Puerto Rico saw 23 behavioral health providers added in the latest CMS NPI registry weekly update. While this represented 0% of the national total for the week, it signifies a modest, localized expansion of the island's behavioral health workforce, with 18 providers newly registered this week alone.
ABA Workforce Dynamics and Broader Behavioral Health
Within the applied behavior analysis (ABA) sector, the data shows 1 BCBA credential and 2 RBT credentials among the new individual and organizational providers. No individuals in this update held dual BCBA+RBT credentials. This small ratio of BCBAs to RBTs, if indicative of broader trends, highlights a potential need for increased supervisory capacity to support direct service providers in the ABA field. Beyond ABA, the new registrants include professionals with credentials such as Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP), Psychologists (PHD, MS, PHD), and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC). Additionally, 5 providers reported multiple taxonomies, indicating a diverse skill set among some new registrants.
Provider Demographics
Of the 16 individual providers, 14 (88%) are female and 2 (13%) are male, reflecting a common gender distribution within the behavioral health professions. No specific organizations appeared multiple times in this week's update, suggesting a dispersed entry of new entities rather than significant expansion by a single large provider. This data suggests a small but diverse addition to Puerto Rico's behavioral health workforce, with continued growth in BCBA supervision being crucial for expanding ABA access.
