Open by Design: Why New ABA Platforms Must Prioritize APIs

Most of my work centers around helping the largest ABA providers, investors, and platform vendors scale—whether that’s through data strategy, product evaluation, or integration planning.

But a recent conversation with an insightful leader of a smaller, fast-growing ABA organization was both refreshing and eye-opening.

Unlike the enterprise-scale firms I usually support, this team doesn’t have a large operations staff or much in the way of internal tech resources. They chose a newer Practice Management (PM) platform hoping for more flexibility—only to find themselves blocked when it came time to connect with third-party tools, like an external authorization management solution.

The frustration was real enough that they began reevaluating the platform altogether.

Their experience reflects a broader concern in the ABA tech space: the gap between the promise of flexibility and the reality of limited extensibility.

1. The Original Promise: Flexibility Without Lock-In

New PM vendors often position themselves as modern, agile alternatives to legacy systems. One of the central promises is avoiding vendor lock-in—offering more customization, more responsive development, and fewer constraints.

But when these platforms don’t provide usable APIs, the flexibility begins and ends at the UI. Without integration options, even innovative systems risk becoming walled gardens in their own right.

2. Integration Gaps Are Dealbreakers

Providers increasingly rely on specialized tools for everything from documentation QA to authorization workflows and scheduling optimization. Without easy ways to connect these tools to their core PM system, teams are forced into inefficient manual workarounds or costly internal builds.

For larger organizations, that might be manageable. But for smaller providers—those without engineering support—platform limitations can become a real threat to growth and efficiency.

3. CentralReach: Gradually Moving Toward Openness

CentralReach, long known for its closed ecosystem, has been introducing more structured APIs alongside efforts to clean up its internal data models. The scope is still limited, and much of it is designed around CR’s own workflows—but it signals an acknowledgment that providers increasingly expect interoperability.

This doesn’t mean CR is “open” in the traditional sense—but it does underscore a trend: even established vendors are recognizing the need to support external connectivity.

4. Empathy for the Challenge: APIs Aren’t Easy

To be fair, building public APIs isn’t simple—especially for newer platforms still evolving their architecture. It requires stable data models, performance optimization, documentation, and a clear roadmap. Those are heavy lifts during the early stages of product development.

But delaying this work comes with consequences. It shifts the burden onto the provider to patch together tools on their own, distracting from their core focus: delivering care and running operations efficiently.

5. Bridging the Gap: Interim Workarounds

Some providers have managed to bridge the integration gap by working with external automation specialists who can simulate API-like connectivity using robotic process automation or lightweight scripting.

Partners like Simple Fractal are often called in to fill this role, helping ABA organizations extend their platforms even when native support isn’t there yet. It’s not a long-term fix—but it can offer medium-term relief for teams that need to move quickly while vendors play catch-up.

6. What Providers Actually Want

Ultimately, providers are looking for:

• A reliable PM and clinical foundation,

• The ability to plug in external tools that improve authorization management, RCM and compliance - think Silna, Camber and Brellium.

• And a system that scales with their growth—without creating technical debt.

That vision depends on APIs. It’s not just about data access—it’s about enabling a modular, connected ecosystem that evolves over time.

Conclusion

As the ABA landscape continues to mature, platforms that enable integration—not just offer features—will stand out. Providers are no longer just looking for all-in-one suites. They want systems that play well with others.

For new entrants especially, this is a critical moment. Those that invest early in APIs will be the ones that earn trust—not just from their customers, but from the broader ecosystem of tools that surround ABA care.