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EXHIBIT 99.1
PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
SAFE HARBOR COMPLIANCE STATEMENT
FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
In passing the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the
"Reform Act"), Congress encouraged public companies to make "forward-looking
statements" by creating a safe harbor to protect companies from securities law
liability in connection with forward-looking statements. Medaphis Corporation
intends to qualify both its written and oral forward-looking statements for
protection under the Reform Act and any other similar safe harbor provisions.
"Forward-looking statements" are defined by the Reform Act. Generally,
forward-looking statements include expressed expectations of future events and
the assumptions on which the expressed expectations are based. All
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain because they are based on
various expectations and assumptions concerning future events and they are
subject to numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those projected. Due to those
uncertainties and risks, the investment community is urged not to place undue
reliance on written or oral forward-looking statements of Medaphis. We undertake
no obligation to update or revise this Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for
Forward-Looking Statements to reflect future developments. In addition, we
undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to
reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes
to future operating results over time.
We are providing the following risk factor disclosure in connection with
our continuing effort to qualify our written and oral forward-looking statements
for the safe harbor protection of the Reform Act and any other similar safe
harbor provisions. Important factors currently known to management that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements include the disclosures contained in the Annual Report on Form 10-K
to which this statement is appended as an exhibit and also include the
following:
OUR SUBSTANTIAL INDEBTEDNESS COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE.
We have a significant amount of indebtedness and, as a result, significant
obligations to make payments on our debt. If we are unable to make the required
debt payments, we could be required to reduce or delay capital expenditures,
sell certain of our assets, restructure or refinance our indebtedness, or seek
additional equity capital. Our ability to make payments on our debt obligations
will depend on our future operating performance, which will be affected by
certain conditions that are beyond our control.
Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences to our
financial performance. For example:
- our ability to obtain additional financing in the future may be impaired;
- if a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations is dedicated to
the payment of debt, we may have reduced funds available for operations;
- the terms of our existing debt places restrictions on us, including our
ability to incur additional debt or pay dividends; and
- we may be more leveraged than our competitors, which may limit our
flexibility to respond to changes in the marketplace and may place us at
a competitive disadvantage.
WE ARE SUBJECT TO ONGOING LITIGATION AND A GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATION WHICH MAY
ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS.
We are involved in several lawsuits which may expose us to material loss
contingencies. These lawsuits include claims brought by former shareholders of
companies that we acquired. We have also received written demands from customers
and former customers that have not yet resulted in legal action and may receive
demands with respect to the operation of our business and actions we have taken,
including modifications made
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to a computerized coding tool to assist in healthcare reimbursement used by one
of our subsidiaries and the transition from the computerized coding tool to
manual coding. We are also subject to a formal, non-public investigation by the
Securities and Exchange Commission into, among other things, trading and other
issues relating to restatements of our financial statements.
We may not be able to successfully defend any of these lawsuits. In
addition, other lawsuits may be filed and other governmental investigations may
be commenced against us. Existing or new lawsuits or new government
investigations could have a material adverse effect on us. The ongoing
governmental investigation against us may result in significant fines, damages
or other penalties and the Commission could require further restatements of our
financial statements. The investigation could have a material adverse effect on
us. Also, in the event of an adverse outcome with respect to pending lawsuits,
there is the risk that our insurance coverage may not fully cover any damages
assessed against us. The litigation with which we are involved (as well as
future litigation) could have a disruptive effect upon the operations of the
business and consume the time and attention of our senior management.
WE HAVE INCURRED SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN RECENT YEARS.
We had losses in each of 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Most of these losses
result from restructuring and other charges, litigation settlements, intangible
asset impairment and acquisition costs. We cannot assure you when or if we will
become profitable in the future.
WE HAVE SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT SETBACKS IN RECENT YEARS AND MAY NOT BE ABLE TO
TURNAROUND SUCCESSFULLY.
We have suffered several setbacks in recent years, including:
- government investigations;
- the failure successfully to integrate acquired companies;
- restatements of our 1994, 1995, 1996 and interim 1997 financial
statements;
- the discontinuance of the operations of one of the businesses we
acquired;
- the abandonment of an extensive reengineering program that failed;
- a steep drop in the price of our common stock; and
- the filing of various lawsuits and claims against us.
As a result of these setbacks, we have been operating in what is commonly
described as a "turnaround" situation. In addition to risks associated with
"turnaround" situations, we face certain challenges more specific to our
operations, including:
- successfully integrating acquired companies;
- shifting our strategic focus from acquiring compatible businesses to
running our existing businesses efficiently and profitably;
- managing our customers' perceptions of our continued viability and
focusing on customer service;
- combating employee turnover;
- reducing costs and increasing efficiencies; and
- reevaluating the efficiency of our operations following our
abandonment of the reengineering initiative in 1996.
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WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH CHANGES IN OUR INDUSTRY.
The markets for our software products and services are characterized by
rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and frequent new
product introductions. We may not be able to keep pace with changes in our
industry. Our success depends in part upon our ability to:
- enhance our existing products and services;
- introduce new products and services quickly and cost effectively;
- achieve market acceptance for new products and services; and
- respond to emerging industry standards and other technological
changes.
Also, our competitors may develop competitive products that could adversely
affect our operating results. In addition, it is possible that:
- we will be unsuccessful in refining, enhancing and developing our
software and billing systems going forward;
- the costs associated with refining, enhancing and developing our
software and systems may increase significantly in the future; or
- our existing software and technology will become obsolete as a result
of ongoing technological developments in the marketplace.
WE COULD LOSE CERTAIN CUSTOMERS IF WE ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL ON SEVERAL MAJOR CLIENT
PROJECTS.
Our client/server information technology business involves projects
designed to reengineer customer operations through the strategic use of imaging,
client/server and other advanced technologies. Failure to meet our customers'
expectations with respect to a major project could have the following
consequences:
- damage our reputation and standing in this marketplace;
- impairment of our ability to attract new client/server information
technology business;
- the payment of damages to a customer; and
- the inability to collect for services already performed on the project.
WE MAY INCUR ADDITIONAL COSTS BECAUSE OF POTENTIAL "YEAR 2000" PROBLEMS.
Many existing computer programs use only two digits to identify a year in
the date field. These programs were designed and developed without considering
the impact of the upcoming change in the century. If not corrected, many
computer applications could fail or create erroneous results as we approach or
when we reach the Year 2000.
We have undertaken an assessment of our Year 2000 issues. We have
identified some older computer systems that we will replace with more efficient
processing systems, rather than attempting to make all these older systems Year
2000 compliant. Until we have replaced all these older systems, we cannot be
sure that our efforts to address Year 2000 issues are appropriate, adequate or
complete. In addition, we cannot be sure that we have identified all Year 2000
problems in the computer systems of our customers, vendors or resellers, or that
we will be able to successfully remedy any future problems that are discovered.
As a result of Year 2000 issues and the replacement of older computer
systems, we may suffer the following consequences:
- we may incur a significant amount of additional expenses to remedy Year
2000 issues and we may experience a significant loss of revenues;
- our existing customers may be adversely impacted by Year 2000 problems,
which could cause fluctuations in our revenue; and
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- our failure to identify and remedy all Year 2000 problems could put us at
a competitive disadvantage relative to companies that have corrected such
problems.
WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY WITH OTHER MANAGEMENT SERVICES
COMPANIES.
The medical management services business is highly competitive. We compete
with national and regional physician and hospital reimbursement organizations
and collection businesses, national information and data processing
organizations, and physician groups and hospitals that provide their own
business management services. We are uncertain whether we can continue to
compete successfully with all of these competitors.
Potential industry and market changes that could adversely affect our
ability to compete for billing and collection business include:
- an increase in the number of managed care providers compared to
fee-for-service providers; and
- new alliances between healthcare providers and third-party payors in
which healthcare providers are employed by such third-party payors.
WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY WITH OTHER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
COMPANIES.
The business of providing application software, information technology and
consulting services is also highly competitive. We compete with national and
regional companies in this regard. Certain of our competitors have longer
operating histories and greater financial, technical and marketing resources
than we do. We are uncertain whether we can continue to compete successfully
with these competitors.
OUR REVENUE AND OPERATIONS MAY BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY PRICING PRESSURES WHICH
ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR CUSTOMERS.
We believe that the revenue growth rate experienced by our healthcare
clients continues to be adversely affected by managed care pricing and declining
government reimbursement levels. At the same time, the process of submitting
healthcare claims for reimbursement to third-party payors in accordance with
applicable industry and regulatory standards grows in complexity and cost. We
believe that these trends have adversely affected and could continue to
adversely affect our customers' revenues and profitability and, therefore,
adversely affect us too.
CHANGES IN THE HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE MAY DECREASE DEMAND FOR OUR BILLING
SERVICES.
In general, consolidation initiatives in the healthcare marketplace may
result in fewer potential customers for our services. Some of these types of
initiatives include:
- employer initiatives such as creating purchasing cooperatives, like HMOs;
- provider initiatives, such as risk-sharing among healthcare providers and
managed care companies through capitated contracts; and
- integration among hospitals and physicians into comprehensive delivery
systems.
We believe that the continued consolidation of management and billing
services through integrated delivery systems could result in a decrease in
demand for our billing and collection services for particular physician
practices.
FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS OF HEALTHCARE BILLING AND COLLECTION PRACTICES MAY
ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS.
Our medical billing and collection activities are governed by numerous
federal and state civil and criminal laws. Federal and state regulators
increasingly use these laws to investigate healthcare providers and companies,
like us, that provide billing and collection services. In connection with these
laws:
- we may be subjected to federal or state government investigation and
possible civil or criminal fines;
- we may ultimately be required to defend a false claims action;
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- we may be sued by private payors; or
- we may be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid and/or other government funded
healthcare programs.
We have been the subject of several federal investigations, and we may
become the subject of false claims litigation or additional investigations
relating to our billing and collection activities. Any such proceeding or
investigation could have a material adverse effect on our business.
The ownership and operation of hospitals is also subject to comprehensive
regulation by federal and state governments which may adversely affect hospital
reimbursement. This regulation could have an adverse effect on the operations of
hospitals in general, and consequently reduce the amount of our revenues related
to hospital clients. Current or future government regulations or healthcare
reform measures may have a material adverse effect upon our business.
OUR STOCK PRICE HAS BEEN VOLATILE AND COULD CONTINUE TO FLUCTUATE SUBSTANTIALLY.
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R). The market price
of our common stock has been volatile and could fluctuate substantially, based
on a variety of factors, including the following:
- announcements relating to governmental investigations;
- our liquidity and financial resources;
- our divestiture of businesses;
- the status of lawsuits or other demands;
- healthcare reform measures;
- quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year variations in financial results; and
- failure to continue to meet The Nasdaq Stock Market listing requirements.
Furthermore, stock prices for many companies fluctuate widely for reasons
that may be unrelated to their operating results. These fluctuations and general
economic, political and market conditions may adversely affect the market price
of our common stock.
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