Acorn Health CEO Vicki Kroviak rejects a ‘dot on the map strategy’ to grow the autism treatment business.
Under Kroviak’s leadership, the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) provider has grown its footprint by 47% since 2018.
At the same time, other companies in the sector were forced to downsize, lay off staff, and even abandon entire state-owned markets.
Most recently, acorn health Acquired 7 bases From Breakthrough Behavior, based in Maitland, Florida. Terms of the deal, which closed on September 19, were not disclosed.
Acorn Health provides in-office and home ABA services in 75 locations under its Breakthrough Behavior agreement.
For Acorn Health, growing while other companies are shrinking comes from considering all options deeply before making the leap. It also helps grow in areas where the company already knows or has existing infrastructure. Much of the company’s growth is based on work in existing markets, Kroviak, the company’s founder and chairman of the company, told his Behavioral Health Business.
“We do our homework before entering a new market,” says Kroviak. “This is a breakthrough he is a perfect example of behavior. We know what we have.”
“It is hardly surprising what the labor market tells us in any of their facilities, because we already know it.”
Strong local knowledge also provides insight into payer dynamics, allowing for even more detailed planning, Kroviak said.
In the autism space, two competing forces collided in 2022, resulting in hundreds of layoffs.
On the one hand, private equity-backed autism treatment companies have been devouring small offices for years to gain market share and potential leverage with payers.this accelerating in recent yearsaccording to its own data source.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 wage pressures have led to high turnover rates among Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). This, combined with increased limited reimbursement, has reduced some of the largest autism care providers to cope.
“I think there’s a lot of risk in approaching growth in a dot-on-the-map way, especially in a year when the labor problem was so severe,” Kroviak said.
The for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), based in Plano, Texas Stopping operations in 10 states, reducing the state market footprint to 14 states. Since December 2021, the company has reduced its office footprint by 30%. Following news of the closure, the company said it regularly reviews and evolves its operating footprint, evaluating centers for capacity, staff and reimbursement rates.
Earlier this year, CARD closed its Oregon office and 360 Behavioral Health closed nine locations.and at least 665 employees Affected. It is not yet known how many people will be affected by CARD cutting the state’s footprint by almost half.
Kroviak founded the company Backed by private equity firm MBF Healthcare Partners in 2018 in Coral Gables, Florida. 2021, MBF Healthcare Partners acorn health Submit to the Ontario Board of Teachers’ Pension Plans (OTPP). At the time, Acorn had operations in 51 locations across Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
OTPP takes a long-term view of the ABA industry, said Kroviak. This also allows Acorn to strategically plan for the future. Like her company, Croviak said OTPP understands the ins and outs of autism treatment and is unfazed by recent trends in the workforce.
“That three to five years [holding period] Private equity pressure creates some impatience,” Krobiak said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the OTPP website lists Acorn Health’s “major investments.”Define Main investment As something worth over $200 million. Investment bank Brentwood Capital Advisors has estimated the value of the deal. to be $245 million.
One long-term strategy realized by Acorn Health owners is paid maternity leave and other workforce development initiatives. Other efforts include professional development and mentoring programs.
Paid maternity leave is especially important in the ABA field. 85% owned by women Behavioral Analyst Certification Board data shows that BCBA, RBT, and other ABA-related certifications
The same dataset shows that about 64% of certificate holders are between the ages of 18 and 45.
“So it’s women, it’s young women,” Kroviak said of the workforce. “We made this decision after really listening to our employees.”
of company announced New policy released to the public last week.
