Our Solution is dependent on our ability to source data from third parties, and such third parties could take steps to block our access to data, which could impair our ability to provide our Solution or limit the effectiveness of our Solution.
Our data platform requires us to source data from multiple clinical, financial, and operational data sources, which sources are also typically third-party vendors of our customers. The functioning of our analytics applications and our ability to perform analytics services is predicated on our ability to establish interfaces that download the relevant data from these source systems on a repeated basis and in a reliable manner. We may encounter vendors whothat engage in information blocking practices that may inhibit our ability to access the relevant data on behalf of customers. A proposed rulemaking issuedfinal rule that was published on March 3, 2019May 1, 2020 (the ProposedFinal Rule), pursuant to the 21st Century Cures Act, finalizes anti-information blocking provisions prohibitsthat prohibit practices that are meantlikely to prevent, materially discourage, or otherwise inhibitinterfere with access, exchange, or use of electronic health information. The ProposedFinal Rule allows for certain exceptions such as allowing vendors to charge a reasonable cost for access to interoperability elements of its technology to enable data access. However,These rules will not go into effective until November 2, 2020, with an additional period of enforcement discretion of three months, pursuant to an announcement by the ProposedOffice of the National Coordinator as a result of resources being focused on the COVID-19 pandemic. After the Final Rule is being enforced, it will initially apply to subsets of data for the first 18 months of implementation prior to applying to all EHI. While the Final Rule is intended to limit information blocking practices, it is unclear whether the exceptions and safe harbors to the Final Rule will be interpreted broadly and/or in other ways that limit the practical effectiveness of the Final Rule. Since this rule has not yet been enforced and may not be finalized for some time, and the final rule may be modified in ways that are less discouraging of information blocking practices than is the Proposed Rule. Further,enforced until February 2021, healthcare organizations and vendors may decide in the interim not to observe the provisions of the Proposed Rule or may adapt interpretations of the Proposed Rule and/21st Century Cures Act, or the final ruleFinal Rule that justify the continuation of various information blocking practices. If we face limitations on the development of data interfaces and other information blocking practices, our data access and ability to download relevant data may be limited, which could adversely affect our ability to provide our Solution as effectively as possible. Any steps we take to enforce the anti-information blocking provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act could be costly, could distract management attention from the business, and could have uncertain results.
Failure by our customers to obtain proper permissions and waivers may result in claims against us or may limit or prevent our use of data, which could harm our business.
We require our customers to provide necessary notices and to obtain necessary permissions and waivers for use and disclosure of the information that we receive, and we require contractual assurances from them that they have done so and will do so. If they do not obtain necessary permissions and waivers, then our use and disclosure of information that we receive from them or on their behalf may be restricted or prohibited by state, federal or international privacy or data protection laws, or other related privacy and data protection laws. This could impair our functions, processes, and databases that reflect, contain, or are based upon such data and may prevent the use of such data, including our ability to provide such data to third parties that are incorporated into our service offerings. Furthermore, this may cause us to breach obligations to third parties to whom we may provide such data, such as third-party service or technology providers that are incorporated into our service offerings. In addition, this could interfere with or prevent data sourcing, data analyses, or limit other data-driven activities that benefit us. Moreover, we may be subject to claims, civil and/or criminal liability or government or state attorneys general investigations for use or disclosure of information by reason of lack of valid notice, permission, or waiver. These claims, liabilities or government or state attorneys general investigations could subject us to unexpected costs and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
If our security measures are breached or unauthorized access to customer data is otherwise obtained, our Solution may be perceived as not being secure, customers may reduce the use of or stop using our Solution, and we may incur significant liabilities.
Our Solution involves the storage and transmission of our customers’ proprietary information, including personal or identifying information regarding patients and their protected health information (PHI). As a result, unauthorized access or security breaches as a result of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance, or otherwise could result in the loss or inappropriate use of information, litigation, indemnity obligations, damage to our reputation, and other liability such as government or state Attorney General investigations.
Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Moreover, the detection, prevention, and remediation of known or unknown security vulnerabilities, including those arising from third-party hardware or software, may result in additional direct or indirect costs and management time.
Any or all of these issues could adversely affect our ability to attract new customers, cause existing customers to elect to not renew their subscriptions, result in reputational damage, or subject us to third-party lawsuits, regulatory fines, mandatory disclosures, or other action or liability, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Our general liability insurance may not be adequate to cover all potential claims to which we are exposed and may not be adequate to indemnify us for liability that may be imposed or the losses associated with such events, and in any case, such insurance may not cover all of the specific costs, expenses, and losses we could incur in responding to and remediating a security breach. A security breach of another significant provider of cloud-based solutions may also negatively impact the demand for our Solution.
Our results of operations have in the past fluctuated and may continue to fluctuate significantly, and if we fail to meet the expectations of analysts or investors, our stock price and the value of an investment in our common stock could decline substantially.
Our results of operations are likely to fluctuate, and if we fail to meet or exceed the expectations of securities analysts or investors, the trading price of our common stock could decline. Moreover, our stock price may be based on expectations of our future performance that may be unrealistic or that may not be met. Some of the factors that could cause our revenue and results of operations to fluctuate from quarter to quarter include:
•the extent to which our Solution achieves or maintains market acceptance;
•our ability to introduce new applications, updates, and enhancements to our existing applications on a timely basis;
•new competitors and the introduction of enhanced products and services from new or existing competitors;
•the length of our contracting and implementation cycles and our fulfillment periods for our Solution;
•the mix of revenue generated from professional services as compared to technology subscriptions;
•the financial condition of our current and future customers;
•changes in customer budgets and procurement policies;
•changes in regulations or marketing strategies;
•the amount and timing of our investment in research and development activities;
•the amount and timing of our investment in sales and marketing activities;
•technical difficulties or interruptions to our DOS platform or analytics applications;
•our ability to hire and retain qualified personnel;
•changes in the regulatory environment related to healthcare;
•regulatory compliance costs;
•the timing, size, and integration success of potential future acquisitions;
•unforeseen legal expenses, including litigation and settlement costs; and
•buying patterns of our customers and the related seasonality impacts on our business.
Many of these factors are not within our control, and the occurrence of one or more of them might cause our results of operations to vary widely. As such, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our revenue and results of operations may not be meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.
A significant portion of our operating expense is relatively fixed in nature in the short term, and planned expenditures are based in part on expectations regarding future revenue and profitability. Accordingly, unexpected revenue shortfalls, lower-than-expected revenue increases as a result of planned expenditures, and longer-than-expected impact on profitability and margins as a result of planned expenditures may decrease our gross margins and profitability and could cause significant changes in our results of operations from quarter to quarter. In addition, our future quarterly results of operations may fluctuate and may not meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors. If this occurs, the trading price of our common stock could fall substantially, either suddenly or over time.
Our pricing may change over time and our ability to efficiently price our Solution will affect our results of operations and our ability to attract or retain customers.
In the past, we have adjusted our prices as a result of offering new applications and services and customer demand. In the fourth quarter of 2018, we began to introduce new pricing for our Solution to new customers, the full effect of which we expect would be realized in future years. While we determined these prices based on prior experience and feedback from customers, our assessments may not be accurate and we could be underpricing or overpricing our Solution, which may require us to continue to adjust our pricing model. Furthermore, as our applications and services change, then we may need to, or choose to, revise our pricing as our prior experience in those areas will be limited. For example, we introduced our subscription model in 2015, and we may need to continually refine our pricing model. Such changes to our pricing model or our inability to efficiently price our Solution could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition and impact our ability to predict our future performance.
If our Solution fails to provide accurate and timely information, or if our content or any other element of our Solution is associated with faulty clinical decisions or treatment, we could have liability to customers, members, clinicians, or patients, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our applications, content, and services may be used by customers to support clinical decision-making by providers and interpret information about patient medical histories, treatment plans, medical conditions, and the use of particular medications. If our applications, content, or services are associated with faulty clinical decisions or treatment, then customers or their patients could assert claims against us that could result in substantial costs to us, harm our reputation in the industry, and cause demand for our Solution to decline.
Our analytics services may be used by our customers to inform clinical decision-making, provide access to patient medical histories, and assist in creating patient treatment plans. Therefore, if data analyses are presented incorrectly in our applications or they are incomplete, or if we make mistakes in the capture or input of these data, adverse consequences, including death, may occur and give rise to product liability, medical malpractice liability, and other claims against us by customers, clinicians, patients, or others. We often have little control over data accuracy, yet a court or government agency may take the position that our storage and display of health information exposes us to personal injury liability or other liability for wrongful delivery or handling of healthcare services or erroneous health information.
Our clinical guidelines, algorithms, and protocols may be viewed as providing healthcare professionals with guidance on care management, care coordination, or treatment decisions. If our content, or content we obtain from third parties, contains inaccuracies, or we introduce inaccuracies in the process of implementing third-party content, it is possible that patients, physicians, consumers, the providers of the third-party content, or others may sue us if they are harmed as a result of such inaccuracies. We cannot assure you that our software development, editorial, and other quality control procedures will be sufficient to ensure that there are no errors or omissions in any particular content or our software or algorithms.
The assertion of such claims and ensuing litigation, regardless of its outcome, could result in substantial cost to us, divert management’s attention from operations, damage our reputation, and decrease market acceptance of our Solution. We attempt to limit by contract our liability for damages, have our customers assume responsibility for clinical treatment, diagnoses, medical oversight, and dosing decisions, and require that our customers assume responsibility for medical care and approve key algorithms, clinical guidelines, clinical protocols, and data. Despite these precautions, the allocations of responsibility and limitations of liability set forth in our contracts may not be enforceable, be binding upon patients, or otherwise protect us from liability for damages. Furthermore, general liability and errors and omissions insurance coverage and medical malpractice liability coverage may not continue to be available on acceptable terms or may not be available in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims against us. In addition, the insurer might disclaim coverage as to any future claim. One or more large claims could exceed our available insurance coverage.
If any of these events occur, they could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Although we carry insurance covering medical malpractice claims in amounts that we believe are appropriate in light of the risks attendant to our business, successful medical liability claims could result in substantial damage awards that exceed the limits of our insurance coverage. In addition, professional liability insurance is expensive and insurance premiums may increase significantly in the future, particularly as we expand our Solution. As a result, adequate professional liability insurance may not be available to our providers or to us in the future at acceptable costs or at all.
Any claims made against us that are not fully covered by insurance could be costly to defend against, result in substantial damage awards against us and divert the attention of our management and our providers from our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, any claims may adversely affect our business or reputation.
We rely on third-party providers, including Microsoft Azure, for computing infrastructure, network connectivity, and other technology-related services needed to deliver our Solution. Any disruption in the services provided by such third-party providers could adversely affect our business and subject us to liability.
Our DOS platform and analytics applications are hosted from and use computing infrastructure provided by third parties, including Microsoft Azure and Flexential, and other computing infrastructure service providers. We have migrated and expect to continue to migrate a significant portion of our computing infrastructure needs to Microsoft Azure. We have made and expect to continue to make substantial investments in transitioning customers from our own managed data center to Microsoft Azure. We anticipate that this transition will increase the cost of hosting our technology and negatively impact our technology gross margin. We currently expect our planned transitions to be substantially complete by the end of 2020. Such migrations are risky and may cause disruptions to our Solution, service outages, downtime, or other problems and may increase our costs. Despite precautions taken during such transitions, any unsuccessful transition of technology may impair customers’ use of our technology which may cause greater costs or downtime and which may lead to, among other things, customer dissatisfaction and non-renewals.
Our computing infrastructure service providers have no obligation to renew their agreements with us on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we are unable to renew these agreements on commercially reasonable terms, or if one of our computing infrastructure service providers is acquired, we may be required to transition to a new provider and we may incur significant costs and possible service interruption in connection with doing so.
Problems faced by our computing infrastructure service providers, including those operated by Microsoft, could adversely affect the experience of our customers. Microsoft Azure has also had and may in the future experience significant service outages. Additionally, if our computing infrastructure service providers are unable to keep up with our growing needs for capacity, this could have an adverse effect on our business. For example, a rapid expansion of our business could affect our service levels or cause our third-party hosted systems to fail. Our agreements with third-party computing infrastructure service providers may not entitle us to service level credits that correspond with those we offer to our customers.
Any changes in third-party service levels at our computing infrastructure service providers, or any related disruptions or performance problems with our Solution, could adversely affect our reputation and may damage our customers’ stored files, result in lengthy interruptions in our services, or result in potential losses of customer data. Interruptions in our services might reduce our revenue, cause us to issue refunds to customers for prepaid and unused subscriptions, subject us to service level credit claims and potential liability, allow our customers to terminate their contracts with us, or adversely affect our renewal rates.
We rely on Internet infrastructure, bandwidth providers, data center providers, other third parties, and our own systems for providing services to our users, and any failure or interruption in the services provided by these third parties or our own systems could expose us to litigation, potentially require us to issue credits to our customers, and negatively impact our relationships with users or customers, adversely affecting our brand and our business.
In addition to the services we provide from our offices, we serve our customers primarily from third-party data-hosting facilities. These facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures, and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism, and similar misconduct. Their systems and servers could also be subject to hacking, spamming, ransomware, computer viruses or other malicious software, denial of service attacks, service disruptions, including the inability to process certain transactions, phishing attacks and unauthorized access attempts, including third parties gaining access to users’ accounts using stolen or inferred credentials or other means, and may use such access to prevent use of users’ accounts. Despite precautions taken at these facilities, the occurrence of a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, a decision to close the facilities without adequate notice, or other unanticipated problems at two or more of the facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our services. Even with our disaster recovery arrangements, our services could be interrupted.
Our ability to deliver our Internet- and telecommunications-based services is dependent on the development and maintenance of the infrastructure of the Internet and other telecommunications services by third parties. This includes maintenance of a reliable network backbone with the necessary speed, data capacity, and security for providing reliable Internet access and services and reliable mobile device, telephone, facsimile, and pager systems, all at a predictable and reasonable cost. We have experienced and expect that we will experience interruptions and delays in services and availability from time to time.
We rely on internal systems as well as third-party vendors, including data center, bandwidth, and telecommunications equipment or service providers, to provide our services. We do not maintain redundant systems or facilities for some of these services. In the event of a catastrophic event with respect to one or more of these systems or facilities, we may experience an extended period of system unavailability, which could negatively impact our relationship with users or customers. To operate without interruption, both we and our service providers must guard against:
•damage from fire, power loss, and other natural disasters;
•communications failures;
•software and hardware errors, failures, and crashes;
•security breaches, computer viruses, ransomware, and similar disruptive problems; and
•other potential interruptions.
Any disruption in the network access, telecommunications, or co-location services provided by these third-party providers or any failure of or by these third-party providers or our own systems to handle the current or higher volume of use could significantly harm our business. We exercise limited control over these third-party vendors, which increases our vulnerability to problems with the services they provide.
Any errors, failures, interruptions, or delays experienced in connection with these third-party technologies and information services or our own systems could negatively impact our relationships with users and customers, adversely affect our brands and business, and expose us to third-party liabilities. The insurance coverage under our policies may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses that may occur. In addition, we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage at an acceptable cost.
The reliability and performance of the Internet may be harmed by increased usage or by denial-of-service attacks. The Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damages to portions of its infrastructure, and it could face outages and delays in the future. These outages and delays could reduce the level of Internet usage as well as the availability of the Internet to us for delivery of our Internet-based services.
We typically provide service level commitments under our customer contracts. If we fail to meet these contractual commitments, we could be obligated to provide credits or refunds for prepaid amounts related to unused subscription services or face contract terminations, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Finally, recent changes in law could impact the cost and availability of necessary Internet infrastructure. Increased costs and/or decreased availability would negatively affect our results of operations.
If we fail to provide effective professional services and high-quality customer support, our business and reputation would suffer.
Our professional services and high-quality, ongoing customer support are important to the successful marketing and sale of our products and services and for the renewal of existing customer agreements. Providing these services and support requires that our professional services and support personnel have healthcare, technical, and other knowledge and expertise, making it difficult for us to hire qualified personnel and scale our professional services and support operations. The demand on our customer support organization will increase as we expand our business and pursue new customers, and such increased support could require us to devote significant development services and support personnel, which could strain our team and infrastructure and reduce our profit margins. If we do not help our customers quickly resolve any post-implementation issues and provide effective ongoing customer support, our ability to sell additional products and services to existing and future customers could suffer and our reputation would be harmed.
Our sales cycles can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require a considerable investment of time and expense. If our sales cycle lengthens or we invest substantial resources pursuing unsuccessful sales opportunities, our results of operations and growth would be harmed.
Our sales process entails planning discussions with prospective customers, analyzing their existing solutions and identifying how these potential customers can use and benefit from our Solution. The sales cycle for a new customer, from the time of prospect qualification to the completion of the first sale, has averaged 11 months and in some cases has exceeded 24 months. We spend substantial time, effort and money in our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will result in the sale of our Solution.
In addition, our sales cycle and timing of sales can vary substantially from customer to customer because of various factors, including the discretionary nature of potential customers’ purchasing and budget decisions, the announcement or planned introduction of new analytics applications or services by us or our competitors, and the purchasing approval processes of potential customers. If our sales cycle lengthens or we invest substantial resources pursuing unsuccessful sales opportunities, our results of operations and growth would be harmed.
Our DOS platform or our analytics applications may not operate properly, which could damage our reputation, give rise to claims against us, or divert application of our resources from other purposes, any of which could harm our business and results of operations.
Proprietary software development is time-consuming, expensive, and complex. Unforeseen difficulties can arise. We may encounter technical obstacles, and it is possible that we will discover additional problems that prevent our applications from operating properly.
If our systems do not function reliably or fail to meet user or customer expectations in terms of performance, customers could assert liability claims against us or attempt to cancel their contracts with us, and members could choose to terminate their use of our Solution. This could damage our reputation and impair our ability to attract or retain customers and members.
Information services as complex as those we offer have, in the past, contained, and may in the future develop or contain, undetected defects, vulnerabilities, or errors. We cannot be assured that material performance problems or defects in our software will not arise in the future. Errors may result from sources beyond our control, including the receipt, entry, or interpretation of patient information; the interface of our software with legacy systems that we did not develop; or errors in data provided by third parties. Despite testing, defects or errors may arise in our existing or new software or service processes following introduction to the market.
Customers rely on our Solution to collect, manage, and report clinical, financial, and operational data, and to provide timely and accurate information regarding medical treatment and care delivery patterns. They may have a greater sensitivity to service errors and security vulnerabilities than customers of software products in general. Clinicians may also rely on our predictive models for care delivery prioritization, and to inform treatment protocols. Limitations of liability and disclaimers that purport to limit our liability for damages related to defects in our software or content which we may include in our subscription and services agreements may not be enforced by a court or other tribunal or otherwise effectively protect us from related claims. In most cases, we maintain liability insurance coverage, including coverage for errors and omissions. However, it is possible that claims could exceed the amount of our applicable insurance coverage or that this coverage may not continue to be available on acceptable terms or in sufficientinsufficient amounts.
In light of this, defects, vulnerabilities, and errors and any failure by us to identify and address them could result in loss of revenue or market share; liability to customers, members, their patients, or others; failure to achieve market acceptance or expansion; diversion of development and management resources; delays in the introduction of new services; injury to our reputation; and increased service and maintenance costs. Defects, vulnerabilities, or errors in our software and service processes might discourage existing or potential customers or members from purchasing services from us. Correction of defects, vulnerabilities, or errors could prove to be impossible or impracticable. The costs incurred in correcting any defects, vulnerabilities, or errors or in responding to resulting claims or liability may be substantial and could adversely affect our results of operations.
If we are not able to maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition, our business and results of operations will be harmed.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our reputation and brand recognition is critical to our relationships with existing customers and to our ability to attract new customers. The promotion of our brands may require us to make substantial investments and we anticipate that, as our market becomes increasingly competitive, these marketing initiatives may become increasingly difficult and expensive. Our marketing activities may not be
successful or yield increased revenue, and to the extent that these activities yield increased revenue, the increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incur and our results of operations could be harmed.
In addition, any factor that diminishes our reputation or that of our management, including failing to meet the expectations of our customers, or any adverse publicity surrounding one of our investors or customers, could make it substantially more difficult for us to attract new customers. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition, our business may not grow and we could lose our relationships with customers, which would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We employ third-party licensed software and software components for use in or with our Solution, and the inability to maintain these licenses or the presence of errors in the software we license could limit the functionality of our Solution and result in increased costs or reduced service levels, which would adversely affect our business.
Our software applications might incorporate or interact with certain third-party software and software components (other than open sourceopen-source software), such as data visualization software, obtained under licenses from other companies. We pay these third parties a license fee or royalty payment. We anticipate that we will continue to use such third-party software in the future.
Although we believe that there are commercially reasonable alternatives to the third-party software we currently make available, this may not always be the case, or it may be difficult or costly to replace. Furthermore, these third parties may increase the price for licensing their software, which could negatively impact our results of operations. Our use of additional or alternative third-party software could require customers to enter into license agreements with third parties. In addition, if the third-party software we make available has errors or otherwise malfunctions, or if the third-party terminates its agreement with us, the functionality of our Solution may be negatively impacted and our business may suffer.
We derive a significant portion of our revenue from our largest customers. The loss, termination, or renegotiation of any contract could negatively impact our results.
Historically, we have relied on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our total revenue and accounts receivable. Our three largest customers during the six months ended June 30, 2019 comprised 4.9%4.6%, 3.9%3.6%, and 3.8%3.6% of our revenue, or 12.6%11.8% in the aggregate. Our three largest customers during the six months ended June 30, 2018 comprised 7.8%7.6%, 6.9%5.4%, and 5.0%4.5% of our revenue, or 19.7%17.5% in the aggregate. The sudden loss of any of our largest customers or the renegotiation of any of our largest customer contracts could adversely affect our results of operations. In the ordinary course of business, we engage in active discussions and renegotiations with our customers in respect of the solutions we provide and the terms of our customer agreements, including our fees. As our customers’ businesses respond to market dynamics and financial pressures, and as our customers make strategic business decisions in respect of the lines of business they pursue and programs in which they participate, we expect that certain of our customers will, from time to time, seek to restructure their agreements with us. In the ordinary course, we renegotiate the terms of our agreements with our customers in connection with renewals or extensions of these agreements. These discussions and future discussions could result in reductions to the fees and changes to the scope of services contemplated by our original customer contracts and consequently could negatively impact our revenue, business, and prospects.
Because we rely on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue, we depend on the creditworthiness of these customers. Our customers are subject to a number of risks including reductions in payment rates from governmental payors, higher than expected health care costs, and lack of predictability of financial results when entering new lines of business. If the financial condition of our customers declines, our credit risk could increase. Should one or more of our significant customers declare bankruptcy, be declared insolvent, or otherwise be restricted by state or federal laws or regulation from continuing in some or all of their operations, this could adversely affect our ongoing revenue, the collectability of our accounts receivable, and affect our bad debt reserves and net income.
We may not grow at the rates we historically have achieved or at all, even if our key metrics may indicate growth.
We have experienced significant growth in the last five years. Future revenue may not grow at these same rates or may decline. Our future growth will depend, in part, on our ability to grow our revenue from existing customers, to complete sales to potential future customers, to expand our customer and member bases, to develop new solutions, and to expand internationally. We can provide no assurances that we will be successful in executing on these growth strategies or that we will continue to grow our revenue or to generate net income. Our historical results may not be indicative of future performance. Our ability to execute on our existing sales pipeline, create additional sales pipelines, and expand our customer base depends on, among other things, the attractiveness of our Solution relative to those offered by our competitors, our ability to demonstrate the value of our existing and future services, and our ability to attract and retain a sufficient number of qualified sales and marketing leadership and support personnel. In addition, our existing customers may be slower to adopt our Solution than we currently anticipate, which could adversely affect our results of operations and growth prospects.
Changes in the healthcare industry could affect the demand for our Solution, cause our existing contracts to be terminated, and negatively impact the process of negotiating future contracts.
As the healthcare industry evolves, changes in our customer and vendor bases may reduce the demand for our Solution, result in the termination of existing contracts or certain services provided under existing contracts, and make it more difficult to negotiate new contracts on terms that are acceptable to us.
For example, the increasing market share of EHR companies in data analytic services at hospital systems may cause our existing customers to terminate contracts with us in order to engage EHR companies to provide these services. Similarly, customer and vendor consolidation results in fewer, larger entities with increased bargaining power and the ability to demand terms that are unfavorable to us. If these trends continue, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to maintain or expand our customer base, negotiate contracts with acceptable terms, or maintain our current pricing structure, and our revenue may decrease.
General reductions in expenditures by healthcare organizations, or reductions in such expenditures within market segments that we serve, could have similar impacts with regard to our Solution. Such reductions may result from, among other things, reduced governmental funding for healthcare; a decrease in the number of, or the market exclusivity available to, new drugs coming to market; or adverse changes in business or economic conditions affecting healthcare payors or providers, the pharmaceutical industry, or other healthcare companies that purchase our services (e.g., changes in the design of health plans). In addition, changes in government regulation of the healthcare industry could potentially negatively impact our existing and future contracts. Any of these changes could reduce the purchase of our Solution by such customers, reducing our revenue and possibly requiring us to materially revise our offerings. In addition, our customers’ expectations regarding pending or potential industry developments may also affect their budgeting processes and spending plans with respect to our Solution.
Because we generally recognize technology and professional services revenue ratably over the term of the contract for our services, a significant downturn in our business may not be reflected immediately in our results of operations, which increases the difficulty of evaluating our future financial performance.
We generally recognize technology and professional services revenue ratably over the term of a contract. As a result, a substantial portion of our revenue is generated from contracts entered into during prior periods. Consequently, a decline in new contracts in any quarter may not affect our results of operations in that quarter but could reduce our revenue in future quarters. Additionally, the timing of renewals or non-renewals of a contract during any quarter may only affect our financial performance in future quarters. For example, the non-renewal of a subscription agreement late in a quarter will have minimal impact on revenue for that quarter but will reduce our revenue in future quarters.
Accordingly, the effect of significant declines in sales may not be reflected in our short-term results of operations, which would make these reported results less indicative of our future financial results. By contrast, a non-renewal occurring early in a quarter may have a significant negative impact on revenue for that quarter and we may not be able to offset a decline in revenue due to non-renewal with revenue from new contracts entered into in the same quarter. In addition, we may be unable to quickly adjust our costs in response to reduced revenue.
The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included herein may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the markets in which we compete achieve the forecasted growth, our business may not grow at similar rates, or at all.
Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts included herein are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates which may not prove to be accurate. The estimates and forecasts included herein relating to the size and expected growth of our target market may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the markets in which we compete meet the size estimates and growth forecasts included herein, our business may not grow at similar rates, or at all. Our growth is subject to many factors, including our success in implementing our business strategy, which is subject to many risks and uncertainties.
We have experienced significant net losses since inception, we expect to incur losses in the future, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and maintain profitability.
We have incurred significant net losses in the past, including net losses of $24.4$60.1 million and $62.0 million in the six months ended June 30, 2019 and the yearyears ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We had an accumulated deficit of $557.2$610.5 million as of June 30,December 31, 2019. We expect our costs will increase over time as we continue to invest to grow our business and build relationships with customers, develop our platform, develop new solutions, and operate as a public company. These efforts may prove to be more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue sufficiently to offset these higher expenses.
As a result, we may need to raise additional capital through equity and debt financings in order to fund our operations. To date, we have financed our operations principally from the sale of redeemable convertible preferred stock, revenue from sales of our Solution and the incurrence of indebtedness. We may also fail to improve the gross margins of our business. If we are unable to effectively manage these risks and difficulties as we encounter them, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be adversely affected. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability could negatively impact the value of our common stock.
Because competition for our target employees is intense, we may not be able to attract and retain the highly skilled employees we need to support our continued growth.
To continue to execute on our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense, especially for senior sales executives and software engineers with high levels of experience in designing and developing applications and consulting and analytics services. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. We have from time to time in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. In addition, our search for replacements for departed employees may cause uncertainty regarding the future of our business, impact employee hiring and retention, and adversely impact our revenue, results of operations, and financial condition.
Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. In addition, in making employment decisions, particularly in the Internet and high-technology industries, job candidates often consider the value of the equity awards they may receive in connection with their employment. Volatility in the price of our stock or failure to obtain stockholder approval for increases in the number of shares available for grant under our equity plans may, therefore, adversely affect our ability to attract or retain key employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and future growth prospects could be severely harmed.
We depend on our senior management team, and the loss of one or more of our executive officers or key employees or an inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees could adversely affect our business.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our key executive officers and recruitment of additional highly skilled employees. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. Several of our senior leaders are active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There is a risk that in the future, one or more of these individuals could receive a call to serve in a full-time capacity for the church. This has already occurred with one of the two co-founders of our company, Steven Barlow, who in November 2016 was called to serve from June 2017 to June 2020 in a full-time capacity. At the time of his call, he was serving as the President of our professional services organization and was one of the most senior leaders of our company. In connection with this call to serve, Mr. Barlow took a leave-of-absence from his company responsibilities starting in March 2017, and his leave of absence will likely extend until August 2020. Hiring executives with needed skills or the replacement of one or more of our executive officers or other key employees would likely involve significant time and costs and may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives.
In addition, competition for qualified management in our industry is intense. Many of the companies with which we compete for management personnel have greater financial and other resources than we do. We have not entered into term-based employment agreements with our executive officers. All of our employees are “at-will” employees, and their employment can be terminated by us or them at any time, for any reason. The departure of key personnel could adversely affect the conduct of our business. In such event, we would be required to hire other personnel to manage and operate our business, and there can be no assurance that we would be able to employ a suitable replacement for the departing individual, or that a replacement could be hired on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, volatility or lack of performance in our stock price may affect our ability to attract replacements should key personnel depart. If we are not able to retain any of our key management personnel, our business could be harmed.
Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity, and teamwork fostered by our culture, which could harm our business.
We believe that our corporate culture has been an important contributor to our success, which we believe fosters innovation, teamwork, and passion for providing high levels of customer satisfaction. Most of our employees have been with us for fewer than three years as a result of our rapid growth. As we continue to grow, we must effectively integrate, develop, and motivate a growing number of new employees. As a result, we may find it difficult to maintain our corporate culture, which could limit our ability to innovate and operate effectively. Any failure to preserve our culture could also negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, maintain our performance, or execute on our business strategy.
Servicing our Notes may require a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash or the ability to raise the funds necessary to settle conversions of the Notes in cash, repay the Notes at maturity, or repurchase the Notes as required.
On April 14, 2020, we issued $230.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 2.50% Convertible Senior Notes (the Notes) due 2025, pursuant to an Indenture dated April 14, 2020, with U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee, in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers. We received net proceeds from the Notes of $222.5 million, after deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts and offering expenses payable by us.
The termsNotes are governed by an indenture (the Indenture) between us, as the issuer, and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee. The Notes are our are our senior, unsecured obligations and will accrue interest payable semiannually in arrears on April 15 and October 15 of each year, beginning on October 15, 2020, at a rate of 2.50% per year. The Notes will mature on April 15, 2025, unless earlier converted, redeemed, or repurchased. The Indenture does not contain any financial covenants or restrictions on the payments of dividends, the incurrence of indebtedness, or the issuance or repurchase of securities by us or any of our credit facilitysubsidiaries.
A holder may convert all or any portion of its Notes, at its option, subject to certain conditions and during certain periods, into cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, with the form of consideration determined at our election. Note holders will have the right to require us to meetrepurchase all or a portion of their notes at 100% of the principal amount of Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the repurchase date, upon the occurrence of certain operatingevents. The conversion rate is initially 32.6797 shares of our common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes (which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $30.60 per share of our common stock). If the Notes have not previously been converted, redeemed or repurchased, we will be required to repay the Notes in cash at maturity.
Our ability to make required cash payments in connection with redemptions or conversions of the Notes, repurchase the Notes upon the occurrence of certain events, or to repay or refinance the Notes at maturity will depend on market conditions and our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. We also may not use the cash proceeds we raised through the issuance of the Notes in an optimally productive and profitable manner. Since inception, our business has generated net losses, and we may continue to incur significant losses. As a result, we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to repurchase or repay the Notes or pay cash with respect to Notes being converted.
In addition, our ability to repurchase or to pay cash upon conversion or at maturity of the Notes may be limited by law or regulatory authority or by other agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase Notes upon the occurrence of certain events or to pay cash upon conversion or at maturity of the Notes as required by the Indenture would constitute a default under the Indenture. A default under the Indenture or the occurrence of certain events that allow Note holders to require repurchase could also lead to a default under agreements governing our future indebtedness and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial covenantscondition. If the payment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and place restrictionsrepurchase the Notes or to pay cash upon conversion or at maturity of the Notes.
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions.
In connection with the issuance of the Notes, we entered into the Capped Calls with certain option counterparties. We used approximately $21.6 million of the net proceeds from the Note Offering to pay the cost of the Capped Calls. The Capped Calls have initial cap prices of $42.00 per share, subject to certain adjustments. The Capped Calls are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to the cap price. The Capped Calls are separate transactions that we entered into with the option counterparties, and are not part of the terms of the Notes. The option counterparties are financial institutions or affiliates of financial institutions, and we will be subject to the risk that one or more of such option counterparties may default under the Capped Calls. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties will not be secured by any collateral. If any option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at that time under the Capped Calls. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, the increase in our operatingexposure will be correlated to the increase in our common stock market price and in the volatility of the market price of our common stock. In addition, upon a default by any option counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and dilution with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurance as to the financial flexibility. stability or viability of any option counterparty.
The convertible note hedge and warrant transactions may affect the value of our common stock.
In connection with the issuance of the Notes, we entered into the Capped Calls with the option counterparties. The Capped Calls are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Notes, as the case may be.
From time to time, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the Notes. This activity could cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of our common stock.
If we raise additional capital through debt financing, the terms of any new debt could further restrict our ability to operate our business.
On February 6, 2019,If we entered into a term loan facility with OrbiMed Royalty Opportunities II, LP (OrbiMed) in the amount of $80.0 million (the OrbiMed Credit Facility) as further described in detail in Note 9 in the consolidated financial statements. The OrbiMed Credit Facility is secured by a lien covering substantially all of our assets, including our intellectual property. Subject toraise any additional debt financing, the terms of the Credit Agreement entered into in connection with the OrbiMed Credit Facility (the Credit Agreement), amounts borrowed under the facility are repaid in twelve monthly installments beginning on the amortization commencement date, as defined in the Credit Agreement, priorsuch additional debt could further restrict our operating and financial flexibility by subjecting us to the February 6, 2024 maturity date, at which time all amounts borrowed will be due and payable. In addition, our revolving line of credit with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) includes certain restrictive covenants.
The Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants, indemnification provisions, and events of default. The affirmative covenants include, among others, covenants requiring us to maintain our legal existence and regulatory authorizations, deliver certain financial reports, and maintain certain intellectual property rights. The negative covenants include, among others, restrictions on transferring or licensing our assets, changing our business, incurring additional indebtedness, engaging in mergers or acquisitions, paying dividends or making other distributions, and creating other liens on our assets, in each case subject to customary exceptions. If we default under the Credit Agreement, the lender will be able to declare all obligations immediately due and payable and take control of our pledged assets, potentially requiring us to renegotiate our agreement on terms less favorable to us or to immediately cease operations. Further, if we are liquidated, the lender’s rights to repayment would be senior to the rights of the holders of our common stock to receive any proceeds from the liquidation. The lender could declare a default under the Credit Agreement upon the occurrence of any event that has had or could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect as defined under the Credit Agreement, thereby requiring us to repay the loan immediately or to attempt to reverse the declaration of default through negotiation or litigation. Any declaration by thea lender of an event of default could significantly harm our business and prospects and could cause the price of our common shares to decline. If we raise any additional debt financing, the terms of such additional debt could further restrict our operating and financial flexibility.
We may acquire other companies or technologies, which could divert our management’s attention, result in dilution to our stockholders, and otherwise disrupt our operations and we may have difficulty integrating any such acquisitions successfully or realizing the anticipated benefits therefrom, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We may seek to acquire or invest in businesses, applications, and services, or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our Solution, enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise offer growth opportunities. The pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating, and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated. We have in the past and may in the future have difficulty integrating acquired businesses. For example, in June 2018 we acquired the interoperability services of the Medicity business and in February 2020 we acquired Able Health, both of which we are in the process of integrating with our other services. We may have difficulty cross-selling our Solution to acquired customers, and we may have difficulty integrating newly acquired team members.
We have limited experience in acquiring other businesses. If we acquire additional businesses, we may not be able to integrate the acquired personnel, operations, and technologies successfully, or effectively manage the combined business following the acquisition. We also may not achieve the anticipated benefits from the acquired business due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to:
•inability to integrate or benefit from acquired technologies or services in a profitable manner;
•unanticipated costs or liabilities associated with the acquisition;
•difficulty integrating the accounting systems, operations, and personnel of the acquired business;
•difficulties and additional expenses associated with supporting legacy products and hosting infrastructure of the acquired business;
•difficulty converting the customers of the acquired business onto our platform and contract terms, including disparities in the revenue, licensing, support, or professional services model of the acquired company;
•diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns;
•adverse effects on our existing business relationships with business partners and customers as a result of the acquisition;
•the potential loss of key employees;
•use of resources that are needed in other parts of our business; and
•use of substantial portions of our available cash to consummate the acquisition.
In addition, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies we acquire may be allocated to acquired goodwill and other intangible assets, which must be assessed for impairment at least annually. In the future, if our acquisitions do not yield expected returns, we may be required to take charges to our results of operations based on this impairment assessment process, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, if an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may suffer.
Also, the anticipated benefit of any acquisition may not materialize or may be prohibited. In February 2019, we entered into the OrbiMed Credit Facility. The Credit Agreement restricts our ability to pursue certain mergers, acquisitions, or consolidations thatprohibited by contractual obligations we may believe to beenter into in our best interest.the future with lenders or other third parties. Additionally, future acquisitions or dispositions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, or amortization expenses or write-offs of goodwill, any of which could harm our financial condition. We cannot predict the number, timing or size of future acquisitions, or the effect that any such transactions might have on our results of operations.
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness.
It is possible that we will in the future draw down on our credit facilities with OrbiMed or SVB or enter into new debt obligations. Our ability to make scheduled payments or to refinance such debt obligations depends on numerous factors, including the amount of our cash balances and our actual and projected financial and operating performance. We may be unable to maintain a level of cash balances or cash flows sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our existing or future indebtedness. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or operations, seek additional capital, or restructure or refinance our indebtedness.
We may not be able to take any of these actions, and even if we are, these actions may be insufficient to permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. In addition, in the event of our breach of the Credit Agreement, we may be required to repay any outstanding amounts earlier than anticipated. If for any reason we become unable to service our debt obligations under the Credit Agreement, or any new debt obligations that we may enter into from time to time, holders of our common stock would be exposed to the risk that their holdings could be lost in an event of a default under such debt obligations and a foreclosure and sale of our assets for an amount that is less than the outstanding debt.
Any failure to protect our intellectual property rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.
Our success and ability to compete depend in part upon our intellectual property. As of June 30,December 31, 2019, we had filed applications for a number of patents, and we have eightnine issued U.S. and, three issued Canadian patents.patents, one issued Great Britain patent, and one issued European patent. We also have twenty-fivehad twenty-six registered trademarks in the United States, Canada, China, and the European Union, and five trademark applications in the United States.China. We also rely on copyright and trademark laws, trade secret protection, and confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, customers, partners, and others to protect our intellectual property rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property rights may be inadequate. For example, other parties, including our competitors, may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our services, or design around our intellectual property and, in such cases, we may not be able to assert our intellectual property rights against such parties. Further, our contractual arrangements may not effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information or provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of our confidential information, and we may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights.
We make business decisions about when to seek patent protection for a particular technology and when to rely upon trade secret protection, and the approach we select may ultimately prove to be inadequate. Even in cases where we seek patent protection, there is no assurance that the resulting patents will effectively protect every significant feature of our Solution, technology, or proprietary information, or provide us with any competitive advantages. Moreover, we cannot guarantee that any of our pending patent applications will issue or be approved. The United States Patent and Trademark Office and various foreign governmental patent agencies also require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the patent application process and after a patent has issued. There are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent, or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. If this occurs, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. Effective trademark, copyright, patent, and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which we conduct business. Further, intellectual property law, including statutory and case law, particularly in the United States, is constantly developing, and any changes in the law could make it harder for us to enforce our rights.
In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming, and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights.
An adverse determination of any litigation proceedings could put our intellectual property at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our related pending patent applications at risk of not issuing. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential or sensitive information could be compromised by disclosure in the event of litigation. In addition, during the course of litigation, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Negative publicity related to a decision by us to initiate such enforcement actions against a customer or former customer, regardless of its accuracy, may adversely impact our other customer relationships or prospective customer relationships, harm our brand and business, and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. Our failure to secure, protect, and enforce our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our brand and our business.
We may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights or misappropriation of intellectual property.
There is considerable patent and other intellectual property development activity in our industry. Our future success depends in part on not infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others. Our competitors, as well as a number of other entities and individuals, including so-called non-practicing entities (NPEs), may own or claim to own intellectual property relating to our Solution. From time to time, third parties may claim that we are infringing upon their intellectual property rights or that we have misappropriated their intellectual property. For example, in some cases, very broad patents are granted that may be interpreted as covering a wide field of healthcare data storage and analytics solutions or machine learning and predictive modeling methods in healthcare. As competition in our market grows, the possibility of patent infringement, trademark infringement, and other intellectual property claims against us increases. In the future, we expect others to claim that our Solution and underlying technology infringe or violate their intellectual property rights. In a patent infringement claim against us, we may assert, as a defense, that we do not infringe the relevant patent claims, that the patent is invalid or both. The strength of our defenses will depend on the patents asserted, the interpretation of these patents, and our ability to invalidate the asserted patents. However, we could be unsuccessful in advancing non-infringement and/or invalidity arguments in our defense. In the United States, issued patents enjoy a presumption of validity, and the party challenging the validity of a patent claim must present clear and convincing evidence of invalidity, which is a high burden of proof. Conversely, the patent owner need only prove infringement by a preponderance of the evidence, which is a lower burden of proof. We may be unaware of the intellectual property rights that others may claim cover some or all of our technology or services. Because patent applications can take years to issue and are often afforded confidentiality for some period of time there may currently be pending applications, unknown to us, that later result in issued patents that could cover one or more aspects of our technology and services. Any claims or litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses and, whether or not successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages, ongoing royalty or license payments, or settlement fees, prevent us from offering our Solution or using certain technologies, require us to re-engineer all or a portion of our platform, or require that we comply with other unfavorable terms. We may also be obligated to indemnify our customers or business partners or pay substantial settlement costs, including royalty payments, in connection with any such claim or litigation and to obtain licenses, modify applications, or refund fees, which could be costly. Even if we were to prevail in such a dispute, any litigation regarding our intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations.
Economic uncertainties or downturns in the general economy or the industries in which our customers operate could disproportionately affect the demand for our Solution and negatively impact our results of operations.
General worldwide economic conditions have experienced significant downturns during the last ten or more years, and market volatility and uncertainty remain widespread, making it potentially very difficult for our customers and us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities. During challenging economic times, our customers may have difficulty gaining timely access to sufficient credit or obtaining credit on reasonable terms, which could impair their ability to make timely payments to us and adversely affect our revenue.
If that were to occur, our financial results could be harmed. Further, challenging economic conditions may impair the ability of our customers to pay for the applications and services they already have purchased from us and, as a result, our write-offs of accounts receivable could increase. We cannot predict the timing, strength, or duration of any economic slowdown or recovery. If the condition of the general economy or markets in which we operate worsens, our business could be harmed.
Our Solution utilizes open sourceopen-source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open sourceopen-source licenses could adversely affect our business.
We use software modules licensed to us by third-party authors under “open source”“open-source” licenses in our Solution. Some open sourceopen-source licenses requirecontain affirmative obligations or restrictive terms that users of the applicable softwarecould adversely impact our business, such as restrictions on commercialization or obligations to make available source code for modificationsmodified or derivative works created using that open source software.of certain open-source code. If we were to combine our proprietary software with open sourcecertain open-source software subject to these licenses in a certain manner, we could, under certain open sourceopen-source licenses, be required to release or otherwise make available the source code to our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar products with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of product sales for us.
Although we employ practices designed to manage our compliance with open sourceopen-source licenses and protect our proprietary source code, we may inadvertently use open sourceopen-source software in a manner we do not intend and that could expose us to claims for breach of contract and intellectual property infringement. If we are held to have breached the terms of an open sourceopen-source software license, we could be required to, among other things, seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our products on terms that are not economically feasible, pay damages to third parties, to re-engineer our products, to discontinue the sale of our products if re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis, or to make generally available, in source code form, a portion of our proprietary code, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The terms of many open sourceopen-source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and, as a result, there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our Solution.
Taxing authorities may successfully assert that we should have collected or in the future should collect sales and use, value addedvalue-added or similar transactional taxes, and we could be subject to liability with respect to past or future sales, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
We do not collect sales and use, value added,value-added, and similar transactional taxes in all jurisdictions in which we have sales, based on our belief that such taxes are not applicable or that we are not required to collect such taxes with respect to the jurisdiction. Sales and use, value added,value-added, and similar tax laws and rates vary greatly by jurisdiction. Certain jurisdictions in which we do not collect such taxes may assert that such taxes are applicable, which could result in tax assessments, penalties, and interest, and we may be required to collect such taxes in the future. Such tax assessments, penalties, interest or future requirements, increase in tax rates, or a combination of the foregoing may result in an increase in our sales and similar transactional taxes, increase administrative burdens or costs, or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Unanticipated changes in our effective tax rate and additional tax liabilities, including as a result of our international operations or implementation of new tax rules, could harm our future results.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and are expanding into various foreign jurisdictions that are subject to income tax. Our domestic and international tax liabilities are subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions and complex transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. Tax rates in the jurisdictions in which we operate may change as a result of factors outside of our control or relevant taxing authorities may disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. In addition, changes in tax and trade laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation or enforcement, have become more unpredictable and may become more stringent, which could materially adversely affect our tax position.
Forecasting our estimated annual effective tax rate is complex and subject to uncertainty, and there may be material differences between our forecasted and actual effective tax rate. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected by changes in the mix of earnings and losses in countries with differing statutory tax rates, certain non-deductible expenses, the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, adjustments to income taxes upon finalization of tax returns, changes in available tax attributes, decision to repatriate non-U.S. earnings for which we have not previously provided for U.S. taxes, and changes in federal, state, or international tax laws and accounting principles.
Finally, we may be subject to income tax audits throughout the world. An adverse resolution of one or more uncertain tax positions in any period could have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition for that period.
If we are unable to implement and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
As a public company, we are required to maintain internal controls over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. However, we are not currently required to comply with the SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose.
As a public company, we are required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 10-K. Many of the internal controls we have implemented pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are process controls with respect to which a material weakness may be found whether or not any error has been identified in our reported financial statements. This may be confusing to investors and result in damage to our reputation, which may harm our business. Additionally, the proper design and assessment of internal controls over financial reporting are subject to varying interpretations, and, as a result, application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies and as common practices evolve. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding the proper design and assessment of internal controls over financial reporting and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to internal controls.
We must continue to monitor and assess our internal control over financial reporting. If in the future we have any material weaknesses, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated. Additionally, if in the future we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner, are unable to assert that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, identify material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.
Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
As of December 31, 2018,2019, we had net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards for federal and state income tax purposes of approximately $232.9$269.1 million and $186.2$215.2 million, respectively, which may be available to offset taxable income in the future, and which expire in various years beginning in 2032 for federal purposes if not utilized. The state NOLs will expire depending upon the various rules in the states in which we operate. A lack of future taxable income would adversely affect our ability to utilize these NOLs before they expire. In general, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code) a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” (as defined under Section 382 of the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations) is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs to offset its future taxable income.
We may experience a future ownership change (including, potentially, in connection with this offering) under Section 382 of the Code that could affect our ability to utilize the NOLs to offset our income. Furthermore, our ability to utilize NOLs of companies that we have acquired or may acquire in the future may be subject to limitations. There is also a risk that due to regulatory changes, such as suspensions on the use of NOLs or other unforeseen reasons, our existing NOLs could expire or otherwise be unavailable to reduce future income tax liabilities, including for state income tax purposes. For these reasons, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our NOLs, even if we attain profitability, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us and could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Comprehensive tax reform legislation could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Tax Act) was signed into law. The Tax Act contains, among other things, significant changes to corporate taxation, including (i) a reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, (ii) a limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense to 30% of adjusted earnings (except for certain small businesses), (iii) a limitation of the deduction for NOLs to 80% of current year taxable income in respect of NOLs generated during or after 2018 and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, (iv) a one-time tax on offshore earnings at reduced rates regardless of whether they are repatriated, (v) immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time, and (vi) a modification or repeal of many business deductions and credits. For federal NOLs arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the Tax Act limits a taxpayer’s ability to utilize federal NOL carryforwards to 80% of taxable income. In addition, federal NOLs arising in tax years ending after December 31, 2017 can be carried forward indefinitely, but carryback is generally prohibited. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the newly enacted federal tax law. We will continue to examine the impact the Tax Act may have on our results of operations and financial condition.
Future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend and could result in additional liabilities.
We may from time to time be subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our customers in connection with commercial disputes and employment claims made by our current or former employees. Claims may also be asserted by or on behalf of a variety of other parties, including government agencies, patients or vendors of our customers, or stockholders. Any litigation involving us may result in substantial costs, operationally restrict our business, and may divert management’s attention and resources, which may seriously harm our business, overall financial condition, and results of operations. Insurance may not cover existing or future claims, be sufficient to fully compensate us for one or more of such claims, or continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, thereby reducing our results of operations and resulting in a reduction in the trading price of our stock.
Changes in accounting principles may cause previously unanticipated fluctuations in our financial results, and the implementation of such changes may impact our ability to meet our financial reporting obligations.
We prepare our financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP which are subject to interpretation or changes by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the SEC, and other various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. New accounting pronouncements and changes in accounting principles have occurred in the past and are expected to occur in the future which may have a significant effect on our financial results. Furthermore, any difficulties in implementation of changes in accounting principles, including the ability to modify our accounting systems, could cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could result in regulatory discipline and harm investors’ confidence in us.
Risks Related to Governmental Regulation
Government regulation of healthcare creates risks and challenges with respect to our compliance efforts and our business strategies.
The healthcare industry is highly regulated and is subject to changing political, legislative, regulatory, and other influences. Existing and new laws and regulations affecting the healthcare industry, or changes to existing laws and regulations, including the potential amendment or repeal of all or parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), could create unexpected liabilities for us, cause us to incur additional costs, and restrict our operations. Reforming the healthcare industry has been a priority for U.S. politicians, and key members of the legislative and executive branches have proposed a wide variety of potential changes and policy goals. Certain changes to laws impacting our industry, or perceived intentions to do so, could affect our business and results of operations.
Many healthcare laws are complex, and their application to specific services and relationships may not be clear. In particular, many existing healthcare laws and regulations, when enacted, did not anticipate the data analytics and improvement services that we provide, and these laws and regulations may be applied to our Solution in ways that we do not anticipate, particularly as we develop and release new and more sophisticated solutions. Our failure to accurately anticipate the application of these laws and regulations, or our other failure to comply with them, could create significant liability for us, result in adverse publicity, and negatively affect our business. Some of the risks we face from healthcare regulation are described below:
•Health Data Privacy Laws. There are numerous federal and state laws related to health information privacy. In particular, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) and their implementing regulations, which we collectively refer to as HIPAA, include privacy standards that protect individual privacy by limiting the uses and disclosures of PHI and implementing data security standards that require covered entities to implement administrative, physical, and technological safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and security of PHI in electronic form. HIPAA also specifies formats that must be used in certain electronic transactions, such as admission and discharge messages. By processing and maintaining PHI on behalf of our covered entity customers, we are a HIPAA business associate and mandated by HIPAA to enter into written agreements with our covered entity clients – known as BAAs – that require us to safeguard PHI. BAAs typically include:
| |
• | False Claims Laws◦. There are numerous federal and state laws that prohibit submission of false information, or the failure to disclose information, in connection with submission and payment of physician claims for reimbursement. For example, the federal civil False Claims Act prohibits, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the U.S. federal government, claims for payment or approval that are false or fraudulent, or knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items and services resulting from a violation of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act. If our advisory services to customers are associated with action by customers that is determined or alleged to be in violation of these laws and regulations, it is possible that an enforcement agency would also try to hold us accountable. Any determination by a court or regulatory agency that we have violated these laws could subject us to significant civil or criminal penalties, invalidate all or portions of some of our customer contracts, require us to change or terminate some portions of our business, require us to refund portions of our services fees, subject us to additional reporting requirements and oversight under a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of noncompliance with these laws, cause us to be disqualified from serving customers doing business with government payors, and have an adverse effect on our business. Our customers’ failure to comply with these laws and regulations in connection with our services could result in substantial liability (including, but not limited to, criminal liability), adversely affect demand for our Solution, and force us to expend significant capital, research and development, and other resources to address the failure.
|
| |
• | Health Data Privacy Laws. There are numerous federal and state laws related to health information privacy. In particular, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) and their implementing regulations, which we collectively refer to as HIPAA, include privacy standards that protect individual privacy by limiting the uses and disclosures of PHI and implementing data security standards that require covered entities to implement administrative, physical, and technological safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and security of PHI in electronic form. HIPAA also specifies formats that must be used in certain electronic transactions, such as admission and discharge messages. By processing and maintaining PHI on behalf of our covered entity customers, we are a HIPAA business associate and mandated by HIPAA to enter into written agreements with our covered entity clients – known as business associate agreements (BAAs) – that require us to safeguard PHI. BAAs typically include:
|
a description of our permitted uses of PHI;
◦a covenant not to disclose that information except as permitted under the BAA and to require that our subcontractors, if any, are subject to the substantially similar restrictions;
◦assurances that reasonable and appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards are in place to prevent misuse of PHI;
◦an obligation to report to our customer any use or disclosure of PHI other than as provided for in the BAA;
◦a prohibition against our use or disclosure of PHI if a similar use or disclosure by our customer would violate the HIPAA standards;
◦the ability of our customers to terminate the underlying support agreement if we breach a material term of the BAA and are unable to cure the breach;
◦the requirement to return or destroy all PHI at the end of our services agreement; and
◦access by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to our internal practices, books, and records to validate that we are safeguarding PHI.
In addition, we are also required to maintain BAAs, which contain similar provisions, with our subcontractors that access or otherwise process PHI on our behalf.
We may not be able to adequately address the business risks created by HIPAA implementation. Furthermore, we are unable to predict what changes to HIPAA or other laws or regulations might be made in the future or how those changes could affect our business or the costs of compliance. For example, in 2018, the HHS Office for Civil Rights published a Request for Information in the Federal Register seeking comments on a number of areas in which HHS is considering making both minor and significant modifications to the HIPAA privacy and security standards to, among other things, improve care coordination. We are unable to predict what, if any, impact the changes in such standards will have on our compliance costs or our Solution.
Finally, some of our analytics applications, for example one of our benchmarking applications, require that we obtain permissions consistent with HIPAA to provide “data aggregation services” and the right to create de-identified information and to use and disclose such de-identified information. We will also require large sets of de-identified information to enable us to continue to develop machine learning algorithms that enhance our Solution. If we are unable to secure these rights in customer BAAs or as a result of any future changes to HIPAA or other applicable laws, we may face limitations on the use of PHI and our ability to use de-identified information that could negatively affect the scope of our Solution as well as impair our ability to provide upgrades and enhancements to our Solution.
We outsource important aspects of the storage and transmission of customer and member information, and thus rely on third parties to manage functions that have material cyber‑security risks. We attempt to address these risks by requiring outsourcing subcontractors who handle customer information to sign BAAs contractually requiring those subcontractors to adequately safeguard PHI in a similar manner that applies to us and in some cases by requiring such outsourcing subcontractors to undergo third‑party security examinations as well as to protect the confidentiality of other sensitive customer information. In addition, we periodically hire third‑party security experts to assess and test our security measures. However, we cannot be assured that these contractual measures and other safeguards will adequately protect us from the risks associated with the storage and transmission of customer proprietary information and PHI.
In addition to the HIPAA privacy and security standards, most states have enacted patient confidentiality laws that protect against the disclosure of confidential medical and other personally identifiable information (PII) and many states have adopted or are considering new privacy laws, including legislation that would mandate new privacy safeguards, security standards, and data security breach notification requirements. Such state laws, if more stringent than HIPAA requirements, are not preempted by the federal requirements, and we are required to comply with them.
Failure by us to comply with any of the federal and state standards regarding patient privacy and/or privacy more generally may subject us to penalties, including significant civil monetary penalties and, in some circumstances, criminal penalties. In addition, such failure may injure our reputation and adversely affect our ability to retain customers and attract new customers.
Even an unsuccessful challenge by regulatory authorities of our activities could result in adverse publicity and could require a costly response from us.
•Corporate Practice of Medicine Laws and Fee-Splitting Laws. Many states have laws prohibiting physicians from practicing medicine in partnership with non-physicians, such as business corporations. In some states, including New York, these take the form of laws or regulations prohibiting splitting of physician fees with non-physicians or others. Any determination by a state court or regulatory agency that our service contracts with our clients violate these laws could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, invalidate all or portions of some of those contracts, require us to change or terminate some portions of our business, require us to refund portions of our services fees, and have an adverse effect on our business. Even an unsuccessful challenge by regulatory authorities of our activities could result in adverse publicity and could require a costly response from us.
| |
• | Anti-Kickback and Anti-Bribery Laws. There are federal and state laws that prohibit payment for patient referrals, patient brokering, remuneration of patients, or billing based on referrals between individuals or entities that have various financial, ownership, or other business relationships with healthcare providers. In particular, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving anything of value, directly or indirectly, for the referral of patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs or the leasing, purchasing, ordering, or arranging for or recommending the lease, purchase, or order of any item, good, facility, or service covered by these programs. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. Some enforcement activities focus on below or above market payments for federally reimbursable health care items or services as evidence of the intent to provide a kickback. Many states also have similar anti-kickback laws that are not necessarily limited to items or services for which payment is made by a federal healthcare program. In addition, the federal anti-referral law—the Stark Law—is very complex in its application, and prohibits physicians (and certain other healthcare professionals) from making a referral for a designated health service to a provider in which the referring healthcare professional (or spouse or any immediate family member) has a financial or ownership interest, unless an enumerated exception applies. The Stark Law also prohibits the billing for services rendered resulting from an impermissible referral. Many states also have similar anti-referral laws that are not necessarily limited to items or services for which payment is made by a federal healthcare program and may include patient disclosure requirements. Moreover, both federal and state laws prohibit bribery and similar behavior. Any determination by a state or federal regulatory agency that we or any of our customers, vendors, or partners violate or have violated any of these laws could subject us to significant civil or criminal penalties, require us to change or terminate some portions of our business, require us to refund portions of our services fees, subject us to additional reporting requirements and oversight under a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of noncompliance with these laws, cause us to be disqualified from serving customers doing business with government payors, and have an adverse effect on our business. Even an unsuccessful challenge by regulatory authorities of our activities could result in adverse publicity and could require a costly response from us.
|
| |
• | Corporate Practice of Medicine Laws and Fee-Splitting Laws. Many states have laws prohibiting physicians from practicing medicine in partnership with non-physicians, such as business corporations. In some states, including New York, these take the form of laws or regulations prohibiting splitting of physician fees with non-physicians or others. Any determination by a state court or regulatory agency that our service contracts with our clients violate these laws could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, invalidate all or portions of some of those contracts, require us to change or terminate some portions of our business, require us to refund portions of our services fees, and have an adverse effect on our business. Even an unsuccessful challenge by regulatory authorities of our activities could result in adverse publicity and could require a costly response from us.
|
| |
• | Medical professional regulation. The practice of most healthcare professions requires licensing under applicable state law. In addition, the laws in some states prohibit business entities from practicing medicine. We employ and contract with physicians who assist our customers with the customers’ care coordination, care management, population health management, and patient safety activities. We do not intend to provide medical care, treatment, or advice. However, any determination that we are acting in the capacity of a healthcare provider and acted improperly as a healthcare provider may result in additional compliance requirements, expense, and liability to us, and require us to change or terminate some portions of our business.
|
| |
• | •Medical Device Laws. The FDA may regulate medical or health-related software, including machine learning functionality and predictive algorithms, if such software falls within the definition of a “device” under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). However, the FDA exercises enforcement discretion for certain low-risk software, as described in its guidance documents for Mobile Medical Applications, General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices, and Medical Device Data Systems, Medical Image Storage Devices, and Medical Image Communications Devices. In addition, in December of 2016, President Obama signed into law the 21st Century Cures Act, which included exemptions for certain medical-related software, including software used for administrative support functions at a healthcare facility, software intended for maintaining or encouraging a healthy lifestyle, EHR software, software for transferring, storing, or displaying medical device data or in vitro diagnostic data, and certain clinical decision support software. The FDA has also issued draft guidance documents to clarify how it intends to interpret and apply the new exemptions under the 21st Century Cures Act. Although we believe that our software products are currently not subject to active FDA regulation, we continue to follow the FDA’s developments in this area. There is a risk that the FDA could disagree with our determination or that the FDA could develop new final guidance documents that would subject our Solution to active FDA oversight. If the FDA determines that any of our current or future analytics applications are regulated as medical devices, we would become subject to various requirements under the FDCA and the FDA’s implementing regulations. Depending on the functionality and FDA classification of our analytics applications, we may be required to: ◦. The FDA may regulate medical or health-related software, including machine learning functionality and predictive algorithms, if such software falls within the definition of a “device” under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). However, the FDA exercises enforcement discretion for certain low risk software, as described in its guidance documents for Mobile Medical Applications, General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices, and Medical Device Data Systems, Medical Image Storage Devices, and Medical Image Communications Devices. In addition, in December of 2016, President Obama signed into law the 21st Century Cures Act, which included exemptions for certain medical-related software, including software used for administrative support functions at a healthcare facility, software intended for maintaining or encouraging a healthy lifestyle, EHR software, software for transferring, storing, or displaying medical device data or in vitro diagnostic data, and certain clinical decision support software. The FDA has also issued draft guidance documents to clarify how it intends to interpret and apply the new exemptions under the 21st Century Cures Act. Although we believe that our software products are currently not subject to active FDA regulation, we continue to follow the FDA’s developments in this area. There is a risk that the FDA could disagree with our determination or that the FDA could develop new final guidance documents that would subject our Solution to active FDA oversight. If the FDA determines that any of our current or future analytics applications are regulated as medical devices, we would become subject to various requirements under the FDCA and the FDA’s implementing regulations. Depending on the functionality and FDA classification of our analytics applications, we may be required to: |
register and list our analytics applications with the FDA;
◦notify the FDA and demonstrate substantial equivalence to other products on the market before marketing our analytics applications;
◦submit a de novo request to the FDA to down-classify our analytics applications prior to marketing; or
◦obtain FDA approval by demonstrating safety and effectiveness before marketing our analytics applications.
The FDA can impose extensive requirements governing pre- and post-market conditions, such as service investigation and others relating to approval, labeling, and manufacturing. In addition, the FDA can impose extensive requirements governing software development controls and quality assurance processes.
These laws and regulations may change rapidly, and it is frequently unclear how they apply to our business. Any failure of our products or services to comply with these laws and regulations could result in substantial civil or criminal liability and could, among other things, adversely affect demand for our services, force us to expend significant capital, research and development, and other resources to address the failure, invalidate all or portions of some of our contracts with our customers, require us to change or terminate some portions of our business, require us to refund portions of our revenue, cause us to be disqualified from serving customers doing business with government payors, and give our customers the right to terminate our contracts with them, any one of which could have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, the introduction of new services may require us to comply with additional, yet undetermined, laws and regulations.
The security measures that we and our third-party vendors and subcontractors have in place to ensure compliance with privacy and data protection laws may not protect our facilities and systems from security breaches, acts of vandalism or theft, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming and human errors, or other similar events. Under the HITECH Act, as a business associate, we may also be liable for privacy and security breaches and failures of our subcontractors. Even though we provide for appropriate protections through our agreements with our subcontractors, we still have limited control over their actions and practices. A breach of privacy or security of individually identifiable health information by a subcontractor may result in an enforcement action, including criminal and civil liability, against us. We are not able to predict the extent of the impact such incidents may have on our business.
Our failure to comply may result in criminal and civil liability because the potential for enforcement action against business associates is now greater. Enforcement actions against us could be costly and could interrupt regular operations, which may adversely affect our business. While we have not received any notices of violation of the applicable privacy and data protection laws and believe we are in compliance with such laws, there can be no assurance that we will not receive such notices in the future.
There is ongoing concern from privacy advocates, regulators, and others regarding data protection and privacy issues, and the number of jurisdictions with data protection and privacy laws has been increasing. Also, there are ongoing public policy discussions regarding whether the standards for deidentified, anonymous, or pseudonymized health information are sufficient, and the risk of re-identification sufficiently small, to adequately protect patient privacy. We expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations, and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection, and information security in the United States, including the California Consumer Privacy Act, which will gowent into effect January 1, 2020, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations, and standards may have on our business. Future laws, regulations, standards, and other obligations, and changes in the interpretation of existing laws, regulations, standards, and other obligations could impair our or our customers’ ability to collect, use, or disclose information relating to consumers, which could decrease demand for our platform, increase our costs, and impair our ability to maintain and grow our customer base and increase our revenue. New laws, amendments to or re-interpretations of existing laws and regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations, and other obligations may require us to incur additional costs and restrict our business operations. In view of new or modified federal, state, or foreign laws and regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations, and other legal obligations, or any changes in their interpretation, we may find it necessary or desirable to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or to expend significant resources to modify our software or platform and otherwise adapt to these changes.
Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal or state laws or regulations, industry standards, or other legal obligations, or any actual or suspected security incident, whether or not resulting in unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release, or transfer of personally identifiable information or other data, may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines, and penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all, and our ability to develop new products and features could be limited. Any of these developments could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Privacy and data security concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our platform.
Further, on February 11, 2019,May 1, 2020, ONC and CMS proposedfinalized and published complementary new rules to support access, exchange, and use of EHI.EHI, referred to as the Final Rule. The proposed rules areFinal Rule is intended to clarify provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act regarding interoperability and “informationinformation blocking,” and, if adopted, willsubject to the interpretations of the Final Rule and exceptions to what constitutes information blocking, may create significant new requirements for health care industry participants. The proposed ONC rule, if adopted, would requireFinal Rule requires certain electronic health record technology to incorporate standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow individuals to securely and easily access structured EHI using smartphone applications. The ONC rule wouldFinal Rule also implementimplements provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act requiring that patients be provided with electronic access to all of their EHI (structured and/or unstructured) at no cost.
Finally, the proposed ONC rule wouldFinal Rule also implementimplements the information blocking provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, and proposes seven “reasonable and necessary activities”subject to eight exceptions that will not be considered information blocking as long as specific conditions are met. The impact of the Final Rule on our business is unclear at this time, due to, among other things, uncertainty regarding the interpretation of safe harbors and exceptions to the Final Rule by industry participants and regulators.
The CMS proposed ruleFinal Rule focuses on health plans, payors, and health care providers and proposes measures to enable patients to move from health plan to health plan, provider to provider, and have both their clinical and administrative information travel with them.
It is unclear whether or when these rules, and others released simultaneously, will be adopted, in whole or in part. If adopted, the rulesFinal Rule may benefit us in that certain EHR vendors will no longer be permitted to interfere with our attempts at integration, but the rules may also make it easier for other similar companies to enter the market, creating increased competition, and reducing our market share. It is unclear at this time what the costs of compliance with the proposed rules, if adopted, would be, and what additional risks there may be to our business.
Due to the particular nature of certain services we provide or the manner in which we provide them, we may be subject to additional government regulation and foreign government regulation.
While our Solution is primarily subject to government regulations pertaining to healthcare, certain aspects of our Solution may require us to comply with regulatory schema from other areas. Examples of such regulatory schema include:
| |
• | •Antitrust Laws. Our national cloud-based network allows us access to cost and pricing data for a large number of providers in most regional markets, as well as to the contracted rates for third-party payors. To the extent that our Solution enables providers to compare their cost and pricing data with those of their competitors, those providers could collude to increase the pricing for their services, to reduce the compensation they pay their employees, or to collectively negotiate agreements with third parties. Similarly, if payors are able to compare their contracted rates of payment to providers, those payors may seek to reduce the amounts they might otherwise pay. Such actions may be deemed to be anti-competitive and a violation of federal antitrust laws. To the extent that we are deemed to have enabled such activities, we could be subject to fines and penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice or the FTC and be required to curtail or terminate the services that permitted such collusion. •Consumer Protection Regulation. Federal and state government bodies and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, and dissemination of data, and the presentation of website or other electronic content, which may require compliance with certain standards for notice, choice, security, and access. California adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA has been characterized as the first “GDPR-like” privacy statute to be enacted in the United States because it mirrors a number of the key provisions of the GDPR (discussed below). The CCPA establishes a new privacy framework for covered businesses by creating an expanded definition of personal information, establishing new data privacy rights for consumers in the state of California, imposing special rules on the collection of consumer data from minors, and creating a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for violations of the CCPA and for businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. If we fail to comply with any of these privacy laws that apply to us, and are subject to the aforementioned penalties, our business and financial results could be adversely affected. •Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Foreign Anti-Bribery Laws. The FCPA makes it illegal for U.S. persons, including U.S. companies, and their subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees, and agents, to promise, authorize or make any corrupt payment, or otherwise provide anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, any foreign political party or party official, or candidate for foreign political office to obtain or retain business. Violations of the FCPA can also result in violations of other U.S. laws, including anti-money laundering, mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy laws. There are severe penalties for violating the FCPA. In addition, the Company may also be subject to other non-U.S. anti-corruption or anti-bribery laws, such as the U.K. Bribery Act 2010. If our employees, contractors, vendors,. Our national cloud-based network allows us access to cost and pricing data for a large number of providers in most regional markets, as well as to the contracted rates for third-party payors. To the extent that our Solution enables providers to compare their cost and pricing data with those of their competitors, those providers could collude to increase the pricing for their services, to reduce the compensation they pay their employees, or to collectively negotiate agreements with third parties. Similarly, if payors are able to compare their contracted rates of payment to providers, those payors may seek to reduce the amounts they might otherwise pay. Such actions may be deemed to be anti-competitive and a violation of federal antitrust laws. To the extent that we are deemed to have enabled such activities, we could be subject to fines and penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice or the FTC and be required to curtail or terminate the services that permitted such collusion. |
| |
• | Consumer Protection Regulation. Federal and state government bodies and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, and dissemination of data, and the presentation of website or other electronic content, which may require compliance with certain standards for notice, choice, security, and access. California recently adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), which will come into effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA has been characterized as the first “GDPR-like” privacy statute to be enacted in the United States because it mirrors a number of the key provisions of the GDPR (discussed below). The CCPA establishes a new privacy framework for covered businesses by creating an expanded definition of personal information, establishing new data privacy rights for consumers in the state of California, imposing special rules on the collection of consumer data from minors, and creating a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for violations of the CCPA and for businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. If we fail to comply with any of these privacy laws that apply to us, and are subject to the aforementioned penalties, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.
|
| |
• | Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Foreign Anti-Bribery Laws. The FCPA makes it illegal for U.S. persons, including U.S. companies, and their subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees, and agents, to promise, authorize or make any corrupt payment, or otherwise provide anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, any foreign political party or party official, or candidate for foreign political office to obtain or retain business. Violations of the FCPA can also result in violations of other U.S. laws, including anti-money laundering, mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy laws. There are severe penalties for violating the FCPA. In addition, the Company may also be subject to other non-U.S. anti-corruption or anti-bribery laws, such as the U.K. Bribery Act 2010. If our employees, contractors, vendors, or partners fail to comply with the FCPA and/or foreign anti-bribery laws, we may be subject to penalties or sanctions, and our ability to develop new prospects and retain existing customers could be adversely affected.
|
| |
• | Economic Sanctions and Export Controls. Economic and trade sanctions programs that are administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) prohibit or restrict transactions to or from, and dealings with specified countries and territories, their governments, and in certain circumstances, with individuals and entities that are specially designated nationals of those countries, and other sanctioned persons, including narcotics traffickers and terrorists or terrorist organizations. As federal, state and foreign legislative regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions in these areas increase, we expect our costs to comply with these requirements will increase as well. Failure to comply with any of these requirements could result in the limitation, suspension or termination of our services, imposition of significant civil and criminal penalties, including fines, and/or the seizure and/or forfeiture of our assets. Further, our Solution incorporates encryption technology. This encryption technology may be exported from the United States only with the required export authorizations, including by a license, a license exception or other appropriate government authorizations.
|
•Economic Sanctions and Export Controls. Economic and trade sanctions programs that are administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) prohibit or restrict transactions to or from, and dealings with specified countries and territories, their governments, and in certain circumstances, with individuals and entities that are specially designated nationals of those countries, and other sanctioned persons, including narcotics traffickers and terrorists or terrorist organizations. As federal, state and foreign legislative regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions in these areas increase, we expect our costs to comply with these requirements will increase as well. Failure to comply with any of these requirements could result in the limitation, suspension or termination of our services, imposition of significant civil and criminal penalties, including fines, and/or the seizure and/or forfeiture of our assets. Further, our Solution incorporates encryption technology. This encryption technology may be exported from the United States only with the required export authorizations, including by a license, a license exception or other appropriate government authorizations. Such solutions may also be subject to certain regulatory reporting requirements. Various countries also regulate the import of certain encryption technology, including through import permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our customers’ ability to import our Solution into those countries. Governmental regulation of encryption technology and of exports and imports of encryption products, or our failure to obtain required approval for our Solution, when applicable, could harm our international sales and adversely affect our revenue. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements regarding the provision of our Solution, including with respect to new applications, may delay the introduction of our Solution in various markets or, in some cases, prevent the provision of our Solution to some countries altogether.
| |
•GDPR and Foreign Data Privacy Protection Laws. In addition, several foreign governments have regulations dealing with the collection and use of personal information obtained from their residents. For example, in the European Union, (EU), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect on May 25, 2018. If we or our vendors fail to comply with the applicable EU privacy laws, we could be subject to government enforcement actions and significant penalties against us. GDPR introduced new data protection requirements in the EU relating to the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the documentation we must retain, the security and confidentiality of the personal data, data breach notification and the use of third-party processors in connection with the processing of personal data. GDPR has increased our responsibility and potential liability in relation to personal data that we process, and we may be required to put in place mechanisms to ensure compliance with GDPR. Data protection authorities of the different EU Member States may interpret GDPR differently, and guidance on implementation and compliance practices are often updated or otherwise revised, which adds to the complexity of processing personal data in the EU. Any failure by us to comply with GDPR could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, which may subject us to significant penalties and negative publicity, require us to change our business practices, and increase our costs and severely disrupt our business. Similarly, Canada’s Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act provides Canadian residents with privacy protections in regard to transactions with businesses and organizations in the private sector and sets out ground rules for how private-sector organizations may collect, use, and disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities. Foreign governments may attempt to apply such laws extraterritorially or through treaties or other arrangements with U.S. governmental entities. Other jurisdictions besides the EU and Canada are similarly introducing or enhancing laws and regulations relating to privacy and data security, which enhances risks relating to compliance with such laws. Furthermore, as we enter into business arrangements in countries outside of the United States, we will need to be prepared to comply with applicable local privacy laws. The GDPR and other changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of personal data, such as healthcare data or other sensitive information, could greatly increase our cost of providing our products and services or even prevent us from offering certain services in jurisdictions that we operate.
• | GDPR and Foreign Data Privacy Protection Laws - In addition, several foreign governments have regulations dealing with the collection and use of personal information obtained from their residents. For example, in the European Union, (EU), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect on May 25, 2018. If we or our vendors fail to comply with the applicable EU privacy laws, we could be subject to government enforcement actions and significant penalties against us. GDPR introduced new data protection requirements in the EU relating to the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the documentation we must retain, the security and confidentiality of the personal data, data breach notification and the use of third-party processors in connection with the processing of personal data. GDPR has increased our responsibility and potential liability in relation to personal data that we process, and we may be required to put in place mechanisms to ensure compliance with GDPR. Data protection authorities of the different EU Member States may interpret GDPR differently, and guidance on implementation and compliance practices are often updated or otherwise revised, which adds to the complexity of processing personal data in the EU. Any failure by us to comply with GDPR could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, which may subject us to significant penalties and negative publicity, require us to change our business practices, and increase our costs and severely disrupt our business. Similarly, Canada’s Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act provides Canadian residents with privacy protections in regard to transactions with businesses and organizations in the private sector and sets out ground rules for how private sector organizations may collect, use, and disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities. Foreign governments may attempt to apply such laws extraterritorially or through treaties or other arrangements with U.S. governmental entities. Other jurisdictions besides the EU and Canada are similarly introducing or enhancing laws and regulations relating to privacy and data security, which enhances risks relating to compliance with such laws. Furthermore, as we enter into business arrangements in countries outside of the United States, we will need to be prepared to comply with applicable local privacy laws. The GDPR and other changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of personal data, such as healthcare data or other sensitive information, could greatly increase our cost of providing our products and services or even prevent us from offering certain services in jurisdictions that we operate.
|
| |
• | Regulatory Certification. We must obtain certification from governmental agencies, such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to sell certain of our analytics applications and services in the United States. We cannot be certain that our Solution will continue to meet these standards. The failure to comply with these certification requirements could result in the loss of certification, which could restrict our Solution offerings and cause us to lose customers. |
We cannot be certain that the privacy policies and other statements regarding our practices will be found sufficient to protect us from liability or adverse publicity relating to the privacy and security of personal information. Whether and how existing local and international privacy and data protection laws in various jurisdictions apply to the Internet and other online technologies is still uncertain and may take years to resolve. Current and future privacy laws and regulations, if drafted or interpreted broadly, could be deemed to apply to the technology we use and could restrict our information collection methods or decrease the amount and utility of the information that we would be permitted to collect. The costs of compliance with, and the other burdens imposed by, these and other laws or regulatory actions may prevent us from selling our Solution, or increase the costs of doing so, and may affect our ability to invest in or jointly develop our analytics applications. In addition, a determination by a court or government agency that any of our practices, or those of our agents, do not meet these standards could result in civil and/or criminal liability, result in adverse publicity, and adversely affect our business.
The healthcare regulatory and political framework is uncertain and evolving.
Healthcare laws and regulations are rapidly evolving and may change significantly in the future, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and ACA was adopted, which is a healthcare reform measure that provides healthcare insurance for approximately 30 million more Americans. The ACA includes a variety of healthcare reform provisions and requirements that became effective at varying times through 2018 and substantially changeschanged the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, which may significantly impact our industry and our business. Many of the provisions of the ACA phase in over the course of the next several years, and we may be unable to predict accurately what effect the ACA or other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, including amendments to the ACA, will have on our business. On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Northern District of Texas, ruled that the individual mandate is a critical and inseverable feature of the ACA, and therefore, because it was repealed as part of the Tax Act, the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. WhileOn December 18, 2019, the Fifth Circuit U.S. District Court Judge, as well as the Trump Administration and CMS, have statedof Appeals held that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, and remanded the case to the lower court to reconsider its earlier invalidation of the full ACA. Pending review, the ACA remains in effect, but it is unclear at this time what effect the latest ruling will have no immediate effect pending appeal, it is unclear how this decision, subsequent appeals and other efforts to repeal and replaceon the ACA will impactstatus of the ACA and our business.ACA.
Our business could be adversely impacted by changes in laws and regulations related to the Internet or changes in access to the Internet generally.
The future success of our business depends upon the continued use of the Internet as a primary medium for communication, business applications, and commerce. Federal or state government bodies or agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, laws or regulations affecting the use of the Internet as a commercial medium. Legislators, regulators, or government bodies or agencies may also make legal or regulatory changes or interpret or apply existing laws or regulations that relate to the use of the Internet in new and materially different ways. Changes in these laws, regulations or interpretations could require us to modify our platform in order to comply with these changes, to incur substantial additional costs or divert resources that could otherwise be deployed to grow our business, or expose us to unanticipated civil or criminal liability, among other things.
In addition, government agencies and private organizations have imposed, and may in the future impose, additional taxes, fees or other charges for accessing the Internet or commerce conducted via the Internet. Internet access is frequently provided by companies that have significant market power and could take actions that degrade, disrupt or increase the cost of our customers’ use of our platform, which could negatively impact our business. In December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission announced it will revise the “net neutrality” rules. TheseNet neutrality rules, which were designed to ensure that all online content is treated the same by Internet service providers and other companies that provide Internet services. Shouldbroadband services were repealed by the Federal Communications Commission effective June 2018. The repeal of the net neutrality rules be relaxed or eliminated, we could force us to incur greater operating
expenses or our customers’ use of our platform could be adversely affected, either of which could harm our business and results of operations.
These developments could limit the growth of Internet-related commerce or communications generally or result in reductions in the demand for Internet-based platforms and services such as ours, increased costs to us or the disruption of our business. In addition, as the Internet continues to experience growth in the numbers of users, frequency of use and amount of data transmitted, the use of the Internet as a business tool could be adversely affected due to delays in the development or adoption of new standards and protocols to handle increased demands of Internet activity, security, reliability, cost, ease-of-use, accessibility, and quality of service. The performance of the Internet and its acceptance as a business tool has been adversely affected by “viruses,” “worms,” and similar malicious programs and the Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damage to portions of its infrastructure. If the use of the Internet generally, or our platform specifically, is adversely affected by these or other issues, we could be forced to incur substantial costs, demand for our platform could decline, and our results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
We have a limited operating history in an evolving industry which makes it difficult to evaluate our current business future prospects and increases the risk of your investment.
We launched operations in 2008 and we acquired Medicity in June 2018. Our limited operating history, in particular with respect to the Medicity business, makes it difficult to effectively assess or forecast our future prospects. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we encounter or may encounter. These risks and difficulties include our ability to cost-effectively acquire new customers and retain existing customers, maintain the quality of our technology infrastructure that can efficiently and reliably handle the requirements of our customers and the deployment of new features and solutions and successfully compete with other companies that are currently in, or may enter, the healthcare solution space. Additional risks include our ability to effectively manage growth, responsibly use the data that customers share with us, process, store, protect, and use personal data in compliance with governmental regulation, contractual obligations, and other legal obligations related to privacy and security and avoid interruptions or disruptions in our service or slower than expected load times for our platform. If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those associated with the challenges listed above, our business and our results of operations will be adversely affected.
The market price of our common stock may be volatile and may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may lose all or part of your investments.
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
•overall performance of the equity markets and/or publicly-listed technology companies;
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our net revenue or other operating metrics;
•changes in the financial projections we provide to the public or our failure to meet these projections;
•failure of securities analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of us, changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our company, or our failure to meet the estimates or the expectations of investors;
•the economy as a whole and market conditions in our industry;
•rumors and market speculation involving us or other companies in our industry;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant innovations, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or capital commitments;
•new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business;
•lawsuits threatened or filed against us;
•recruitment or departure of key personnel;
•other events or factors, including those resulting from war, incidents of terrorism, or responses to these events; and
•the expiration of contractual lock-up or market standoff agreements.
In addition, extreme price and volume fluctuations in the stock markets have affected and continue to affect many technology companies’ stock prices. Often, their stock prices have fluctuated in ways unrelated or disproportionate to the companies’ operating performance. In the past, stockholders have filed securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business, and harm our business.
Moreover, because of these fluctuations, comparing our results of operations on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. You should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance. This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our net revenue or results of operations fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any forecasts we may provide to the market, or if the forecasts we provide to the market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated net revenue or earnings forecasts that we may provide.
We are an emerging growth company, and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an emerging growth company, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including:
•not being required to have our independent registered public accounting firm attest to our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act;
•reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and annual report on Form 10-K; and
•exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years following the completion of this offering.our IPO. Our status as an emerging growth company will end as soon as any of the following takes place:
•the last day of the fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue;
•the date we qualify as a “large accelerated filer,” with at least $700 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates;
•the date on which we have issued, in any three-year period, more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; or
•the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering.our IPO.
We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on the exemptions afforded emerging growth companies. If some investors find our common stock less attractive because we rely on any of these exemptions, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile.
Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this accommodation allowing for delayed adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research, about our business, the price of our common stock and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on our company. If few securities analysts commence coverage of us, or if industry analysts cease coverage of us, the trading price for our common stock could be negatively affected. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our common stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us on a regular basis, demand for our common stock could decrease, which might cause our common stock price and trading volume to decline.
Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public markets, such as when our lock-up restrictions are released, or the perception that sales of common stock might occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock into the public market, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers, and principal stockholders, or the perception that these sales might occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. As of the closing of the IPO on July 29, 2019, we had outstanding a total of 36,205,209 shares of common stock. This assumes no exercise of outstanding options or warrants and gives effect to the conversion of all of our outstanding shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock into shares of common stock and the issuance of shares of common stock on the completion of the IPO.
Substantially all of our securities outstanding prior to the IPO are currently restricted from resale as a result of lock-up and market standoff agreements. These securities will become available to be sold 180 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to the IPO. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC may, in their discretion, permit our security holders to sell shares prior to the expiration of the restrictive provisions contained in the lock-up agreements. Sales of a substantial number of such shares upon expiration of the lock-up and market standoff agreements, the perception that such sales may occur or early release of these agreements could cause our market price to fall or make it more difficult for an investor to sell common stock at a time and price that an investor deems appropriate. Shares held by directors, executive officers, and other affiliates will also be subject to volume limitations under Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and various vesting agreements.
In addition, as of June 30, 2019, we had 8,031,898 options outstanding that, if fully exercised, would result in the issuance of shares of common stock. All of the shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options and the shares reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans will be registered for public resale under the Securities Act. Accordingly, these shares will be able to be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to existing lock-up or market standoff agreements, volume limitations under Rule 144 for our executive officers and directors, and applicable vesting requirements.
Our management has broad discretion in the use of proceeds from our IPO and the Note Offering and our use may not produce a positive rate of return.
The principal purposes of our IPO were to increase our capitalization and financial flexibility, create a public market for our stock and thereby enable access to the public equity markets by our employees and stockholders, obtain additional capital, and strengthen our position in the healthcare data analytics applications and services market. We used a portion of the Note Offering proceeds to pay the cost of the capped call transactions related thereto and to prepay in full all outstanding indebtedness under our credit agreement with OrbiMed. We cannot specify with certainty our plans for the use of the net proceeds we received from this offering.these offerings. However, we intend to use the net proceeds we received from our IPO for working capital and other general corporate purposes. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds from these offerings for the acquisition of, or investment in, technologies, solutions or businesses that complement our business. Our management has broad discretion over the specific use of the net proceeds we received in our IPOthese offerings and might not be able to obtain a significant return, if any, on investment of these net proceeds. Investors will need to rely upon the judgment of our management with respect to the use of proceeds. If we do not use the net proceeds that we received in our IPO and the Note Offering effectively, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be harmed.
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our stock incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors, and consultants under our stock incentive plans. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products, or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment.investment, such as our issuance of equity securities in connection with our acquisition of Able Health in February 2020. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per shareper-share value of our common stock to decline.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain executive management and qualified board members.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), the listing standards of Nasdaq and other applicable securities rules and regulations. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting, and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems, and resources. For example, the Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and results of operations. As a result of the complexity involved in complying with the rules and regulations applicable to public companies, our management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Although we have already hired additional employees to assist us in complying with these requirements, we may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants, which will increase our operating expenses.
In addition, changing laws, regulations, and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs, and making some activities more time-consuming. These laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest substantial resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from business operations to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations, and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.
We also expect that being a public company and these new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.
As a result of disclosure of information in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition is more visible, which may result in an increased risk of threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business and results of operations could be harmed, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
The individuals who now constitute our senior management team have limited experience managing a publicly-traded company and limited experience complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. Our senior management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our transition to a public company that is subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations.
We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock and, consequently, the ability of common stockholders to achieve a return on investment will depend on appreciation, if any, in the price of our common stock.
You should not rely on an investment in our common stock to provide dividend income. We have never declared or paid any dividends on our capital stock. We intend to retain any earnings to finance the operation and expansion of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of our debt facilities with OrbiMed and SVB contain, and any future credit facility or financing we obtain may contain, terms prohibiting or limiting the amount of dividends that may be declared or paid on our common stock. As a result, common stockholders may only receive a return on investment if the market price of our common stock increases.
Provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current board of directors, and limit the market price of our common stock.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, include provisions that:
•provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors with staggered three-year terms;
•permit the board of directors to establish the number of directors and fill any vacancies and newly-created directorships;
•require super-majority voting to amend some provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws;
•authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock that our board of directors could use to implement a stockholder rights plan;
•provide that only a majority of our board of directors will be authorized to call a special meeting of stockholders;
•prohibit stockholder action by written consent, which requires all stockholder actions to be taken at a meeting of our stockholders;
•provide that the board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter, or repeal our bylaws; and
•advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at annual stockholder meetings.
Moreover, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control of our company.
Section 203 imposes certain restrictions on mergers, business combinations, and other transactions between us and holders of 15% or more of our common stock.
Our amended and restated bylaws designate a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Our amended and restated bylaws provide, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law:
•any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
•any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty;
•any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws; or
•any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
This exclusive forum provision will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Nothing in our amended and restated bylaws precludes stockholders that assert claims under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in state or federal court, subject to applicable law. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision which will be contained in our amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We could be subject to securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because technology and healthcare technology companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Option Exercises
From January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019, we issued an aggregate of 223,070 shares of our common stock in connection with the exercise of stock options previously granted to our directors, officers, employees, consultants and other service providers under our 2011 Plan. None of the foregoing transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering. We believe the offers, sales, and issuances of the above securities were exempt from registration under the Securities Act (or Regulation D or Regulation S promulgated thereunder) by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act because the issuance of securities to the recipients did not involve a public offering, or in reliance on Rule 701 because the transactions were pursuant to compensatory benefit plans or contracts relating to compensation as provided under such rule. The recipients of the securities in each of these transactions represented their intentions to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution thereof, and appropriate legends were placed upon the stock certificates issued in these transactions. All recipients had adequate access, through their relationships with us, to information about us. The sales of these securities were made without any general solicitation or advertising.
RSU Issuances
From January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019, we granted 37,500 RSUs to an officer to be settled in shares of our common stock under our 2011 Plan.
Use of Proceeds from Public OfferingConvertible Senior Notes
In April 2020, we completed our private placement of Common Stock
On July 29, 2019, we closed our initial public offering ("IPO") in which we issued and sold 8,050,000 shares$230.0 million aggregate principal of common stock at a price to the public of $26.00 per share,Notes, including shares sold in connection with the exercise in full by the initial purchasers of the underwriters’Notes of their option to purchase up to an additional shares.$30.0 million principal amount of Notes. The offer and sale of the shares inNotes are our IPOsenior unsecured obligations. The Notes were registered under the Securities Actissued pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-232400), which was declared effective by the SEC on July 24, 2019. an Indenture, dated April 14, 2020, between us and U.S. Bank National Association as trustee.
We raised $194.6received net proceeds of $222.5 million, after deducting underwritingthe initial purchasers’ discounts and commissions and the offering expenses payable by us. We used approximately $21.6 million of $14.7the net proceeds to pay the cost of the capped call transactions related thereto and $57.0 million and before deducting estimated offering costs of $4.4 million.
the net proceeds to prepay in full all outstanding indebtedness, including prepayment penalties, under our credit agreement with OrbiMed. We expectintend to use the remainder of the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including working capital and operating expenses. Additionally, weother general corporate purposes. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or invest in businesses, products, services or technologies. However, we do not have agreements or commitments for any material acquisitions or investments at this time. We cannot specify with certainty the particular uses of the net proceeds that we received from our IPO. Accordingly, we will have broad discretion in using these proceeds. Pending the use of proceeds from our IPO as described above, we may invest the net proceeds that we received in our IPO in short-duration fixed income securities, including government and investment-grade corporate debt securities and money market funds. The shares and proceeds from our IPO and the underwriters’ exercise of their option to purchase additional shares are not reflected in the condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019.acquisition of, or investment in, technologies, solutions or businesses that complement our business.
Item 6. Exhibits
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Exhibit Number | | Description of Document | Incorporated by Reference from Form | Incorporated by Reference from Exhibit Number | Date Filed |
| | | | | |
| 4.1 | | | 8-K | 4.1 | April 14, 2020 |
| | | | | |
| 4.2 | | | 8-K | 4.2 | April 14, 2020 |
| | | | | |
| 4.3 | | | S-1/A | 4.1 | July 12, 2019 |
| | | | | |
| 10.1 | | | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 10.2 | | | 8-K | 10.1 | April 14, 2020 |
| | | | | |
| 31.1 | | | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 31.2 | | | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 32.1^ | | | Furnished herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 101.SCH | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 101.CAL | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 101.DEF | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 101.LAB | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 101.PRE | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | |
| 104 | | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL with applicable taxonomy extension information contained in Exhibits 101) | Filed herewith | | |
|
| | | | | |
Exhibit Number | | Description of Document | Incorporated by Reference from Form | Incorporated by Reference from Exhibit Number | Date Filed |
| | | | | | |
| 3.1 | | | S-1/A | 3.2 | July 12, 2019 |
| | | | | | |
| 3.2 | | | S-1/A | 3.4 | July 12, 2019 |
| | | | | | |
| 4.1 | | | S-1/A | 4.1 | July 12, 2019 |
| | | | | | |
| 10.1# | | | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 31.1 | | | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 31.2 | | | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 32.1^ | | | Furnished herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 101.SCH | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 101.CAL | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 101.DEF | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 101.LAB | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 101.PRE | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | Filed herewith | | |
| | | | | | |
| 104 | | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL with applicable taxonomy extension information contained in Exhibits 101) | Filed herewith | | |
___________________
| |
# | Indicates management contract or compensatory plan. |
| |
^ | ^ The certifications attached as Exhibit 32.1 accompanying this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, are deemed furnished and not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Health Catalyst, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Signature | | | Title | | Date |
| | | | | |
Signature | | Title | | Date |
| | | | |
| /s/ J. Patrick Nelli | | | Chief Financial Officer | | August 22, 2019May 12, 2020 |
| J. Patrick Nelli | | | (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) | | |