There are different ways to improve retention at your ABA practice. Simply “buying” your employees a few minutes of time or “mental space” can go a long way.
Costs associated with buying BCBAs time can quickly escalate, and it’s important to have a full picture of those costs.
Let’s look at what it can cost an ABA practice to reduce their BCBAs’ caseloads by 1 billable hour per week.
We need to start with some basic assumptions from which we can do our math.
Let’s use some generic numbers, which are not meant to be reflective of any particular market. We’ll say $120.00/hr for BCBAs and $60.00/hr for BTs.
Let’s assume BCBAs supervise 20% of BT services, of which three quarters of that (15%) is billable. This can vary.
Now for the math: 1 BCBA hr per week at 120 = approximately $500.00 per month (120 x 4.33). Based on 15% billable supervision, that’s approximately $1800.00 (30 hours x 60 per hour).
So, for each hour you reduce from your BCBA caseloads per week, that can amount to a reduction of approximately $27,600.00 worth of revenue per year. Then, multiply that by the number of BCBAs at your clinic. If you have 10 BCBAs, that’s over a quarter million per year of revenue this investment can cost, which can directly impact the company’s ability to invest in quality and compliance.
The purpose here is not to suggest against doing this. In fact, I recommend this as a good way to support your staff, to the degree that is feasible. However, it’s very important to understand the implications of this, and even be transparent with your staff so they understand too!
Brandon Herscovitch, Ph.D., LABA, BCBA-D
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