likely to last and what changes have been observed in both buyers/investors and provider/sellers. Key policy and payment challenges will be discussed as well as perspectives on the main opportunities and pain points faced by ABA/autism providers and investors, including those making headlines recently. Top compliance and payment risks will be addressed along with tips to mitigate them. Throughout the discussion the panel will also address some of what keeps buyers up at night and may cause them to consider walking away from a pending deal, and what top issues should be addressed before taking an ABA/autism provider to market.

After several years of whirlwind change, the workforce has largely settled into a predictable pattern. Still, the industry faces high turnover, elevated wages, rate cuts, efforts to integrate ABA with several other care types and calls from all sides for the industry to prove its value. Here's what you need to know about the ever-evolving autism therapy workforce.

Three active strategic buyers will break down their current deal logic: what makes them pull the trigger, what instantly kills a deal and where they think the autism market is heading next. They’ll share how they vet clinical models, assess leadership teams and dedicate whether an integration process will run smoothly post-close.

Unwind after a day of sessions by reconnecting with peers and continuing conversations with executives, advisors, and innovators driving growth and excellence in the autism market.

Get ready for three rapid-fire conversations with some of the most active private equity investors in the autism and neurodevelopmental space. In this fast-paced “hot seat” format, each PE leader gets 10 minutes to break down their current investment thesis – what they’re chasing, what they’re avoiding and how today’s market dynamics are reshaping their outlook.

As ABA practices grow, BCBAs can find themselves buried. Documentation piles up, workflows fragment, and billing complexity pulls clinicians further from the work that matters most.

This panel explores how AI-powered technology is changing that reality. When intelligent tools are built around how care is delivered, they don't add complexity. They absorb it, giving clinicians room to do their best work – and giving practice leaders the visibility they need to scale with confidence.

In today’s autism services market, investors and operators face increasing pressure from regulatory scrutiny, workforce instability, and inconsistent clinical quality - factors that directly impact valuation, scalability, and long-term returns. This session reframes accreditation not as a compliance exercise, but as a strategic asset that reduces risk and enhances enterprise value. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of how accredited organizations demonstrate stronger operational infrastructure, cleaner revenue streams, lower regulatory exposure, and improved staff retention - all critical drivers of EBITDA stability and deal confidence. Positioned through an investor lens, this talk explores how accreditation functions as pre-built due diligence, accelerates transactions, supports integration across platforms, and signals operational maturity in an increasingly quality-driven market. As accreditation becomes a growing expectation among payers and regulators, organizations that proactively adopt it will be better positioned to scale, transact, and compete. This session will equip attendees with a practical framework for evaluating accreditation as a lever for both risk mitigation and return optimization.

What if your biggest barrier to growth is not demand, but how quickly your team can perform?
This panel explores how leading ABA organizations are turning workforce training into a true growth engine. Learn how to replace outdated, time-based models with systems built on competency, consistency, and measurable results. Walk away with practical insights to improve staff readiness, increase retention, and expand capacity with confidence.

A fundamental tension has emerged as the autism therapy industry has matured: how to maintain clinical intimacy while achieving institutional scale. In an industry dominated by big capital, the franchise model is striking a balance by combining the power of "shared services" from a franchisor with the accountability and on-the-ground know-how of a local owner. Learn more about this emerging avenue of growth, what it takes to establish clinics, the challenges of the model and what role clinical leadership holds in the clinic and across the enterprise.