Puerto Rico saw 26 total behavioral health providers added in the latest CMS NPI registry weekly update. Of these, 13 were new this week. The state represented 0% of the national total, indicating a very small fraction of overall new provider activity in the U.S. This limited influx suggests a constrained growth in the behavioral health workforce for the region.
Credential Landscape
The data for Puerto Rico shows no new BCBA or RBT credentials among the registered providers. This is a critical observation for the ABA industry, as it suggests that the current growth in behavioral health providers does not include those specifically credentialed for applied behavior analysis. Instead, the individual providers registered hold credentials such as MS, SLP; PATOLOGA DEL HABLA; MSC/MHC, LPC; MSW; MHS; CPL; PSIC; and MSW, PSYD, indicating a focus on speech-language pathology, social work, psychology, and mental health counseling. There were 20 individual providers and 6 organizations registered.
Workforce Demographics
The demographic breakdown of individual providers in Puerto Rico reveals a significant gender disparity, with 18 providers (90%) identifying as female and 2 providers (10%) as male. There were no nonbinary providers. This gender distribution aligns with broader trends observed across the behavioral health sector. No specific organizations appeared multiple times in this week's update, suggesting a dispersed pattern of new organizational entries rather than concentrated growth from established multi-state chains.
The absence of new BCBA and RBT credentials in this update highlights a potential gap in the expansion of the specialized ABA workforce in Puerto Rico, which could impact access to these services for individuals needing behavioral intervention.
