UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

x   ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 20152017

o¨   TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT

For the transition period from___________ to____________

Commission File No.

000-25809001-37392

Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

700 North Brand Blvd., Suite 2201400

Glendale, California 91203

(Address of principal executive offices)

(818) 396-8050

(Issuer’s telephone number)

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $.001$0.001 Par Value

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act

Yes    ¨     Nox

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.

Yes¨     Nox

Check whether the issuer (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the past 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yesx     No¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every interactive data file required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yesx     No¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein and, will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “smaller reporting“emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). 

Yes¨     Nox

The aggregate market value of the shares of voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant computed by reference to the price at which the common stock was last sold on OTCQBOTC Pink on September 30, 2014,2016, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $13,916,424.$13,438,161. Solely for purposes of the foregoing calculation, all of the registrant’s directors and officers as of September 30, 20142016 are deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status for this purpose does not reflect a determination that any persons are affiliates for any other purpose.

As of July 8, 2015,June 26, 2017, there were 4,863,3895,956,877 shares of common stock, $.001$0.001 par value per share, issued and outstanding; 1,111,111 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value per share, issued and outstanding; and 555,555 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value per share, issued and outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The information called for by Part III is incorporated by reference to the definitive Proxy Statement for the 20152017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after March 31, 2015.2017.

APOLLO MEDICAL HOLDINGS, INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 20152017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Introductory CommentINTRODUCTORY COMMENT

Unless the context dictates otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Report”) to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our”, “Apollo”, “ApolloMed” and similar words are to Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. (individually, Holdings”), and its wholly owned subsidiaries and affiliated medical groups:groups, including variable interest entities (“VIEs”).

The following discussion and analysis provides information that management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of our results of operations and financial operations. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto appearing elsewhere herein, and with our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) have not reviewed any statements contained in this report describing the participation of APAACO, Inc. (“APAACO”) in the Next Generation ACO (“NGACO”) model.

We caution readers that this ReportFORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains “forward-looking statements.” Forward-lookingstatements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). All statements written, oral or otherwise,other than statements of historical fact are based on our current expectations or beliefs rather than historical facts concerning future events,“forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal and they are indicated by words or phrases such as,state securities laws, including, but not limited to, “anticipate,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “believe,” “think,” “plan,” “envision,” “continue,” “intend,” “target,” “contemplate,” “budgeted,” “will”any projections of earnings, revenue or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and similarobjectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new services or comparable words, phrasesdevelopments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or terminology. performance; any statements of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. We caution that these statements are further qualified by important economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors that could cause our business, strategy, or actual results or events to differ materially, or otherwise, from those in the forward-looking statements in this Report. We have based such

Forward-looking statements may include the words “anticipate,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “believe,” “think,” “plan,” “envision,” “intend,” “continue,” “target,” “contemplate,” “budgeted,” “will” and other similar or comparable words, phrases or terminology. These forward-looking statements onpresent our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections,assumptions only as of the date of this report. Except for our ongoing obligation to disclose material information as required by the federal securities laws, we do not intend, and therefore there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement contained herein, or otherwise, will prove to be accurate. The Company assumesundertake no obligation, to update suchany forward-looking statements.statement.

We have a relativelyAlthough we believe that the expectations reflected in any of our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in any of our forward-looking statements. Our future financial condition and results of operations, as well as any forward-looking statements, are subject to change and inherent risks and uncertainties. Some of the key factors impacting these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited operating history compared to others in our industryto:

We operate in a rapidly changing industry segment. As a result, our ability to predict results, or the actual effect of future plans or strategies, based on historical results or trends or otherwise, is inherently uncertain. While we believe that the forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, they are merely predictions or illustrations of potential outcomes, and they involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many beyond our control, that are likely to cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. FactorsFor a detailed description of these and other factors that could have a material adverse effect on the operations and future prospects of the Company on a condensed basis includecause actual results to differ materially from those factors discussed under Item 1A.expressed in any forward-looking statement, please see “Risk Factors,” and Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Report, and include, but are not limited to, the following:beginning at page 28 below.

All written and oral forward-looking statements made in connection with this Report that are attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Given the uncertainties that surround such statements, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

ITEM 1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESSOVERVIEW

ApolloMed isWe are a patient-centered, physician-centric integrated healthcare deliverypopulation health management company with a management team with over a decade of experience working to provide coordinated, outcomes-based medical care in a cost-effective manner. ApolloMed hasLed by a management team with over a decade of experience, we have built a company and culture that is focused on physicians providing high-quality medical care, population health management and care coordination for patients, particularly for senior patients and patients with multiple chronic conditions. We believe that ApolloMed iswe are well-positioned to take advantage of changes in the rapidly evolving U.S. healthcare industry, as there is a growing national movement towards more results-oriented healthcare centered on the triple aim of patient satisfaction, high-quality care and cost efficiency.

ApolloMed operates in one reportable segment, the healthcare delivery segment,We implement and implements and operatesoperate innovative health care models to create a patient-centered, physician-centric experience. Accordingly, we report our consolidated financial statements in the aggregate, including all of our activities in one reportable segment. ApolloMed hasWe have the following integrated, synergistic operations:

We operate in one reportable segment, the healthcare delivery segment. Our revenue streams, which are described in greater detail below in “Our Revenue Streams and Our Business Operations,”Operations”, are diversified among our various operations and contract types, and include:

ApolloMed servesWe serve Medicare, Medicaid, HMOhealth maintenance organization (“HMO”) and uninsured patients primarily in California, as well as in Mississippi and Ohio (where our ACO has recently begun operations).California. We primarily provide services to patients, thatthe majority of whom are covered by private or public insurance, although we do derivewith a small portion of our revenue coming from non-insured patients. We provide care coordination services to each major constituent of the healthcare delivery system, including patients, families, primary care physicians, specialists, acute care hospitals, alternative sites of inpatient care, physician groups and health plans.

Our mission is to transform the delivery of healthcare services in the communities we serve by implementing innovative population health models and creating a patient-centered, physician-centric experience in a high performance environment of integrated care.

The original business owned by ApolloMedus was ApolloMed Hospitalists (“AMH”), a hospitalist company, which was incorporated in California in June 2001, and which began operations at Glendale Memorial Hospital. Through a reverse merger, ApolloMedwe became a publicly held company in June 2008. ApolloMed wasWe were initially organized around the admission and care of patients at inpatient facilities such as hospitals. We have grown our inpatient strategy by providing high-quality care and innovative solutions for our hospital and managed care clients.

In 2012, ApolloMedwe formed an ACO, ApolloMed Accountable Care Organization, Inc. (“ApolloMed ACO”), and an IPA, Maverick Medical Group, Inc. (“MMG”). In 2013, we expanded our service offering to include integrated inpatient and outpatient services through MMG. ApolloMed ACO participates in the MSSP, the goal of which is to improve the quality of patient care and outcomes through more efficient and coordinated approach among providers.

In 2014, ApolloMedwe added several complementary operations by acquiring, (eithereither directly or through affiliated entities that are wholly-owned by Dr. Hosseinion)our Chief Executive Officer, Warren Hosseinion, M.D., as nominee shareholder on our behalf of, AKM Medical Group, Inc. (“AKM”) (an IPA), an IPA, outpatient primary care and specialty clinics and hospice/palliative care and home health entities. Our largest acquisition to date, which wasDuring fiscal 2016, we combined the operations of AKM into those of MMG.

On July 21, 2014, through an affiliate wholly-owned by Dr. Hosseinion, was ofas nominee shareholder on our behalf, we acquired Southern California Heart Centers (“SCHC”), a specialty clinic that focuses on cardiac care and diagnostic testing. SCHC has a management services agreement (“MSA”) with Apollo Medical Management, Inc. (“AMM”), pursuant to which AMM manages all non-medical services for SCHC and has exclusive authority over all non-medical decision making related to the ongoing business operations of SCHC.

ApolloMed’s physician network consistsOn January 12, 2016, through our wholly-owned subsidiary Apollo Care Connect, Inc. (“Apollo Care Connect”), we acquired certain technology and other assets of hospitalists, primaryHealarium, Inc., which provides us with a population health management platform that includes digital care plans, a case management module, connectivity with multiple healthcare tracking devices and the ability to integrate with multiple electronic health records to capture clinical data.

On November 4, 2016, through an affiliate wholly-owned by Dr. Hosseinion, as nominee shareholder on our behalf, we acquired all the stock of Bay Area Hospitalist Associates, a Medical Corporation, a California professional corporation (“BAHA”) from Scott Enderby, D.O. (“Enderby”). BAHA is a hospitalist, intensivist and post-acute care practice with a presence at three acute care hospitals, one long-term acute care hospital and several skilled nursing facilities in San Francisco.

On December 21, 2016, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), pursuant to which NMM will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours. NMM is one of the largest healthcare management services organizations (“MSOs”) in the United States, delivering comprehensive healthcare management services to a client base consisting of health plans, IPAs, hospitals, physicians and specialist physicians primarilyother health care networks. NMM currently is responsible for coordinating the care for over 600,000 covered patients in Southern, Central and Northern California through ApolloMed'sa network of ten IPAs with over 2,000 contracted physicians. On a pro forma basis, the combined organization, would provide medical management for over 700,000 patients through a network of over 3,000 healthcare professionals and over 400 employees. The combination of ApolloMed and NMM brings together two complementary healthcare organizations to form one of the nation’s largest integrated population health management companies, which we believe will be well positioned for the ongoing transition of U.S. healthcare to value-based reimbursements. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2017, is subject to antitrust regulatory clearance and other closing conditions, as well as approval by ApolloMed and NMM stockholders.

On January 18, 2017, CMS announced that APAACO, which is owned 50% by us, had been approved to participate in the new NGACO program (the “NGACO Model”). Through the NGACO Model, CMS has partnered with APAACO and affiliated physician groups. ApolloMed operatesother ACOs experienced in coordinating care for populations of patients and whose provider groups are willing to assume higher levels of financial risk and reward under the NGACO Model. The NGACO program began on January 1, 2017. Previously, APAACO was approved by CMS to operate a Medicare ACO, which is an entity formed by certain health care providers that accepts financial accountability for the overall quality and cost of medical care furnished to Medicare FFS beneficiaries assigned to the entity. Typically, the health care providers participating in a Medicare ACO continue to bill Medicare under the traditional FFS system for services rendered to beneficiaries. However, a Medicare ACO may share in any Medicare savings achieved with respect to the aligned beneficiary population if the Medicare ACO satisfies minimum quality performance standards. A Medicare ACO may also share in any Medicare losses recognized with respect to the aligned beneficiary population. Medicare ACOs participating in a two-sided risk model are liable to CMS for a portion of the Medicare expenditures that exceed a benchmark.

We operate through the following subsidiaries: AMM, Pulmonary Critical Care Management, Inc. (“PCCM”), Verdugo Medical Management, Inc. (“VMM”), and ApolloMed ACO. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AMM, ApolloMed manages affiliated medical groups, which consist of AMH, ApolloMed Care Clinic (“ACC”), MMG, AKM and SCHC. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PCCM, ApolloMed manages Los Angeles Lung Center (“LALC”), and through its wholly-owned subsidiary VMM, ApolloMed manages Eli Hendel, M.D., Inc. (“Hendel”). ApolloMed also has

We have a controlling interest in ApolloMed Palliative Services, LLC (“ApolloMed Palliative”),APS, which owns two Los Angeles-based companies, Best Choice Hospice Care LLCBCHC and Holistic Health Home Health Care Inc. HCHHA. Our palliative care services focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the patient’s family.

AMM, PCCM and VMM each operates as a physician practice management company and is in the business of providing management services to physician practice corporations under long-term management service agreements,MSAs, pursuant to which AMM, PCCM or VMM, as applicable, manages allcertain non-medical services for the affiliated medicalphysician group and has exclusive authority over all non-medical decision making related to ongoing business operations.

Through AMM, we manage our other affiliates, including:

Our physician network consists of hospitalists, primary care physicians and specialist physicians primarily through our owned and affiliated physician groups.

Through PCCM we manage Los Angeles Lung Center (“LALC”), and through VMM we manage Eli Hendel, M.D., Inc. (“Hendel”). On January 1, 2017, PCCM and VMM amended the MSAs entered into with LALC and Hendel, respectively. Based on our evaluation of current accounting guidance, we determined that we no longer hold an explicit or implicit variable interest in these entities. We have consolidated the results of these entities through December 31, 2016.

The management agreements ofMSAs that AMM, PCCM and VMM enter into with physician groups generally provide for management fees that are recognized as earned based on a percentage of revenues or cash collections generated by the physician practices. Further, under eachDuring fiscal 2017, we entered into two MSAs with various hospitals to provide staffing.

On February 17, 2015, we entered into a long-term management services agreement (the “Bay Area MSA”) with a hospitalist group located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Under the Bay Area MSA, we provide certain business administrative services, including accounting, human resources management and supervision of AMM’s management agreements,all non-medical business operations. We have evaluated the management feeimpact of the Bay Area MSA and services provided are reviewed annually andhave determined that it triggers VIE accounting, which requires the management fee is adjustedconsolidation of the hospitalist group into our consolidated financial statements. On November 4, 2016, we acquired BAHA, through an affiliate wholly-owned by Dr. Hosseinion, as necessary to reflectnominee shareholder on our behalf. As of the fair market valuedate of AMM’s services. acquisition, we obtained a controlling interest in BAHA.

During fiscal 2016, we disposed of substantially all the assets of ACC. ACC was a clinic providing care in the Los Angeles area.

ApolloMed ACO participates in the MSSP, the goal of which is to improve the quality of patient care and outcomes through more efficient and coordinated approach among providers. In January 2017, CMS announced that APAACO was approved to participate in the NGACO Model, which began on January 1, 2017 and the All-Inclusive Population-Based Payment (“AIPBP”) track, which began on April 1, 2017. The goal of the NGACO is to improve the quality of patient care and outcomes through more efficient and coordinated approach among providers.

On February 17, 2015, Our principal executive offices are located at 700 North Brand Blvd., Suite 1400, Glendale, California 91203 and our telephone number is (818) 396-8050.

ApolloMed entered into a long-term management services agreement (the “Bay Area MSA”) with a hospitalist group locatedwas incorporated in the San Francisco Bay Area. UnderState of Delaware on November 1, 1985 under the Bay Area MSA, ApolloMed will provide all business administrative services, including billing, accounting, human resources managementname of McKinnely Investment, Inc. On November 5, 1986 McKinnely Investment, Inc. changed its name to Acculine Industries, Incorporated and supervisionAcculine Industries, Incorporated changed its name to Siclone Industries, Incorporated on May 24, 1988. On July 3, 2008, Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. merged into Siclone Industries, Incorporated and Siclone Industries, Incorporated, as the surviving entity from the merger, simultaneously changed its name to Apollo Medical Holdings Inc. Our website URL is http://apollomed.net. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, all non-medical business operations. ApolloMed has evaluated the impact of the Bay Area MSA and has determined it triggers variable interest entity accounting, which requires the consolidation of the hospitalist groupis not incorporated by reference into, the Company’s consolidated financial statements. this Report.

OUR INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

U.S. healthcare spending has increased steadily over the past 20 years. According to the CMS,Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Spending (“CMS”), the estimated total U.S. healthcare expenditures are expected to grow by 5.7%5.6% for 20132016 through 2023, comprising 19.3% of2025, and 4.7 percent per year on a per capita basis. Health Spending is projected to grow 1.2% faster than the U.S. gross domestic product by 2023. CMS projects total U.S. healthcare spending to grow by an average annual growth rate(“GDP”) over the 2016 through 2025 period; as a result the health share of 6.0% from 2015 through 2023. By these estimates, U.S. healthcare spendingGDP is expected to exceed averagerise from 17.8% in 2015 to 19.9 percent by 2025.

CMS further reports that health spending growth by federal and state & local governments is projected to outpace growth by private businesses, households, and private payers over the projection period (5.9% compared to 5.4%, respectively) in part due to ongoing strong enrollment growth in U.S. gross domestic product 1.1 percentage annually.

These spending increases have been driven, in part,Medicare by the aging baby boomer generation lack of a healthy lifestyle, both in terms of diet and exercise, rapidly increasing costs in medical technology and pharmaceutical research, the steady growth of the U.S. population and provider reimbursement structures that many argue promote volume over quality. Additionally, as the healthcare Exchanges and Medicaid expansions become operational, healthcare spending is projectedcoupled with continued government funding dedicated to increase even more.subsidizing premiums for lower income Marketplace enrollees.

Hospitalists

“Hospitalist” is the term used for doctors who are specialized in the care of patients in the hospital. This movement was initiated over a decade ago and has evolved due to many factors. These factors include:

Hospital care expenditures represent the largest segment of U.S. healthcare industry spending. According to CMS estimates, total hospital spending is anticipated to slowgrow at an average rate of 5.5% per year for 2016 through 2025, compared to 4.1 percent4.9% for 2010 through 2015. The faster growth partly reflects anticipated increases in 2013, reaching $918.8 billion, compared with 4.9%growth in 2012. In 2015,the use and intensity of hospital spendingservices by Medicare’s beneficiaries over coming decade. Hospital price growth is projected to increase 5.1 percent duerise from 0.9% in 2015 to the continued effectsan average rate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance expansion combined with the effect of faster economic growth. For2.4% for 2016 through 2023, continued population aging combined with2015 related to expected faster growth in the improved economic conditions are expectedprices of inputs required to result in projected average annual growth of 6.2 percent.provide hospital care.

Hospitalists assume the inpatient care responsibilities that are otherwise provided by the patient’s primary care physician or other attending physician and are reimbursed by third parties using the same visit-based or procedural billing codes as would beare used by the primary care physician or attending physician.

Hospitalists focus exclusively on inpatient care without the distraction of outpatient care responsibilities. Additionally, by practicing each day in the same facility, hospitalists perform consistent functions, interact regularly with the same specialists and other healthcare professionals and become accustomed to specific and unique hospital processes, which can result in greater efficiency, less process variability and better patient outcomes. Finally, hospitalists manage the treatment of a large number of patients with similar clinical needs and therefore develop practice expertise in both the diagnosis and treatment of common conditions that require hospitalization. For these reasons, we believe that hospitalists generate operating and cost efficiencies and produce better patient outcomes. Hospitalists have an increasingly important role in pushing quality through readmission prevention, infection control, electronic health records use, patient experience scores, core measures, and appropriate use of order sets.

According to the Society of Hospital Medicine, (“SHM”), the number of hospitalists has grown over the past decade from a few hundred to more than 40,00052,000 at the end of 2013,2016, making it one of the fastest-growing medical specialties in the U.S. The percentage of hospitals using hospitalists has risen from 29% in 2003 to 72% in 2014.

During fiscal 2017, we entered into four new hospitalist service agreements, pursuant to which we provide comprehensive hospitalist services to hospitals. As of March 31, 2015, ApolloMed Hospitalists2017, we provided hospitalist, intensivist and physician advisor services at over 20 hospitals in Southern California and Central California, and had contracts with over 50 IPAs, medical groups, health plans and hospitals.

IPAs

Medicare:An IPA is an association of independent physicians, or other organization that contracts with independent physicians, and provides services to managed care organizations on a negotiated per capita rate, flat retainer fee, or negotiated fee-for-service (“FFS”) basis.

Medicare

The Medicare program was established in 1965 and became effective in 1967 as a federally fundedfederally-funded U.S. health insurance program for personspeople aged 65 and older, and it was later expanded to include individuals with end-stage renal disease and certain disabled persons, regardless of income or age. Initially, Medicare was offered only on a fee-for-service (“FFS”)an FFS basis. Under the Medicare FFS payment system, an individual can choose any licensed physician enrolled in Medicare and use the services of any hospital, healthcare provider or facility certified by Medicare. CMS reimburses providers, based on a fee schedule, if Medicare covers the service and CMS considers it medically necessary.

Growth in Medicare spending is expected to continue to increase due to population demographics. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 1970 to 2014, overall U.S. population grew 54% while the number of Medicare enrollees grew by more than 140% over that time period. There were approximately 45 million Americans aged 65 or older in the U.S. in 2013, comprising approximately 14.1% of the total population. By the year 2030, the number of these elderly persons is expected to climb to 72.8 million, or 20%20.3% of the total population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 2 million Americans turn 65 in the U.S. each year.population.

Medicare Advantage is a Medicare health plan program developed and administered by CMS as an alternative to the traditional FFS Medicare program. Medicare Advantage plans contract with CMS to provide benefits to beneficiaries for a fixed premium PMPM.per member per month (“PMPM”). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (“Kaiser”), in 2013,2016 Medicare Advantage representsrepresented only 28%31% of total Medicare members, creating a significant opportunity for additional Medicare Advantage penetration of newly eligible seniors. The share of Medicare beneficiaries in such plans has risen rapidly in recent years; according to Kaiser, it reached approximately 28%33% by the end of open enrollment period in 20132017 from approximately 13% in 2004. The reasons for this include:include that plan costs can be significantly lower than the corresponding cost for beneficiaries in the traditional Medicare FFS program, and plans typically provide extra benefits and provide preventive care and wellness programs.

Many health plans subcontract a significant portion of the responsibility for managing patient care to integrated medical systems such as ApolloMed.us. These integrated healthcare systems, whether medical groups or IPAs, offer a comprehensive medical delivery system and sophisticated care management know-how and infrastructure to more efficiently provide for the healthcare needs of the population enrolled with that health plan. Reimbursement models for these arrangements vary around the country. In California, health plans typically prospectively pay the IPA or medical group a fixed Per Member Per Month amount,PMPM, or capitation payment, which is often based on a percentage of the amount received by the health plan. Capitation payments to IPAs or medical groups, or IPAs, in the aggregate, represent a prospective budget from which the IPA manages care-related expenses on behalf of the population enrolled with that IPA. Those IPAs or medical groups that manage care-related expenses under the capitated levels will realize an operating profit; if care-related expenses exceed projected levels, the IPA will realize an operating deficit.

Integrated healthcare delivery companies such as ApolloMedwe can utilize their medical care and quality management strategies and interventions for potential high cost cases and aggressively manage them to improve the health of its population and therefore lower costs for these patients. Additionally, IPAs and medical groups such as MMG have established physician performance metrics that allow them to monitor quality and service outcomes achieved by participating physicians in order to reward efficient, high quality care delivered to members and to initiate improvement efforts for physicians whose results can be enhanced.

ApolloMed arranges for the provision of

We provide managed care services through IPAs, namely MMG, and AKM, and haswe have entered into capitation agreements with health plans, either directly or through aan MSO.

Medicaid:Medicaid

Medicaid is a federalFederal entitlement program administered by the states that provides healthcare and long-term care services and support to low-income Americans. Medicaid is funded jointly by the states and the federalFederal government. The federalFederal government guarantees matching funds to states for qualifying Medicaid expenditures based on each state’s federalFederal medical assistance percentage, which is calculated annually and varies inversely with the average personal income in the state. Each state establishes its own eligibility standards, benefit packages, payment rates and program administration within federalFederal guidelines. In an effort to improve quality and provide more uniform and cost-effective care, many states have implemented Medicaid managed care programs to improve access to coordinated care, to improve preventive care and to control healthcare costs. Under Medicaid managed care programs, a health plan receives capitation payments from the state. The health plan then arranges for the provision of healthcare services to be provided by contracting either directly with providers or with IPAs and medical groups, such as MMG. MMG or AKM. Both MMG and AKM havehas entered into capitation agreements with health plans, either directly or through a Management Services Organization.an MSO.

Commercial:Commercial

Patients enrolled in health plans offered through their employers are generally referred to as commercial members. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,United States Census Bureau, in 20112014, the last year for which data is available, approximately 60%55.4% of non-elderly U.S. citizens received their healthcare benefits through their employer,employers, which contracted with health plans to administer these healthcare benefits. Nationally, commercial employer-sponsored health plan enrollment was approximately 159150 million in 2011.2015.

Dual Eligibles:Eligibles

A portion of Medicaid beneficiaries are dual eligibles, meaning that they are low-income seniors and people with disabilities who are enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare. Based on CMS estimates, there are approximately 10.7 million dual eligible enrollees with annual spending of approximately $285 billion. Only a small percentage of the total spending on dual eligibles is administered by managed care organizations. Dual eligibles tend to consume more healthcare services due to their tendency to have more chronic conditions. In some states, dual eligible patients are being voluntarily enrolled and/or auto-assigned into managed care programs. InAbout 1.1 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities in California eight counties are participating inreceive health care services through both the duals pilot program.Medicare and Medi-Cal (Medicaid nationally) programs.

Health Reform Acts:Acts

In an effort to reduce the number of uninsured and to beginintending to control healthcare expenditures, President Obama signed the ACA in 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the “Health Reform Acts”) into law in March 2010.. The Health Reform Acts seeksseek a reduction of up to 32 million uninsured individuals by 2019, while potentially increasing Medicaid coverage by up to 16 million individuals and net commercial coverage by 16 million individuals. CMS projects that the total number of uninsured Americans will fall to 23 million by 2023 from 45 million in 2012. ThisThe current enrollment numbers (as of February 2016) are roughly 20 million total between the ACA between the Marketplace. The uninsured rate remains at an all-time low with 10.9% of under 65 uninsured as of 4th quarter 2016 according to CDC data. We believe that this represents a significant new market opportunity for health plans and integrated healthcare delivery companies. Efforts to amend, or repeal and replace, the ACA and Health Reform Acts, could have a material impact on our business and market opportunities. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors” below.

As of March 31, 2015,2017, MMG and AKM delivered services to nearly 10,00015,000 members through a network of over 130140 primary care physicians and over 360380 specialist physicians.

Accountable Care OrganizationsACOs

One provision of the Health Reform Acts of 2010 required CMS to establish aan MSSP that promotes accountability and coordination of care through the creation of Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”),ACOs, which, as described below, are eligible to participate in some of the savings generated by such ACOs. The Medicare FFS program was designed for beneficiaries in the Medicare FFS program, which covers approximately 72% of Medicare recipients, or approximately 36 million eligible Medicare beneficiaries.program. CMS established the MSSP to facilitate coordination and cooperation among providers to improve the quality of care and reduce unnecessary costs. Eligible providers, hospitals and suppliers may participate in the MSSP by creating an ACO and then applying to CMS. MSSP ACOs must have at least 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries in order to be eligible to participate in the program.

The MSSP is designed to improve beneficiary outcomes and increase value of care by (1) promoting accountability for the care of Medicare FFS beneficiaries; (2) requiring coordinated care for all services provided under Medicare FFS; and (3) encouraging investment in infrastructure and redesigned care processes. The MSSP will rewardrewards ACOs that lower their healthcare costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and patient satisfaction. Under the final MSSP rules, Medicare will continue to pay individual providers and suppliers for specific items and services as it currently does under the FFS payment methodologies.system. The MSSP rules require CMS to develop a benchmark for savings to be achieved by each ACO if the ACO is to receive shared savings. An ACO that meets the program’s quality performance standards will be eligible to receive a share of the savings to the extent its assigned beneficiary medical expenditures are below the medical expenditure benchmark provided by CMS. A MSRminimum savings rate (“MSR”) must be achieved before the ACO can receive a share of the savings. Once the MSR is surpassed, all the savings below the benchmark provided by CMS will be shared 50% with the ACO. The MSR varies depending on the number of patients assigned to the ACO, starting at 3.9% for ACOs with patients totaling 5,000 and gradingincreasing to 2% for ACOs with more than 60,000 patients. The MSSP program is an all-or-nothing system, that is, an ACO either earns all of its allocable savings or none of it. In performance year 2014 (fiscal 2016), we did not receive an MSSP payment from CMS. Although we exceeded our total benchmark expenditures, generating $3.9 million in total savings and achieving an ACO Quality Score of 90.4% on its Quality Performance Report, CMS determined that we did not meet the minimum savings threshold in performance year 2015 and therefore did not receive the “all or nothing” annual shared savings payment in fiscal 2017. We are eligible to be considered for an all-or-nothing payment under this program for performance year 2016 (which, if it is paid, would be paid to us in fiscal 2018). However, we do not believe that we will be eligible to receive payments for performance years beginning 2017, because of our transition to, and business focus on, the NGACO Model, in which we are participating as of January 1, 2017.

CMS assigns a beneficiary to the preliminary roster of an ACO if the ACO physicians billed for a “plurality” of services during the calendar year preceding the performance period. A plurality means the ACO physicians provided a greater proportion of primary care services, measured in terms of allowed charges, than the physicians in any other ACO or Medicare-enrolled tax identification number. CMS sets the benchmark for each ACO using the historical medical costs of the beneficiaries assigned to the ACO. Under the final MSSP rules, primary care physicians may only join one ACO, unless they have more than one Medicare tax identification number.

In January 2016, CMS announced the first batch of participants in the NGACO Model. CMS is implementing the NGACO Model under section 1115A of the Social Security Act, which authorizes CMS, through its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, to test innovative payment and service delivery models that have the potential to reduce Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of beneficiaries’ care. The purpose of the NGACO Model is to test an alternative Medicare ACO payment model. Specifically, this model will test whether health outcomes improve and Medicare Parts A and B expenditures for Medicare FFS beneficiaries decrease if Medicare ACOs (1) accept a higher level of financial risk compared to existing Medicare ACO payment models, and (2) are permitted to select certain innovative Medicare payment arrangements and to offer certain additional benefit enhancements to their assigned Medicare FFS beneficiaries. On January 18, 2017, CMS announced that APAACO had been approved to participate in the NGACO Model. Through this new model, CMS will partner with APAACO and other ACOs experienced in coordinating care for populations of patients and whose provider groups are willing to assume higher levels of financial risk and reward under the NGACO Model. APAACO began operations on January 1, 2017.

To position ourselves to participate in the NGACO Model, we have devoted, and intend to continue to devote, significant effort and resources, financial and otherwise, to the NGACO Model, and refocused away from certain other parts of our historic business and revenue streams, which will receive less emphasis in the future and could result in reduced revenue from these activities. No revenues were generated from the NGACO Model in fiscal 2017.

Hospice Care, Palliative Care;Care and Home Health and Hospice Organizations

Hospice companies serve terminally ill patients and their families. Comprehensive management of the healthcare services and products needed by hospice patients and their families are provided through the use of an interdisciplinary team. Depending onupon a patient’s needs, each hospice patient is assigned an interdisciplinary team comprised of a physician, nurse(s), home health aide(s), social worker(s), chaplain, dietary counselor and bereavement coordinator, as well as other care professionals. Hospice services are provided primarily in the patient’s home or other residence, such as an assisted living residence or nursing home, or in a hospital. Medicare’s hospice benefit is designed for patients expected to live six months or less. Hospice services for a patient can continue, however, for more than six months, soas long as the patient remains eligible as reflected by a physician’s certification.

Home health care companies provide direct home nursing and therapy services in addition to nutrition and disease management education. These services are provided by licensed and Medicare-certified skilled nurses and other paraprofessional nursing personnel.

OUR OPERATIONS

Our Hospitalist OperationHospitalists

Through our affiliated physician group, AMH, we:

1.          Provide admission, daily rounding and discharge of patients at acute care hospitals and long-term acute hospitals for health plans, hospitals and IPAs

2.          Evaluate patients in the emergency room to determine if they may be safely discharged to home, a skilled nursing facility or other facility

3.          Provide Physician Advisor consultative services for hospitals, which entails meeting daily with hospital case managers to review the charts, lab studies and imaging studies of hospitalized patients to determine if they meet criteria for continued stay in the hospital, to determine observation vs. inpatient status and to evaluate proper coding

4.          Provide intensivist/ICU services for hospitals

5.          Provide out-of-network to in-network transfers of patients for health plans and IPAs

IPA

Our IPA Operation

Our IPAs are networksis a network of independent primary care physicians and specialists who collectively care for HMO patients under either a capitated payment or fee-for-serviceFFS arrangement. Under the capitated model, an HMO pays our IPAsIPA a PMPM rate, or a “capitation” payment, and then assigns our IPAs the responsibility for providing the physician services required by the applicable patients. The physicians in our IPAsIPA are exclusively in control of, and responsible for, all aspects of the practice of medicine for our patients. Each of our IPAsOur IPA enters into contracts with HMOs, either directly or through a risk-shifting arrangement with MSOs, to provide physician services to enrollees of the HMOs. Most of the HMO agreements have an initial term of two years renewing automatically for successive one-year terms. The HMO agreements generally provide for a termination by the HMOs for cause at any time, although we have never experienced a termination. The HMO agreements generally allow either party to terminate the HMO agreements without cause with a four to six month notice.

Through our two IPAs, MMG and AKM, we provide the following services:

1.          Physician recruiting

2.          Physician contracting

3.          Medical management, including utilization management and quality assurance

4.          Provider relations

5.          Member services, including annual wellness evaluations

6.          Education of physicians on proper coding

7.          Data collection and analysis

8.          Pre-negotiating contracts with specialists, labs, imaging centers, nursing homes and other vendors

Our ACO OperationIPA entered into an agreement with an MSO to receive 98% of the gross revenue received for all enrollees attributable to us during the term of the provider service agreement (“PSA”) and we are responsible for all medical services required by the enrollees. 

ACOs

We currently own one MSSP ACO, ApolloMed ACO, and co-own one NGACO with NMM, APAACO. ACOs are entities that contract with CMS to serve the Medicare FFS population with the goal of better care for individuals, improved health for populations and lower costs. ACOs share savings with CMS to the extent that the actual costs of serving assigned beneficiaries are below certain trended benchmarks of such beneficiaries and certain quality performance measures are achieved.

ApolloMed ACO

In 2012, we formed an MSSP ACO, ApolloMed ACO, which focuses on providing high-quality and cost-efficient care to Medicare FFS patients. Through our accountable care organization,ApolloMed ACO, we provide the following services for ourits physicians and patients:

1.          Population health management, using the Cerecons IT platform to analyze monthly claims data from CMS and data collected from each physician’s practice

2.          Care coordination in the inpatient and outpatient settings using case managers

3.          High-risk management of patients with multiple chronic conditions

4.          Education of our physicians. For example, we have a partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim to educate our physicians on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”)

5.          Services for our patients. For example, we have a partnership with Rite Aid to provide health education, medication reconciliation and motivational interviewing for our patients

As of June 16, 2015,March 31, 2017, ApolloMed ACO had over 1,00030 physicians and nearly 40,0002,200 Medicare FFS beneficiaries in California, MississippiCalifornia. The decrease in physicians and Ohio.Medicare FFS beneficiaries compared to fiscal 2016 is primarily the result of providers enrolling in our NGACO and their patients becoming beneficiaries under our NGACO.

APAACO

On January 18, 2017, CMS announced that APAACO had been approved to participate in the NGACO Model. APAACO had applied to participate in the NGACO Model in 2016 and had received conditional approval from CMS in August 2016. The NGACO Model is a new CMS program that builds upon previous ACO programs. Through this new model, CMS will provide an opportunity to APAACO and other ACOs experienced in coordinating care for populations of patients and whose provider groups are willing to assume higher levels of financial risk and reward to participate in this new attribution-based risk sharing model. As discussed in more detail below, there are different levels of financial risk and reward a NGACO may select, and the extent of risk and reward may be limited on a percentage basis.

APAACO began operations on January 1, 2017. Under the NGACO Model, APAACO will be responsible for the medical management and care coordination of over 32,000 Medicare beneficiaries in California. This number may decrease due to beneficiaries who join a managed care (HMO) plan, pass away or move out of the our service area. In 2016, in advance of commencing our participation in the program, APAACO signed agreements with over 700 providers, including more than 590 physicians, 18 hospitals, more than 15 skilled nursing facilities and multiple labs, radiology centers, outpatient surgery centers, dialysis clinics and other service providers.  Under the terms of our agreements with these parties, the NGACO Model providers, including hospitals, agreed to receive 100% of their claims for ACO beneficiaries reimbursed by APAACO.  APAACO negotiated discounted Medicare rates with multiple physicians and other service providers, discounted diagnosis-related group rates with multiple hospitals and discounted resource utilization group rates with multiple skilled nursing facilities.

In connection with the approval by CMS for APAACO to participate in the NGACO Model, CMS and APAACO have entered into a Next Generation ACO Model Participation Agreement (the “Participation Agreement”). AMM has a long-term MSA with APAACO. The term of the Participation Agreement is two performance years, through December 31, 2018. CMS may offer to renew the Participation Agreement for an additional two performance years. Additionally, the Participation Agreement may be terminated sooner by CMS as specified therein, and CMS has the authority to alter or change the program over this time period.

Among many requirements to be eligible to participate in the NGACO Model, ACOs must have at least 10,000 assigned Medicare beneficiaries and must maintain that number throughout each performance year. APAACO started its performance year with 32,078 assigned Medicare beneficiaries.

The NGACO Model uses a prospectively-set cost benchmark, which is established prior to the start of each performance year. The benchmark is based on four factors:

Baseline: The 2017 performance year NGACO Model baseline for APAACO is based on calendar year 2014 expenditures. The baseline is updated each year to reflect the NGACO’s participant list for the given year.

Trend: A projected trend that is similar to the national projected trend used in the Medicare Advantage program.

Risk Adjustment: To account for differing medical condition acuity of an ACO’s beneficiaries. The risk adjustment is based on Hierarchical Condition Category (“HCC”) risk scores. The ACO’s full HCC risk score has an annual cap of up to 3%.

Discount: Unlike the MSSP ACO program, the NGACO Model does not utilize a Minimum Savings Rate. Instead, CMS applies a discount to the benchmark once the baseline has been calculated, trended and risk-adjusted. The base discount is 2.25% and can range from 0% to 3% depending on the three factors of (1) regional efficiency, (2) national efficiency and (3) quality score attained by the ACO.

NGACOs must provide a financial guarantee to CMS. The financial guarantee must be in an amount equal to 2% of its total capped Medicare Part A and Part B expenditures for beneficiaries. CMS allows the following forms of financial guarantees: (1) funds placed in an escrow amount; (2) a line of credit as evidenced by a letter of credit upon which only CMS may draw; or (3) a surety bond.

APAACO’s total capped Medicare Part A and Part B expenditures were approximately $335 million for performance year 1, and therefore APAACO submitted a letter of credit for $6.7 million to CMS.

As required by the Participation Agreement, APAACO shall maintain an aligned population of at least 10,000 beneficiaries during each performance year. APAACO and its participants may not participate in any other Medicare shared savings initiatives. APAACO shall require its participants and preferred providers to make medically necessary covered services available to beneficiaries in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and guidance.

APAACO shall implement processes and protocols that relate to specified objectives for patient-centered care consistent with the NGACO model. In connection therewith, APAACO shall require its participants to comply with and implement these designated processes and protocols, and shall institute remedial processes and penalties, as appropriate, for participants that fail to comply with or implement a required process or protocol.

CMS shall use the APAACO’s quality scores calculated under the relevant provisions of the Participation Agreement to determine, in part, its “Performance Year Benchmark”. CMS shall assess APACO’s quality performance using the quality measures set forth in the Participation Agreement and the quality measure data required to be reported by APAACO as set forth in the Participation Agreement. CMS shall use APAACO’s performance on each of the quality measures to calculate its total quality score according to a methodology to be determined by CMS prior to the start of each performance year. For each performance year, CMS shall determine APAACO’s Performance Year Benchmark. No later than 15 days before the beginning of each performance year, CMS shall provide the ACO with a Performance Year Benchmark Report consisting of APAACO’s Performance Year Benchmark. On a quarterly basis during each performance year, CMS shall provide APAACO with a Quarterly Financial Report. The Quarterly Financial Report may comprise adjustments to the Performance Year Benchmark resulting from updated information regarding any factors that affect the Performance Year Benchmark calculation.

For each performance year, APAACO shall submit to CMS its selections for risk arrangement; the amount of a savings/loss cap; alternative payment mechanism; benefits enhancements, if any; and its decision regarding voluntary alignment under the NGACO Model. APAACO must obtain CMS consent before voluntarily discontinuing any benefit enhancement during a performance year.

For each performance year, CMS shall pay APAACO in accordance with the alternative payment mechanism, if any, for which CMS has approved APAACO; the risk arrangement for which APAACO has been approved by CMS; and as otherwise provided in the Participation Agreement. Following the end of each performance year, and at such other times as may be required under the Participation Agreement, CMS will issue a settlement report to APAACO setting forth the amount of any shared savings or shared losses and the amount of other monies owed. If CMS owes APAACO shared savings or other monies owed, CMS shall pay the ACO in full within 30 days after the date on which the relevant settlement report is deemed final, except as provided in the Participation Agreement. If APAACO owes CMS shared losses or other monies owed as a result of a final settlement, APAACO shall pay CMS in full within 30 days after the relevant settlement report is deemed final. If APAACO fails to pay the amounts due to CMS in full within 30 days after the date of a demand letter or settlement report, CMS shall assess simple interest on the unpaid balance at the rate applicable to other Medicare debts under current provisions of law and applicable regulations. In addition, CMS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury may use any applicable debt collection tools available to collect any amounts owed by APAACO.

Unless specifically permitted under the Participation Agreement, APAACO participants, preferred providers and other individuals or entities performing functions and services related to ACO activities are prohibited from providing gifts or other remuneration to beneficiaries to induce them to receive items or services from APAACO, its participants or preferred providers, or to induce them to continue to receive items or services from APAACO, its participants or preferred providers.

APAACO shall maintain the privacy and security of all NGACO-related information that identifies individual beneficiaries in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), Privacy and Security Rules and all relevant HIPAA guidance applicable to the use and disclosure of protected health information by covered entities, as well as applicable state laws and regulations.

The Participation Agreement requires APAACO to report specified information on a publicly accessible website maintained by it, which information includes organizational information, shared savings and shares losses information, and performance on quality measures.

The NGACO Model offers two risk arrangement options. In Arrangement A, the ACO takes 80% of Medicare Part A and Part B risk. In Arrangement B, the ACO takes 100% of Medicare Part A and Part B risk. Under each risk arrangement, the ACO can cap aggregate savings and losses anywhere between 5% to 15%. The cap is elected annually by the ACO. APAACO has opted for Risk Arrangement A and a shared savings and losses cap of 5%.

The NGACO Model offers four payment mechanisms:

APAACO began operations on January 1, 2017. APAACO opted for, and was approved by CMS to participate in, the AIPBP track, which is the most advanced risk-taking payment model, effective April 1, 2017. APAACO is the only ACO in the United States out of 44 approved NGACOs that is participating in the AIPBP track. Under the AIPBP track, CMS will estimate the total annual expenditures for APAACO's patients and then pay that projected amount to us in a per-beneficiary, per-month payment. We would then be responsible for paying all Part A and Part B costs for in-network participating providers and preferred providers with whom it has contracted.

The NGACO Model provides ACOs with additional tools not found in the ACO programs, but that are used in the Medicare Advantage program to improve quality and lower cost, including preferred provider networks, negotiated discounts and beneficiary incentives.

AMM has entered into an agreementa long-term MSA with Prospect Medical Group (PMG) that, amongAPAACO (the “APAACO MSA”). Under the APAACO MSA, AMM provides APAACO with care coordination, data analytics and reporting, technology and other things, grantsadministrative capabilities to PMG a right of first refusalenable participating providers to acquire the ACO network of physicians who were contracted with PMGdeliver better care and introduced to ACO by PMG. This right takes effect only if ACO elects to sell itslower healthcare costs for their Medicare FFS beneficiaries. APAACO employs local operations and terminates on the termination of the agreement between ACOclinical staff to drive physician engagement and PMG. We estimate that no more than 20 physicians would be subject to PMG’s right of first refusal.care coordination improvements.

Our Care

Clinics

Our outpatient clinics provide both primary care as well as specialty services, such as cardiology and pulmonary services. ApolloMedWe also ownsown an imaging center complete with MRI, CT,magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), compound tomography (CT), cardiac echo, ultrasound, and nuclear and exercise stress-test equipment. Our clinics focus on the efficient delivery of ambulatory treatment and ancillary services, with an increasing emphasis on preventive care and management ofmanaging chronic conditions. Our clinics also serve as post-discharge centers for patients who have just left the hospital.

Our clinics are located within our historical core service areas in the greater Los Angeles.Angeles area. The clinics we acquired in 2014 have served their communities for many years, handle approximately 20,00025,000 patient visits per year and provide adult primary care, pediatric specialty services and lab and imaging services.

OurHospice Care, Palliative Care and Home Health and Hospice ServiceCare Operations

Our hospice care, palliative care and home health and hospice operations provide hospice care, palliative care and home health services for patients using a combinationan interdisciplinary team composed of physicians, nurses and other healthcare workers. For hospice services, depending on the needs of the specific patient in each case, our service team may include a physician, a nurse, a home health aide, a medical social worker, a chaplain, a dietary counselor and a bereavement coordinator. Our hospice and palliative care services are provided in the patient's home, assisted living or nursing home or in a hospital. Our home health services are provided directly in each patient’s home and may include skilled nursing and therapy services, as well as specialty programs such as disease management education, nutrition and help with daily living activities.

Our hospice and home health services are currently offered only in Southern California, with an average daily census of about 4028 hospice patients and 10080 home health patients.

As of March 31, 2015, entities owned by our 51% subsidiary, ApolloMed Palliative, served over 150 patients on a daily basis.

OUR CORPORATE INFORMATION

ApolloMed’s principal executive offices are located at 700 North Brand Blvd., Suite 220, Glendale, California 91203. ApolloMed was incorporated in the State of Delaware on November 1, 1985 under the name of McKinnely Investment, Inc. On November 5, 1986 McKinnely Investment, Inc. changed its name to Acculine Industries, Incorporated and Acculine Industries, Incorporated changed its name to Siclone Industries, Incorporated on May 24, 1988. On July 3, 2008, Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. merged into Siclone Industries, Incorporated and Siclone Industries, Incorporated, as the surviving entity from the merger, simultaneously changed its name to Apollo Medical Holdings Inc. ApolloMed’s telephone number is (818) 396-8050 and its website URL is http://apollomed.net/, which is included herein as an inactive textual reference. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this Report.

Employees

As of March 31, 2015, ApolloMed, its subsidiaries and its consolidated affiliates (including affiliated clinics) had 150 employees and over 40 employed or independent contractor physicians.during fiscal 2017. We also had a broader physician network which consisted as of March 31, 2015, of approximately 1,000 additional contracted physicians who provided services to us. None of our employees is a member of a labor union, and we have never experienced a work stoppage.decrease in patients compared to fiscal 2016 primarily as a function of restructuring our hospice/palliative care and home health operations. 

STRENGTHS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

The following are some of the material opportunities that we believe exist for our Company.company.

Diversification

Through itsour subsidiaries and consolidated affiliates, ApolloMed haswe have been able to reduce itsour business risk and increase revenue opportunities by diversifying itsour service offerings and expand itsexpanding our ability to manage patient care across a horizontally integrated care network. Our revenue is spread across our operations. Additionally, with itsour ability to monitor and manage care within itsour wide network, ApolloMed iswe are a more attractive business partner to health plans, IPAs and health systems seeking to provide better access to care at lower costs.

Strong Management Team

The ApolloMedOur management team and Board of Directors havehas, collectively, decades of experience managing physician practices, risk-based organizations, health plans, hospitals and health systems. Collectively, theyOur management team members have a keendeep understanding of the healthcare marketplace, emerging trends and an excitinga vision for the future of healthcare delivery that is driven by physician-driven healthcare networks.

Scalable Business Model

ApolloMed believes that elements of its physician-driven model of care can be replicated in different communities across the nation. These elements have been rolled out across different cities in Los Angeles County with a population size of 13 million, as well as Orange County and Tulare County in California. We have also established a presence with our ACO model in Ohio and Mississippi, although we have not derived any revenue from such states yet.

Strong Relationships with Physicians

As of March 31, 2015, the ApolloMed2017, our physician network consisted of over 1,000 additional contracted physicians, including hospitalists, primary care physicians and specialist physicians, through our owned and affiliated physician groups and ACO.

Long-Standing Relationships with Clients Generating Recurring Contractual Revenue

ApolloMed hasWe have long-standing relationships with multiple health plans, hospitals, hospital systems and IPAs which have been generatinggenerate recurring contractual revenue.

Comprehensive and Effective Medical Management and Population Health Management Programs

ApolloMed hasWe have developed comprehensive and effective programs for patients with multiple chronic conditions as well as hospitalized patients. ApolloMed hasUsing our own proprietary risk assessment scoring tool, we have also developed itsour own protocol for identifying high-risk patients. In addition, ApolloMed haswe have developed expertise in population health management and care coordination, for its ACO and IPA patients.

OUR GROWTH STRATEGY

Our mission is to transform the deliveryfurther expanded as a result of health services to the communities we serve by implementing innovative population health and care coordination models and by creating a patient-centered, physician-centric experience in a high-performing environmentour recent acquisition of integrated care.

Our strategy is forward looking and aspirational in nature. WhileApollo Care Connect. Additionally, we have taken many concrete steps to achievedeveloped expertise in proper medical coding which results in improved Risk Adjustment Factor (“RAF”) scores and higher payments from health plans, both for our strategy, the disclaimers in this Report applicable to forward looking statements apply to this section,own IPA patients and we may not achieve our strategy goals. The principal elements of our strategy are to:

1.Pursue growth opportunities in established markets. We continuously work to identify growth opportunities in established markets we serve by working with our local network physicians. Opportunities may include continued physician enrolment for MMG and ApolloMed ACO, additional or expanded hospitalist contracts, new risk-based insurance contracts and new clinic acquisitions.

2.Continue to strengthen our market presence and reputation. We position ourselves to thrive in a changing healthcare environment by continuing to build and operate high-performing, patient-centered care networks, fully engaging in health and wellness and enhancing our reputation in our markets. We focus particularly on patient safety, patient satisfaction, care coordination, population health and implementing clinical quality best practices across all our types of operations. We measure the health status of our patients with the goal to directly improve their health.

3.Focus on high-quality, patient-centered care. We provide high-quality, patient-centered care in our communities.other client IPAs. We have implemented several initiatives to maintainalso developed expertise in improving quality metrics, both in the inpatient and enhance the delivery of high-quality care, including clinical best practices, information technology and tools, coordination of care, home visits, annual wellness exams and population health.

4.Drive physician collaboration and alignment. We foster a collaborative approach among our physicians to provide clinically superior healthcare services. We provide resources to our physicians sufficient to support the necessary, high-quality services to our patients. We have implemented several initiatives, including active participation of physician leadership in ApolloMed ACO, MMG, AKM and hospitalist boards and subcommittees, training programs and information technology resources. In addition, we are aligning with our physicians in various forms of risk contracting, including pay-for-performance.

5.Expand ambulatory services and further our population health strategies. We are flexible and competitive in a dynamic healthcare environment. We will continue to add resources to our ambulatory care services. We intend to pursue further strategies in physician practice management and population health services. We also intend to pursue the expansion of certain strategic products and services, such as home health care, hospice and palliative care and urgent care centers in an attempt to create a more comprehensive network of healthcare services.

6.Pursue selective acquisitions.outpatient setting. We believe that our organization, built on patient-centered healthcare and clinical quality and efficiency, gives us a competitive advantage in expanding our services in our existing markets as well as other markets through acquisitions or partnerships. We continuehospitalists have been able to monitor opportunities to acquire hospitalist groups, IPAs, ACOs and clinics that fit our vision and long-term strategies.

7.Expand our relationships with payors and facilities in selective markets across the U.S. We intend to further develop relationships with existing and new health plans and hospitals in selective markets across the U.S. in order to participate in the growing Medicare Advantage, Medicaid HMO and dual-eligible segments, under both risk-bearing and value-based contracts.

Hospitalists. We believe that attractive growth opportunities exist for our hospitalists’ inpatient business due to the increasing need for improved efficiencies in the hospital from both payors and hospital management teams. Our physicians work closely with our partners to improve the care given to patients and their families and enhance how care is coordinated within the hospital and upon discharge of the patient. We have designed programs for some of the largest health plans and hospital chains in California to improve outcomes, reduce over-utilization, reduce Medicaid denial rates, optimize lengths of stay, optimize senior and commercial bed-days, improve HCAHPS scores, improve hospital core measures, improve documentationmeasure quality metrics, patient satisfaction scores and reduce 30-day readmissions. In addition, our physicians consult with the hospital management teams to assist in Medicaid denial reviews, case managementfinancial metrics, and improving discharge management.

We believe that the demand for hospitalists, including our hospitalists’ inpatient business, will continue to grow due to the following significant changes in the healthcare delivery system:

·          The primary care physician’s role in hospital care appears to be decreasing due to the increasingly specialized nature of hospital care, the demands of treating increasingly sicker patients in the hospital and higher acuity patients in the clinic, the increased time it takes to round on patients in the hospital due to electronic health records and the desire to reduce on-call obligations.

·         Hospitals have a greater need for consistent on-site physician availability due to the increasing severity of illness required to justify hospital admissions, the need to reduce readmissions, the need for better documentation and external pressures to decrease the inpatient length of stay.

·          Health plans, IPAs and other payors are searching for strategies to control the increase in inpatient expenditures.

·          There is increasing pressure in providing a coordinated continuum of care for patients to improve the quality of care, improve patient satisfaction and to reduce costs over an entire episode of care.

IPAs.

Senior/Medicare Advantage Market Opportunity. We believe that significant growth opportunities exist for patient-centered, physician-centric integrated groups in serving the growing senior market. At present, approximately 51 million Americans are eligible for Medicare. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 2 million Americans turn 65 in the United States each year, and this number is expected to grow as the so-called baby boomers continue to turn 65. Also, many large employers that traditionally provided medical and prescription drug coverage to their retirees have begun to curtail these benefits. In addition, the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (“MMA”), increased the healthcare options available to Medicare beneficiaries through the expansion of Medicare managed care plans through the Medicare Advantage program.

Medicaid Program and Dual Eligibles. As a result of the Health Reform Acts, CMS projects that the total number of uninsured Americans will fall to 23 million by 2023 from 45 million in 2012. This represents a significant new market opportunity for health plans and integrated healthcare delivery companies such as ApolloMed, andoutpatient setting, we believe that we are strategically positioned to benefit from this expansion.

“Dual-eligibles” present another opportunityimproved the CMS Quality Score in our ACO and also improved the STAR rating of our IPA. CMS implemented a five-star quality rating for ApolloMed. Based on CMS data, we estimate there are approximately 10.7 million dual-eligible enrollees with annual spending of approximately $285 billion. We believe this represents a significant opportunity for companies like ours that have the capabilities to effectively manage this sicker population.

Accountable Care Organization.

We believe that there are growth opportunitiesparticipants in the ACO market, both through starting new ACOsMedicare Advantage program in new geographies as well as by acquisition of, or joint ventures with, existing ACOs. Additionally, we believe that there is the possibility that CMS will change the business model of ACOs, possibly to some sort of partial or full capitated model. We also believe that ACOs will increasingly contract with health plans for commercial patients.

Palliative Care, Home Health and Hospice.

We believe that there are multiple factors that will contribute to the growth of the hospice and home health industry, including (1) increasing consumer and physician awareness and interest in hospice, palliative and home health services, (2) recognition that in-home services can be a cost-effective alternative to more expensive institutional care (3) aging demographics and hanging family structures in which more aging people will be living alone and may be in need of assistance, (4) the psychological benefits of recuperating from an illness or accident or receiving care for a chronic condition in one’s own home and (5) medical and technological advances that allow more healthcare procedures and monitoring to be provided at home.

CONSOLIDATION OF OUR AFFILIATES

Our consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries and affiliated medical practices. Some states have laws that prohibit business entities, such as ApolloMed, from practicing medicine, employing physicians to practice medicine, exercising control over medical decisions by physicians (collectively known as the corporate practice of medicine), or engaging in certain arrangements with physicians, such as fee-splitting. In California, we operate by maintaining long-term management service agreements with our affiliates, which are each owned and operated by physicians, and which employ or contract with additional physicians to provide hospitalist services. Under the management agreements, we provide and perform all non-medical management and administrative services, including financial management, information systems, marketing, risk management and administrative support. The management agreements typically have an initial term of 20 years unless terminated by either party for cause. The management agreements are not terminable by our affiliates, except in the case of gross negligence, fraud, or other illegal acts by ApolloMed, or bankruptcy of ApolloMed.

Through the management agreements and our relationship with the stockholders of our affiliates, we have exclusive authority over all non-medical decision making related to the ongoing business operations of our affiliates. Consequently, we consolidate the revenue and expenses of our affiliates from the date of execution of the management agreements, as the primary beneficiary of these variable interest entities.2008.

OUR REVENUE STREAMS AND OUR BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Our Revenue Streams

ApolloMed’s generatesWe generate revenue through various contractual agreements which vary in both structure and by type of business operation. These contracts are multi-year renewable contracts that include traditional “fee for service,”FFS, capitation, case rates, and professional and institutional risk contracts. Our revenue streams consist of contracted, fee-for-service,FFS, capitation and MSSP revenue:revenue.

Contracted revenue

Contracted revenue represents revenue generated under contractsmanagement agreements for which ApolloMed provideswe provide physician and other healthcare staffing and administrative services in return for a contractually negotiated fee. ContractContracted revenue consists primarily of billings based on hours of healthcare staffing provided at agreed-toagreed-upon hourly rates. Additionally, contractcontracted revenue also includes supplemental revenue from hospitals where ApolloMedwe may have a fee-for-servicean FFS contract arrangement or provide physician advisory services to the medical staff at a specific facility. Such contract terms generally either provides for a fixed monthly dollar amount or a variable amount based upon measurable monthly activity, such as hours staffed, patient visits or collections per visit, compared to a minimum activity threshold. Such supplemental revenues based on variable arrangements are usually contractually fixed on a monthly, quarterly or annual calculation basis considering the variable factors negotiated in each such arrangement.agreement. Additionally, ApolloMed deriveswe derive a portion of ApolloMed’sour revenue as a contractual bonus from collections received by ApolloMed’sour partners and such revenue is contingent upon the collection of third-party billings. In certain cases, the revenue is also subject to achieving certain quality metrics.

Fee-for-serviceFFS revenue

Fee-for-serviceFFS revenue represents revenue earned under contractsagreements in which ApolloMed billswe bill and collects the professional component of charges for medical services rendered by ApolloMed’sour contracted and employed physicians. Under the fee-for-serviceour FFS arrangements, ApolloMed billswe bill patients for services provided and receivesreceive payment from patients or their third-party payors. Fee-for-serviceFFS revenue is reported net of contractual allowances and policy discounts. All services provided are expected to result in cash flows and are therefore reflected as net revenue in theour consolidated financial statements. The recognition of net revenue (gross charges less contractual allowances) from suchpatient visits is dependent on such factors as proper completion of medical charts following a patient visit, the forwarding of such charts to ApolloMed’sour billing center for medical coding and entering into ApolloMed’sour billing system and the verification of each patient’s submission or representation at the time services are rendered as to the payor(s) responsible for payment offor such services.

Capitation revenue

Capitation revenue represents revenue that ApolloMed generateswe generate based on agreements that generally make ApolloMed or its affiliatesus liable for excess medical costs. The use of capitation under provider service agreements (“PSAs”)PSAs is intended to control the use of health care resources by putting ApolloMed or its affiliatesus at financial risk for services provided to patients. Capitation is a fixed amount of money per patient per unit of time paid in advance to ApolloMed for the delivery of health care services. The actual amount of money paid to us is determined by the ranges of services that we provide, the number of patients involved, and the period of time during which the services are provided. Capitation rates under our PSAs are generally based on local costs and average utilization of services. To ensure that contracting physicians do not provide suboptimalnecessary care through under-utilization of health care services, many managed care organizationsto their patients, we monitor and measure rates of resource utilization in physician practices.practices and submit reports to appropriate regulators. These reports are made available to the public as a measure of health care quality, and can be linked to financial rewards, such as bonuses. For example, ApolloMed receiveswe receive incentives under “pay-for-performance” programs for quality medical care, based on various criteria.

Additionally, Medicare pays capitation using a “Risk Adjustment“risk adjustment” model,” which compensates managed care organizations and providers based on the health status (acuity) of each individual enrollee. Health plans and providers with higher acuity enrollees will receive more and those with lower acuity enrollees will receive less. Under Risk Adjustment,risk adjustment, capitation is determined based on health severity, measured using patient encounter data. Capitation is paid on an interim basis based on data submitted for the enrollee for the preceding year and is adjusted in subsequent periods after the final data is compiled.

Medicare Shared Savings ProgramMSSP Revenue

ApolloMed through itsThrough our subsidiary, ApolloMed ACO, participateswe participate in the MSSP sponsored by the CMS. The MSSP allows ACO participants to share in cost savings it generates in connection with rendering medical services to Medicare patients. Payments to ACO participants, if any, will beare calculated annually and paid once a year by CMS on cost savings generated by the ACO participant relative to the ACO participants’ CMS benchmark. Under the MSSP program, an ACO either receives the full amount of its allocable cost savings or nothing. The MSSP is a newly formed program with minimal history of payments to ACO participants. ApolloMed considersUnder the final MSSP rules, Medicare will continue to pay individual providers and suppliers for specific items and services as it currently does under the FFS payment methodologies. The MSSP rules require CMS to develop a benchmark for savings to be achieved by each ACO if the ACO is to receive shared savings. An ACO that meets the MSSP’s quality performance standards will be eligible to receive a share of the savings to the extent its assigned beneficiary medical expenditures are below the medical expenditure benchmark provided by CMS. An MSR must be achieved before the ACO can receive a share of the savings. Once the MSR is surpassed, all the savings below the benchmark provided by CMS will be shared 50% with the ACO. The MSR varies depending on the number of patients assigned to the ACO, starting at 3.9% for ACOs with patients totaling 5,000 and increasing to 2% for ACOs with more than 60,000 patients.

We consider revenue, if any, under the MSSP, as contingent upon the realization of program savings as determined by CMS, and are not considered earned and therefore are not recognized as revenue until notice from CMS that cash payments are to be imminently received. We received an MSSP payment in fiscal 2015 but we did not receive an MSSP payment in fiscal 2016 or fiscal 2017. We are eligible to be considered for an all-or-nothing payment under this program for performance year 2016 (which, if it is paid, would be paid to us in fiscal 2018). However, we do not believe that we will be eligible to receive payments for performance years beginning 2017, because of our transition to, and business focus on, the NGACO Model, in which we are participating as of January 1, 2017.

NGACO Model 

Through APAACO, we participate in the NGACO Model sponsored by CMS. For each performance year, CMS will determine APAACO’s Performance Year Benchmark. No later than 15 days before the beginning of each performance year, CMS will provide APAACO with a Performance Year Benchmark Report consisting of APAACO’s Performance Year Benchmark. On a quarterly basis during each performance year, CMS shall provide APAACO with a Quarterly Financial Report. The Quarterly Financial Report may comprise adjustments to the Performance Year Benchmark resulting from updated information regarding any factors that affect the Performance Year Benchmark calculation. For each performance year, APAACO will submit to CMS its selections for risk arrangement; the amount of a savings/loss cap; alternative payment mechanism; benefits enhancements, if any; and its decision regarding voluntary alignment under the NGACO model. APAACO must obtain CMS consent before voluntarily discontinuing any benefit enhancement during a performance year.

For each performance year, CMS will pay APAACO in accordance with the alternative payment mechanism, if any, for which CMS has approved APAACO; the risk arrangement for which APAACO has been approved by CMS; and as otherwise provided in the Participation Agreement. Following the end of each performance year, and at such other times as may be required under the Participation Agreement, CMS will issue a settlement report to APAACO setting forth the amount of any shared savings or shared losses and the amount of other monies owed. If CMS owes APAACO shared savings or other monies owed, CMS will pay APAACO in full within 30 days after the date on which the relevant settlement report is deemed final, except as provided in the Participation Agreement. If APAACO owes CMS shared losses or other monies owed as a result of a final settlement, APAACO shall pay CMS in full within 30 days after the relevant settlement report is deemed final. If APAACO fails to pay the amounts due to CMS in full within 30 days after the date of a demand letter or settlement report, CMS will assess simple interest on the unpaid balance at the rate applicable to other Medicare debts under current provisions of law and applicable regulations. In addition, CMS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury may use any applicable debt collection tools available to collect any amounts owed by APAACO.

Our NGACO operations began on January 1, 2017. APAACO was approved to participate in the AIPBP track, which is the most advanced risk-taking payment model, effective April 1, 2017. APAACO is the only ACO in the United States out of 44 approved NGACOs that is participating in the AIPBP model. Under the AIPBP track, CMS will estimate the total annual expenditures for APAACO's patients and then pay that projected amount to us in a per-beneficiary, per-month payment. We would then be responsible for paying all Part A and Part B costs for in-network participating providers and preferred providers with whom it has contracted.

No revenues were generated from the NGACO Model in fiscal 2017 and management is in the process of evaluating the appropriate revenue recognition.

Hospitalist Agreements

During the year, we entered into several new hospitalist agreements with hospitals, whereby we earn a stipend fee plus a fee based on an agreed percentage of fee-for-service collections. The fee is recorded at an amount net of the portion owed to the hospitals (we collect all fees on behalf of the hospitals). The fee revenue is further reduced by a portion subject to quality metrics which is only recorded as revenue upon our meeting these metrics. We considered the indicators of gross revenue and net revenue reporting and determined that revenue from this arrangement is recorded at net. 

Types of Revenue by Business Operation

Each of our synergistic operations generates revenue in the following manners:

·Hospitalist OperationHospitalists. - AMH contracts with health plans or IPAs to be paid on fee schedules or case rates to see patients and earns revenue primarily on a contracted basis. AMH also contracts directly with hospitals for fixed monthly stipends for continuous staffing coverage.

·IPA OperationIPA. - MMG and AKM are traditional IPAs that earnearns revenue based on capitation payments from health plans. In California, health plans prospectively pay the IPA or medical group a fixed Per Member Per MonthPMPM amount, or capitation payment, which is often based on a percentage of the amount received by the health plan. Capitation payments to medical groups or IPAs, in the aggregate, represent a prospective budget from which the IPA manages care-related expenses on behalf of the population enrolled with that IPA. Those IPAs or medical groups that manage care-related expenses under the capitated levels will realize an operating profit; if care-related expenses exceed projected levels, the IPA will realize an operating deficit.

·          ACO Operationand APAACO. - ApolloMed ACO isand APAACO are different versions of a “Shared Savings”“shared savings” performance model that, is ain each case, has contracted with CMS and earns revenue from MSSP based on cost-savings achieved. TheAs discussed above, the MSSP will reward ACOs that lower their healthcare costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and patient satisfaction. Under the final MSSP rules, Medicare will continue to pay individual providers and suppliers for specific items and services as it currently does under the FFS payment methodologies. The MSSP rules require CMS to developsatisfaction on an all-or-nothing basis once a benchmark for savings to be achieved by each ACO if the ACO is to receive shared savings. An ACO that meets the program’s quality performance standards will be eligible to receive a share of the savings to the extent its assigned beneficiary medical expenditures are below the medical expenditure benchmark provided by CMS. A MSR must be achieved before the ACO can receive a share of the savings. Once the MSR is surpassed, all the savings below the benchmark provided by CMS will be shared 50% with the ACO. The MSR varies depending on the number of patients assigned to the ACO, starting at 3.9% for ACOs with patients totaling 5,000 and grading to 2% for ACOs with more than 60,000 patients.year.

·Care Clinics - ApolloMed Care Clinic’s clinics receives the majority of its revenuestheir revenue from traditional fee-for-serviceFFS models where the physicians are paid based on professional fee schedules from various health plans, and also receivesreceive capitated payments from IPAs, including from MMG.

·Palliative Care, Home Health and Hospice Service Operations - ApolloMed Palliative,APS, which includes Best Choice HospiceBCHC and Holistic Home Health, receives both fee-for-serviceFFS and contracted revenues.revenue. Under the home health Prospective Payment System (“PPS”) of reimbursement, for Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs paid at episodic rates, ApolloMed estimateswe estimate net revenues to be recorded based on a reimbursement rate which is determined using relevant data, relating to each patient’s health status including clinical condition, functional abilities and service needs, as well as applicable wage indices to give effect to geographic differences in wage levels of employees providing services to the patient. Billings under PPS are initially recognized as deferred revenue and are subsequently amortized into revenue over an average patient treatment period. The process for recognizing revenue to be recorded is based on certain assumptions and judgments, including (i) the average length of time of each treatment as compared to a standard 60 day episodeepisode; (ii) any differences between the clinical assessment of and the therapy service needs for each patient at the time of certification as compared to actual experience, as well asexperience; and (iii) the level of adjustments to the fixed reimbursement rate relating to patients who receive a limited number of visits, are discharged but readmitted to another agency within the same 60 day60-day episodic period or are subject to certain other factors during the episode. Medicare revenuesRevenues for Hospicehospice are recorded on an accrual basis based on the number of days a patient has been on service at amounts equal to an estimated payment rate. The payment rate is dependent on whether a patient is receiving routine home care, general inpatient care, continuous home care or respite care. Adjustments to Medicare revenues are recorded based on an inability to obtain appropriate billing documentation or authorizations acceptable to the payor or other reasons unrelated to credit risk.

Key Payors

ApolloMed hasWe have a few key payors that represent a significant portion of itsour net revenues.revenue. For the fiscal year ended March 31. 2015, three key31, 2017, four payors accounted for 60.3%approximately 47.2% of ApolloMed’sour net revenues.revenue. For the two monthsfiscal year ended March 31, 2014, four key2016, three payors accounted for 49.8%55.4% of ApolloMed’sour net revenues. For the twelve months ended January 31, 2014, three key payors accounted for 47.6% of ApolloMed’s net revenues.revenue.

*   Represents less than 10%

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

Our business and operations are located exclusively in California, and all of our revenue is derived from our operations in California. As of March 31, 2015,2017, through our managed physician practices, we provided hospitalist services at overmore than 20 acute-care hospitals and long-term acute care facilities in Southern and Central California, and operated primary care andone specialty medical clinicsclinic in the Los Angeles area. MMG and AKM each provides primary and specialist care through its contracted physicians to over 15,000 patients throughout the Greatergreater Los Angeles area. ApolloMed ACO hadhas nearly 40,0002,200 Medicare beneficiaries assigned to it by CMS in California. Additionally, we had approximately 32,000 beneficiaries in our NGACO, exclusively in California Mississippi and Ohio.at the start of our performance year in January 2017.

OUR GROWTH STRATEGY

Our mission is to transform the delivery of health services to the communities we serve by implementing innovative population health and care coordination models and by creating a patient-centered, physician-centric experience in a high-performing environment of integrated care.

Our current intention is to implement our strategy through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, as well as dispositions when appropriate. While we have taken many concrete steps to achieve our strategy, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in these endeavors and we may not achieve our strategic goals. The Company’s businessprincipal elements of our growth strategy are:

Pursue growth opportunities in established markets. We identify growth opportunities in established markets we serve by working with our local network physicians. Opportunities may include continued physician enrolment for MMG and operations are primarily in one state, California. While the Company operates through ApolloMed ACO, outsideadditional or expanded hospitalist contracts, new risk-based insurance contracts and new clinic acquisitions.

Continue to strengthen our market presence and reputation. We position ourselves to thrive in a changing healthcare environment by continuing to build and operate high-performing, patient-centered care networks, fully engaging in health and wellness, and enhancing our reputation in our markets. We focus particularly on patient safety, patient satisfaction, care coordination, population health and implementing clinical quality best practices across all our operations. We measure the health status of California, it has not derived any revenues from operations outsideour patients with the goal of California,directly improving their health.

Focus on high-quality, patient-centered care. We provide high-quality, patient-centered care in our communities. We have implemented several initiatives to maintain and it currently derives allenhance the delivery of its revenues from California.high-quality care, including clinical best practices, information technology and tools, coordination of care, home visits, annual wellness exams and population health.

Drive physician collaboration and alignment. We foster a collaborative approach among our physicians to provide what we believe to be clinically superior healthcare services. We provide medical management, population health management and care coordination resources to our physicians sufficient to support the necessary, high-quality services to our patients. We have implemented several initiatives, including active participation of physician leadership in ApolloMed ACO, MMG and hospitalist boards and subcommittees, training programs and information technology resources. In addition, we are aligning with our physicians in various forms of risk contracting, including pay-for-performance programs such as clinical documentation improvement to improve RAF scores and certain programs, such as annual wellness visits, to improve Medicare Advantage STAR ratings.

Expand ambulatory services and further our population health strategies. We are flexible and competitive in a dynamic healthcare environment. We intend to continue to add medical management and population health management resources to our ambulatory care services. We intend to pursue further strategies in physician practice management and population health services, such as predictive analytics and telemedicine services. We also intend to pursue the expansion of certain strategic services, such as home health care, hospice and palliative care services in an attempt to create a more comprehensive network of healthcare services.

Pursue selective acquisitions. We believe that our philosophy, built on patient-centered healthcare and clinical quality and efficiency, gives us a competitive advantage in expanding our services in our existing markets as well as other markets through acquisitions or partnerships. We regularly monitor opportunities to acquire hospitalist groups, IPAs, ACOs and clinics that fit our vision and long-term strategies.

Pursue selective dispositions. We regularly monitor the performance of our operations and have curtailed, cut back on or disposed of, certain operations that either are not performing to our expectations or are creating a financial strain on us.

Expand our relationships with payors and facilities in selective markets across the United States. We intend to explore ways to develop relationships with existing and new health plans and hospitals in selective markets across the United States in order to participate in the growing hospitalist medicine market, under value-based contracts.

Acquisitions and Dispositions

In furtherance of our growth strategy, we regularly evaluate opportunities to add to our portfolio of healthcare companies in areas where we do not have a presence, in order to expand our geographic footprint, in areas where we already have a presence to increase our market share, and in areas of practice that are complementary to our existing business model. Similarly, we periodically evaluate parts of our business that may not fit within our overall business model or may be underperforming and, when appropriate, we may dispose of such companies.

On January 12, 2016, through our wholly-owned subsidiary Apollo Care Connect, we acquired certain technology and other assets of Healarium, Inc. This acquisition provides us with a population health management platform that includes digital care plans, a case management module, connectivity with multiple healthcare tracking devices and the ability to integrate with multiple electronic health records to capture clinical data. We issued 275,000 shares of our common stock in exchange for the acquired assets and the seller paid us $200,000.

Also during fiscal 2016, we sold substantially all the assets of ApolloMed Care Clinic (“ACC”). ACC was as clinic providing care in Los Angeles area. The purchase price was $61,000 of which we received $10,000 in cash and the balance in the form of a non-interest bearing promissory note in the principal amount of $51,000. We also combined the operations of one of our IPAs, AKM, into those of our other IPA, MMG.

On November 4, 2016, through an affiliated wholly-owned by Dr. Hosseinion, as nominee shareholder on our behalf, we acquired all the stock of Bay Area Hospitalist Associates, a Medical Corporation, a California professional corporation (“BAHA”) from Scott Enderby, D.O. (“Enderby”). BAHA is a hospitalist, intensivist and post-acute care practice with a presence at three acute care hospitals, one long-term acute care hospital and several skilled nursing facilities in San Francisco.

Proposed Merger

On December 21, 2016, we entered into the Merger Agreement, pursuant to which NMM will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours. NMM is one of the largest healthcare MSOs in the United States, delivering comprehensive healthcare management services to a client base consisting of health plans, IPAs, hospitals, physicians and other health care networks. NMM currently is responsible for coordinating the care for over 600,000 covered patients in Southern, Central and Northern California through a network of ten IPAs with over 2,000 contracted physicians. On a pro forma basis, the combined organization, would provide medical management for over 700,000 patients through a network of over 3,000 healthcare professionals and over 400 employees. The combination of ApolloMed and NMM brings together two complementary healthcare organizations to form one of the nation’s largest integrated population health management companies, which we believe will be well positioned for the ongoing transition of U.S. healthcare to value-based reimbursements. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2017, is subject to antitrust regulatory clearance and other closing conditions, as well as approval by ApolloMed and NMM stockholders.

For all purposes of this report, unless expressly indicated otherwise, we have discussed our present and intended operations, opportunities and challenges without consideration of the Merger or the effect of the Merger, if and should it be consummated.

CORPORATE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE

Our consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries and certain affiliated medical practices. Some states have laws that prohibit business entities with non-physician owners, such as us, from practicing medicine, which are generally referred to as corporate practice of medicine. States that have corporate practice of medicine laws require only physicians to practice medicine, exercise control over medical decisions or engage in certain arrangements with other physicians, such as fee-splitting. California is a corporate practice of medicine state. Therefore, in California, we operate by maintaining long-term management service agreements with our affiliates, each of which are owned and operated by physicians only, and which employ or contract with additional physicians to provide hospitalist services. Under MSAs, we provide and perform all non-medical management and administrative services, including financial management, information systems, marketing, risk management and administrative support. The management agreements typically have an initial term of 20 years unless terminated by either party for cause. These MSAs are not terminable by our affiliates, except in the case of gross negligence, fraud, or other illegal acts by us, or our bankruptcy.

Through the MSAs and our relationship with the physician owners of our medical affiliates, we have exclusive authority over all non-medical decisions related to the ongoing business operations of those affiliates. Consequently, we consolidate the revenue and expenses of our affiliates from the date of execution of the management agreements, as the primary beneficiary of these VIEs.

When necessary, Dr. Hosseinion, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as nominee shareholder, on our behalf, of affiliated medical practices, in order to comply with corporate practice of medicine laws and certain accounting rules applicable to consolidated financial reporting by our affiliates, as VIEs. 

COMPETITION

The healthcare industry is highly competitive.competitive and fragmented across all of our services and operations. We compete for customers with many other healthcare providers, including local physicians and practice groups as well as local, regional and national networks of physicians, hospitals and other healthcare companies.companies, many of which are substantially larger than us and have significantly greater financial and other resources, including personnel than we have.

Hospitalists

The market for hospitalists within this industry is highly fragmented. ApolloMedAMH faces competition primarily from numerous small inpatient practices as well as large physician groups.groups, many of whom have greater financial, personnel and other resources available to them. Some of our competitors operate on a national level, such as EmCare, Team Health IPC-The Hospitalist Company and Sound Physicians, and may have greater financial and other resources available to them. In addition, because the market for hospitalist services is highly fragmented and the ability of individual physicians to provide services in any hospital where they have certain credentials and privileges, competition for growth in existing and expanding markets is not limited to our largest competitors.

IPAs

ApolloMed’sOur affiliated IPAs,IPA, MMG, and AKM, operate in a highly competitive market. They competecompetes with other IPAs, medical groups and hospitals. Somehospitals, many of our competitors maywhom have greater financial, personnel and other resources available to them. For example, in Los Angeles, examples of our competitors include Regal Medical Group and Lakeside Medical group, which are part of the Heritage Provider Network (“Heritage”), as well as HealthCare Partners, which is owned by DaVita HealthCare Partners.Partners (“DaVita”).

ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONACOs

ApolloMed ACO competesand APAACO compete with hospitals, sophisticated provider groups, and management service organizationsMSOs in the creation, administration, and management of ACOs. SomeACOs, many of our competitors maywhom have greater financial, personnel and other resources available to them. For example, in Los Angeles, our competitors with APAACO include Heritage California ACO which is part of the Heritage Provider Network and operates a PioneerDaVita Medical ACO and HealthCare Partners ACO, which is owned by DaVita HealthCare Partners and which participates in the MSSP.California.

PALLIATIVE CARE, HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICEHospice Care, Palliative Care and Home Health Care

The palliative care home health and hospice industries are highly competitive and fragmented. Palliative care and hospice providers with which we compete include not-for-profit and charity-funded programs that may have strong ties to their local communities and for-profit programs, that maymany of whom have greater financial, personnel and marketingother resources available to them. Home health providers include not-for-profit and for-profit facility-based agencies, such as hospitals or nursing homes, as well as independent companies, some of which are large publicly-traded companies.companies and which have greater financial, personnel and other resources available to them.

APS competes with hospice and home health agencies, many of whom have greater financial, personnel and other resources available to them. In Los Angeles, our competitors include Vitas and Lakeview.

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY AND OTHER INSURANCE COVERAGE

Our business has an inherent and significant risk of claims of medical malpractice against our affiliated physicians and us. We and ourOur independent physician contractors and we pay premiums for third-party professional liability insurance that indemnifies us and our affiliated hospitalists and us on a claims-made basis for losses incurred related to medical malpractice litigation. Professional liability coverage is required in order for our affiliated hospitalists to maintain hospital privileges. All of ourOur physicians carry first dollar coverage with limits of liability equal to not less than $1,000,000 for all claims based on occurrence up to an aggregate of $3,000,000 per year.

WeWhile we believe that our insurance coverage is appropriateadequate based upon our claims experience and the nature and risks of our business. In addition to the known incidents that have resulted in the assertion of claims,business, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate to cover liabilities arising out of claims asserted against us, our affiliated professional organizations or our affiliated hospitalists in the future where the outcomes of such claims are unfavorable. We believe that the ultimate resolution of all pending claims, including liabilities in excess of our insurance coverage, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows; however, there can be no assurance that future claims will not have such a material adverse effect on our business.

We also maintain worker’s compensation, director and officer, and other third-party insurance coverage subject to deductibles and other restrictions that we believe are in accordance with industry standards. We believe that ourthese insurance coverage islimits are appropriate based upon our claims experience and the nature and risks of our business. However, we cannot assure that any pending or future claim will not be successful or if successful will not exceed the limits of available insurance coverage.

NNA FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS 

On March 28, 2014, we entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) pursuant to which NNA, an affiliate of Fresenius, extended to us (i) a $1,000,000 revolving line of credit (the “Revolving Loan”) and (ii) a $7,000,000 term loan (the “Term Loan”). The Company drew down the full amount of the Revolving Loan on October 23, 2014. The Term Loan and Revolving Loan mature on March 28, 2019, subject to NNA’s right to accelerate payment on the occurrence of certain events. The Term Loan may be prepaid at any time without penalty or premium. The loans extended under the Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of our assets, and are guaranteed by our subsidiaries and consolidated entities. The guarantees of these subsidiaries and consolidated entities are in turn secured by substantially all of the assets of the subsidiaries and consolidated entities providing the guaranty. Any entity that subsequently becomes a subsidiary or consolidated entity will be required to provide a similar guaranty secured by substantially all of its assets and to comply with all of the other applicable requirements in the Credit Agreement and NNA Convertible Note.

Concurrently with the Credit Agreement, we entered into an Investment Agreement with NNA (the “Investment Agreement”), pursuant to which it issued to NNA a Convertible Note in the original principal amount of $2,000,000 (the “NNA Convertible Note”). We drew down the full principal amount of the NNA Convertible Note on July 30, 2014. The NNA Convertible Note matures on March 28, 2019, subject to NNA’s right to accelerate payment on the occurrence of certain events. We may redeem amounts outstanding under the NNA Convertible Note on 60 days’ prior notice to NNA. Amounts outstanding under the NNA Convertible Note are convertible at NNA’s sole election into shares of our common stock at an initial conversion price of $10.00 per share. Our obligations under the NNA Convertible Note are guaranteed by our subsidiaries and consolidated entities (including any subsidiaries or consolidated entities that are acquired or formed in the future).

On February 6, 2015, we entered into a First Amendment and Acknowledgement (the “Acknowledgement”) with NNA, Warren Hosseinion, M.D., and Adrian Vazquez, M.D. The Acknowledgement amended some provisions of, and/or provided waivers in connection with, each of (i) the Registration Rights Agreement between the Company and NNA, dated March 28, 2014 (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), (ii) the Investment Agreement, (iii) the NNA Convertible Note, and (iv) the NNA Warrants. The amendments to the Registration Rights Agreement included amendments with respect to the timing of the filing deadline for a resale registration statement for the benefit of NNA.

 Under the Investment Agreement, we issued to NNA warrants to purchase up to 300,000 shares of our common stock at an initial exercise price of $10.00 per share and warrants to purchase up to 200,000 shares of our common stock at an initial exercise price of $20.00 per share (collectively, the “NNA Warrants”).

The Credit Agreement, Investment Agreement and NNA Convertible Note contain various representations, warranties and covenants that we made, including the following:

·We and our subsidiaries and consolidated entities are prohibited from acquiring another entity or business with a purchase price greater than $500,000 without NNA’s prior consent.

·We and our subsidiaries and consolidated entities are prohibited from creating or acquiring new subsidiaries without NNA’s prior approval. We are further prohibited from creating or acquiring any subsidiary that is not wholly-owned by us or one of our subsidiaries.

·We are required to meet certain financial covenants as to consolidated EBITDA, leverage ratio, fixed charge coverage ratio and consolidated tangible net worth (in the case of consolidated tangible net worth, adding back certain goodwill and intangible assets of some of our acquisitions). In particular, we are required (i) to maintain a consolidated tangible net worth of no less than $(3,700,000) as of March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015, respectively, and a consolidated tangible net worth of no less than $0 as of December 31, 2015, and (ii) to have consolidated EBITDA of not less than $1,000,000 and a fixed charge coverage ratio of not less than 1.25 to 1.0, in each case as of September 30, 2015.

·We are prohibited from being acquired by merger or consolidation without NNA’s prior consent. With certain exceptions, neither us nor any of our subsidiaries or consolidated entities may sell or dispose of any assets.

·With certain exceptions, neither us nor any of our subsidiaries or consolidated entities may incur any indebtedness or permit any liens to be placed on their properties without NNA’s prior consent.

·With certain exceptions, neither us nor any of our subsidiaries or consolidated entities may make any dividends or distributions or repurchase shares of its capital stock without NNA’s prior consent.

Both the NNA Convertible Note and the NNA Warrants include the following terms:

·The exercise price under the NNA Warrants and the conversion price under the NNA Convertible Note and the number of shares underlying such securities would be adjusted under certain circumstances, resulting in the issuance of additional shares of our securities. This adjustment would be triggered by our issuance of shares of our common stock (or securities issuable into its common stock) at a price per share less than $9.00 per share. The adjustments described in this paragraph do not apply to certain exempt issuances, including the sale of shares of our common stock in a bona fide, firmly underwritten public offering pursuant to a registration statement under the 1933 Act and with a purchase price per share of at least $20.00 (a “Qualified IPO”). In addition, these adjustments would terminate on the earlier of March 28, 2016 and our closing of an equity financing yielding gross cash proceeds of at least $2,000,000 (the “Next Financing”). Any future issuances of our securities that are not exempt would result in the adjustments described in this paragraph until the adjustments are terminated.

· We are required to make cash payments to NNA on a ratable basis if we make any payments to holders of restricted stock units, phantom equity rights, equity appreciation rights or any other payments calculated in reference to the valuation or changes in valuation of our common stock or equity.

·We have also granted the following rights to NNA under the Investment Agreement, for so long as NNA holds a specified number shares of our common stock or NNA Warrants or the NNA Convertible Note convertible into such specified number of shares of our common stock:

·  NNA has the right to have one director nominated to our Board of Directors and each Board of Directors committee, and to appoint one representative to attend meetings of our Board of Directors and each Board of Director’s committee as an observer. NNA has exercised its observer rights but has not appointed a director to our Board of Directors.

·        With certain specified exceptions, NNA has the right to subscribe for its pro rata share of any of our issuances of securities on the same terms as such securities are being offered to others. This subscription right does not apply to certain exempt issuances, including the sale of our shares of common stock in a Qualified IPO.

We have also entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with NNA, which, as amended by the First Amendment, provides NNA with the following rights, among others:

·         NNA has the right to include all of its registrable securities (except for those eligible for resale under Rule 144) in any public offering by us of our securities under a registration statement filed with the SEC.

·         We are prohibited for an extended period of time from preparing or filing with the SEC a registration statement without the prior consent of NNA.

·        We are required to prepare and file with the SEC a registration statement covering the sale of NNA’s registrable securities by October 24, 2015. If we fail to do so, on October 24, 2015, and in each following month until we file the registration statement registering NNA’s registrable securities, we must pay NNA liquidated damages of 1.5% of the total purchase price of the registrable securities owned by NNA, payable in Common Stock. We are also required to use our commercially reasonable best efforts to cause the registration statement registering NNA’s registrable securities to be declared effective by the SEC by April 16, 2016.

REGULATORY MATTERS

Significant Federal and State Healthcare Laws Governing Our Business

As a healthcare company, our operations and relationships with healthcare providers such as hospitals, other healthcare facilities, and healthcare professionals are subject to extensive and increasing regulation by numerous federal, state, and local government entities. These laws and regulations often are interpreted broadly and enforced aggressively by multiple government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Justice, CMS, and various state authorities. We have included brief descriptions of some, but not all, of the laws and regulations that affect our business below.

Imposition of liabilities associated with a violation of any of these healthcare laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The Company cannot guarantee that its arrangements or business practices will not be subject to government scrutiny or be found to violate certain healthcare laws. Government investigations and prosecutions, even if we are ultimately found to be without fault, can be costly and disruptive to our business. Moreover, changes in healthcare legislation or government regulation may restrict our existing operations, limit the expansion of our business or impose additional compliance requirements and costs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

False Claims Acts

The federal False Claims Act imposes civil liability on individuals or entities that submit false or fraudulent claims for payment to the federal government. The False Claims Act provides, in part, that the federal government may bring a lawsuit against any person whom it believes has knowingly or recklessly presented, or caused to be presented, a false or fraudulent request for payment from the federal government, or who has made a false statement or used a false record to get a claim for payment approved. Private parties may initiate qui tam whistleblower lawsuits against any person or entity under the False Claims Act in the name of the government and may share in the proceeds of a successful suit.

The federal government has used the False Claims Act to prosecute a wide variety of alleged false claims and fraud allegedly perpetrated against Medicare and state healthcare programs. By way of illustration, these prosecutions may be based upon alleged coding errors, billing for services not rendered, billing services at a higher payment rate than appropriate, and billing for care that is not considered medically necessary. The government and a number of courts also have taken the position that claims presented in violation of certain other statutes, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute or the Stark Law, can be considered a violation of the False Claims Act based on the theory that a provider impliedly certifies compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and other rules when submitting claims for reimbursement.

Penalties for False Claims Act violations include fines ranging from $5,500 to $11,000 for each false claim, plus up to three times the amount of damages sustained by the government. A False Claims Act violation may provide the basis for the imposition of administrative penalties as well as exclusion from participation in governmental healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to the provisions of the False Claims Act, which provide for civil enforcement, the federal government also can use several criminal statutes to prosecute persons who are alleged to have submitted false or fraudulent claims for payment to the federal government.

A number of states have enacted false claims acts that are similar to the federal False Claims Act. Even more states are expected to do so in the future because Section 6031 of the DRA, amended the federal law to encourage these types of changes, along with a corresponding increase in state initiated false claims enforcement efforts. Under the DRA, if a state enacts a false claims act that is at least as stringent as the federal statute and that also meets certain other requirements, the state will be eligible to receive a greater share of any monetary recovery obtained pursuant to certain actions brought under the state’s false claims act. The OIG, in consultation with the Attorney General of the United States, is responsible for determining if a state’s false claims act complies with the statutory requirements. Currently, many states, including California have some form of state false claims act.

Anti-Kickback Statutes

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute is a provision of the Social Security Act that prohibits as a felony offense the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration in return for, or to induce, (1) the referral of a patient for items or services for which payment may be made in whole or part under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs, (2) the furnishing or arranging for the furnishing of items or services reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs or (3) the purchase, lease, or order or arranging or recommending the purchasing, leasing or ordering of any item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. The ACA amended section 1128B of the Social Security Act to make it clear that a person need not have actual knowledge of the statute, or specific intent to violate the statute, as a predicate for a violation. The OIG, which has the authority to impose administrative sanctions for violation of the statute, has adopted as its standard for review a judicial interpretation which concludes that the statute prohibits any arrangement where even one purpose of the remuneration is to induce or reward referrals. A violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute is a felony punishable by imprisonment, criminal fines of up to $25,000, civil fines of up to $50,000 per violation and three times the amount of the unlawful remuneration. A violation also can result in exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. In addition, pursuant to the changes of the ACA, a claim that includes items or services resulting from a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute is a false claim for purposes of the False Claims Act.

Due to the breadth of the Anti-Kickback Statute’s broad prohibitions, statutory exceptions exist that protect certain arrangements from prosecution. In addition, the OIG has published safe harbor regulations that specify arrangements that also are deemed protected from prosecution under the Anti-Kickback Statute, provided all applicable criteria are met. The failure of an activity to meet all of the applicable safe harbor criteria does not necessarily mean that the particular arrangement violates the Anti-Kickback Statute, but these arrangements may be subject to scrutiny and prosecution by enforcement agencies. The conduct or business arrangement, however, does increase the risk of scrutiny by government enforcement authorities. We may be less willing than some of our competitors to take actions or enter into business arrangements that do not clearly satisfy the safe harbors. As a result, this unwillingness may put us at a competitive disadvantage.

Some states have enacted statutes and regulations similar to the Anti-Kickback Statute, but which may be applicable regardless of the payor source for the patient. These state laws may contain exceptions and safe harbors that are different from and/or more limited than those of the federal law and that may vary from state to state. For example, California has adopted the Physician Outpatient Referral Act (“PORA”). PORA makes it unlawful for a healing arts licensee, including physicians and surgeons, and other licensed professionals, to refer a person for certain health care services if the licensee has a financial interest, with the person or entity that receives the referral. While the law also provides certain exemptions from this prohibition, failure to fit within an exemption in violation of PORA can lead to a misdemeanor offense that may subject a physician to civil penalties and disciplinary action by the Medical Board of California.

Although we have established policies and procedures to ensure that our arrangements with physicians comply with current laws and applicable regulations, we cannot assure you that regulatory authorities that enforce these laws will not determine that some of these arrangements violate the Anti-Kickback Statute or other applicable laws. An adverse determination could subject us to liabilities under the Social Security Act, including criminal penalties, civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid or other federal health care programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Federal Stark Law

The federalFederal Stark Law, also known as the physician self-referral law, generally prohibits a physician from referring Medicare and Medicaid patients to an entity (including hospitals) providing ‘‘designated health services,’’ if the physician or a member of the physician’s immediate family has a ‘‘financial relationship’’ with the entity, unless a specific exception applies. Designated health services include, among other services, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, clinical laboratory services, certain imaging services, and other items or services that our affiliated physicians may order. The prohibition applies regardless of the reasons for the financial relationship and the referral; and therefore, unlike the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, intent to violate the law is not required. Like the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law contains a number of statutory and regulatory exceptions intended to protect certain types of transactions and business arrangements from penalty. Unlike safe harbors under the Anti-Kickback Statute with which compliance is voluntary, an arrangement must comply with every requirement of a Stark Law exception or the arrangement is in violation of the Stark Law.

The penalties for violating the Stark Law can include the denial of payment for services ordered in violation of the statute, mandatory refunds of any sums paid for such services and civil penalties of up to $15,000 for each violation, double damages, and possible exclusion from future participation in the governmental healthcare programs. A person who engages in a scheme to circumvent the Stark Law’s prohibitions may be fined up to $100,000 for each applicable arrangement or scheme.

Some states have enacted statutes and regulations similar to the Stark Law, but which may be applicable to the referral of patients regardless of their payor source and which may apply to different types of services. These state laws may contain statutory and regulatory exceptions that are different from those of the federal law and that may vary from state to state.

Because the Stark Law and its implementing regulations continue to evolve, we do not always have the benefit of significant regulatory or judicial interpretation of this law and its regulations. We attempt to structure our relationships to meet an exception to the Stark Law, but the regulations implementing the exceptions are detailed and complex, and we cannot be certain that every relationship complies fully with the Stark Law. In addition, in the July 2008 final Stark rule, CMS indicated that it will continue to enact further regulations tightening aspects of the Stark Law that it perceives allow for Medicare program abuse, especially those regulations that still permit physicians to profit from their referrals of ancillary services. There can be no assurance that the arrangements entered into by us with physicians and facilities will be found to be in compliance with the Stark Law, as it ultimately may be implemented or interpreted.

Health Information Privacy and Security Standards

Among other directives, the Administrative Simplification Provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”),HIPAA required the Department of Health and Human Services, or the HHS to adopt standards to protect the privacy and security of certain health-related information. The HIPAA privacy regulations contain detailed requirements concerning the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information by “HIPAA covered entities,” which include entities like the Company, our affiliated hospitalists, and practice groups.

In addition to the privacy requirements, HIPAA covered entities must implement certain administrative, physical, and technical security standards to protect the integrity, confidentiality and availability of certain electronic health information received, maintained, or transmitted. HIPAA also implemented the use of standard transaction code sets and standard identifiers that covered entities must use when submitting or receiving certain electronic healthcare transactions, including activities associated with the billing and collection of healthcare claims.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted on February 18, 2009, included the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH)(“HITECH”) which modified the HIPAA legislation significantly. Pursuant to HITECH, certain provisions of the HIPAA privacy and security regulations become directly applicable to “HIPAA business associates”.

Violations of the HIPAA privacy and security standards may result in civil and criminal penalties. Historically, these included: (1) civil money penalties of $100 per incident, to a maximum of $25,000, per person, per year, per standard violated and (2) depending upon the nature of the violation, fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to ten years. The passage of HITECH significantly modified the enforcement structure, creating a tiered system of civil money penalties that range from $100 to $50,000 per violation, with a cap of $1.5 million per year for identical violations. We must also comply with the “breach notification” regulations, which implement certain provisions of HITECH. Under these regulations, in addition to reasonable remediation, covered entities must promptly notify affected individuals in the case of a breach of “unsecured PHI,” which is defined by HHS guidance, as well as the Secretary of HHS Secretary(the “HHS Secretary”) and the media in cases where a breach affects more than 500 individuals. Breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals must be reported to the HHS Secretary on an annual basis. The regulations also require business associates of covered entities to notify the covered entity of breaches at or by the business associate. Formal enforcement of the new breach notification regulations began on February 22, 2010.

We expect increased federal and state HIPAA privacy and security enforcement efforts. Under HITECH, State Attorney Generalsstate Attorneys General now have the right to prosecute HIPAA violations committed against residents of their states. In addition, HITECH mandates that the Secretary of HHS conduct periodic compliance audits of HIPAA covered entities and business associates. It also tasks HHS with establishing a methodology whereby harmed individuals who were the victims of breaches of unsecured PHI may receive a percentage of the Civil Monetary Penaltycivil monetary penalty fine or monetary settlement paid by the violator. This methodology for compensation to harmed individuals was initially required to be in place by February 17, 2012.2012; however, no rules or regulations implementing this methodology have yet been adopted by HHS. HHS may nonetheless eventually establish such methodology for compensation to harmed individuals.

Many states also have laws that protect the privacy and security of confidential, personal information. These laws may be similar to or even more stringent than the federal provisions. Not only may some of these state laws impose fines and penalties upon violators, but some may afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused.

Financial Information and Privacy Standards

In addition to privacy and security laws focused on health care data, multiple other federal and state laws regulate the use and disclosure of consumer’s financial information (“Personal Information”). Many of these laws also require administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of Personal Information, including mandated processes and timeframes for notification of possible or actual breaches of Personal Information to the affected individual. The Federal Trade Commission primarily oversees compliance with the federal laws relevant to us, while state laws are addressed by the state attorney general or other respective state agencies. As with HIPAA, enforcement of laws protecting financial information is increasing. Examples of relevant federal laws include the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Fee-Splitting and Corporate Practice Ofof Medicine

Some states, including California, have laws that prohibit business entities, such as our Companyus and itsour subsidiaries, from practicing medicine, employing physicians to practice medicine, exercising control over medical decisions by physicians (also known collectively as the corporate practice of medicine) or engaging in certain arrangements, such as fee-splitting, with physicians. In these states, a violation of the corporate practice of medicine prohibition constitutes the unlawful practice of medicine, which is a public offense punishable by fines and other criminal penalties. In addition, any physician who participates in a scheme that violates the state’s corporate practice of medicine prohibition may be punished for aiding and abetting a lay entity in the unlawful practice of medicine. The Company operates by maintaining long-term management contracts with affiliated professional organizations, which are each owned and operated by physicians and which employ or contract with additional physicians to provide hospitalist services. Under these arrangements, we perform only non-medical administrative services, do not represent that we offer medical services, and do not exercise influence or control over the practice of medicine by the physicians or the affiliated professional organizations. The California Medical Board, as well as other state’s regulatory bodies, has taken the position that certain physician practice management agreements that confer too much control over a physician practice violate the prohibition against corporate practice of medicine.

We operate by maintaining long-term management contracts with affiliated professional organizations, which are each owned and operated by physicians and other individuals, and which employ or contract with additional physicians to provide clinical services. Under these arrangements, we perform only non-medical administrative services, do not represent that we offer medical services, and do not exercise influence or control over the practice of medicine by the physicians or the affiliated professional organizations.

For financial reporting purposes, however, we consolidate the revenues and expenses of all our practice groups that we own or manage because we have a controlling financial interest in these practices based on applicable accounting rules and as described in our consolidated financial statements. In states where fee-splitting is prohibited between physicians and non-physicians, the fees that we receive through our management contracts have been established on a basis that we believe complies with the applicable state laws.

Some of the relevant laws, regulations, and agency interpretations in the State of California and other states that have corporate practice prohibitions have been subject to limited judicial and regulatory interpretation. Moreover, state laws are subject to change and regulatory authorities and other parties, including our affiliated physicians, may assert that, despite these arrangements, we are engaged in the prohibited corporate practice of medicine or that our arrangements constitute unlawful fee-splitting. If this occurred, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties, our contracts could be found legally invalid and unenforceable (in whole or in part), or we could be required to restructure our contractual arrangements. If we were required to restructure our operating structures due to determination that a corporate practice of medicine violation existed, such a restructuring might include revisions of our management services agreements,MSAs, which might include a modification of the management fee, and/ or establishing an alternative structure.

Deficit Reduction Act Ofof 2005

Among other mandates, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 or the DRA,(the “DRA”) created a new Medicaid Integrity Program designed to enhance federal and state efforts to detect Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. Additionally, section 6032 of the DRA requires entities that make or receive annual Medicaid payments of $5.0 million or more from any one state to provide their employees, contractors and agents with written policies and employee handbook materials on federal and state False Claims Acts and related statues. At this time, we are not required to comply with section 6032 because we receive less than $5.0 million in Medicaid payments annually from any one state. However, we may likely be required to comply in the future as our Medicaid billings increase.

Other Federal Healthcare Compliance Laws

We are also subject to other federal healthcare laws.

In 1995, Congress amended the federal criminal statutes set forth in Title 18 of the United States Code by defining additional federal crimes that could have an impact on our business, including “Health Care Fraud” and “False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters.” The Health Care Fraud provision prohibits any person from knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program. As defined in this provision of Title 18, a “healthcare benefit program” can be either a government or private payor plan. Violation of this statute may be charged as a felony offense and may result in fines, imprisonment or both. The ACA amended section 1347 of Title 18 to provide that a person may be convicted under the Health Care Fraud provision even in the absence of proof that the person had actual knowledge of, or specific intent to violate, the statute.

The False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters provision prohibits, in any matter involving a federal health care program, anyone from knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up, by any trick, scheme or device, a material fact, or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation, or making or using any materially false writing or document knowing that it contains a materially false or fraudulent statement. A violation of this statute may be charged as a felony offense and may result in fines, imprisonment or both.

Under the Civil Monetary Penalties law of the Social Security Act, a person, including any individual or organization, may be subject to civil monetary penalties, treble damages and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs for certain specified conduct. One provision of the Civil Monetary Penalties law precludes any person (including an organization) from knowingly presenting or causing to be presented to any United States officer, employee, agent, or department, or any state agency, a claim for payment for medical or other items or services that the person knows or should know (a) were not provided as described in the coding of the claim, (b) is a false or fraudulent claim, (c) is for a service furnished by an unlicensed physician, (d) is for medical or other items or serviceservices furnished by a person or an entity that is in a period of exclusion from the program or (e) are medically unnecessary items or services. Violations of the law may result in penalties of up to $10,000 per claim, treble damages, and exclusion from federal healthcare programs. In addition, the OIG may impose civil monetary penalties against any physician who knowingly accepts payment from a hospital (as well as against the hospital making the payment) as an inducement to reduce or limit medically necessary services provided to Medicare or Medicaid program beneficiaries. Further, except as specifically permitted under the Civil Monetary Penalties law, a person who offers or transfers to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary any remuneration that the person knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider of Medicare or Medicaid payable items or services may be liable for civil money penalties of up to $10,000 for each wrongful act.

Other State Healthcare Compliance Provisions

In addition to the state laws previously described, we may also arebe subject to other state fraud and abuse statutes and regulations.regulations if we expand our operations beyond California. Many of the states in which we operate or plan to expand to have adopted a form of anti-kickback law, self-referral prohibition, and false claims and insurance fraud prohibition. The scope of these laws and the interpretations of them vary from state to state and are enforced by state courts and regulatory authorities, each with broad discretion. Generally, state laws reach to all healthcare services and not just those covered under a governmental healthcare program. A determination of liability under any of these laws could result in fines and penalties and restrictions on our ability to operate in these states. We cannot assure that our arrangements or business practices will not be subject to government scrutiny or be found to violate applicable fraud and abuse laws.

Knox-Keene Act and Other State Insurance Laws

Some of the medical groups and IPAs that have entered into management services agreements with us, have historically contracted with health plans and other payors to receive a per member per month (“PMPM”) or percentage of premium (“POP”) capitation payment for professional (physician) services and assumed the financial responsibility for professional services. In many of these cases, the health plans or other payors separately enter into contracts with hospitals that directly receive payment (either a capitation or fee-for-serviceFFS payment) and assume some type of contractual financial responsibility for their institutional (hospital) services. In some instances, the Company’s managed medical groups and IPAs have been paid by their contracting payor for the financial outcome of managing the care dollars associated with both the professional and institutional services received by the medical groups’ and IPAs’ members. In the case of institutional services, the medical groups and IPAs have recognized a percentage of the surplus of institutional revenues less institutional expense as the medical groups’ and IPAs’ net revenues and has also been responsible for some percentage of any short-fall in the event that institutional expenses exceed institutional revenues. Notwithstanding, neither the Company nor any of its managed medical groups or IPAs are contractually obligated to pay claims to any hospitals or other institutions under these arrangements. The California Department of Managed Health Care (“DMHC”(the “DMHC”) of California licenses and regulates health care service plans pursuant to the California Knox-Keene Act.Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, as amended (“Knox-Keene”). We do not hold a limited Knox-Keene license. If DMHC were to determine that we have been inappropriately taking risk for institutional and professional services as a result of our various hospital and physician arrangements without having a limited Knox-Keene license, we may be required to obtain a limited Knox-Keene license to resolve such violations and we could be subject to civil and criminal liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Further,

Furthermore, some states require ACOs to be registered or otherwise comply with state insurance laws.  Our affiliated ACO does not currently take financial risk, and is therefore not registered with any state insurance agency.  If a state insurance agency were to determine that we have been inappropriately operating an ACO without state registration or licensure, we may be required to obtain such registration or licensure to resolve such violations and we could be subject to liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our business,,financial condition or results of operations.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Licensing, Certification, Accreditation and Related Laws and Guidelines

Our clinical personnel are subject to numerous federal, state and local licensing laws and regulations, relating to, among other things, professional credentialing and professional ethics. Since the Company performs services at hospitals and other types of healthcare facilities, it may indirectly be subject to laws applicable to those entities as well as ethical guidelines and operating standards of professional trade associations and private accreditation commissions, such as the American Medical Association and The Joint Commission. There are penalties for non-compliance with these laws and standards, including loss of professional license, civil or criminal fines and penalties, loss of hospital admitting privileges, and exclusion from participation in various governmental and other third-party healthcare programs. Our ability to operate profitably will depend, in part, upon our ability and the ability of our affiliated physician organizations to obtain and maintain all necessary licenses and other approvals and operate in compliance with applicable health care laws and regulations, including any new laws and regulations or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations.

Professional Licensing Requirements

The Company’sOur affiliated hospitalists must satisfy and maintain their individual professional licensing in the stateseach state where they practice medicine. Activities that qualify as professional misconduct under state law may subject them to sanctions, or to even lose their license and could, possibly, subject us to sanctions as well. Some state boards of medicine impose reciprocal discipline, that is, if a physician is disciplined for having committed professional misconduct in one state where he or she is licensed, another state where he or she is also licensed may impose the same discipline even though the conduct occurred in another state. Professional licensing sanctions may also result in exclusion from participation in governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other third-party programs. . Our ability to operate profitably will depend, in part, upon our ability and the ability of our affiliated physician organizations to obtain and maintain all necessary licenses and other approvals and operate in compliance with applicable health care laws and regulations, including any new laws and regulations or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations.

Home Health and Hospice Regulation.Regulation

We have invested in new business lines consisting of (i) home health, (ii) hospice and (iii) palliative care, thatwhich require compliance with additional regulatory requirements. For example, we must comply with laws relating to hospice care eligibility, the development and maintenance of plans of care, and the coordination of services with nursing homes or assisted living facilities, where many of our patients live. In addition, our hospice programs are licensed as required under state law as either hospices or home health agencies.

Below, please find

The following is a discussion of the regulations that we believe most significantly affect our home health and hospice business.

Licensure, Certification, Accreditation and Related Laws and Guidelines.Guidelines

Our agencies and facilities are subject to state and local licensing regulations ranging from the adequacy of medical care, to compliance with building codes and environmental protection laws. To assure continued compliance with these various regulations, governmental and other authorities periodically inspect our agencies and facilities. Additionally, our clinical professionals are subject to numerous federal, state and local licensing laws and regulations, relating to, among other things, professional credentialing and professional ethics. Clinical professionals are also subject to state and federal regulation regarding prescribing medication and controlled substances. Each state defines the scope of practice of clinical professionals through legislation and through the respective Boards of Medicine and Nursing, and many states require that nurse practitioners and physician assistants work in collaboration with or under the supervision of a physician. There are penalties for noncompliance with these laws and standards, including the loss of professional license, civil or criminal fines and penalties, federal health care program disenrollment, loss of billing privileges, and exclusion from participation in various governmental and other third-party healthcare programs. We operate our business to ensure that our employees and agents possess all necessary licenses and certifications.

Reimbursement for palliative care and house call services is generally conditioned on our clinical professionals providing the correct procedure and diagnosis codes and properly documenting both the service itself and the medical necessity for the service. Incorrect or incomplete documentation and billing information, or the incorrect selection of codes for the level and type of service provided, could result in non-payment for services rendered or lead to allegations of billing fraud.

Medicare Participation.Participation

To participate in the Medicare program and receive Medicare payments, our agencies and facilities must comply with regulations promulgated by the CMS. Among other things, these requirements, known as the “Conditions of Participation” relate to the type of facility, its personnel, and its standards of medical care, as well as its compliance with state and local laws and regulations. The Conditions of Participation for hospice programs include, but may not be limited to regulation of the: Governing Body, Medical Director, Direct Provision of Core Services, Professional Management of Non-Core Services, Plan of Care, Continuation of Care, Informed Consent, Training, Quality Assurance, Interdisciplinary Team, Volunteers, Licensure, Central Clinical Records, Surveys and Audits, Billing Audits/ Claims Reviews, Certificate of Need Laws and Other Restrictions, Limitations on For-Profit Ownership, Limits on the Acquisition or Conversion of Non-Profit Health Care Organizations, and Professional Licensure.

To be eligible for Medicare payments for home health services, a patient must be “homebound” (cannot leave home without considerable or taxing effort), require periodic skilled nursing or physical or speech therapy services, and receive treatment under a plan of care established and periodically reviewed by a physician based upon a face-to-face encounter between the patient and the physician.

From time to time we receive survey reports containing statements of deficiencies. We review such reports and takestake appropriate corrective action. If a hospice or home health agency were found to be out of compliance and actions were taken against that hospice or home health agency, this could materially adversely affect the entity’s ability to continue to operate, to provide certain services and to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which could materially adversely affect our business operations.

Billing Audits/Claims Reviews. The Medicare program and its fiscal intermediaries and other payors periodically conduct pre-payment or post-payment reviews and other reviews and audits of health care claims, including hospice claims. There is pressure from state and federal governments and other payors to scrutinize health care claims to determine their validity and appropriateness. In order to conduct these reviews, the payor requests documentation from us and then reviews that documentation to determine compliance with applicable rules and regulations, including the eligibility of patients to receive hospice benefits, the appropriateness of the care provided to those patients and the documentation of that care. Our claims have been subject to review and audit. We make appropriate provisions in our accounting records to reduce our revenue for anticipated denial of payment related to these audits and reviews. We believe our hospice programs comply with all payor requirements at the time of billing. However, we cannot predict whether future billing reviews or similar audits by payors will result in material denials or reductions in revenue.

Professional Licensure and Participation Agreements. Many hospice employees are subject to federal and state laws and regulations governing the ethics and practice of their profession, including physicians, physical, speech and occupational therapists, social workers, home health aides, pharmacists and nurses. In addition, those professionals who are eligible to participate in the Medicare, Medicaid or other federal health care programs as individuals must not have been excluded from participation in those programs at any time.

Environmental and Occupational Health OSHA

We are subject to federal, state and local regulations governing the storage, use and disposal of materials and waste products. Although we believe that our safety procedures for storing, handling and disposing of these hazardous materials comply with the standards prescribed by law and regulation, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from those hazardous materials. In the event of an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any liability could exceed the limits or fall outside the coverage of our insurance. We may not be able to maintain insurance on acceptable terms, or at all we could incur significant costs and the diversion of our management’s attention to comply with current or future environmental laws and regulations.

Federal regulations promulgated by OSHAthe Occupational Safety and Health Administration impose additional requirements on us including those protecting employees from exposure to elements such as blood-borne pathogens. We cannot predict the frequency of compliance, monitoring, or enforcement actions to which we may be subject as those regulations are implemented, and regulations might adversely affect our operations.

EMPLOYEES

As of March 31, 2017, we and our affiliated clinics had 149 employees, of whom 115 were full-time and 34 were part-time, and approximately 80 were employed or independent contractor physicians. We also had a broader physician network which, as of March 31, 2017, consisted of approximately 1,000 additional contracted physicians who provided services to us. None of our employees is a member of a labor union, and we have never experienced a work stoppage. We believe that we enjoy a good working relationship with our employees.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially harmed. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing the Company. Additional risks and uncertainties may also impair our business operations or financial condition. You should consider carefully the following factors, in addition to the other information concerning the Company and its business, before you decide to buy or hold shares of our common stock.

Risk Relating to Our Business

We might need to raise additional capital, which might not be available.

The Company has historically incurred significant losses, and we may require additional equity or debt financing for additional working capital, to fund acquisitions, or to meet our liabilities, including our maturing short term obligations. In the event of additional financing being unavailable to us, we may be unable to operate or continue in existence, and the price of our common stock may decline and we may be or be made bankrupt.

We have a history of losses, and may have to further reduce our costs by curtailing future operations to continue as a business.

Historically, we have had operating losses and our cash flow has been inadequate to support our ongoing operations. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015,2017, we had a net loss of $1.3approximately $8.7 million, and as of March 31, 2015,2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $19.3approximately $37.7 million. Our ability to fund our capital requirements out of our available cash and cash generated from our operations depends on a number of factors, including our ability to integrate recently acquired businesses and continue growing our existing operations. If we cannot continue to generate positive cash flow from operations, we will have to reduce our costs andand/or try to raise working capital from other sources. These measures could materially and adversely affect our ability to operate our business as we presently do and execute our business model.

Going Concern

As shown in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, we have incurred net loss of approximately $8.7 million and used approximately $8.1 million in cash from operating activities during the year ended March 31, 2017, and, as of March 31, 2017 have an accumulated deficit and a stockholders’ deficit attributable to ApolloMed of approximately $37.7 million and $0.3 million, respectively. The primary source of liquidity as of March 31, 2017 is cash and cash equivalents of approximately $8.7 million. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded assets, or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary in the event that we cannot continue as a going concern.

We need to raise additional capital, which might not be available.

We require significant additional capital for general working capital and liquidity needs. If our cash flow and existing working capital are not sufficient to fund our general working capital and liquidity requirements, as well as any debt service requirements, we will have to raise additional funds by selling equity, issuing debt, borrowings, refinancing some or all of our existing debt or selling assets or subsidiaries. None of these alternatives for raising additional funds may be available, or available on acceptable terms to us, in amounts sufficient for us to meet our requirements. Our failure to obtain any required new financing may, if needed, require us to reduce or curtail certain existing operations and expandor make us unable to continue to operate our business.

The Merger has not yet been consummated and the failure to consummate the Merger could have a material adverse effect on our business.

On December 21, 2016, we entered into the Merger Agreement with NMM. Consummation of the Merger is subject to antitrust regulatory clearance and other closing conditions, as well as approval by NMM stockholders and our stockholders, none of which has yet occurred. If for any reason the Merger is not consummated, we would have significant financial obligations to NMM in connection with previous financing transactions in which we have engaged. Additionally, as we anticipate that NMM will be an important future source of working capital for us after the consummation of the Merger, we might lose such additional funding. Furthermore, there are several areas of operations in which NMM and we work together, including APAACO, which is owned 50% by NMM and 50% by us, as well as MSAs we have with certain NMM affiliates. If for any reason the Merger is not consummated, we cannot predict the effect this would have on areas where we operate together and for which we are dependent upon significant revenue.

The pendency of the Merger could have an adverse effect on ourbusiness, financial condition, results of operations or business prospects.

The pendency of the Merger could disrupt our business in the following ways, among others:

Should they occur, any of these matters could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or business prospects.

Covenants in the Merger Agreement place certain restrictions on theconduct of our business prior to the closing of the Merger, including entering into a business combination with another party.

The Merger Agreement restricts NMM and us from taking certain specified actions with respect to the conduct of its business without the other party’s consent while the Merger is pending. These restrictions may prevent us from pursuing otherwise attractive business opportunities or other capital structure alternatives and making other changes to our business or executing certain of its business strategies prior to the completion of the Merger, which opportunities, alternatives or other changes could be favorable to our stockholders.

There is no assurance when or if the Merger will be completed. Any delay in completing the Merger may substantially reduce the benefits that we expect to obtain from the Merger and any failure to complete the Merger could harm our future business and operations.

Completion of the Merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of a number of conditions as set forth in the Merger Agreement. There can be no assurance that NMM or we will be able to satisfy the closing conditions or that closing conditions beyond our respective control will be satisfied or waived. In addition, NMM or we can agree at any time to terminate the Merger Agreement. NMM and we can also terminate the Merger Agreement under other specified circumstances.

If the Merger is not completed within the anticipated timeframe, such delay could result in additional transaction costs or other effects associated with uncertainty about the Merger. Furthermore, if the Merger is not completed, our ongoing businesses could be adversely affected and we will be subject to a variety of risks associated with the failure to complete the Merger, including without limitation the following:

In addition, if the Merger Agreement is terminated, we might have an immediate financial need to raise additional capital to fund our business and meet our expenses, including both transactional and operational expenses.

The terms of our debt agreements could restrict our operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in our business or to take specified actions and an event of default under our debt agreements could harm our business.

Our existing secured debt agreements with NNA of Nevada, Inc. (“NNA”), an affiliate of Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA (“Fresenius”), contain, andAgreements for any future indebtedness would likely contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions on our ability to take actions that may be in our best interests. Our existing debtDebt agreements often include covenants that, among other things, generally:

·do not allow usthe borrower to borrow additional amounts or additional amounts above a certain limit, or that are senior to the existing debt, without the approval of NNA;the creditor;

·require usthe borrower to obtain the consent of NNAthe creditor for acquisitions in excess of $500,000 an agreed upon amount and/or more and grant security interests in newly-acquired companies;

·do not allow usthe borrower to dispose of assets;

·do not allow usthe borrower to liquidate, wind up or dissolve any of ourits subsidiaries without the approval of NNA;creditor’s approval;

·do not allow usthe borrower to create any liens on any of ourits assets;

·do             require the borrower not allow us to pursue lines of business outside the lines of businesses engaged in by the Company as of March 28, 2014;

·require us to not impair NNA’sany security interests that the creditor has in ourthe borrower’s assets; and

·require usthe borrower to meet, on an ongoing basis, certain financial covenants, which may include targets as to consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), leverage ratio, fixed charge coverage ratio and consolidated tangible net worth.

No assurances can be given that we will be able to meet any of the financial covenants in favor of NNA,a creditor, and, if we were to fail to meet any financial covenant,covenants, there willwould be an event of default under the existing NNA agreements, and no assurance can be given that NNA willa creditor would waive such default, which in turn could result in material adverse effects on us.

As discussed below in the risk factor entitled “Laws regulating the corporate practice of medicine could restrict the manner in which we are permitted to conduct our business and the failure to comply with such laws could subject us to penalties or require a corporate restructuring,” we have certain contractual rights relating to the transfer of equity interests in some of our affiliated physician groups through Physician Shareholders agreements with Dr. Hosseinion, the controlling stockholder of our affiliated physician groups. Dr. Hosseinion’s ceasing to serve as a senior executive under his employment agreement would be an event of default under the debt agreements with NNA, unless he died or became disabled or was replaced by a new senior executive reasonably satisfactory to NNA. In the event that an event of default has occurred under the terms of our debt agreements with NNA, NNA has the right to require us to exercise this equity transfer right in favor of a transferee approved by NNA. If NNA exercised this right, in addition to any other remedies NNA would be entitled to under our debt agreements, we may lose control of our affiliated physician groups which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

NNA has a security interest over all offinancial condition and ability to continue our assets and those of our subsidiaries and (with limited exceptions) affiliates, and NNA would be able to foreclose on our assets if we defaulted on our obligations under the NNA debt agreements.operations.

If we defaulted on our obligations to NNA, they would be able to exercise various remedies, including foreclosing on and selling our assets and those of our subsidiaries, and using the proceeds to pay down our outstanding obligations to NNA.

Certain of NNA’s rights under the financing agreements would continue after we repay all our debt to NNA.

As discussed in “Our Business - NNA Financing Arrangements,” we have granted NNA various rights, including the right to nominate a director and appoint a board observer and to participate in certain equity offerings that will survive the repayment of our debt to NNA.

NNA has consent rights over certain corporate decisions.

As discussed above regarding our debt arrangements with NNA and as further discussed in “Our Business - NNA Financing Arrangements,” we have needed and may in the future need NNA’s consent for a number of different types of transactions. NNA could at any time withhold or condition its consent at its sole discretion. Consequently, we would be unable to take the action to which NNA did not consent or, if we did so without NNA’s consent, we would be in default under the agreements with NNA and NNA would have the right to enforce various remedies, including requiring immediate repayment of any outstanding indebtedness under those agreements. NNA’s enforcement of its remedies would likely have a material adverse effect on us and our business.

We have to make significant expenditures to service our existing debt, which may reduce our ability to continue expanding.

We have significant outstanding debt obligations, including the obligations with NNA described above and our 9% Senior Subordinated Convertible Notes, which become due and payable on February 15, 2016 unless converted. As a result, we have to devote significant resources to servicing our existing debt load, and may be unable to devote sufficient resources to our ongoing growth and expansion. This may have a material adverse effect on us and our business.

We are required to prepare and file with the SEC a registration statement covering the sale of NNA’sa former creditor’s registrable securities by October 24, 2015.December 31, 2017.

WeOn March 28, 2014, we entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with NNA of Nevada, Inc. (“NNA”), an affiliate of Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA (“Fresenius”), which has been amended from time to time. Presently, we are required to prepare and file with the SEC a registration statement covering the sale of NNA’s registrable securities issued pursuant to the Credit Agreement by October 24, 2015.December 31, 2017. If we fail to do so on October 24, 2015,by such date, and for each month thereafter until we file the registration statement registering NNA’s registrable securities, we must pay NNA liquidated damages of 1.5% of the total purchase price of the registrable securities owned by NNA, payable in Common Stock.shares of our common stock. This may result in the dilution of the ownership interests of our stockholders.

We are required to obtain NNA’s consent to the preparation and filing of any registration statement.statement except in limited circumstances.

We will have to obtain athe consent fromof NNA before filing any registration statement except in limited circumstances, and there can be no assurance that NNA will provide such a consent.consent, if required. If NNA does not provide such a consent, or conditioned its consent on any new requirements, we may be unable to file a registration statement in the future, even if such filing is advantageousnecessary to raise capital needed to operate our business.

The Company has a limited operating history thatnature of our business and rapid changes in the healthcare industry makes it difficult to reliably predict future growth and operating results.

The predecessorRapidly changing Federal and state healthcare laws, and the regulations thereunder, make it difficult to ApolloMed was incorporatedanticipate the nature and amount of medical reimbursements, third party private payments and participation in California in 2001, and served initially as the management company for our affiliated medical group, ApolloMed Hospitalists. In addition, ApolloMed wascertain government programs. For example, we were awarded a participation agreement under CMS’ MSSP in July 2012. ApolloMed has limited experience operating2012, to operate as an ACO. ACO or managed care organization. Further, MMG is growing rapidly and has received a one-time true-upan “all or nothing” payment inunder the fourth quarterMSSP program for services rendered throughoutin fiscal year 2015, that make it difficult to predict its future cash flow and results based on current results. Accordingly, we havebut did not receive such a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business prospects, whichpayment for fiscal 2016 or fiscal 2017. This makes it difficult to forecast ApolloMed’sour future operatingearnings, cash flow and results and cash flows.of operations. The evolving nature of the current medical services industry increases these uncertainties. You must consider

We may encounter difficulties in managing our growth.

We may not be able to successfully grow and expand. Successful implementation of our business plan requires that we manage our growth, including potentially rapid and substantial growth, which could result in an increase in the Company’s business prospects in lightlevel of the risks, uncertaintiesresponsibility for management personnel and problems frequently encountered by companies with limitedstrain on our human and capital resources. To manage growth effectively, we will be required, among other things, to continue to implement and improve our operating histories.and financial systems and controls to expand, train and manage our employee base. Our ability to predictmanage our operations and growth at any timeeffectively requires us to continue to expend funds to enhance our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and attract and retain sufficient numbers of qualified personnel. If we are unable to implement and scale improvements to all our control systems in an efficient and timely manner, or if we encounter deficiencies in existing systems and controls, then we will not be able to make available the futureservices required to successfully execute our business plan. Failure to attract and retain sufficient numbers of qualified personnel could further strain our human resources and impede our growth or result in ineffective growth. Moreover, the management, systems and controls currently in place or to be implemented may not be limited.adequate for such growth, and the steps taken to hire personnel and to improve such systems and controls might not be sufficient. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, the failure to do may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may be unable to successfully integrate recently acquired and launched entities and may have difficulty predicting the future needs of those entities.

In 2014, ApolloMed (including its affiliates that are wholly-owned by Dr. Hosseinion)fiscal 2015, we acquired Southern California Heart Centers,SCHC, AKM, Medical Group, a Los Angeles based IPA, Best Choice Hospice Care LLCBCHC and Holistic Health Home Health Care Inc.,HCHHA, and launched ApolloMedACC and APS. In fiscal 2016, we formed Apollo Care ClinicConnect and ApolloMed Palliative Services, LLC. combined the operations of AKM into those of MMG, and disposed of substantially all the assets of ACC. In fiscal 2017, we acquired BAHA and formed APAACO to operate under the NGACO Model.

As a result of our rapid expansion we may be unable to successfully integrate the various entities we have acquired or formed. Further,Additionally, these entities operate in different areas of the health care industry and we cannot accurately predict how these acquired entities will perform in the future.future, integrate into our entire operations or result in a diversion of management focus and attention to others parts of our business.

TheOur growth strategy of the Company may not prove viable and expected growth and value may not be realized.

Our business strategy is to grow rapidly grow by managing a network of medical groups providing certain hospital-based services and integrated inpatient and outpatient physician networks. We also seek growth opportunities both organically and through the acquisition of target medical groups and other service providers. Identifying quality acquisition candidates is a time-consuming and costly process. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in identifying and establishing relationships with these and other candidates. If the Company iswe are not successful in identifying and acquiring other entities, our ability to successfully implement our business plan and achieve targeted financial results is dependent on successfully integrating those entities.could be adversely affected. The process of integrating acquired entities involves risks. Thesesignificant risks, which include, but are not limited to:

There iscan be no assurance that we will be able to manage the integration of our acquisitions or the growth of such acquisitions effectively.

An element of our growth strategy is also the expansion of our business by developing new palliative care programs in our existing markets and in new markets. This aspect of our growth strategy may not be successful, which could adversely impact our overall growth and profitability. We cannot assure you that we will be able to:

We may not make appropriate acquisitions, may fail to integrate them into our business, or these acquisitions could alter our current payor mix and reduce our income.revenue.

Our business is significantly dependent on locating and acquiring or partnering with medical practices or individual physicians to provide health care services. As part of our growth strategy, we regularly review potential acquisition opportunities. We believe that there continue to be a number of acquisition opportunities that would be complementary to our business. We cannot predict whether we will be successful in pursuing such acquisition opportunities or what the consequences of any such acquisitions would be. If we are not successful in finding attractive acquisition candidates that we can acquire on satisfactory terms, or if we cannot successfully complete and efficiently integrate those acquisitions that we identify, we may not be able to implement our business model, which would likely negatively impact our revenues, results of operations and income.financial condition. Furthermore, our acquisition strategy involves a number of risks and uncertainties, including:

Changes to the fair value of contingent compensation payments to be paid in connection with our acquisitions may result in significant fluctuations to our results of operations.

In connection with some of our recent acquisitions we are required to make certain contingent compensation payments. The fair value of such payments is re-evaluated periodically based on changes in our estimate of future operating results and changes in market discount rates. Any changes in our estimated fair value are recognized in our results of operations. Increases in the amount of contingent compensation payments were are required to make may have an adverse effect on our operations.financial condition.

Our management team’s attention may be diverted by recent acquisitions and searches for new acquisition targets, and our business and operations may suffer adverse consequences as a result.

Mergers and acquisitions are time intensive,time-intensive, requiring significant commitment of our management team’s focus and resources. If our management team spends too much time focused on recent acquisitions or on potential acquisition targets, our management team may not have sufficient time to focus on our existing business and operations. This diversion of attention could have material and adverse consequences on our operations and our ability to be profitable.

Our growth strategy incurs significant costs, which could adversely affect our financial condition.

Our growth-by-acquisition strategy involves significant costs, including financial advisory, legal and accounting fees, and may include additional costs, including costs of fairness opinions, labor costs, termination payments, contingent payments and bonuses, among others. These costs could put a strain on our available cash and cash flow, which in turn could adversely affect our overall financial condition.

We may be unable to scale our operations successfully.

Our growth strategy will place significant demands on our management and financial, administrative and other resources. Operating results will depend substantially on the ability of our officers and key employees to manage changing business conditions and to implement and improve our financial, administrative and other resources. If the Company iswe are unable to respond to and manage changing business conditions, or the scale of itsour operations, then the quality of itsour services, itsour ability to retain key personnel and itsour business could be harmed.adversely affected.

We could experience significant losses under our capitation-based contracts if the medical expenses we incur exceed revenues.

In California, health plans typically prospectively pay an IPA a fixed Per Member Per MonthPMPM amount, or capitation payment, which is often based on a percentage of the amount received by the health plan. Capitation payments to IPAs, in the aggregate, represent a prospective budget from which the IPA manages care-related expenses on behalf of the population enrolled with that IPA. If our IPAs are able to manage care-related expenses under the capitated levels, we realize an operating profit on our capitation contracts. However, if our care-related expenses exceed projected levels, our IPAs may realize substantial operating deficits, which are not capped and could lead to substantial losses for our Company.losses.

Our future growth could be harmed if we lose the services of certain key personnel.Dr. Hosseinion.

Our success depends to a significant extent on the continued contributions of our key management personnel, includingparticularly our Chief Executive Officer, Warren Hosseinion, M.D., for the management of our business and implementation of our business strategy. We have entered into an employment agreementsagreement with Dr. Hosseinion and we hold a $5 million key man life insurance policy. The loss of Dr. Hosseinion or other key management personnelHosseinion’s services could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our current principal stockholders have significant influence over us and they could delay, deter or prevent a change of control or other business combination or otherwise cause us to take action with which you might not agree. This includes that our founders, Warren Hosseinion, M.D. and Adrian Vazquez, M.D., combined currently own more than 40% 35%of our shares and have significant influence over our operations and strategic direction.

Our executive officers and directors, together with holders of greater than 5% of our outstanding common stock, as a group, currently beneficially own a majority approximately 70%of our outstanding common stock. As a result, our executive officers, directors and holders of greater than 5% of our outstanding common stock, willassuming they agree, have the ability to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including:including among other things:

This concentration of ownership of shares of our common stock could delay or prevent proxy contests, mergers, tender offers, open market purchase programs or other purchases of shares of our common stock that might otherwise give our stockholders the opportunity to realize a premium over the then prevailing market price of our common stock. The interests of our executive officers, directors and holders of greater than 5% of our outstanding common stock may not always coincide with the interests of the other stockholders. This concentration of ownership may also adversely affect our stock price.

TheThis concentration of ownership includesis underscored by the fact that Dr. Hosseinion (who currently owns approximately 21%19% of our shares)common stock) and Dr. Vazquez (who currently owns approximately 19%16% of our shares)common stock) together currently own over 40%more than 35% of our shares of common stock and exert a significant degree of influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. As stockholders, Dr.Drs. Hosseinion and Dr. Vazquez are entitled to vote their shares in their own interests, which may not always be in the interests of our stockholders generally. Their concentrated holdingholdings of such a significant blockso much of sharesour common stock may harm the value of our shares and discourage investors from being involvedinvesting in our Company. Theyus. Drs. Hosseinion and Vazquez could also use their concentrated holdingsseek to delay, defer or prevent a change of control, merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets that our other stockholders may support, or conversely this concentrated control could result in the consummation of such a transaction that our other stockholders domay not support.

If our agreements or arrangements with Dr. Hosseinion or physician groups are deemed invalid under state law, including laws against the corporate practice of medicine and similar laws, or federalFederal law, or are terminated as a result of changes in state law, it could have a material impact on our profitability.results of operations and financial condition.

There are various state laws, including laws in California, regulating the corporate practice of medicine which prohibitprohibits us from owning various health carehealthcare entities. TheseThis corporate practice of medicine prohibitions are intended to prevent unlicensed persons from interfering with or inappropriately influencing thea physician’s professional judgment. These and other laws may also prevent fee-splitting, which is the sharing of professional service income with non-professional or business interests. The interpretation and enforcement of these laws vary significantly from state to state. As a result, we have structured other agreements and arrangements with these entities, which may not besuch as effectivehaving Dr. Hosseinion hold shares in providing controlsuch practices as direct ownership.nominee shareholder for our benefit. If thosethese agreements and arrangements were held to be invalid under state laws prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine, a significant portion of our revenues couldwould be affected, which may result in a material adverse effect uponon our Company. Further,results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, any changes to federalFederal or state law that made regulated or prohibitedprohibit such agreements or arrangements could also have a material adverse effect upon our profitabilityresults of operations and operations.financial condition.

We rely on certain key affiliated entities that are owned by key personnel who could stopIf we lost the services to our Company. Any failure by our key affiliated entities or their equity holders to perform their obligations underof Dr. Hosseinion for any reason, the contractual arrangements would havewith our VIEs could be in jeopardy.

Because of corporate practice of medicine laws, many of our affiliated physician practice groups are either wholly-owned or primarily owned by Dr. Hosseinion as nominee shareholder for our benefit. If Dr. Hosseinion died, was incapacitated or otherwise was no longer affiliated with our company, there could be a material adverse effect on the relationship between each of those VIEs and us and, therefore, our business financial condition and resultsas a whole could be adversely affected.

The contractual arrangements we have with ours VIEs is not as secure as direct ownership of operations. We also own the majority, and not all, of the equity of our key subsidiaries.such entities.

We consolidate in our financial reporting and business structure variousBecause of corporate practice of medicine laws, we enter into contractual arrangements to manage certain affiliated physician practice groups.groups, which allows us to consolidate those groups with us for financial reporting purposes. If we had direct ownership of certain of our affiliated entities, we would be able to exercise our rights as an equity holder directly to effect changes in the boards of directors of those entities, which could effect changes at the management and operational level. Under our contractual arrangements, we may not be able to directly change the members of the boards of directors of these entities and would have to rely on the entities and the entities’ equity holders to perform their obligations in order to exercise our control over the entities. If any of these affiliated entities or their equity holders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangementsarrangements.

Further, many of thoseAny failure by our key affiliated entities are either wholly-owned or primarily owned by Dr. Hosseinion. If Dr. Hosseinion died, was incapacitated or otherwise was no longer affiliatedtheir equity holders to perform their obligations under the contractual arrangements they have with our Company there could beus would have a material adverse effect on our business. Additionally, MMGbusiness, results of operations and otherfinancial condition. We also own the majority, and not all, of the equity of certain subsidiaries.

Several of our affiliated medical physician practice groups are or may be owned by other medical doctorsphysicians who could also die, become incapacitated or otherwise become no longer affiliated with our Company, which might have a material adverse effect on our business.us. Although the terms of the contractual agreementsMSAs we have with these affiliates provide that theythe MSA will be binding on the successors of the entities’such affiliates’ equity holders, as those successors are not a partyparties to the agreements,MSAs, it is uncertain whether the successors in case of the death, bankruptcy or divorce of an equity holder willwould be subject to or will be willing to honor the obligations of such agreements.MSAs.

In addition, although we consolidate in our financial reporting and business structure ApolloMed ACO and ApolloMed Palliative,APS, individuals other than Dr. Hosseinion, who acts as nominee shareholder for our benefit of AMM, also own approximately 30%20% of the equity of ApolloMed ACO and 49%44% of the equity in ApolloMed Palliative.APS.  Additionally, we consolidate APAACO in our financial reporting, although we own 50% of the equity in that entity.

ApolloMed’sOur operations are dependent on a few key payors.

We had threefour payors during the year ended March 31, 20152017 that accounted for 34.8%18.8%, 13.2%13.1%, 8.5% and 12.3%6.8% of net revenues, respectively. During the year ended January 31, 2014, weWe had three payors during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 that accounted for 17.8%29.8%, 15.9%15.7% and 13.9%9.9% of net revenues, (unaudited), respectively. We believe that going forward, a substantial portionmajority of itsour revenue couldwill continue to be derived from a select few payors. Each payor may immediately terminate any of our contracts or any individual credentialed physician upon the occurrence of certain events. They may also amend the material terms of the contracts under certain circumstances. Failure to maintain the contracts on favorable terms or at all, for any reason, would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

A decline in the number of patients we serve could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Like any business, a material decline in the number of patients we serve, whether they or a third party government or private entity is paying for their healthcare, could also have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.operations and financial condition.

ACOs are relatively new and undergoing changes, additionally CMS may change or discontinue the MSSP program.

The Company has invested resources in both applying to participate in the MSSP and in establishing initial infrastructure. The MSSP program and the rules regarding ACOs has been altered and may be further altered in the future. Any material change to the MSSP program and ACO requirements, governance and operating rules, could provide a significant financial risk for us and alter our strategic direction, thereby producing stockholder risk and uncertainty. In addition, we could be terminated from the MSSP if we do not comply with the MSSP participation requirements.

ApolloMed ACO may not generate savings through its participation in the MSSP, and revenue, if any, revenue generatedearned by such participation will be periodic and will occur, if at all,only once annually on an annual“all or nothing” basis. The payment of the shared savings could happen irregularly.

ApolloMed ACO participates in the MSSP sponsored by the CMS. The MSSP allows ACO participants to share in cost savings that are generated in connection with rendering medical services to Medicare patients. Payments to ACO participants, if any, are calculated annually by CMS on cost savings generated by the ACO participants relative to the ACO participants trailing medical service history. The MSSP is a newly formedrelatively new program with limited history of payments to ACO participants. As a result of the uncertain nature of the MSSP program, the Company considerswe consider revenue, if any, under the MSSP, as contingent upon the realization of program savings as determined by CMS, and revenues are not considered earned and therefore are not recognized until notice from CMS that cash payments are to be imminently received.

During the year ended March 31, 2015, the Company was awarded and received approximately a $5.4 million payment related to savings achieved from July 1, 2012, through December 31, 2013, for its participation in the MSSP which represented 16% of our net revenue during the year ended March 31, 2015. Since payments, if any, are made on an annual basis, the Company will not receive such payments during each quarter, and consequently, revenue may be materially lower in quarters when MSSP related payments are not received.

In addition, there is no assurance that the Companywe will meet the conditions necessary for receipt of future payments. Further, the Company’sFurthermore, our ability to continue to generate savings for the MSSP program depends on many factors, many of which are outside of the Company’sour control, including, among others, how the CMS elects to administer the MSSP program, how savings levels are calculated and continued political support of the MSSP program. As a result, whether future revenues will be earned by ApolloMed ACO is uncertain and if such amounts are payable, they will be paid on an annual basis significantly after the time earned, and will be contingent on various factors, including whether savings were determined to be achieved in 2015 or in any other period during which savings are measured.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, we were awarded and received approximately a $5.4 million payment related to savings achieved from July 1, 2012, through December 31, 2013, which represented 16% of our net revenue during the year ended March 31, 2015. During the fiscal years ended March 31, 2016 and 2017, we did not receive any MSSP payment. We are eligible to be considered for an all-or-nothing payment under this program for performance year 2016 (which, if it is paid, would be paid to us in fiscal 2018). However, we do not believe that we will be eligible to receive payments for performance years beginning 2017, because of our transition to, and business focus on, the NGACO Model, in which we are participating as of January 1, 2017.

Moreover, if amounts are payable to us under the MSSP, they will be paid on an annual basis significantly after the time they are earned. Additionally, since MSSP payments, if any, are made once annually, we would not receive such payments spread out over our fiscal year and, consequently, revenue may be materially lower in quarters when any MSSP-related payments are not received by us.

The success of our emphasis on the new NGACO Model is uncertain.

To position ourselves to participate in the NGACO Model, we have devoted, and intend to continue to devote, significant effort and resources, financial and otherwise, to the NGACO Model, and refocused away from certain other parts of our historic business and revenue streams, which will receive less emphasis in the future and could result in reduced revenue from these activities. It is unknown at this time if this strategic decision will be successful in terms of our emphasis on the NGACO Model and/or placing less emphasis on certain other parts of our core business and revenue streams.

The results of the NGACO Model are unknown.

The NGACO Model is a new CMS program that builds upon previous ACO programs, including the MSSP program. Through the NGACO Model, CMS will provide an opportunity to APAACO and other NGACOs experienced in coordinating care for populations of patients, and whose provider groups are willing to assume higher levels of financial risk and reward, to participate in this new attribution-based risk sharing model. In January 2017, CMS approved APAACO to participate in the NGACO Model and CMS and APAACO have entered into a Participation Agreement with a term of two performance years through December 31, 2018. CMS may offer to renew the Participation Agreement for an additional two performance years. Additionally, the Participation Agreement may be terminated sooner by CMS as specified therein and CMS has the flexibility to alter or change the program over this time period. The number of Medicare ACOs continues to rise in total but there are still a growing number of program types and demonstrations that could be consolidated and impact APAACO.

The NGACO Model program has certain political risks.

If the ACA is amended or repealed and replaced, or if CMMI is terminated, the NGACO Model program could be discontinued or significantly altered. In addition, CMS leadership could be changed and influenced by Congress and/or the current Administration. Additionally, CMS or CMMI may elect to combine any existing programs, including bundled payments, which could greatly alter the NGACO Model program.

APAACO’s participation in the NGACO Model program subjects it to certain regulatory risks.

Among many requirements to be eligible to participate in the NGACO Model program, APAACO must have at least 10,000 assigned Medicare beneficiaries and must maintain that number throughout each performance year. Although APAACO started its 2017 performance year with more than 32,000 assigned Medicare beneficiaries, there can be no assurance that APAACO will maintain the required number of assigned Medicare beneficiaries, and, if that number were not maintained, APAACO would become ineligible for the program.

APAACO is subject to changing state laws and regulations.

NGACOs are required to comply with all applicable state laws and regulations regarding provider-based risk-bearing entities. If these laws or regulations change, for example, to require a Knox-Keene license in California, which we do not have, APAACO could be required to cease its NGACO operations.

APAACO may experience losses due to the NGACO Model Program.

APAACO is responsible for savings and losses from claims. The NGACO Model uses a prospectively-set cost benchmark, which is established prior to the start of each performance year. The benchmark is based on various factors, including baseline expenditures with the baseline updated each year to reflect the NGACO’s participant list for the given year. The 2017 performance year NGACO Model baseline for APAACO is based on calendar year 2014 expenditures that are then trended. Regional, population and time adjustments could potentially underestimate APAACO’s actual expenditures for its Medicare Part A and Part B beneficiaries.

If claims cost rise from benchmark, or 2014 and/or 2017 are statistically anomalies, APAACO could experience losses due to the NGACO Model program, which could be significant prior to any adjustment in benchmarked expenditures.

Additionally, given that APAACO is providing care coordination but does not employ any physicians nor provide direct patient care, the degree of influence APAACO has could be limited and out of its direct control. Because of APAACO’s limited influence, it is possible APAACO may not be able to influence provider and preferred provider behavior, utilization and patient costs.

APAACO’s dependence on CMS creates uncertainty and subjects APAACO to potential liability.

APAACO relies on CMS for design, oversight and governance of the NGACO Model program. Accurate data, claims benchmarking and calculations, timely payments and periodic process reviews are key to program success. In addition to APAACO’s administrative and care coordination operating costs, APAACO may not generate savings through its participation in the NGACO Model. Any savings generated, if at all, will be earned in arrears and uncertain in both timing and amount.

APAACO chose to participate in the AIPBP payment mechanism, which entails certain special risks.

APAACO chose to participate in the AIPBP payment mechanism, and is the only NGACO to have chosen this payment mechanism. Under the AIPBP payment mechanism, CMS will estimate the total annual Part A and Part B Medicare expenditures of APAACO’s assigned Medicare beneficiaries and pay that projected amount in per beneficiary per month payments. APAACO chose “Risk Arrangement A”, comprising 80% risk for Part A and Part B Medicare expenditures and a shared savings and losses cap of 5%, or as a result a 4% effective shared savings and losses cap when factoring in 80% risk impact. APAACO’s benchmark Medicare Part A and Part B expenditures for beneficiaries for its 2017 performance year are approximately $335 million, and under “Risk Arrangement A” of the AIPBP payment mechanism APAACO could therefore have profits or be liable for losses of up to 4% of such benchmarked expenditures, or approximately $13.4 million. While performance can be monitored throughout the year, end results will not be known until 2018.

CMS has indicated that its initial financial reports to participants in the NGACO Model may not be complete.

The NGACO Model is new and CMS is implementing extensive reporting protocols in connection therewith. CMS has indicated that it does not anticipate initial reports under the NGACO Model to be indicative of final results of actual risk-sharing and revenues to which we are entitled, especially for the period January 1, 2017 through March 31, 2017, which is the first quarter of the NGACO program and the fourth quarter of our 2017 fiscal year. This is because there are inherent biases in reporting the results at such an early juncture. Were that to be the case, we might not report accurately our revenues for this period, which could be subject to adjustment in a later period once we receive final results from CMS.

APAACO requires significant capital reserves for program participation.

NGACOs must provide a financial guarantee to CMS. The financial guarantee must be in an amount of 2% of the NGACO’s benchmark Medicare Part A and Part B expenditures. APAACO’s benchmark Medicare Part A and Part B expenditures for beneficiaries for its 2017 performance year being approximately $335 million, APAACO submitted a letter of credit for $6.7 million for the 2017 program year. If APAACO reaches the maximum of its shared losses of $13.4 million, it may need to pay another $6.7 million to CMS or CMS may change or alter the risk reserve process or amount. Additionally, the incurred but not reported (“IBNR”) methodology utilized by CMS could have a negative impact on APAACO and affect working capital and capital requirements.

APAACO is responsible for savings and losses related to care received by its patients at Out-of-Network Providers which could negatively impact our ability to control claim costs.

Medicare beneficiaries in a NGACO Model program are not required to receive their care from a narrow network of contracted providers and facilities, which could make it challenging for APAACO to control the financial risks of those beneficiaries. CMS notified APAACO that its Medicare beneficiaries historically have received approximately 62% of their care at non-contracted, out-of-network ("OON") providers. While not responsible for paying claims for OON providers, APAACO may have difficulty managing patient care and costs as compared to in-network providers. Additionally, APAACO is responsible for savings and losses of this population using OON providers, which could adversely impact our financial results.

In addition, if APAACO is successful under its Participation Agreement with CMS in encouraging more of its patients to receive their care with contracted, in-network providers, there is the possibility that the monthly AIPBP payments will be insufficient to cover current expenditures, since the AIPBP payments will be based on historical in-network/out-of-network ratios. This could potentially result in negative cash-flow problems for APAACO, if increased payments need to be made to contracted, in-network providers, especially if CMS fails to monitor this in-network/OON ratio on a frequent periodic basis and reconciliation payments are materially delayed.

There is uncertainty regarding the initial design and administration of the NGACO Model program.

Due to the newness of the NGACO Model program and the fact that APAACO is the only company participating in the AIPBP track, APAACO is subject to initial program challenges including, but not limited to, process design, data and other related program aspects. APAACO has already experienced various apparent errors in the NGACO Model program and APAACO has been working with CMS, including senior CMS management, on these issues, but the resolution and impact on APAACO remains uncertain. Moreover, there is the potential for new or additional issues to be experienced with CMS which could negatively impact APAACO. Among other things, the AIPBP claims processing methodology is complex and could create reimbursement delays to contracted APAACO providers, which could cause some providers to terminate their agreements with APAACO. For example, services provided by contracted APAACO providers with Dates of Service (“DOS”) from January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2017 were to be paid by CMS. All services provided with DOS from April 1, 2017 onward were to be paid by APAACO. However, a flaw in the claims processing system of one of CMS’ contractors caused payments to contracted APAACO providers to be unpaid or to be paid at a reduced rate from January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2017. Various providers expressed dissatisfaction about this and several decided to terminate their agreements with APAACO. Consequently, there is the actual and potential risk of damaging goodwill with APAACO’s contracted providers, which could have a material adverse effect on the operations and financial condition of APAACO in particularly and our results of operations and financial condition on a consolidated basis.

APAACO has also experienced weaknesses in the NGACO Model program beneficiary alignment methodology. For example, some patients see more than one primary care provider (“PCP”) in a calendar year. CMS could attribute a patient to one PCP rather than another, which could create potential liability for APAACO. For example, when APAACO sent letters to its patients, as required by CMS, it received several calls from PCPs who did not join APAACO, but whose patients were attributed to another PCP. There could also be liability where a PCP has a capitated contract with APAACO, but the PCP’s patient also sees another PCP, whether that PCP was contracted with APAACO or not. APAACO’s expenditures could increase due to CMS having paid an additional PCP, or to the extent that APAACO has to pay for a PCP that is not an APAACO contracted provider.

AIPBP operations and benchmarking calculations are complex.

AIPBP operations and benchmarking calculations are complex and can lead to errors in the application of the NGACO Model program, which could create reimbursement delays to our providers and adversely affect APAACO’s performance and results of operations. For example, APAACO has discovered a feature in the AIPBP claims files that do not allow APAACO to break down certain claims amounts by individual patient codes. This feature has created confusion for APAACO contracted providers in reconciling their payments, causing some providers to terminate their agreements with APAACO. This feature could also create uncertainty with those agreements with providers that include capitation plus carve-outs for certain procedures. APAACO has sought to address its concerns about such feature with CMS and CMS has informed APAACO that CMS’ contractor is unable to remedy this situation for at least the foreseeable future.

CMS relies on multiple third-party contractors to manage the NGACO Model program, which could hinder performance.

In addition to CMS reliance, CMS relies on various third parties to effect the NGACO program. This may be other departments of the U.S. government, such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (“CMMI”). CMS relies on multiple third party contractors to manage the NGACO Model program, including claims and auditing. Due to such reliance, there is the potential for errors, delays and poor communication among the differing entities involved, which are beyond the control of APAACO. This could negatively impact APAACO’s results of operations specifically and our results of operations on a consolidated basis.

Third parties used by APAACO could hinder performance.

APAACO uses select third parties. This could create operational and performance risk if, for example, the third party does not perform its responsibilities properly. Additionally, APAACO has contracted with participating Part A and Part B providers and was able to contract discounted Medicare, Diagnosis-Related Group and Resource Utilization Group rates with multiple providers. However, APAACO providers could decide to change or discontinue these contractual rates or to terminate their agreements with APAACO.

Risk-sharing arrangements that Maverick Medical Group, Inc.MMG has with health plans and hospitals could result in their costs exceeding the corresponding revenues, which could reduce or eliminate any shared risk profitability. Maverick Medical Group, Inc.MMG also has a key contract with Prospect Medical Group (“PMG”) and its management service organization, which if terminated could materially affect our business.

MMG’sUnder risk-sharing arrangements into which MMG has entered, MMG is responsible for a portion of the cost of hospital services or other services that are not capitated. These risk-sharing arrangements may require MMG to assume a portion of any loss sustained from such arrangements, thereby adversely affecting our consolidated results of operations. Under these risk-sharing arrangements, MMG is responsible for a portion of the cost of hospital services or other services that are not capitated. The terms of the particular risk-sharing arrangement allocate responsibility to the respective parties when the cost of services exceeds the related revenue, which results in a deficit, or permit the parties to share in any surplus amounts when actual costs are less than the related revenue. The amount of non-capitated medical and hospital costs in any period could be affected by factors beyond the control of MMG, such as changes in treatment protocols, new technologies, longer lengths of stay by the patient, and inflation. To the extent that such non-capitated medical and hospital costs are higher than anticipated, revenue may not be sufficient to cover the risk-sharing deficits the health plans and MMG are responsible for, which could reduce our revenuesrevenue and income.adversely affect our results of operations.

If MMG is not able to satisfy DMHC requirements, MMG could become subject to sanctions and its ability to do business in California could be limited or terminated.

MMGThe DMHC has further entered intoinstituted financial solvency regulations. The regulations are intended to provide a contract with PMG’s management serviceformal mechanism for monitoring the financial solvency of a risk-bearing organization (“PMSO”RBO”) that has a term through September 28, 2020 and automatically renews unless either party provides notice, pursuantin California, including capitated physician groups, such as MMG. Under DMHC regulations, our affiliated physician groups are required to, which, among other services, PMSO provides claims processing, authorizationsthings:

In the event that a physician organization is not in compliance with any of the above criteria, the organization would be required to describe in a report submitted to the DMHC the reasons for non-compliance and credentialing for certain physicians.actions to be taken to bring the organization into compliance. Additionally, under another contract with PMG that has a term through September 28, 2015 and automatically renews unless either party provides notice, MMG accessesthese regulations, the DMHC can make public some health plan contracts by using PMG asof the risk-bearing contracting party with those health plans. Any disruption or changeinformation contained in the conditionreports, including, but not limited to, whether or not a particular physician organization met each of PMG’s operations,the criteria. In the event our affiliated physician groups are not able to meet certain of the financial solvency requirements, and fail to meet subsequent corrective action plans, our affiliated physician groups could be subject to sanctions, or any changeslimitations on, or removal of, its ability to do business in California.

MMG is currently attempting to confirm that it is in compliance with certain financial requirements of the DMHC.

Our IPA, MMG, was not in compliance with certain DMHC financial requirements, including tangible net equity (“TNE”). We have increased our contractsintercompany line of credit to MMG to provide additional capital in attempt to comply partially with PMSOthe DMHC’s requirements. Through a plan of remediation that we presented to the DMHC and which plan it approved, we must contribute additional funds, cut costs, increase revenue or PMG, coulda combination of the above, which we have done. As a material adverse effectresult of the foregoing actions we took, MMG had positive TNE as of the third quarter of fiscal 2017 and has maintained positive TNE to date. Since DMHC requirements are that an RBO should have positive TNE for one full quarter to be taken off a corrective action plan (“CAP”), we believe that MMG is currently in compliance with DMHC requirements. The DMHC is currently reviewing filings we have made to confirm this compliance. However, there can be no assurance that MMG will remain in compliance with DMHC requirements. To the extent that we are required to contribute additional capital to MMG in the future, we would have less available cash to use on other parts of our business.

Economic conditions or changing consumer preferences could adversely impact our business.

A downturn in economic conditions in one or more of the Company’sour markets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Historically, state budget limitations have resulted in reduced state spending. Given that Medicaid is a significant component of state budgets, aan economic downturn would put continued cost containment pressures on Medicaid outlays for our services in California and the other states in which we operate.California. In addition, an economic downturn coupled withand/or sustained unemployment, may also impact the number of enrollees in managed care programs as well as the profitability of managed care companies, which could result in reduced reimbursement rates.

The existing federalFederal deficit, as well as deficit spending by the government as the result of adverse developments in the economy or other reasons, can lead to continuing pressure to reduce government expenditures for other purposes, including government-funded programs in which we participate, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Such actions in turn may adversely affect our results of operations.

Although we attempt to stay informed of government and customer trends, any sustained failure to identify and respond to trends could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

The Company’sOur success depends, to a significant degree, upon theour ability to adapt to a changing market and continued development of additional services.

Although we expect to provide a broad and competitive range of services, there can be no assurance of acceptance by the marketplace. The procurement ofOur ability to procure new contracts by the Company may be dependent upon the continuing results achieved at the current facilities, upon pricing and operational considerations, as well asand the potential need for continuing improvement to existing services. Moreover, the markets for such services may not develop as expected nor can there be any assurance that we will be successful in our marketing of any such services.

Competition for physicians is intense, and we may not be able to hire and retain qualified physicians to provide services.

We are dependent on our affiliated physicians to provide services and generate revenue. We compete with many types of healthcare providers, including teaching, research and government institutions, hospitals and other practice groups, for the services of clinicians. The limited number of residents entering the job market each year and the limited number of other licensed providers seeking to change employers makes it challenging to meet our hiring needs and may require us to contractlocum tenens physicians or to increase physician compensation in a manner that decreases our profit margins. The limited number of residents and other licensed providers also impacts our ability to recruit new physicians with the expertise necessary to provide services within our business and our ability to renew contracts with existing physicians on acceptable terms. If we do not do so, our ability to provide services could be adversely affected. OurEven though our physician turnover rate has remained stable over at least the last three years. Ifyears, if the turnover rate were to increase significantly, our growth could be impeded.adversely affected.

Moreover, unlike some of our competitors who sometimes pay additional compensation to physicians who agree to provide services exclusively to that competitor, our IPAs have historically not entered into such exclusivity agreements and have allowed our affiliated physicians to affiliate with multiple IPAs. This practice may place us at a competitive disadvantage regarding the hiring and retention of physicians relative to those competitors who do enter into such exclusivity agreements.

The healthcare industry continues to experience shortages in qualified service employees and management personnel, and we may be unable to hire qualified employees.

We compete with other healthcare providers for our employees, both clinical associates and management personnel. As the demand for health services continues to exceed the supply of available and qualified staff, we and our competitors have been forced to offer more attractive wage and benefit packages to these professionals. Furthermore, the competition for this shrinkingsegment of the labor market has created turnover as many seek to take advantage of the supply of available positions, each offeringmany of which offer new and more attractive wage and benefit packages. In addition to the wage pressures described above, the cost of training new employees amid the turnover rates may cause added pressure on our operating margins. Lastly, the market for qualified nurses and therapists is highly competitive, which may adversely affect our palliative, home health and hospice operations, which are particularly dependent on nurses for patient care.

The health carehealthcare industry is highly competitive.

There are many other companies and individuals currently providing health care services.services, many of which have been in business longer than we have been, and/or have substantially more financial and personnel resources than we have. We compete directly with national, regional and local providers of inpatient healthcare for patients and physicians. Other companies could enter the market in the future and divert some or all of our business. On a national basis, our competitors include, but are not limited to, Team Health, EmCare, DaVita HealthCare Partners and Heritage, Provider Network, each of which may havehas greater financial and other resources available to them. We also compete with physician groups and privately-owned health care companies in each of our local markets. Existing or future competitors also may seek to compete with us for acquisitions, which could have the effect of increasing the price and reducing the number of suitable acquisitions, which would have an adverse impact on our growth strategy. Since there are virtually no capital expenditures required to enter the industry, there are few financial barriers to entry. Individual physicians, physician groups and companies in other healthcare industry segments, including hospitals with which we have contracts, and some of which have greater financial, marketing and staffing resources, may become competitors in providing health care services, and this competition may have a material adverse effect on our business operations and financial position. In addition, certain governmental payors contract for services with independent providers such that our relationships with these payors are not exclusive, particularly in California.California, where all of our operations, providers and patients are located.

Further,Additionally, as we have expanded into palliative, home health and hospice care through the launch of ApolloMed Palliative,APS, we face competitors that have traditionally concentrated in this segment and that may have greater resources and specialized expertise than us.we have. In many areas in which our palliative, home health and hospice care programs are located, we compete with a large number of organizations, including:

We may be unable to compete successfully compete with these competitors in palliative, home health and hospice care, and may expend significant resources without success.

We are reliantrely on referrals from third parties for our services.

Our business is reliantrelies in part on referrals from third parties for our services. We receive referrals from community medical providers, emergency departments, payors, and hospitals in the same manner as other medical professionals receive patient referrals. We do not provide compensation or other remuneration to our referral sources for referring patients to us. A decrease in these referrals due to competition, concerns about the quality of our services and other factors could result in a significant decrease in our revenues and adversely impact our financial condition. Similarly, we cannot assure that we will be able to obtain or maintain preferred provider status with significant third-party payors in the communities where we operate. If we are unable to maintain our referral base or our preferred provider status with significant third-party payors, it may negatively impact our revenues and our financial performance.

Hospitals and other inpatient and post-acute care facilities (collectively “facilities”) may terminate their agreements with us or reduce the fees they pay us.

For the year ended March 31, 2015,2017, we derived approximately 13%49% of our net revenue for physician services from contracts directly with hospitals, other inpatient and post-acute care facilities. Our current partner facilities may decide not to renew our contracts, introduce unfavorable terms, or reduce fees paid to us. Any of these events may impact the ability of our physician practice groups to operate at such facilities, which would negatively impact our revenue, results of operations and profitability.financial condition.

Some of the hospitals where our affiliated physicians provide services may have their medical staff closed to non-contracted physicians.

In general, our affiliated physicians may only provide services in a hospital where they have certain credentials, called privileges, which are granted by the medical staff and controlled by the legally binding medical staff bylaws of the hospital. The medical staff decides who will receive privileges and the medical staff of the hospitals where we currently provide services or wish to provide services could decide that non-contracted physicians can no longer receive privileges to practice there. Such a decision would limit our ability to furnish services in a hospital, decrease the number of our affiliated physicians who could provide services or preclude us from entering new hospitals. In addition, hospitals may attempt to enter into exclusive contracts for physician services, which would reduce access to certain populations of patients within the hospital.

We may have difficulty collecting payments from third-party payors in a timely manner.

We derive significant revenue from third-party payors, and delays in payment or audits leading to refunds to payors may adversely impact our net revenue. In particular, we rely on some key governmental payors. We assume the financial risks relating to uncollectible and delayed payments. In particular, we rely on some key governmental payors. Governmental payors typically pay on a more extended payment cycle, which could result in our incurring expenses prior to receiving corresponding revenue. In the current healthcare environment, payors are continuing their efforts to control expenditures for healthcare, including proposals to revise coverage and reimbursement policies. We may experience difficulties in collecting our revenue because third-party payors may seek to reduce or delay payment to which we believe we are entitled. If we are not paid fully and in a timely manner for such services or there is a finding that we were incorrectly paid, our revenues, cash flows and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Decreases in payor rates could adversely affect us.

Decreases in payor rates, either prospectively or retroactively, could have a significant adverse effect on our revenue, cash flow and results of operations. For example, during fiscal 2016, Health Net, Inc. reduced payor rates to their payees, including us, retroactive to July 1, 2015 and LA Care reduced payor rates to their payees, including us, retroactive to January 1, 2016.

Our business model depends on numerous complex management information systems, and any failure to successfully maintain these systems or implement new systems could undermine our ability to receive ACO payments and otherwise materially harm our operations and result in potential violations of healthcare laws and regulations.

We depend on a complex, specialized, integrated management information system and standardized procedures for operational and financial information, as well as for our billing operations. We may be unable to enhance our existing management information systems or implement new management information systems where necessary. Additionally, we may experience unanticipated delays, complications or expenses in implementing, integrating and operating our systems. Our management information systems may require modifications, improvements or replacements that may require both substantial expenditures as well as interruptions in operations. Our ability to implement these systems is subject to the availability of information technology and skilled personnel to assist us in creating and implementing these systems. Our failure to successfully implement and maintain all of our systems could undermine our ability to receive ACO shared savingsMSSP payments and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further,operations and financial condition. Additionally, our failure to successfully operate our billing systems could lead to potential violations of healthcare laws and regulations.

WeIn the recent past, we have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls, andwhich we have remediated. However, we cannot provide assurances that these weaknesses will be effectively remediatednot recur or that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future. If our internal control over financial reporting or our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, prevent fraud or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and maycould lead to a decline in our stock price.price, or result in action against us.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. WeIn the recent past, we have identified a number of material weaknesses in our disclosure controls and procedures. These material weaknesses could allowhave allowed the reporting of inaccurate or incomplete information regarding our business in our public filings and will require the Companyhave required us to devote substantial resources to mitigating and resolving the weaknesses we have identified. Despite these efforts, we cannot provide assurances that these weaknesses will not recur or that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future.

Additionally, we intend to continue to grow our business, in part, through the acquisition of new entities. Whenentities and the consummation of the Merger. If and when we acquire such existing entities, or consummate the Merger, our due diligence may fail to discover defects or deficiencies in the design and operations of the internal controls over financial reporting of such entities, or defects or deficiencies in the internal controls over financial reporting may arise when we try to integrate the operations of these newly acquired companies with our own. We can provide no assurances that we will not experience such issues in future acquisitions, the result of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial statements.

The requirements of remaining a public company may strain our resources and distract our management, which could make it difficult to manage our business.

WeAs a public company, we are required to comply with various regulatory and reporting requirements, including those required by the SEC. Complying with these reporting and other regulatory requirements are time-consuming and expensive, and could have a negative effectcreating pressure on our business,financial resources and, accordingly, our results of operations and financial condition.

WeFrom time to time we may write offbe required to write-off intangible assets, such as goodwill.goodwill, due to impairment.

Our intangible assets are subject to annual impairment testing. Under current accounting standards, goodwill is tested for impairment on an annual basis and we may be subject to impairment losses as circumstances change after an acquisition. If we record an impairment loss related to our goodwill, it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for the year in which the impairment is recorded.

ACOsWe currently derive 100% of our revenues in California and are newvulnerable to changes in California healthcare laws and unproven and CMS may discontinue, alter or radically change the MSSP program.regulations.

The Company has invested resources in both applying to participate in the MSSP and in establishing initial infrastructure. The MSSP program and the rules regarding ACOs are new and may be altered in the future. Any material change to the MSSP program and ACO requirements, governance and operating rules, could provide a significant financial risk for the Company and alter the strategic direction of the Company thereby producing stockholder risk and uncertainty. In addition, the Company could be terminated from the MSPP if it does not comply with the CMS MSSP participation requirements.

The Company currently derives 100% of its revenues in only California.

The Company’sOur business and operations are primarilylocated in one state, California. While the Company operates through ApolloMed ACO outside of California, it has not derived any revenues from operations outside of California, and, it currently derives all of its revenues from California. Any material changes by California with respect to strategy, taxation and economics of healthcare delivery, and reimbursements, financial requirements or other aspects of regulation of the healthcare industry could producehave an adverse effect on the continuedour business, results of operations of Company.and financial condition.

A prolonged disruption of the capital andand/or credit markets may adversely affect our future access to capital, our cost of capital and our ability to continue operations.

We have relied substantially on the capital and credit markets for liquidity and to execute our business strategies, which include increasing our revenue base throughincludes a combination of internal growth and acquisitions. Volatility and disruption of the U.S. capital and credit markets may adversely affect our access to capital andand/or increase our cost of capital. Should current economic and market conditions deteriorate, our ability to finance our ongoing operations and our expansion may be adversely affected, we may be unable to raise necessary funds, our cost of debt or equity capital may increase significantly if we are able to raise capital, and future access to capital markets may be adversely affected.

Our intellectual property rights are valuable, andWe may be required to use a significant amount of cash on hand and/or raise capital if we are unablerequired to protect them or are subject to intellectual property rights claims,repay the holder of our business may be harmed.$4,990,000 convertible note.

Our intellectual property rights, including those rights relatedOn March 30, 3017, we issued a Convertible Promissory Note to our “ApolloMed” unregistered trademarkAlliance Apex, LLC (“Alliance”) for $4.99 million (the “Alliance Note”). The Alliance Note is due and some other trademarks, copyrightspayable to Alliance on (i) December 31, 2017, or (ii) the date on which the Merger is terminated, whichever occurs first (“Maturity Date”). Upon the closing, on or before the Maturity Date, of the Merger, the Alliance Note, together with accrued and trade secrets, are important assets for us. We do not hold any patents protecting our intellectual property. Various events outsideunpaid interest, shall automatically be converted (a “Mandatory Conversion”) into shares of our control posecommon stock, at a threat to our intellectual property rights as well as to our business. For example, we may beconversion price of $10.00 per share, subject to third-party intellectual property rights claims,adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reclassifications and our technologies may not be able to withstand any such claims. Regardlessother similar recapitalization transactions that occur after the date of the meritsAlliance Note. If the Merger is not consummated, we will be obligated to repay the Alliance Note, which would require a significant amount of cash on hand or the claims, any intellectual property claims could be time-consuming and expensiveneed to litigate or settle. In addition, if any claims against us are successful, we may haveraise capital to pay substantial monetary damagesoff or discontinue any of our practicesrefinance the Alliance Note. There can be no assurance that are foundis such event arose, we would have sufficient cash on hand to be in violation of another party’s rights. We also may haverepay the Alliance Note or could raise capital on favorable terms, or at all, to seek a license to continue such practices, which may significantly increase our operating expenses or may not be available to us at all. Also,repay the efforts we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business or our ability to compete.Alliance Note.

We attempt to protectUncertain or adverse economic conditions may have a negative impact on our trade secrets and other critical confidential information through contractual agreements, which may be breached.industry, business, results of operations or financial position.

There are a number of third parties, service providers, and others who have access to our confidential information. While we have attempted to protect this information through confidentiality agreements and other protective arrangements, it is difficult to detect and demonstrate a breach of any of these agreementsUncertain or arrangements, and our confidential information may be leaked and used by other companies that compete in our industry. Any such use of our informationadverse economic conditions could have a negative effect on the fundamentals of our business, results of operations and/or financial position. These conditions could have a negative impact on our industry. There can be no assurance that we will not experience any material adverse effect on our business as a result of future economic conditions or that the actions of the U.S. Government, Federal Reserve or other governmental and regulatory bodies, for the purpose of stimulating the economy or financial markets will achieve their intended effect. Additionally, some of these actions may adversely affect financial institutions, capital providers, our customers or our financial condition, results of operations or the price of our securities. Potential consequences of the foregoing include:

Actual or perceived difficulties in the global capital and credit markets have adversely affected, and uncertain or adverse economic conditions may negatively affect, our business.Ongoing uncertain economic conditions may affect our financial performance or our ability to forecast our business with accuracy.

Our operations and performance depend primarily on California and U.S. economic conditions and their impact on purchases of, or capitated rates for, our delivery of healthcare services. As a result of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, which was experienced on a broad and extensive scope and scale, and the last recession in the United States, general economic conditions deteriorated significantly, and, although the markets have improved significantly, the overall economic recovery since that time has been uneven. Declines in consumer and business confidence and private as well as government spending during and since the last recession, together with significant reductions in the availability and increases in the cost of credit and volatility in the capital and credit markets, as well as government budgeting, have adversely affected the business and economic environment in which we operate and can affect the profitability of our business. Our business is significantly exposed to risks associated with government spending and private payor reimbursement rates. Economic conditions may remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. We believe that this general economic uncertainty may continue in future periods, as our patients, private payors and government payors alter their purchasing activities in response to the new economic reality, and, among other things, our patients may change or scale back healthcare spending, and private and government payors could reduce reimbursement rates, which we have experienced. Additional consequences of such adverse effects could include the delay or cancellation of consumer spending for discretionary and non-reimbursed healthcare. Future disruption of the credit markets, increases in interest rates and/or sluggish economic growth in future periods could adversely affect our patients’ spending habits, private payors’ access to capital (which supports the continuation and expansion of their businesses) and governmental budgetary processes, and, in turn, could result in reduced revenue to us. The continuation or recurrence of any of these conditions may adversely affect our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition. This uncertainty may also affect our ability to prepare accurate financial forecasts or meet specific forecasted results. If we are unable to adequately respond to or forecast further changes in demand for healthcare services, our results of operations, financial condition and business plans.prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Many of our agreements with hospitals and medical groups are relatively short term or may be terminated without cause by providing advance notice, and any such termination could have a material adverse effect on our financial results, operations and future business plans.

Many of our hospitalist and other operating agreements are relatively short term or may be terminated without cause by providing advance notice. If these agreements are terminated before the end of their terms, at the end of their term or are not renewed, or are terminated before the end of their term, we would lose the revenuesrevenue generated by those agreements. Any such terminationterminations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial results, operationscondition and future business plans.

Many of our agreements with hospitals and medical groups include prohibitions onagainst our hiring physicians or patients or competing with the hospital or medical group, which limits our ability to implement our business plan in certain areas.

Because many of our hospitalist and other operating agreements include prohibitions on our hiring physicians or patients or competing with the hospital or medical group, our ability to hire physicians, attract patients or conduct business in certain areas may be limited in some cases.

ApolloMed ACO has entered into an agreement with PMG that may limit its ability to sell its operations.If there is a change in accounting principles or the interpretation thereof by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) affecting consolidation of VIEs, it could impact our consolidation of total revenues derived from such affiliated physician groups.

ApolloMed ACOOur financial statements are consolidated and include the accounts of our majority-owned subsidiaries and various non-owned affiliated physician groups that are VIEs, which consolidation is effectuated in accordance with applicable accounting rules. In the event of a change in accounting principles promulgated by FASB or in FASB’s interpretation of its principles, or if there were an adverse determination by a regulatory agency or a court or a change in state or federal law relating to the ability to maintain present agreements or arrangements with such physician groups, we may not be permitted to continue to consolidate the total revenues of such organizations.

Accounting rules require that under some circumstances the VIE consolidation model be applied when a reporting enterprise holds a variable interest (e.g., equity interests, debt obligations, certain management and service contracts) in a legal entity. Under this model, an enterprise must assess the entity in which it holds a variable interest to determine whether it meets the criteria to be consolidated as a VIE. If the entity is a VIE, the consolidation framework next identifies the party, if one exists, that possesses a controlling financial interest in a VIE, and requires that party to consolidate as the primary beneficiary. An enterprise’s determination of whether it has entered intoa controlling financial interest in a VIE requires that a qualitative determination be made, and is not solely based on voting rights.

If an agreement with PMG that prevents ApolloMed ACO from selling its operations without PMG’s havingenterprise determines the option to purchase the ApolloMed ACO network of physicians who were contracted with PMG and introduced to ApolloMed ACO by PMG. We estimate that no more than 20 physicians would currently beentity in which it holds a variable interest is not subject to PMG’s purchase option,the VIE guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, the enterprise should apply the traditional voting control model (also outlined in ASC 810) which takesfocuses on voting rights. In our case, the VIE consolidation model applies to our controlled, but not owned, physician affiliated entities. Our determination regarding the consolidation of our affiliates could be challenged, which could have a material adverse effect only if ApolloMed ACO elects to sell itson our operations. PMG’s option to purchase certain ApolloMed ACO physicians, unless terminated, may limit our ability to sell our ApolloMed ACO operations if we decide to do so.

Risks Related to Healthcare Regulation

The healthcare industry is complex and intensely regulated at the federal, state, and local levels and government authorities may determine that we have failed to comply with applicable laws or regulations.

As a company involved in the provision ofproviding healthcare services, we are subject to a myriad ofnumerous federal, state and local laws and regulations. There are significant costs involved in complying with these laws and regulations. Moreover, if we are found to have violated any applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to civil and/or criminal damages, fines, sanctions or penalties, including exclusion from participation in governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. We may also be required to change our method of operations. These consequences could be the result of current conduct or even conduct that occurred a number of years ago. We also could incur significant costs merely if we become the subject of an additional investigation or legal proceeding alleging a violation of these laws and regulations. We cannot predict whether a federal, state or local government will determine that we are not operating in accordance with law, or whether, when or how the laws will change in the future and impact our business. Any of these actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of some of the more significant healthcare laws and regulations that affect us:

We cannot predict the effect that the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”)ACA and its implementation, amendment, or repeal and replacement, may have on our business, financial condition or results of operations.operations or financial condition.

The ACA was signed into law, in two parts, on March 23, 2010 and March 30, 2010. The ACA dramatically alters the U.S. healthcare system and is intended to decrease the numbercontinued implementation of uninsured Americans and reduce the overall cost of healthcare. The ACA attempts to achieve these goals by, among other things, requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance, expanding Medicare and Medicaid eligibility, reducing Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments to providers, expanding the Medicare program’s use of value-based purchasing programs, tying hospital payments to the satisfaction of quality criteria, bundling payments to hospitals and other providers, and instituting private health insurance reforms. Although a majorityprovisions of the measures contained inACA, the adoption of new regulations thereunder and ongoing legal challenges create an uncertain environment for how the ACA just recently became effective,may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

However, some of the reductions in Medicare spending, such as negative adjustments to the Medicare hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment system market basket updates and the incorporation of productivity adjustments to the Medicare program’s annual inflation updates, became effective starting in 2010, 2011 and 2012.2010. Although the expansion of health insurance coverage should increase revenues from providing care to previously uninsured individuals, many of these provisions of the ACA, as currently provided, will continue to become effective beyond 2015,2017, and the impact of such expansion may be gradual and may not offset scheduled decreases in reimbursement.

On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA, including the “individual mandate” provisions of the ACA that generally require all individuals to obtain healthcare insurance or pay a penalty. However, the U.S. Supreme Court also held that the provision of the ACA that authorized the HHS Secretary of HHS to penalize states that choose not to participate in the expansion of the Medicaid program by removing all of their existing Medicaid funding was unconstitutional. In response to the ruling, a number of U.S. governors including those of some states in which we intend to operate, have stated that they opposeopposed their state’s participation in the expanded Medicaid program, which could resultresulted in the ACA not providing coverage to some low-income persons in those states. In addition, several bills have been, and may continueare continuing to be, introduced in Congress to repeal or amend all or significant provisions of the ACA.

ACA, or repeal and replace the ACA with another law.

The ACA changeschanged how healthcare services are covered, delivered, and reimbursed. The net effect of the ACA on our business is subject to numerous variables, including the law’s complexity, lack of complete implementing regulations and interpretive guidance, gradual and potentially delayed implementation or possible amendment, as well as the uncertainty as to the extent to which states will choose to participate in the expanded.expanded Medicaid program.

The Health Care Reform Act also mandatesActs mandated changes specific to home health and hospice benefits under Medicare. For home health, the Health Care Reform Act mandatesActs mandated the creation of a value-based purchasing program, development of quality measures, a decrease in home health reimbursement beginning with federal year 2014 that will be phased-in over a four-year period, and a reduction in the outlier cap. In addition, the Health Care Reform Act requiresActs require the HHS Secretary of Health and Human Services to test different models for delivery of care, some of which would involve home health services. ItThey also requiresrequire the HHS Secretary to establish a national pilot program for integrated care for patients with specific conditions, bundling payment for acute hospital care, physician services, outpatient hospital services (including emergency department services), and post-acute care services, which would include home health. The Health Care Reform ActActs further directsdirect the HHS Secretary to rebase payments for home health, which will result in a decrease in home health reimbursement beginning in 2014 that will beis being phased-in over a four-year period. The HHS Secretary is also required to conduct a study to evaluate cost and quality of care among efficient home health agencies regarding access to care and treating Medicare beneficiaries with varying severity levels of illness and provide a report to Congress. Beginning October 1, 2012, the annual market basket rate increase for hospice providers was reduced by a formula that caused payment rates to be lower than in the prior year.

The impact that changes in healthcare laws could have on us is uncertain but could be material.

Despite the enactment of the ACA and its being upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as constitutional, continuing legal and political challenges to specific parts of the ACA have added uncertainty about the current state of healthcare laws in the United States. This uncertainty has intensified following the 2016 President election and the publicly announced intention of the leadership of the majority in the 115^th Congress to “repeal and replace” the ACA, related Health Care Reform Acts and possibly other healthcare laws, and of the Administration to seek to have regulators amend or rescind certain regulations thereunder.

It is impossible to know what impact such efforts, assuming they are successful, will have on us. However, any changes in healthcare laws or regulations that reduce, curtail or eliminate payments, government-subsidized programs, government-sponsored programs, and/or the expansion of Medicare or Medicaid, among other actions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Just as the fate of the ACA is uncertain, so is the future of ACOs, which were established under the ACA to improve care and reduce costs. We operate an ACO and have been approved by CMS to operate an ACO under the NGACO Model. Under the MSSP and NGACO programs and pursuant to the Participation Agreement we have entered into with CMS for our NGACO Model, our ACO operations will always be subject to the nation’s healthcare laws, as amended, repealed or replaced from time to time.

It is impossible to know what impact such ‘repeal and replace” or similar efforts, assuming they are successful, will have on us. However, any changes in healthcare laws or regulations that reduce, curtail or eliminate payments, reimbursements, government-subsidized programs, government-sponsored programs, and/or the expansion of Medicare or Medicaid, among other actions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. 

Providers in the healthcare industry are sometimes the subject of federal and state investigations, as well as payor audits.

Due to our participation in government and private healthcare programs, we are sometimes involved in inquiries, reviews, audits and investigations by governmental agencies and private payors of our business practices, including assessments of our compliance with coding, billing and documentation requirements. Federal and state government agencies have active civil and criminal enforcement efforts that include investigations of healthcare companies, and their executives and managers. Under some circumstances, these investigations can also be initiated by private individuals under whistleblower provisions which may be incentivized by the possibility for private recoveries. The DRADeficit Reduction Act revised federal law to further encourage these federal, state and individually-initiated investigations against healthcare companies.

Responding to these audit and enforcement activities can be costly and disruptive to our business operations, even when the allegations are without merit. If we are subject to an audit or investigation and a finding is made that we were incorrectly reimbursed, we may be required to repay these agencies or private payors, or we may be subjected to pre-payment reviews, which can be time-consuming and result in non-payment or delayed payment for the services we provide. We also may be subject to other financial sanctions or be required to modify our operations.

Controls designed to reduce inpatient services may reduce our revenues.

Controls imposed by Medicare, Medicaid and commercial third-party payors designed to reduce admissions and lengths of stay, commonly referred to as “utilization review,”review”, have affected and are expected to continue to affect our facilities.operations. Federal law contains numerous provisions designed to ensure that services rendered by hospitals to Medicare and Medicaid patients meet professionally recognized standards and are medically necessary and that claims for reimbursement are properly filed. These provisions include a requirement that a sampling of admissions of Medicare and Medicaid patients must be reviewed by quality improvement organizations, which review the appropriateness of Medicare and Medicaid patient admissions and discharges, the quality of care provided, and the appropriateness of cases of extraordinary length of stay or cost on a post-discharge basis. Quality improvement organizations may deny payment for services or assess fines and also have the authority to recommend to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that a provider which is in substantial noncompliance with the standards of the quality improvement organization be excluded from participation in the Medicare program. The ACA potentially expands the use of prepayment review by Medicare contractors by eliminating statutory restrictions on their use, and, as a result, efforts to impose more stringent cost controls are expected to continue. Utilization review is also a requirement of most non-governmental managed care organizations and other third-party payors. Inpatient utilization, average lengths of stay and occupancy rates continue to be negatively affected by payor-required preadmission authorization and utilization review and by third party payor pressure to maximize outpatient and alternative healthcare delivery services for less acutely ill patients. Although we are unable to predict the effect these controls and changes will have on our operations, significant limits on the scope of services reimbursed and on reimbursement rates and fees could have a material, adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

Laws regulating the corporate practice of medicine could restrict the manner in which we are permitted to conduct our business and the failure to comply with such laws could subject us to penalties or require a corporate restructuring.

Some states have laws that prohibit business entities from practicing medicine, employing physicians to practice medicine, exercising control over medical decisions by physicians (also known collectively as the corporate practice of medicine) or engaging in some arrangements, such as fee-splitting, with physicians. In some states these prohibitions are expressly stated in a statute or regulation, while in other states the prohibition is a matter of judicial or regulatory interpretation. California is one of the states that prohibit the corporate practice of medicine.

In California, we operate by maintaining contracts with our affiliated physician groups which are each owned and operated by physicians and which employ or contract with additional physicians to provide physician services. Under these arrangements, we provide management services, receive a management fee for providing non-medical management services, do not represent that we offer medical services, and do not exercise influence or control over the practice of medicine by the physicians or the affiliated physician groups.

In addition to the above management arrangements, we have some contractual rights relating to the transfer of equity interests in some of our affiliated physician groups to a third partynominee shareholder designated by us, through Physician Shareholdersphysician shareholder agreements, with Dr. Hosseinion, the controlling equity holder of such affiliated physician groups. However, such equity interests cannot be transferred to or held by us or by any non-professional organization. Accordingly, we do not directly own any equity interests in any physician groups in California. In the event that any of these affiliated physician groups fails to comply with the management arrangement or any management arrangement is terminated and/or we are unable to enforce its contractual rights over the orderly transfer of equity interests in its affiliated physician groups, such eventsor California law is interpreted to invalidate these arrangements, there could havebe a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.operations and financial condition.

If there is a change in accounting principles or the interpretation thereof by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), affecting consolidation of entities, it could impact our consolidation of total revenues derived from such affiliated physician groups.

Our financial statements are consolidated and include the accounts of our majority-owned subsidiaries and various non-owned affiliated physician groups that are variable interest entities (“VIEs”), which consolidation is effectuated in accordance with applicable accounting rules. In the event of a change in accounting principles promulgated by FASB or in FASB’s interpretation of its principles, or if there were an adverse determination by a regulatory agency or a court or if there were a change in state or federal law relating to the ability to maintain present agreements or arrangements with such physician groups, we may not be permitted to continue to consolidate the total revenues of such organizations.

Accounting rules require that under some circumstances the VIE consolidation model be applied when a reporting enterprise holds a variable interest (e.g., equity interests, debt obligations, certain management and service contracts) in a legal entity. Under this model, an enterprise must assess the entity in which it holds a variable interest to determine whether it meets the criteria to be consolidated as a VIE. If the entity is a VIE, the consolidation framework next identifies the party, if one exists, that possesses a controlling financial interest in a VIE, and requires that party to consolidate as the primary beneficiary. An enterprise’s determination of whether it has a controlling financial interest in a VIE requires that a qualitative determination be made, and is not solely based on voting rights.

If an enterprise determines the entity in which it holds a variable interest is not subject to the VIE guidance in ASC 810, the enterprise should apply the traditional voting control model (also outlined in ASC 810) which focuses on voting rights. In our case, the VIE consolidation model applies to our controlled, but not owned, physician affiliated entities. Our determination regarding the consolidation of our affiliates could be challenged, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Our developing palliative care business is subject to rules, prohibitions, regulations and reimbursement requirements that differ from those that govern our primary home health and hospice operations.

We continue to develop our palliative care services, which is a type of care focused upon relieving pain and suffering in patients who do not quality for, or who have not yet elected, the hospice benefit.services. The continued development of this business line exposes us to additional risks, in part because the business line requires us to comply with additional Federal and state laws and regulations that differ from those that govern our home health and hospice business. This line of business requires compliance with different Federal and state requirements governing licensure, enrollment, documentation, prescribing, coding, billing and collection of coinsurance and deductibles, among other requirements. Additionally, some states have prohibitions on the corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting, which generally prohibit business entities from owning or controlling medical practices or may limit the ability of Clinical Professionalsclinical professionals to share professional service income with non-professional or business interests. These requirements may vary significantly from state to state. Reimbursement for palliative care and house calls services is generally conditioned on our clinical professionals providing the correct procedure and diagnosis codes and properly documenting both the service itself and the medical necessity for the service. Incorrect or incomplete documentation and billing information, or the incorrect selection of codes for the level and type of service provided, could result in non-payment for services rendered or lead to allegations of billing fraud. Further, compliance with applicable regulations may cause us to incur expenses that we have not anticipated, and if we are unable to comply with these additional legal requirements, we may incur liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our developing palliative care business line is subject to new licensing requirements, which will require us to expend resources to comply with the changing requirements.

In October 2013, California enacted the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act. The act establishes a licensing program for home care organizations, and requires background checks, basic training and tuberculosis screening for the aides that are employed by home care organizations. Home care organizations and aides had until January 1, 2015 to comply with the new licensing and background check requirements. Because we operate in California, the requirements of the act are expected to impose additional costs on us.

We do not have a limited Knox-Keene License.license.

We do not hold a limited Knox-Keene license, (awhich is a managed care plan license issued pursuant to the California Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975).in California. If the Department of Managed Health CareDMHC were to determine that we have been inappropriately taking risk for institutional and professional services as a result of our various hospital and physician arrangements without having a limited Knox-Keene license, we may be required to obtain a limited Knox-Keene license to resolve such violations and we could be subject to civil and criminal liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.operations and financial condition.

Our revenue may be negatively impacted by the failure of our affiliated physicians to appropriately document services they provide.

We rely upon our affiliated physicians to appropriately and accurately complete necessary medical record documentation and assign appropriate reimbursement codes for their services. Reimbursement to us is conditioned onupon, in part, our affiliated physicians providing the correct procedure and diagnosis codes and properly documenting the services themselves, including the level of service provided and the medical necessity for the services. If our affiliated physicians have provided incorrect or incomplete documentation or selected inaccurate reimbursement codes, this could result in nonpayment for services rendered or lead to allegations of billing fraud. This could subsequently lead to civil and criminal penalties, including exclusion from government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, third-party payors may disallow, in whole or in part, requests for reimbursement based on determinations that certain amounts are not covered, services provided were not medically necessary, or supporting documentation was not adequate. Retroactive adjustments may change amounts realized from third-party payors and result in recoupments or refund demands, affecting revenue already received.

Changes associated with reimbursement by third-party payors for the Company’s services may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

The medical services industry is undergoing significant changes with government and other third-party payors that are taking measures to reduce reimbursement rates or, in some cases, denying reimbursement altogether. There is no assurance that government or other third-party payors will continue to pay for the services provided by our affiliated medical groups. FailureFurthermore, there has been, and continues to be, a great deal of discussion and debate about the repeal and replacement of existing government reimbursement programs, such as the ACA. As a result, the future of healthcare reimbursement programs is uncertain, making long-term business planning difficult and imprecise. The failure of government or other third party payors to cover adequately cover the medical services so provided by the Company willus could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition, business and prospects.condition.

Compliance with federal and state privacy and information security laws is expensive, and we may be subject to government or private actions due to privacy and security breaches.

We must comply with numerous federal and state laws and regulations governing the collection, dissemination, access, use, security and confidentiality of patient health information (“PHI”), including HIPAA and HITECH. As part of our medical record keeping, third-party billing, and other services, we collect and maintain PHI in paper and electronic format. Therefore, new privacy or security laws, whether implemented pursuant to federal or state action, could have a significant effect on the manner in which we handle healthcare-related data and communicate with payors. In addition, compliance with these standards could impose significant costs on us or limit our ability to offer services, thereby negatively impacting the business opportunities available to us. Despite our efforts to prevent security and privacy breaches, they may still occur. If any non-compliance with existing or new laws and regulations related to PHI results in privacy or security breaches, we could be subject to monetary fines, civil suits, civil penalties or even criminal sanctions.

As a result of the expanded scope of HIPAA through HITECH, we may incur significant costs in order to minimize the amount of “unsecured PHI” we handle and retain or to implement improved administrative, technical or physical safeguards to protect PHI. We may incur significant costs in order to demonstrate and document whether there is a low probability that the PHI has been compromised in order to overcome the presumption that an impermissible use or disclosure of PHI results in a reportable breach. We may incur significant costs to notify the relevant individuals, government entities and, in some cases, the media, in the event of a breach and to provide appropriate remediation and monitoring to mitigate the possible damage done by any such breach.

Providers must be properly enrolled in governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, before they can receive reimbursement for providing services, and there may be delays in the enrollment process.

Each time a new affiliated physician joins us, we must enroll the affiliated physician under our applicable group identification number for Medicare and Medicaid programs and for certain managed care and private insurance programs before we can receive reimbursement for services the physician renders to beneficiaries of those programs. The estimated time to receive approval for the enrollment is sometimes difficult to predict and, in recent years, the Medicare program carriers often have not issued these numbers to our affiliated physicians in a timely manner. These practices result in delayed reimbursement that may adversely affect our cash flow and revenues.flow.

We may face malpractice and other lawsuits that may not be covered by insurance.

Malpractice lawsuits are common in the healthcare industry. The medical malpractice legal environment varies greatly by state. The status of tort reform, availability of non-economic damages or the presence or absence of other statutes, such as elder abuse or vulnerable adult statutes, influence the incidence and severity of malpractice litigation. We may also be subject to other types of lawsuits which may involve large claims and significant defense costs. Many states have joint and several liabilityliabilities for all healthcare providers who deliver care to a patient and are at least partially liable. As a result, if one healthcare provider is found liable for medical malpractice for the provision of care to a particular patient, all other healthcare providers who furnished care to that same patient, including possibly our affiliated physicians, may also share in the full liability, which may be substantial.

We currently maintain malpractice liability insurance coverage to cover professional liability and other claims for certain hospitalists and clinic physicians. All of our physicians are required to carry first dollar coverage with limits of coverage equal to $1,000,000 for all claims based on occurrence up to an aggregate of $3,000,000 per year. We cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate to cover liabilities arising out of claims asserted against us, our affiliated professional organizations or our affiliated physicians, and we cannot provide assurance that any future liabilities will not have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial position. Liabilities in excess of our insurance coverage, including coverage for professional liability and other claims, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, our professional liability insurance coverage generally must be renewed annually and may not continue to be available to us in future years at acceptable costs and on favorable terms.

We have established reserves for potential medical liabilities losses which are subject to inherent uncertainties and a deficiency in the established reserves may lead to a reduction in our net income.

The Company establishesWe establish reserves for estimates of incurred but not reported claims (“IBNR”)IBNR due to contracted physicians, hospitals, and other professional providers and risk-pool liabilities. IBNR estimates are developed using actuarial methods and are based on many variables, including the utilization of health care services, historical payment patterns, cost trends, product mix, seasonality, changes in membership, and other factors. Many of the medical contracts are complex in nature and may be subject to differing interpretations regarding amounts due for the provision of various services. Such differing interpretations may not come to light until a substantial period of time has passed following the contract implementation. The inherent difficultdifficulty in interpreting contracts and the estimated level of necessary reserves could result in significant fluctuations in our estimates from period to period. It is possible that actual losses and related expenses may differ, perhaps substantially, from the reserve estimates reflected in our financial statements. If subsequent claims exceed our estimated reserves, we may be required to increase reserves, which would lead to a reduction in our futureassets or net income.

Litigation expenses may be material.

In recent periods, we have incurred increased expenses for legal fees, in particular fees related to the defense of the lawsuits by certain competitors that are described under “LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.” While we maintain the insurance coverage described above, such insurance may not cover these lawsuits or some other types of commercial disputes. The defense of litigation, including fees of external legal counsel, expert witnesses and related costs, is expensive and may be difficult to projectforecast accurately. In general, such costs are unrecoverable even if we ultimately prevail in litigation and could represent a significant portion of our limited capital resources. To defend lawsuits, weit is also find it necessary for us to divert officers and other employees from their normal business functions to gather evidence, give testimony and otherwise support litigation efforts. We expect to experience higher than normal litigation costs until the lawsuits by our competitor are decided.

If we lose any material litigation, including the litigation described under “LEGAL PROCEEDINGS,” we could face material judgments or awards. The outcome of such actions and proceedings, however, cannot be predicted with certainty and anawards against us. An unfavorable resolution of one or more of themthe proceedings in which we are involved now or in the future could have a material adverse effect on our business, assets, cash flow and financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows in a future period.condition.

We may also in the future find it necessary to file lawsuits to recover damages or protect our interests. The cost of such litigation could also be significant and unrecoverable, which may also deter us from aggressively pursuing even legitimate claims.

We may be subject to litigation related to the agreements that our IPAs enter into with primary care physicians.

It is common in the medical services industry for primary care physicians to be affiliated with multiple IPAs. Our IPAs often enter into agreements with physicians who are also affiliated with our competitors. However, some of our competitors at times enter into agreements with physicians that require the physician to provide services exclusively to that competitor. Our IPAs often have no knowledge, and no way of knowing, whether a physician seeking to affiliate with us is subject to an exclusivity agreement unless the physician informs us of that agreement. Our IPAs rely on the physicians seeking to affiliate with us to determine whether they are able to enter into the proposed agreement. As described in “LEGAL PROCEEDINGS,” competitorsCompetitors have initiated lawsuits against us based in part on interference with such exclusivity agreements, and may do so in the future. An adverse outcome in one or more of such lawsuits could adversely affect our business, assets, cash flow and financial condition.

Changes in the rates or methods of Medicare reimbursements may adversely affect our operations.

In order to participate in the Medicare program, we must comply with stringent and often complex enrollment and reimbursement requirements. These programs generally provide for reimbursement on a fee-schedule basis rather than on a charge-related basis, meaning that generally we generally cannot increase our revenue by increasing the amount we charge for our services. To the extent that our costs increase, we may not be able to recover our increased costs from these programs and cost containment measures and market changes in non-governmental insurance plans have generally restricted our ability to recover, or shift to non-governmental payors, these increased costs. In attempts to limit federal and state spending, there have been, and we expect that there will continue to be, a number of proposals to limit or reduce Medicare reimbursement for various services. In April of 2015, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (“MACRA”) was signed into law, which made numerous changes to Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare related programs. These changes include new systems for establishing the annual updates to payment rates for physicians’ services in Medicare. Our business may be significantly and adversely affected by MACRA and any such changes in reimbursement policies and other legislative initiatives aimed at or having the effect of reducing healthcare costs associated with Medicare, TRICARE (which provides civilian health benefits for U.S Armed Forces military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents) and other government healthcare programs.

Our business also could be adversely affected by reductions in, or limitations of, reimbursement amounts or rates under these government programs, reductions in funding of these programs or elimination of coverage for certain individuals or treatments under these programs.

Overall payments made by Medicare for hospice services are subject to cap amounts. Total Medicare payments to us for hospice services are compared to the cap amount for the hospice cap period, which runs from November 1 of one year through October 31 of the next year. CMS generally announces the cap amount in the month of July or August in the cap period and not at the beginning of the cap period. WeAccordingly, we must estimate the cap amount for the cap period before CMS announces the cap amount. If our estimate exceeds the later announced cap amount, we may suffer losses. CMS can also make retroactive adjustments to cap amounts announced for prior cap periods. Paymentsperiods, in which case payments to us in excess of the cap amount must be returned to Medicare. A second hospice cap amount limits the number of days of inpatient care to not more than 20 percent of total patient care days within the cap period.

As part of its review of the Medicare hospice benefit, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended to Congress in its “Report to Congress: Medicare Payment Policy—March 2009” (the “2009 MedPAC Report”) that Congress direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to change the Medicare payment system for hospice to:

In addition, the Health Care Reform ActActs includes several provisions that could adversely impact hospice providers, including a provision to reduce the annual market basket update for hospice providers by a productivity adjustment. We cannot predict if the 2009 MedPAC Report recommendation will be enacted, whether any additional healthcare reform initiatives will be implemented, or whether the Health Care Reform ActActs or other changes in the administration of governmental healthcare programs or interpretations of governmental policies or other changes affecting the healthcare system will adversely affect our revenues. Further, due to budgetary concerns, several states have considered or are considering reducing or eliminating the Medicaid hospice benefit. Reductions or changes in Medicare or Medicaid funding could significantly reduce our net patient service revenue and our profitability.

If we inadvertently employ or contract with an excluded person, we may face government sanctions.

Individuals and entities can be excluded from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs for violating certain laws and regulations, or for other reasons such as the loss of a license in any state, even if the individual retains other licensure. This means that they (and all others) are prohibited from receiving payment for their services rendered to Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries, and if the excluded individual is a physician, all services ordered (not just provided) by such physician are also non-covered and non-payable. Entities which employ or contract with excluded individuals are prohibited from billing the Medicare or Medicaid programs for the excluded individual’s services, and are subject to civil monetary penalties if they do. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) maintains a list of excluded individuals and entities. Although we have instituted policies and procedures through our compliance program to minimize the risks, there can be no assurance that we will not inadvertently hire or contract with an excluded person, or that any of our current employees or contracts will not become excluded in the future without our knowledge. If this occurs, we may be subject to substantial repayments and civil penalties, and the hospitals at which we furnish services also may be subject to repayments and sanctions, for which they may seek recovery from us.

We may be impacted by eligibility changes to government and private insurance programs.

Due to potential decreased availability of healthcare through private employers, the number of patients who are uninsured or participate in governmental programs may increase. A shift in payor mix from managed care and other private payors to government payors or the uninsured may result in a reduction in our rates of reimbursement or an increase in our uncollectible receivables or uncompensated care, with a corresponding decrease in our net revenue. Changes in the eligibility requirements for governmental programs also could increase the number of patients who participate in such programs or the number of uninsured patients. Even for those patients who remain with private insurance, changes in those programs could increase patient responsibility amounts, resulting in a greater risk for us of uncollectible receivables. Further, our hospice related business could become subject to “quality star ratings,”ratings” and, if sufficient quality is not achieved, reimbursement could be negatively impacted. These factors and events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.operations and financial condition.

Federal and state laws may limit our effectiveness at collecting monies owed to us from patients.

We utilize third parties, whom we do not and cannot control, to collect from patients any co-payments and other payments for services that our physicians provide to patients. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”) restricts the methods that third-party collection companies may use to contact and seek payment from consumer debtors regarding past due accounts. State laws vary with respect to debt collection practices, although most state requirements are similar to those under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.FDCPA. If our collection practices or those of our collection agencies are inconsistent with these standards, we may be subject to actual damages and penalties. These factors and events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.operations and financial condition.

If we are unable to effectively adapt to changes in the healthcare industry, including changes to laws and regulations regarding or affecting healthcare reform or the healthcare industry, our business may be harmed.

Due to the importance of the healthcare industry in the lives of all Americans, federal, state, and local legislative bodies frequently pass legislation and promulgate regulations relating to healthcare reform or that affect the healthcare business. Itindustry. As has been the trend in recent years, it is reasonable to believeassume that there maywill continue to be increased federal oversight and regulation of the healthcare industry in the future. We cannot assure you as to the ultimate content, timing or effect of any new healthcare reform legislation or regulations, nor is it possible at this time to estimate the impact of potential new legislation or regulations on our business. It is possible that future legislation enacted by Congress or state legislatures, or regulations promulgated by regulatory authorities at the Federal or state level, could adversely affect our business or could change the operating environment of the hospitals and other facilities where our physicians provide services. It is possible that the changes to the Medicare or other governmental healthcare program reimbursements may serve as precedent to possible changes in other payors’ reimbursement policies in a manner adverseaverse to us. Similarly, changes in private payor reimbursements could lead to adverse changes in Medicare and other governmental healthcare programs which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, certain regulations not specifically targeting the health care industry also could have material effects on our operations. For example, the California Finance Lenders Law, Division 9, Sections 22000-22780 of the California Financial Code, could arguably apply to the Company as a result of its various affiliate and subsidiary loans and similar arrangements. If a regulator were to take the position that such loans were covered by the California Finance Lenders Law, we could be subject to regulatory action which could impair our ability to continue to operate and may have a material adverse effect on our profitability and business.

We may incur significant costs to adopt certain provisions under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act.HITECH.

HITECH was enacted into law on February 17, 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Among the many provisions of HITECH are those relating to the implementation and use of certified Electronic Health Recordselectronic health records (“EHR”). Our patient medical records are maintained and under the custodianship of the healthcare facilities in which we operate. However, to adopt the use of EHRs utilized by these healthcare facilities, determine to adopt certain EHRs, or comply with any related provisions of HITECH, we may incur significant costs which could have a material adverse effect on our business operations and financial position.

The healthcare industry is becoming increasingly reliant on use of technology.

The role of technology is greatly increasing in the delivery of healthcare, which provides risk to traditional physician-driven healthcare delivery companies such as ours. We need to understand and integrate with electronic health records, databases, cloud-based billing systems and many other technology applications in the delivery of our services. Additionally, consumers are using mobile applications and care and cost research in selecting and usage of healthcare services. We rely on employees and third parties with technology knowledge and expertise and could be at risk if resources are not properly established, maintained or secured.

We may be exposed to cybersecurity risks.

While we have not experienced any cybersecurity incidents, the nature of our business and the requirements of healthcare privacy laws such as HIPAA and HITECH, impose significant obligations on us to maintain the privacy and protection of patient medical information. Any cybersecurity incident could expose us to violations of HIPAA and/or HITECH that, even unintended, could cause significant financial exposure to us in the form of fines and costs of remediation of any such incident.

Risks Related to the Ownership of Our Securities

TheOur stock is thinly traded, the market price of our common stock may beis volatile, and the value of your investment could fluctuate, and decline, significantly.

TheOur stock is thinly traded. In part because of that, and for other reasons, the trading price forof our common stock has been, and we expect it to continue to be, volatile. The price at which our common stock trades depends upon a number of factors, including our historical and anticipated operating results of operations, our financial situation, the announcement and consummation of certain transactions, our ability or inability to raise the additional capital we may need and the terms on which we raise it,capital and general market and economic conditions.trading volume. Other factors include:

Some of these factors are beyond our control. BroadThere has been a limited trading market fluctuations may lower the market price offor our common stock and affect the volume of trading in our stock, regardless of our financial condition, results of operations, business or prospects. We have been conditionally approved to uplist on Nasdaq Capital Market and, if we are successful in uplisting, we may be covered by more analysts. Our failure to meet their expectations and the projections in their reports could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. There is no assurance that the market price of our shares of common stock will not fall in the future.date.

If anyThere has been limited trading volume in our common stock, which is quoted on OTC Pink under the trading symbol “AMEH”. It is anticipated that there will continue to be a limited trading market for our common stock on OTC Pink and it is often difficult to obtain accurate price quotes for our stock on OTC Pink. A lack of an active market may impair our stockholders’ ability to sell shares at the time they wish to sell shares or at a price that our stockholders consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair market value of our historical offerings or salescommon stock. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares of capital stock and may impair our or our subsidiaries’ or affiliates’ unregistered securities were foundability to be in violation of the Securities Act or state law, then the securities holders who purchased or received such securities may be able to sue to recover the consideration paid for their securities (or the equivalent value if such shares were issued for services) or for damages.

Historically, we have generally offered and sold our securities and the securities of our subsidiaries and affiliates in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act oracquire other available federal exemptions for offering securities. Similar reliance has been placed on exemptions under state laws from securities registration or qualification requirements. Our historical offerings or sales may not have qualified or met the requirements of any of such federal or state law exemptions due to, among other things, the sophistication of the investors, the adequacy of disclosure, the manner of distribution, or the existence of similar offerings in the past or in the future. If rescission claims were successful, securities holders may be entitled to recover the consideration paid for the securities they purchased with interest thereon (or, to the extent securities were offered for services, the value thereof), or for damages. Furthermore, we could be forced to expend significant time and resources defending actions under these laws, even if we are ultimately successful in any defense.companies by using common stock as consideration.

Investors may experience dilution of their ownership interests because of the future issuance of additional shares of our common stock.

We have issued some of our directors, officers, other employees, consultants, lenders and other third parties securities, including options, warrants, convertible preferred stock and convertible debt, that such parties may exercise or convert into shares of our common stock, which exercisestock. Such conversions or exercises would result in the issuance of additional shares of our common stock, resulting in dilution of the ownership interests of our present stockholders. For example, NNA has the right to exercise upon certain conditions being satisfied the warrants or the convertible note it acquired in connection with the credit and investment agreements we entered into with NNA on March 28, 2014. If NNA exercises such right, we will have to issue additional shares of common stock to NNA, which will dilute the ownership interests of our other stockholders. We will have to issue additional shares of common stock in connection with any conversion of the 9% convertible notes we previously issued.

Additionally,Moreover, we may in the future issue additional authorized but previously unissued equity securities, resulting in further dilution of the ownership interests of our present stockholders. We may also issue additional shares of our common stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock in connection with hiring or retaining employees, future acquisitions, future sales of our securities for capital raising purposes or for other business purposes. For example, we will have to issue additional shares of common stock to NNA if we fail to comply with NNA’s registration rights.

The future issuance of any such additional shares of common stock may create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock. There can be no assurance that we will not be required to issue additional shares, warrants or other convertible securities in the future in conjunction with any capital raising efforts, including at a price (or exercise prices) below the price at which shares of our common stock are currently traded at such time.

Investors may experience dilution of their ownership interests because of certain anti-dilution rights afforded NNA.

The exercise price under the Warrants (defined below in “Our Business – NNA Financing Arrangements”) and the conversion price under the Convertible Note (defined below in “Our Business – NNA Financing Arrangements”) and the number of shares underlying such securities would be adjusted under certain circumstances, resulting in our issuance of additional securities. This adjustment would be triggered by the issuance of our common stock (or securities issuable into our common stock) at a price per share less than $9.00 per share. The anti-dilution protections described above do not apply to certain exempt issuances, including the sale of our common stock in a bona fide, firmly underwritten public offering pursuant to a registration statement under the 1933 Act and with a purchase price per share of at least $20.00. In addition, these adjustments would terminate on the earlier of March 28, 2016 and the Company’s closing of an equity financing yielding gross cash proceeds of at least $2,000,000.

Additionally, we may in the future issue additional authorized but previously unissued equity securities, which may also trigger NNA’s anti-dilution protections, and result in further dilution of the ownership interests of our stockholders.

There has been a limited trading market for our common stock to date.

There is limited trading volume in our common stock, which is quoted on the OTCQB under the trading symbol “AMEH.” It is anticipated that there will continue to be a limited trading market for our common stock on the OTCQB, and it is often difficult to obtain accurate price quotes for our stock on the OTCQB. A lack of an active market may impair our stockholders’ ability to sell shares at the time they wish to sell shares or at a price that our stockholders consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair market value of shares. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares of capital stock and may impair our ability to acquire other companies by using common stock as consideration.

Our Credit Agreement with NNA prohibits payments of dividends without their prior consent and do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend solely on appreciation in the price of our common stock.

Our Credit Agreement with NNA prohibits payment of dividends without their prior consent and we do not expect to pay dividends on our shares of common stock and intend to retain all future earnings to finance the continued growth and development of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any future payment of cash dividends will depend upon obtaining the consent of NNA, our financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.

Delaware law and our Certificate of Incorporation could discourage a change in control, or an acquisition of us by a third party, even if the acquisition would be favorable to you, and thereby adversely affect existingour stockholders.

The Delaware General Corporation Law containcontains provisions that may have the effect of making more difficult or delaying attempts by others to obtain control of our Company,us, even when these attempts may be in the best interests of our stockholders. Delaware law imposes conditions on certain business combination transactions with “interested stockholders.”stockholders”. These provisions and others that could be adopted in the future could deter unsolicited takeovers or delay or prevent changes in our control or management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current market prices. These provisions may also limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.

Our Certificate of Incorporation empowers the Board of Directors to establish and issue a classone or more classes of preferred stock, and to determine the rights, preferences and privileges of the preferred stock. These provisions give the Board of Directors the ability to deter, discourage or make more difficult a change in control of our company, even if such a change in control could be deemed in the interest of our stockholders or if such a change in control would provide our stockholders with a substantial premium for their shares over the then-prevailing market price for the common stock.

Although we have been conditionally approved, we may elect not to uplist to the Nasdaq Capital Market or we not successfully obtain a listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market for our common stock. If we elect to uplist and obtain a listing, we may not be able to comply with continued listing standards.

We have been conditionally approved, subject toIn the satisfaction of certain conditions and meeting all of the Nasdaq Capital Market listing standards on the date we uplist, to listpast, our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market. We currently do not meet the Nasdaq Capital Market’s minimum initial listing standards, which generally mandate that we meet certain requirements relating to stockholders’ equity, market capitalization, aggregate market value of publicly held shares and distribution requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at any point in the future. Even if we meet those listing standards, we may elect not to uplist. If the Nasdaq Capital Market does not list our common stock for trading on its exchange, either because we elect not to uplist or because we do not meet the listing standards, the consequences may include:

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” If we list on the Nasdaq Capital Market, such securities will be covered securities However, we do not currently meet the listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market, and may elect not to uplist even if we meet such standards in the future. As a result, our securities are not be covered securities and are subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market (if our application to uplist is unconditionally approved, and we elect to uplist) or the OTCQB could result in a delisting of our common stock.

Even if our application to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market is approved, we meet the initial listing standards and we elect to uplist, thereafter if we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements or the minimum closing bid price requirement, the Nasdaq Capital Market may take steps to delist our common stock. Such a delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. In the event of a delisting, we anticipate that we would take actions to restore our compliance with the Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action taken by us would allow our common stock to remain listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, stabilize our market price, improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the Nasdaq Capital Market’s minimum bid price requirement, or prevent future non-compliance with the Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing requirements.

Companies trading on the OTCQB, such as us, must be reporting issuers under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and must be current in their reports under Section 13, in order to maintain price quotation privileges on the OTCQB. If we fail to remain current in our reporting requirements, we could be removed from the OTCQB. As a result, the market liquidity for our securities could be severely adversely affected by limiting the ability of broker-dealers to sell our securities and the ability of stockholders to sell their securities in the secondary market.

Our common stock may behas been subject to the “penny stock” rules of the SEC and it could become subject to that rule again.Additionally, trading in our securities is very limited, which makes transactions in our common stock cumbersome, increases stock price volatility and may reduce the value of an investment in our securities.

The SEC has adopted Rule 3a51-1 ofunder the Securities and Exchange Act, of 1934, as amended, which establishes the definition of a “penny stock,”stock”, for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. During the last 52 weeks, our common stock has traded at both below and above $5.00 per share. For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, Rule 15g-9 under the Exchange Act requires:

In order to approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must:

The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the SEC relating to the penny stock market, which, among other things:

Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks. Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the “penny stock” rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose ofpurchase or sell our common stock and cause a decline in the market value of our stock.stock or underscore our stock’s volatility in the market.

We engagedAdditionally, our common stock is relatively thinly traded and on a number of days there are no market transactions in a reverseour common stock. This could contribute to stock split, which may decreaseprice volatility or supply/demand imbalances that could adversely affect the liquidity of the sharesprice of our common stock.stock from time to time, making an investment in our common stock less attractive to certain investors.

We effected a one-for-ten reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock in April 2015. The liquidity of the shares of our common stock may be affected adversely by the reverse stock split given the reduced number of shares that will be outstanding following the reverse stock split. In addition, the reverse stock split may increase the number of stockholders who own odd lots (less than 100 shares) of our common stock, creating the potential for such stockholders to experience an increase in the cost of selling their shares and greater difficulty affecting such sales.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

Not applicable.

ITEM 2. DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES

Our corporate headquarters are located at 700 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 220,1400, Glendale, California 91203.  Under the original lease of the premises, we occupied space in Suite 220. On October 14, 2014, theour lease was amended by a Second Amendment (the “Second Lease Amendment”), pursuant to which includeswe relocated our corporate headquarters to a larger suite in the same office building in October 2015. The Second Lease Amendment relocates the leased premises from Suite No. 220 to Suite Nos. 1400, 1425 and 1450, which collectively include 16,484 rentable square feet (the “New Premises”). The New Premises were improved with an allowance of $659,360, provided by the landlord, for construction and installation of equipment for the New Premises. The Second Lease Amendment also extends the term of the lease tofor approximately six years after we obtain occupancy ofoccupy the new premises. We anticipate occupying the new premises during the second fiscal quarter of 2016.New Premises and increases our security deposit. The Second Lease Amendment sets the HeadquartersNew Premises base rent at $37,913 per month for the first year and schedules annual increases in base rent each year until the final rental year, which is capped at $43,957 per month. However, the base rent will be abated by up to $228,049 subject to other terms of the lease.

AMM leases the SCHC Premisespremises located in Los Angeles, California, consisting of 8,766 rentable square feet, for a term of ten years. The base rent for the SCHC Leaselease is $32,872approximately $33,000 per month.

We also lease seven other offices (10,207 square feet collectively) throughout Los Angeles, California, with varying expiration dates through 2020.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

In the ordinary course of our business, we become involved in pending and threatened legal actions and proceedings, most of which involve claims of medical malpractice related to medical services that are provided by our affiliated hospitalists. We may also become subject to other lawsuits which could involve significant claims and/or significant defense costs. We have become involved in the following two legal matters:

On May 16, 2014, Lakeside Medical Group, Inc. and Regal Medical Group, Inc., two independent physician associations who compete with us in the greater Los Angeles area, filed an action against us and two of our affiliates, MMG and AMEH in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The complaint alleged that we and our two affiliates made misrepresentations and engaged in other acts in order to improperly solicit physicians and patient-enrollees from Plaintiffs. The Complaint sought compensatory and punitive damages. On June 30, 2014, we filed a motion requesting the Court to stay the court proceeding and order the parties to arbitrate this dispute subject to existing arbitration agreements. On August 11, 2014, the Plaintiffs filed a request for dismissal without prejudice of the action. On August 12, 2014, the Plaintiffs served us and our affiliates with Demands for Arbitration before Judicial Arbitration Mediation Services (JAMS) in Los Angeles. We are currently examining the merits of the claims to be arbitrated, and it is too early to state whether the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is probable or remote, or to estimate the potential loss if the outcome should be negative. We are aware that punitive damages previously sought in the court proceeding are not available in arbitration. We are preparing a defense to the allegations and we intend to vigorously defend the action.

On August 28, 2014, Lakeside Medical Group, Inc. and Regal Medical Group, Inc., filed a similar lawsuit against Warren Hosseinion, our Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Hosseinion is defending the action and is currently being indemnified by us subject to the terms of an indemnification agreement and our charter. We have an existing Directors and Officers insurance policy. On September 9, 2014, Dr. Hosseinion filed a motion requesting the Court to stay the court proceeding and, pursuant to existing arbitration agreements, order the parties to arbitrate the dispute as part of the pending arbitration proceedings before JAMS (as discussed above). On October 29, 2014, the Plaintiffs filed a request for dismissal without prejudice of the action. On November 13, 2014, Plaintiffs served Dr. Hosseinion with Demands for Arbitration before JAMS in Los Angeles, and on November 19, 2014, we agreed to consolidate the two proceedings against Dr. Hosseinion with the two existing proceedings against us and our other affiliates. The parties are currently pursuing mediation of the dispute. We continue to examine the merits of the claims to be arbitrated against Dr. Hosseinion, and it is too early to state whether the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is probable or remote, or to estimate the potential loss if the outcome should be negative. We are aware that punitive damages previously sought in the court proceeding against Dr. Hosseinion are not available in arbitration.

Other than the two specific items disclosed above, the merits of which we continue to examine and analyze, we believe, based upon our review of pending actions and proceedings, that the outcome of such legal actions and proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. The outcome of such actions and proceedings, however, cannot be predicted with certainty and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of them could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows in a future period.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Market Information

Our common stock is quoted on the OTCQBOTC Pink under the symbol, “AMEH,”“AMEH”.

The following table sets forth, during the fiscal quarters presented, the high and low bid prices of our common stock as reported by the OTCQB. On May 16, 2014, the Board of Directors of our Company approved a change to the Company’s fiscal year end from January 31 to March 31. For continuity of reporting our stock price, we reflected fiscal quarters in the following table based on our current March 31 fiscal year-end and adjusted our stock price to reflect the effects of our reverse stock split.OTC Pink. The OTCQB quotations below reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail markup, markdown or commissions and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

On June 30, 2015,26, 2017, the closing price of our common stock as quoted on OTCQBOTC Pink was $6.90. This amount reflects a one-for-ten (1:10) reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock that we effected on April 24, 2015.

Reverse Stock Split

On April 24, 2015, the Company filed an amendment to its articles of incorporation to effect a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common stock. The number of authorized, but unissued, shares was not affected. No fractional shares were issued following the reverse stock split and we paid cash in lieu of any fractional shares resulting from the reverse stock split.$10.00.

Stockholders

As of May 5, 2015,June 26, 2017, as reported by the Company’s stock transfer agent, there were approximately 348351 holders of record of our common stock. We believe that the number of beneficial owners of our common stock substantially exceeds this number.

Dividends

To date we have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock and we do not contemplate the payment of cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our Credit Agreement with NNA, restricts the payment of dividends without their prior consent. Our future dividend policy will depend on obtaining NNA’s prior consent, our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, and other factors considered relevant to our ability to pay dividends.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

On October 14, 2015, we sold 1,111,111 units (the “Series A Units”), each Series A Unit consisting of one share of our Series A Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred Stock”) and a stock purchase warrant (the “Series A Warrant”) to purchase one share of our common stock at an exercise price of $9.00 per share, for which NMM paid us $10,000,000. We used the proceeds primarily to repay certain outstanding indebtedness owed by us to NNA and the balance for working capital. For accounting purposes this preferred stock was classified as temporary or mezzanine equity.

On November 17, 2015, we agreed to issue a total of 600,000 shares of our Common Stock to NNA pursuant to the Second Amendment and Conversion Agreement among NNA, Warren Hosseinion, M.D., Adrian Vazquez, M.D. and us (the “Conversion Agreement”). Pursuant to the Conversion Agreement, we agreed to issue to NNA (i) 275,000 shares of our common stock and to pay accrued and unpaid interest of $47,112, in full satisfaction of NNA’s conversion and other rights under the 8% Convertible Note dated March 28, 2014, issued by us to NNA, in the principal amount of $2,000,000; and (ii) 325,000 shares of our common stock in exchange for all stock purchase warrants held by NNA (the “NNA Warrants”), under which NNA had the right to purchase 300,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $10.00 per share and 200,000 shares at an exercise price of $20.00 per share, in each case subject to anti-dilution adjustments.

On January 13, 2016, we issued 275,000 shares of our common stock to the sole shareholder of Healarium, Inc., the assets of which we purchased for such consideration and a payment by the seller to us of $200,000.

On March 30, 2016, we sold NMM 555,555 units (the “Series B Units”) each Series B Unit consisting of one share of our Series B Preferred Stock (the “Series B Preferred Stock”) and a stock purchase warrant (the “Series B Warrant”) to purchase one share of our common stock at an exercise price of $10.00 per share, for which NMM paid us $4,999,995.

The securities described above were all issued in reliance upon the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D promulgated by the SEC thereunder. For more information regarding these issuances, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

In connection with the conversion by several holders of our 9% Notes into an aggregate 138,463 shares of our common stock, (i) on or about August 23, 2016, we issued an aggregate 45,717 shares of our common stock to four such individuals; and (ii) on or about September 22, 2016, we issued an aggregate 26,124 shares of our common stock to three such individuals. As of March 31, 2017, an aggregate 66,622 shares of our common stock had not yet been issued to the remaining four such individuals. We received no proceeds in connection with any of these exercises or issuances. The foregoing issuances were exempt from the registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) thereof, and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D or Regulation S promulgated thereunder.

In connection with the exercise by several holders of certain warrants into an aggregate 150,000 shares of our common stock, on or about October 21, 2016, we issued an aggregate 140,000 shares of our common stock to ten such individuals. As of March 31, 2017, an aggregate 10,000 shares of our common stock had not yet been issued to the remaining one such individual. We received approximately $172,000 in connection with these exercises. The foregoing issuances were exempt from the registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) thereof, and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D or Regulation S promulgated thereunder.

On November 4, 2016, in connection with our acquisition of all of the stock of BAHA, we issued a stock purchase warrant to Dr. Enderby to purchase up to 24,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $4.50 per share (the “Enderby Warrant”), which was the closing price of our common stock on the trading day immediately preceding the closing date of that acquisition. The Enderby Warrant may be exercised in equal monthly installments of 1,000 shares over a 24-month period commencing on December 4, 2016 and terminating on November 4, 2018. The Enderby Warrant contains additional provisions typical of an agreement of this type, including exercise procedures; a “cashless exercise” feature; adjustment of the warrant exercise price and/or the number of shares for which the Warrant may be exercised in the event of certain events, such as stock dividends, stock splits, recapitalizations and similar transactions; governing law and venue for litigation of disputes.

On November 17, 2016, we issued the Chindris Warrant to purchase up to 5,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $9.00 per share.

All the securities described above that were issued in November 2016 were issued in reliance upon the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table provides information about our common stock that may be issued upon the exercise of options, warrants and rights under all of our existing equity compensation plans and agreements as of March 31, 2015,2017, including our 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended) and(the “2010 Plan”), our 2013 Equity Incentive Plan.Plan (the “2013 Plan”) and our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The material terms of each of these plans and agreements are described in the notesNotes to our March 31, 2015 consolidated financial statements,Consolidated Financial Statements, which are part of this Report. Each of these plans was approved by our stockholders.report.