Puerto Rico saw 12 new behavioral health providers added to the CMS NPI registry this week, representing 0% of the national total. All 12 new providers are individuals, indicating a modest, localized expansion of the behavioral health workforce in the territory.
ABA Workforce Composition
Notably for the ABA community, this week's additions include no Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) or Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). The 12 new providers hold various other credentials, including 2 MSW (Master of Social Work), 1 MS (Master of Science), 1 LCDA, 1 ND (Naturopathic Doctor), and 1 L. PSYCH (Licensed Psychologist). Their primary taxonomies span Speech-Language Pathology, Clinical Social Work, Psychology, Pastoral Counseling, and Acupuncture. This complete absence of ABA-specific credentials among the new registrants indicates that the recent growth in Puerto Rico's behavioral health sector is concentrated outside of the ABA field, with no new professionals directly contributing to ABA service delivery or supervision capacity this week. This is a critical insight for clinics looking to expand or establish services in the region, as it highlights a gap in the immediate pipeline for ABA-trained professionals.
Provider Demographics
The new workforce is entirely female, with women comprising 100% of the 12 individual providers. No organizations were added to the registry this week, and no notable organizations appeared multiple times in the data.
The complete absence of BCBAs and RBTs among this week's new registrants suggests that while other behavioral health fields are seeing new professionals, the ABA workforce in Puerto Rico did not grow through new NPI enrollments this period. This trend underscores a potential challenge for expanding ABA access and maintaining adequate supervision ratios in the territory.
