Non-profit Takes ‘Quality Over Quantity’ Approach That Helps Families While Driving Down Healthcare Costs
WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Nov. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Known for its ‘quality over quantity’ approach that focuses on personalized care and opens access to autism services, Catalight is being featured in the Global Health campaign – a documentary series hosted on CBS that spotlights organizations addressing the most urgent health challenges of our time. The episode highlights Catalight’s work transforming autism and other developmental disability services through its value-based care model.
Catalight is one of the largest non-profit behavioral health networks in the United States. Watch the campaign live here.
“The biggest structural issues facing our U.S. healthcare system today are the high cost of healthcare,” said Catalight CEO Susan Armiger. “It’s really expensive and people are not feeling like they’re getting the outcomes that they need. The system itself is very disjointed. We don’t have outcome-based healthcare. And one of the biggest challenges, I think for almost everybody, is access to timely healthcare.”
Catalight is among one of the very few behavioral health organizations in the United States operating under a value-based care contract. Its model flips the traditional “fee-for-service” system on its head, rewarding outcomes and wellbeing rather than volume of billable hours.
“What really motivated Catalight to move to the value-based care model is it just made a lot of sense for us. We think it’s the right thing to do,” said Trent Iden, Catalight’s executive vice president of operations. “We fundamentally believe two things: First of all, value-based care is the future. The second, and more important, reason to us is we believe that it benefits the families.”
Along with helping to mitigate skyrocketing healthcare costs, the model also allows the organization to address shortages that have plagued the behavioral health industry as qualified clinicians are failing to meet the needs of families as demand increases with greater autism prevalence. With more clinicians being able to serve more families, Catalight has been able to provide an assessment and entry to services within 10 days of referral in 93% of their cases – compared to the months or even year-long waitlists others face.
The documentary explores Catalight’s commitment to delivering individualized, family-centered care that measurably improves quality of life.
“Within our system versus a traditional system, we are able to talk about what that family and what that patient really needs to have better outcomes in their care,” said Catalight Chief Health Officer Tracy Gayeski, Psy.D., MBA. “When we focus on wellbeing, we see stress levels come down, families’ confidence go up and outcomes actually improve,”
Driven by its move to value-based care, Catalight created a suite of innovative programs, including parent-mediated interventions that empower families to integrate clinician-taught behavioral strategies into everyday life.
“They are really able to teach their autistic child or their child with an intellectual disability directly and see the benefits of that,” said Catalight Chief Clinical Officer Doreen Samelson, Ed.D.
By redefining success around long-term wellbeing, Catalight has been able to expand access, reduce costs, support providers and achieve better outcomes – proving that systemic change in behavioral health is both possible and replicable.
“If you drive up the quality of care and you deliver it in an individualized way, you are driving down the cost of care,” Armiger said. “Catalight is at the forefront of that for the population that we serve and we want to keep pushing that envelope – delivering exactly what people need, where they need it and when they need it.”
About Catalight
Catalight breaks down barriers and biases to create a more equitable world so people with developmental disabilities can choose their path. Catalight provides access to innovative, individualized care services, clinical research and advocacy — all powered by intelligent technology. Through the work of affiliate partners, Easterseals Hawaii and Easterseals Northern California, Catalight and its family of companies support people with developmental disabilities and their families across their care journey.
The Catalight family of companies is one of the largest behavioral health networks in the nation with more than 16,000 practitioners serving over 24,000 clients and families annually. Backed by more than a decade of experience and a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, we are reimagining the way people with developmental disabilities and their families experience healthcare. Catalight’s goal is to ensure that individuals and families receive timely access to evidence-based treatment, including naturalistic developmental and language-based services, applied behavior analysis, occupational therapy and speech therapy.
SOURCE Catalight Foundation, a California non-profit corporation
