Beyond FFS In ABA – Alternative Reimbursement Models To Improve Autism Treatment Quality & Reduce Costs

July 01, 2026

1:00 – 2:00 pm ET

There is increasing concern about the costs of providing ABA services – and serving children with autism. These increases are due to a combination of factors ranging from increasing prevalence, better diagnostic models, mandated benefits, provider organization competition, lack of clinical criteria, and concerns about billing practices.

Whatever the combination of causes, payer and health plans are looking for new approaches to blunting the cost curve and improving the value of services. But fee-for-service (FFS) models offer limited options. As an alternative, the move to performance-based or value-based reimbursement models offer some alternatives to achieve these goals.

To learn more, join Rick D. Gutierrez, Ph.D, Senior Associate at OPEN MINDS and former Vice President Of Clinical Strategy & Operations at Easterseals Southern California as well as Stuart Buttlaire, Ph.D, Vice President Of Clinical Excellence & Leadership at OPEN MINDS, for a webinar exploring four new approaches to contracting models for serving consumers with autism. The webinar will explore each prospective model including its business case, reimbursement potential, and performance metrics.

    Featured Speakers

    • Rick Gutierrez, Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS
      Rick Gutierrez, Ph.D. brings over 20 years of clinical and operational experience to the OPEN MINDS team. His unique blend of experience has allowed him to drive impactful outcomes in the developmental disability and behavioral health fields. Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Dr. Gutierrez served as Vice President, Clinical Strategy & Operations at Easterseals Southern California. In this role he oversaw the outpatient Applied Behavior Analysis provider network and Enhanced Care Management in partnership with Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Gutierrez is a certified Emotional Intelligence (EQ) trainer, licensed psychologist in California, and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).
    • Stuart Buttlaire, Vice President Of Clinical Excellence & Leadership, OPEN MINDS
      Stuart Buttlaire brings over 35 years of executive, clinical, and policy experience to OPEN MINDS. Dr. Buttlaire has experience in both the public and private sectors of healthcare providing leadership and direction in healthcare delivery. His career has focused on advancing integrated behavioral health and addiction medicine through strategic innovation, system redesign, quality improvement, and sustainable policy reform. Dr. Buttlaire is a widely respected advisor on behavioral health policy, legislation, and regulatory strategy. He has worked closely with state and federal agencies on issues of parity enforcement, financing reform, Medicaid redesign, and systems integration. Previously, Dr. Buttlaire was the Regional Director of Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine for Kaiser Permanente.

    Registration is free and requires an OPEN MINDS Circle account, which you consent to OPEN MINDS creating on your behalf if one does not exist. For access to the full line of market intelligence including executive briefings, industry news, state and organizational profiles, RFPs, and datasets from the specialty health and human services market contact us at 855-559-6827 or info@openminds.com to become an OPEN MINDS member.

    Beyond FFS In ABA: Alternative Reimbursement Models To Improve Autism Treatment Quality & Reduce Costs

    7/1/20261:00pm EDT1 hour
    There is increasing concern about the costs of providing ABA services—and serving children with autism. These increases are due to a combination of factors ranging from increasing prevalence, better diagnostic models, mandated benefits, provider organization competition, lack of clinical criteria, and concerns about billing practices.

    Whatever the combination of causes, payer and health plans are looking for new approaches to blunting the cost curve and improving the value of services. But fee-for-service (FFS) models offer limited options. As an alternative, the move to performance-based or value-based reimbursement models offer some alternatives to achieve these goals.

    To learn more, join Rick D. Gutierrez, Ph.D, Senior Associate at OPEN MINDS and former Vice President Of Clinical Strategy & Operations at Easterseals Southern California as well as Stuart Buttlaire, Ph.D, Vice President Of Clinical Excellence & Leadership at OPEN MINDS, for a webinar exploring four new approaches to contracting models for serving consumers with autism. The webinar will explore each prospective model including its business case, reimbursement potential, and performance metrics.