What BHCOE Accreditation Means to the Hopebridge Community

Hopebridge Advances on Mission of Value-Based Care with Prestigious Recognition

When Hopebridge founder, Kim Strunk, opened her first center, she did so with an ambitious mission. She and the rest of her team had the desire to increase access to quality clinical care for an underserved population: children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families.

Even now, more than 15 years later as we’ve become one of the country’s largest autism therapy providers, Hopebridge works to uphold that mission. We continue to strive for the highest quality when it comes to our services, as our children deserve nothing but the best. While we hold ourselves accountable to our own standards, it’s important that we also continue to evaluate our clinical practice and approach to ensure we’re evolving on an even larger level.

As part of this, Hopebridge entered a rigorous clinical evaluation, which resulted in the Behavioral Health Centers of Excellence (BHCOE) recognition of our organization with a 2-Year Accreditation. After comprehensive interviews, a review of policies and procedures, formal site visits and surveys, Hopebridge is now a BHCOE Accredited Organization; showing the highest clinical quality and client care in applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy).

What is BCHOE Accreditation?

This is a big deal. Like, a really big deal! Hopebridge Heroes have always been the best in class in our eyes, but now, it’s official. 

BHCOE Accreditation is the only ABA-specific accreditation. It not only serves as a commitment to continued quality care, accountability and transparency, but also a consumer protection tool to continuously measure and report on the criteria of quality within the behavior analysis community.

“We are committed to pioneering the best and most innovative practices in the industry,” said Hopebridge CEO Dennis May. “Receiving the BHCOE accreditation is a testament to the hard work and dedication of each of our team members, and is a proud achievement that we will celebrate with our families across the country.”

For those who have participated in an accreditation process, you know it is not an easy feat! It takes a lot of time, commitment and effort to prepare, and even more to cross the finish line. However, it is all worth it, as it’s an opportunity to show the work that we do and the impact that Hopebridge has in the lives of families and communities touched by autism.

BHCOE Accreditation recognizes behavioral health providers that excel in the areas of clinical quality, staff qualifications and consumer satisfaction and promote systems that enhance these areas. These are measured via a wide-ranging audit, including interviews with agency clinical leadership, in-depth on-site observations, a detailed staff qualification review, anonymous staff satisfaction survey and anonymous consumer satisfaction survey. Acting as a third-party, the organization systematically measures and reports on existing quality criteria in the behavior analysis community using standardized methods and practices. BHCOE accredits only those service agencies that meet or exceed these standards.

New Clinical Leadership to Drive Excellence in Behavioral Health

You may have already heard the news, but we recently announced new executive appointments formed to create a clinical department unparalleled in the behavioral health industry. Dr. Adam Hahs was appointed chief science officer and Jana Sarno is the new chief clinical officer. Our founder, Kim Strunk, is the newly appointed head of clinical strategy and will join Hahs and Sarno in driving the multi-state organization towards enhanced clinical outcomes and value-based healthcare.

“Our organization prides itself on training, developing and collaborating with the brightest minds in behavioral health,” Dr. Hahs said of the recent expansion of the clinical division. “We’re eager to continue making advancements in research and clinical outcomes through our talented and diverse teams in all areas of early intervention and development, which means heavily investing in the adoption of evidence-based practices that will improve autism care, delivery and outcomes for the families we dedicate our mission to.”

Hahs represents Hopebridge on the BHCOE Quality Measure Provider Panel (QMPP), which coordinates value-based care measures for the industry. The trio aims to change the standards of clinical practice through extensive training opportunities, research initiatives and clinical innovation, all with the mission of expanding access to quality services for children and their families across the country.

Join the Hopebridge Mission with a Job in Autism Therapy

Just as we love seeing our children grow through these services, it’s moments like these that we wish to celebrate to continue to develop our team members, as well. If you are interested in joining our mission to offer best-in-class ABA therapy and complementary services like occupational therapy, speech therapy and autism testing, check out our open positions in locations across the country. 

*Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this article. This information should not be captured and reused without express permission from Hopebridge, LLC.