In a groundbreaking move, two major players in behavioral health—Evernorth and the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE)—have partnered to bring greater clarity, accountability, and effectiveness to autism care. The two organizations aim to develop Autism Treatment Quality Metrics that will help standardize how providers evaluate and deliver care for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), especially within Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.
The Need for Standardized Autism Care Metrics
Despite being the most widely used and researched treatment for ASD, ABA therapy lacks a consistent, national framework for measuring quality. Providers have long operated in silos, using disparate tools to assess treatment effectiveness. This has led to uneven standards of care and difficulty tracking patient progress. The collaboration between Evernorth—the behavioral health division of Cigna Corp.—and BHCOE, a leading accrediting body for autism care providers, is poised to change that by introducing evidence-based Autism Treatment Quality Metrics that bring structure and transparency to the field.
Improving Outcomes Through Transparency and Accountability
The core goal of the partnership is to develop foundational performance measures for ABA treatment. These new Autism Treatment Quality Metrics will allow healthcare professionals, payers, and families to evaluate how well services are working. For the first time, outcomes will be benchmarked against national standards in behavioral health, offering greater visibility into which interventions are most effective.
This move is expected to elevate patient-centered and value-based care by identifying high-quality ABA providers and empowering families to make informed choices. Moreover, these metrics will help transition autism treatment into a space that rewards impact, not just service volume—aligning it with broader healthcare trends.
Who Benefits First: Evernorth and Cigna Clients
According to a press release, Evernorth behavioral health clients and Cigna members—whether they receive insurance through employer-sponsored plans or individual marketplace coverage—will be the first to benefit from the rollout of these Autism Treatment Quality Metrics. This means more accountability from providers and better, more consistent treatment experiences for families navigating autism care.
Sara Litvak, CEO of BHCOE, emphasized the importance of the initiative: “The BHCOE-Evernorth partnership is intentional in its goal to serve the growing autism community’s need for quality care. This collaboration marks a critical turning point toward a future where evidence and quality-based measures demonstrate the beneficial outcomes of ABA services and expand access by aligning care with value-driven reimbursement systems.”
Aligning Autism Treatment with Value-Based Care Models
With value-based care models becoming more prevalent in healthcare, this initiative is well-timed. For ABA therapy to be integrated into these models, standardized Autism Treatment Quality Metrics are essential. They enable insurance companies and health systems to assess the return on investment for therapy and to incentivize the highest-performing providers.
These metrics also create a feedback loop that drives continuous improvement. Providers will be able to see where they stand relative to national benchmarks and make targeted adjustments to their care strategies. Over time, this could lead to significantly improved outcomes for individuals with ASD.
The Broader Autism Market: Growth and Gaps
The autism treatment space has seen a surge of interest from investors and healthcare innovators in recent years. Although deal activity peaked around 2018, interest remains high. One standout example is Brightline, a Palo Alto-based telebehavioral health company that raised $105 million in a Series C round led by KKR. Brightline recently expanded into autism services and launched a coaching platform for parents of children with ASD.
Still, despite increased attention and funding, challenges remain. Dr. David Grodberg, Brightline’s Chief Psychiatric Officer, acknowledged that “outcomes are not very good” across the ABA field. He pointed out that the practice is still in its early stages when it comes to tracking success or establishing reliable Autism Treatment Quality Metrics.
A Step Toward Evidence-Based Autism Care
That’s what makes the Evernorth-BHCOE partnership so critical. By developing Autism Treatment Quality Metrics, they are laying the groundwork for a more evidence-based approach to autism care. These standards won’t just help identify which providers are delivering results—they’ll also help define what success looks like in the first place.
Providers, families, and insurers all stand to gain from this initiative. Providers will benefit from clearer guidelines and recognition for high performance. Families will gain confidence in knowing their loved ones are receiving high-quality care. And insurers will be able to align reimbursements with actual outcomes, rather than just services rendered.
Looking Ahead: A More Consistent and High-Quality Future for ABA
As these metrics are adopted more widely, we can expect to see ripple effects throughout the autism treatment ecosystem. Increased transparency and accountability will likely drive a market shift where high-quality providers rise to the top. This could, in turn, encourage more organizations to invest in staff training, patient engagement strategies, and continuous quality improvement—all tied to the new Autism Treatment Quality Metrics.
Moreover, the collaboration may inspire similar initiatives across other areas of behavioral health, where measurement and accountability are also much needed. As the industry continues to evolve, efforts like this will play a central role in making behavioral health services more effective, equitable, and sustainable.
Conclusion
The partnership between Evernorth and BHCOE represents a meaningful and strategic advancement in autism care. By creating and implementing Autism Treatment Quality Metrics, these organizations are not only addressing a long-standing gap in the field but also pushing the industry toward a future where outcomes matter more than volume. This is a bold and necessary step toward ensuring that individuals with autism receive the high-quality, evidence-based care they deserve.
