Puerto Rico's behavioral health sector saw 20 total providers in the latest CMS NPI registry update. While the state accounted for 0% of the national weekly total, 11 providers were newly registered this week alone. This brings the total new registrations for the year to 12 providers, indicating a recent, albeit small, surge in NPI applications within the territory.
Credential Mix and Workforce Composition
Notably for the ABA industry, this week's update in Puerto Rico did not include any new BCBA or RBT credentials. This means no new Board Certified Behavior Analysts or Registered Behavior Technicians were added to the registry in this cohort. Instead, the 15 individual providers included a diverse range of other behavioral health professionals. These comprised 2 Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), 1 Master of Social Work (MSW), 1 Psychologist (PSY), 1 Social Worker (SW), 1 Public Health Licensee (PHL), 1 Medical Doctor (MD), and 1 Doctor of Philosophy (PHD). The remaining 5 organizations and other individuals listed various general taxonomies such as Clinical Social Worker, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Psychologist, without specific ABA credentials.
Provider Demographics
Among the 15 individual providers, the workforce shows a significant gender imbalance, with 13 individuals (87%) identifying as female and 2 individuals (13%) as male. No non-binary providers were reported. The data did not indicate any notable organizations appearing multiple times in this update, suggesting that the new registrations are primarily from independent practitioners or smaller, distinct entities rather than large multi-state chains. This snapshot suggests that while other behavioral health fields are seeing some growth in Puerto Rico, the ABA workforce, specifically BCBAs and RBTs, did not expand with new NPI registrations in this particular weekly update, potentially impacting access to ABA services.
