ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
In evaluating us and our securities, we urge you to carefully consider the risks and other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any of the risks discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition. If any of these risks occur, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed, the
price of our common stock could decline, and future events and circumstances could differ significantly from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Summary of Risk Factors
Below is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, and other risks that we face, can be found below under the heading “Risk Factors” and should be carefully considered, together with other information in this Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC, before making an investment decision regarding our securities.
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We have a limited operating history, have incurred significant losses since our inception and may be unable to obtain additional funds before we achieve positive cash flows.
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We may fail to manage our growing business and may not be successful in identifying or completing any acquisitions necessary to continue such growth. Any such acquisition completed may not be successfully integrated with our operations or yield additional value for stockholders.
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Our programs and solutions may not be as effective as we believe and may not achieve broad market acceptance and announcements of disappointing results may lead to declines in the market prices of our securities.
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Our business currently depends upon four large customers; the loss of any one of such customers would have a material adverse effect on us.
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We depend upon our senior management and key consultants and their loss or unavailability could put us at a competitive disadvantage.
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We need to attract and retain highly skilled personnel; we may be unable to effectively manage growth with our limited resources.
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Customers may not achieve the savings we expect are created by our programs and solutions, which could adversely impact our business.
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Market acceptance of our programs and solutions depends in large part on the willingness of third party payors to cover them, which is beyond our control.
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We may be unable to protect our intellectual property rights and we may be liable for infringing the intellectual property rights of others.
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Ongoing healthcare legislative and regulatory reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
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We must comply with significant government regulations, including with respect to licensure and privacy matters.
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The agreement with our lenders regarding our outstanding senior secured indebtedness contains significant restrictions on our business and operations and requires ongoing compliance with detailed financial covenants. Any failure to comply with the terms of such indebtedness would have a material adverse effect on our business and our securities.
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Our Series A Preferred Stock has no fixed maturity date, ranks junior to our currently outstanding indebtedness, is entitled to the payment of dividends only to the extent we may do so under Delaware corporate law, is subject to restrictions on transfer contained in our charter and has limited voting rights.
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Our Chairman and CEO controls over 51% of the outstanding common stock and may determine all matters presented for stockholder approval, including the election of directors, significant corporate transactions and our dissolution.
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The price of our common stock and preferred stock may be volatile.
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The market prices for our common stock and preferred stock may be adversely impacted by future events.
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Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law have anti-takeover provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control, which may cause our stock price to decline.
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Risk Factors
Risks related to our business
We have a limited operating history, expect to continue to incur substantial operating losses and may be unable to obtain additional financing.
We have been unprofitable since our inception in 2003 and expect to incur substantial additional operating losses and negative cash flow from operations for at least the next twelve months. At December 31, 2020, cash and restricted cash was $103.2 million and accumulated deficit was $354.0 million. We expect our current cash resources to cover expenses through at least the next 12 months from the filing date of this Form 10-K. However, delays in cash collections, revenue, or unforeseen expenditures could impact this estimate.
Historically, we have seen and continue to see net losses, net loss from operations, negative cash flow from operating activities, and historical working capital deficits as we continue through a period of rapid growth. The accompanying financial statements do not reflect any adjustments that might result if we were unable to continue as a going concern. We have alleviated substantial doubt by both entering into contracts for additional revenue-generating health plan customers and expanding our Ontrak program within existing health plan customers as well as completing equity and debt financings totaling approximately $87 million and $10 million, respectively, in 2020. To support this increased demand for services, we invested and will continue to invest in additional headcount needed to support the anticipated growth. Additional management plans include adding new customers, increasing the outreach pool as well as improving our current enrollment rate. We will continue to explore ways to increase margins on both existing and new members.
We have a growing customer base and believe we are able to fully scale our operations to service the contracts and future enrollment providing leverage in these investments that will generate positive cash flow in the near future. We believe we will have enough capital to cover expenses through the foreseeable future and we will continue to monitor liquidity. If we add more health plans than budgeted, increase the size of the outreach pool by more than we anticipate, decide to invest in new products or seek out additional growth opportunities, we would consider financing these options with either additional debt or equity financing.
We may need additional funding, and we cannot guarantee that we will find adequate sources of capital in the future.
We have incurred negative cash flows from operations since inception and have expended, and expect to continue to expend, substantial funds to grow our business. We may require additional funds before we are able to generate enough cash flows to fund our operations.
If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, such financing will result in further dilution to our stockholders. Any equity securities issued also may provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. If we raise funds by issuing debt securities, these debt securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock, and the terms of the debt securities issued could impose significant restrictions on our operations in addition to those referenced above.
We do not know whether additional financing will be available on commercially acceptable terms, or at all. If adequate funds are not available or are not available on commercially acceptable terms, we may need to downsize, curtail program development efforts or halt our operations altogether.
We may fail to successfully manage and grow our business, which could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and business.
Continued expansion could put significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. The need to comply with the rules and regulations of the SEC will continue to place significant demands on our financial and accounting staff, financial, accounting and information systems, and our internal controls and procedures, any of which may not be adequate to support our anticipated growth. The need to comply with the state and federal healthcare, security and privacy regulation will continue to place significant demands on our staff and our policies and procedures, any of which may not be adequate to support our anticipated growth. We may not be able to effectively hire, train, retain, motivate and manage required personnel. Our failure to manage growth effectively could limit our ability to satisfy our reporting obligations, or achieve our marketing, commercialization and financial goals.
We may be unable to successfully execute on our growth initiatives, business strategies or operating plans.
We are continually executing a number of growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans designed to enhance our business. The anticipated benefits from these efforts are based on several assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. Moreover, we may not be able to successfully complete these growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans and realize all of the benefits, including growth targets and cost savings, that we expect to achieve or it may be more costly to do so than we anticipate. A variety of risks could cause us not to realize some or all of the expected benefits. These risks include, among others, delays in the
anticipated timing of activities related to such growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans, increased difficulty and cost in implementing these efforts, including difficulties in complying with new regulatory requirements and the incurrence of other unexpected costs associated with operating the business. Moreover, our continued implementation of these programs may disrupt our operations and performance. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will realize these benefits. If, for any reason, the benefits we realize are less than our estimates or the implementation of these growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans adversely affect our operations or cost more or take longer to effectuate than we expect, or if our assumptions prove inaccurate, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We may periodically consummate opportunistic acquisitions of other companies, and we may not realize expected benefits or such acquisitions or we may have difficulties integrating acquired companies into our operations in a cost-effective manner, if at all.
We may periodically consummate opportunistic acquisitions of businesses, assets, personnel or technologies that allow us to complement our existing operations, expand our market coverage, enter new geographic markets, or add new business capabilities. We continually evaluate and explore strategic opportunities as they arise, including business combination transactions, strategic partnerships, and the purchase or sale of assets. In October 2020, we completed a strategic acquisition and are focused on integrating this acquisition into our operations. No assurance can be given that the benefits or synergies we may expect from an acquisition will be realized to the extent or in the time frame we anticipate. We may lose key employees, customers, vendors and other business partners of a company we acquire after announcement of acquisition plans. In addition, an acquisition may involve a number of risks and difficulties, including expansion into new geographic markets and business areas in which our management has limited prior experience, the diversion of management’s attention to the operations and personnel of the acquired company, the integration of the acquired company’s personnel, operations and technology systems and applications, changing relationships with customers, vendors or strategic partners, differing regulatory requirements including in new geographic markets and new business areas, and potential short-term adverse effects on our operating results. These challenges can be magnified as the size of the acquisition increases. Any delays or unexpected costs incurred in connection with the integration of an acquired company or otherwise related to an acquisition could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
An acquisition may require significant expenses and can result in increased debt or other contingent liabilities, adverse tax consequences, deferred compensation charges, the recording and later amortization of amounts related to deferred compensation and certain purchased intangible assets, and the refinement or revision of fair value acquisition estimates following the completion of an acquisition, any of which items could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may record goodwill in connection with an acquisition and incur goodwill impairment charges in the future. Any of these charges could cause the price of our common stock to decline. An acquisition also could absorb substantial cash resources, require us to incur or assume debt obligations, or involve our issuance of additional equity securities. If we issue equity securities in connection with an acquisition, we may dilute our common stock with securities that have an equal or a senior interest in our company. An acquired entity also may be leveraged or dilutive to our earnings per share, or may have unknown liabilities. In addition, the combined entity may have lower than expected revenues or higher expenses and therefore may not achieve the anticipated results. Any of these factors relating to an acquisition could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our programs may not be as effective as we believe them to be, which could limit our potential revenue growth.
Our belief in the efficacy of our Ontrak solution is based on a limited experience with a relatively small number of members. Such results may not be statistically significant, have not been subjected to close scientific scrutiny, and may not be indicative of the long-term future performance of treatment with our programs. If the initially indicated results cannot be successfully replicated or maintained over time, utilization of our programs could decline substantially. There are no standardized methods for measuring efficacy of programs such as ours. Even if we believe our solutions are effective, our customers could determine they are not effective by utilizing different outcome measures. In addition, even if our customers determine our solutions are effective they may discontinue them because they determine that the aggregate cost savings are not sufficient or that our programs do not have a high enough return on investment. Our success is dependent on our ability to enroll third-party payor members in our Ontrak solutions. Large scale outreach and enrollment efforts have not been conducted and only for limited time periods and we may not be able to achieve the anticipated enrollment rates.
Our Ontrak solution may not become widely accepted, which could limit our growth.
Our ability to achieve further marketplace acceptance for our Ontrak solution is dependent on our ability to demonstrate financial and clinical outcomes from our agreements. If we are unable to secure sufficient contracts to achieve recognition or acceptance of our Ontrak solution or if our program does not demonstrate the expected level of clinical improvement and cost savings, it is unlikely that we will be able to achieve widespread market acceptance.
Disappointing results for our solutions or failure to attain our publicly disclosed milestones could adversely affect market acceptance and have a material adverse effect on our stock price.
Disappointing results, later-than-expected press release announcements or termination of evaluations, pilot programs or commercial Ontrak solutions could have a material adverse effect on the commercial acceptance of our solutions, our stock price and on our results of operations. In addition, announcements regarding results, or anticipation of results, may increase volatility in our stock price. In addition to numerous upcoming milestones, from time to time we provide financial guidance and other forecasts to the market. While we believe that the assumptions underlying projections and forecasts we make publicly available are reasonable, projections and forecasts are inherently subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Any failure to achieve milestones, or to do so in a timely manner, or to achieve publicly announced guidance and forecasts, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the price of our common stock.
We face business disruption and related risks resulting from the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our business could be disrupted and materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including as a result of mutations of such virus and the global spread of viral variants that may be more contagious or resistant to currently known treatments. As a result of measures imposed by the governments in affected regions, businesses and schools have been from time to time suspended due to quarantines intended to contain this outbreak and many people have been forced to work from home in those areas. As a result of the global pandemic, trade and business activities around the world have been adversely affected, international stock and commodity markets have fluctuated widely and many regions are exhibiting signs of economic recession. Several programs were enacted in different countries in efforts to alleviate rising levels of unemployment and economic dislocation created by significantly reduced levels of social and business activity, although their longer term effectiveness is still uncertain particularly in view of a "second wave" effect of the spread of the contagion and related variants. We are continuously assessing our business operations and system supports and the impact COVID-19 may have on our results and financial condition, but there can be no assurance that this analysis will enable us to avoid part or all of any impact from the spread of COVID-19 or its consequences, including downturns in business sentiment generally or in our sector in particular, or its effects on our members or outreach pool.
Our industry is highly competitive, and we may not be able to compete successfully.
The healthcare business in general, and the behavioral health treatment business in particular, are highly competitive. While we believe our products and services are unique, we operate in highly competitive markets. We compete with other healthcare management service organizations, care management and disease management companies, including Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organizations (MBHOs), other specialty healthcare and managed care companies, and healthcare technology companies that are offering treatment and support of behavioral health on-line and on mobile devices. Most of our competitors are significantly larger and have greater financial, marketing and other resources than us. We believe that our ability to offer customers a comprehensive and integrated behavioral health solution, including the utilization of our analytical models and innovative member engagement methodologies, will enable us to compete effectively. However, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter more effective competition in the future, that we will have financial resources to continue to improve our offerings or that we will be successful improving them, which would limit our ability to maintain or increase our business.
Our competitors may develop and introduce new processes and products that are equal or superior to our programs in treating behavioral health conditions. Accordingly, we may be adversely affected by any new processes and products developed by our competitors.
A substantial percentage of our revenues are attributable to four large customers, any or all of which may terminate our services at any time.
Four customers accounted for an aggregate of 94% and 85% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Also, two customers represented an aggregate of 99% of our total accounts receivable as of December 31, 2020 and three customers represented an aggregate of 85% of our total accounts receivable as of December 31, 2019. On February 26, 2021, we were notified by our largest customer that the participation status with this customer will be terminated effective June 26, 2021 and were advised to stop enrollment of new members await guidance from the customer on transition plans for the 8,100 members who are currently benefiting from the Ontrak program. For the year ended December 31, 2020, this customer accounted for approximately 58% of our total revenue. We expect that revenues from a limited number of customers will continue for the foreseeable future. Sales to these customers are made pursuant to agreements with flexible termination provisions, generally entitling the customer to terminate with or without cause on limited notice to us. We may not be able to keep our key customers, or these customers may decrease their enrollment levels. Any substantial decrease or delay in revenues relating to one or more of our key customers would harm our financial results. If revenues relating to current key customers cease or are reduced, we may not obtain sufficient enrollments from other customers necessary to offset any such losses or reductions.
We depend on key personnel, the loss of which could impact the ability to manage our business.
We are highly dependent on our senior management and key operating and technical personnel. The loss of the services of any member of our senior management and key operating and technical personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. We also rely on consultants and advisors to assist us in formulating our strategy.
We will need to hire additional employees in order to achieve our objectives. There is currently intense competition for skilled executives and employees with relevant expertise, and this competition is likely to continue. The inability to attract and retain sufficient personnel could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our key executive officers. These executive officers are at-will employees and therefore they may terminate employment with us at any time with no advance notice. We also rely on our leadership team in the areas of research and development, marketing, services and general and administrative functions. From time to time, there may be changes in our executive management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. 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.
To continue to execute our growth strategy, we also must attract and retain highly skilled personnel. Competition is intense for qualified professionals. We may not be successful in continuing to attract and retain 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 personnel with appropriate qualifications. The pool of qualified personnel with experience working in the healthcare market is limited overall. In addition, 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 high-technology industries, job candidates often consider the value of the stock options or other equity instruments they are to receive in connection with their employment. Volatility in the price of our stock may, therefore, adversely affect our ability to attract or retain highly skilled personnel. Further, the requirement to expense stock options and other equity instruments may discourage us from granting the size or type of stock option or equity awards that job candidates require to join our company. Failure to attract new personnel or failure to retain and motivate our current personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are dependent on our ability to recruit, retain and develop a very large and diverse workforce. We must transform our culture in order to successfully grow our business.
Our products and services and our operations require a large number of employees. A significant number of employees have joined us in recent years as we continue to grow and expand our business. Our success is dependent on our ability to transform our culture, align our talent with our business needs, engage our employees and inspire our employees to be open to change, to innovate and to maintain member- and client-focus when delivering our services. Our business would be adversely affected if we fail to adequately plan for succession of our executives and senior management; or if we fail to effectively recruit, integrate, retain and develop key talent and/or align our talent with our business needs, in light of the current rapidly changing environment. While we have succession plans in place and we have employment arrangements with a limited number of key executives, these do not guarantee that the services of these or suitable successor executives will continue to be available to us.
We may be subject to future litigation, which could result in substantial liabilities that may exceed our insurance coverage.
All significant medical treatments and procedures, including treatment utilizing our programs, involve the risk of serious injury or death. While we have not been the subject of any such claims, our business entails an inherent risk of claims for personal injuries and substantial damage awards. We cannot control whether individual physicians and therapists will apply the appropriate standard of care in determining how to treat their patients. While our agreements typically require physicians to indemnify us for their negligence, there can be no assurance they will be willing and financially able to do so if claims are made. In addition, our license agreements require us to indemnify physicians, hospitals or their affiliates for losses resulting from our negligence.
We currently have insurance coverage for personal injury claims, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance coverage, and errors and omissions insurance. We may not be able to maintain adequate liability insurance at acceptable costs or on favorable terms. We expect that liability insurance will be more difficult to obtain and that premiums will increase over time and as the volume of patients treated with our programs increases. In the event of litigation, we may sustain significant damages or settlement expense (regardless of a claim's merit), litigation expense and significant harm to our reputation.
If third-party payors fail to provide coverage and adequate payment rates for our solutions, our revenue and prospects for profitability will be harmed.
Our future revenue growth will depend in part upon our ability to contract with health plans and other insurance payors for our Ontrak solutions. In addition, insurance payors are increasingly attempting to contain healthcare costs, and may not cover or provide adequate payment for our programs. Adequate insurance reimbursement might not be available to enable us to realize an appropriate return on investment in research and product development, and the lack of such reimbursement could have a material adverse effect on our operations and could adversely affect our revenues and earnings.
We may not be able to achieve promised savings for our Ontrak contracts, which could result in pricing levels insufficient to cover our costs or ensure profitability.
Many of our Ontrak contracts are based upon anticipated or guaranteed levels of savings for our customers and achieving other operational metrics resulting in incentive fees based on savings. If we are unable to meet or exceed promised savings, achieve agreed upon operational metrics, or favorably resolve contract billing and interpretation issues with our customers, we may be required to refund from the amount of fees paid to us any difference between savings that were guaranteed and the savings, if any, which were actually achieved; or we may fail to earn incentive fees based on savings. Accordingly, during or at the end of the contract terms, we may be required to refund some or all of the fees paid for our services. This exposes us to significant risk that contracts negotiated and entered into may ultimately be unprofitable. In addition, managed care operations are at risk for costs incurred to provide agreed upon services under our solution. Therefore, failure to anticipate or control costs could have a materially adverse effect on our business.
Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income has been limited in certain cases and may be subject to certain limitations in the future.
Our net operating loss carryforwards ("NOLs") will begin to expire in 2023. These NOLs may be used to offset future taxable income, to the extent we generate any taxable income, and thereby reduce or eliminate our future federal income taxes otherwise payable. Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes limitations on a corporation's ability to utilize NOLs if it experiences an ownership change as defined in Section 382. In general terms, an ownership change may result from transactions increasing the ownership of certain stockholders in the stock of a corporation by more than 50% over a three-year period. In the event that an ownership change has occurred, or were to occur, utilization of our NOLs would be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 determined by multiplying the value of our stock at the time of the ownership change by the applicable long-term tax-exempt rate as defined in the Internal Revenue Code. Any unused annual limitation may be carried over to later years. We have experienced ownership changes in the past and can continue to experience ownership changes under Section 382 as a result of events in the past or the issuance of shares of common or preferred stock, or a combination thereof. As a result of such ownership changes, the use of our NOLs, or a portion thereof, against our future taxable income may be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382, which may result in expiration of a portion of our NOLs before utilization.
In order to protect the Company’s significant NOLs, we filed an Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company containing an amendment (the “Protective Amendment”) with the Delaware Secretary of State on October 28, 2019. The Protective Amendment was approved by the Company’s stockholders by written consent dated September 24, 2019.
The Protective Amendment is designed to assist in protecting the long-term value of our accumulated NOLs by limiting certain transfers of our stock. The Protective Amendment’s transfer restrictions generally restrict any direct or indirect transfers of stock if the effect would be to increase the direct or indirect ownership of the stock by any person from less than 4.99% to 4.99% or more of the stock, or increase the percentage of the stock owned directly or indirectly by a person owning or deemed to own 4.99% or more of the stock. Any direct or indirect transfer attempted in violation of the Protective Amendment will be void as of the date of the prohibited transfer as to the purported transferee.
The Protective Amendment also requires any person attempting to become a holder of 4.99% or more of our common stock to seek the approval of our Board. This may have an unintended “anti-takeover” effect because our Board may be able to prevent any future takeover. Similarly, any limits on the amount of stock that a shareholder may own could have the effect of making it more difficult for shareholders to replace current management. Additionally, because the Protective Amendment may have the effect of restricting a shareholder’s ability to dispose of or acquire our common stock, the liquidity and market value of our common stock might suffer.
The Protective Amendment is not binding with respect to shares of stock issued prior to its adoption unless the holder of such shares has voted in favor of the Protective Amendment and the resulting transfer restriction is noted conspicuously on the certificate representing such shares, or, in the case of uncertificated shares, the registered owners are notified of the Protective Amendment, or such registered owner has actual knowledge of the Protective Amendment. Therefore, even after the effectiveness of the Protective Amendment, we cannot assure you that we will not experience an ownership change as defined in Section 382, including as a result of a waiver or modification by our Board as permitted by the Protective Amendment.
Risks related to our intellectual property
Confidentiality agreements with employees, treating physicians and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information.
In order to protect our proprietary technology and processes, we rely in part on confidentiality provisions in our agreements with employees, treating physicians, and others. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. In addition, others may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.
We may be subject to claims that we infringe the intellectual property rights of others, and unfavorable outcomes could harm our business.
Our future operations may be subject to claims, and potential litigation, arising from our alleged infringement of patents, trade secrets, trademarks or copyrights owned by other third parties. Within the healthcare, drug and bio-technology industry, many companies actively pursue infringement claims and litigation, which makes the entry of competitive products more difficult. We may experience claims or litigation initiated by existing, better-funded competitors and by other third parties. Court-ordered injunctions may prevent us from continuing to market existing products or from bringing new products to market and the outcome of litigation and any resulting loss of revenues and expenses of litigation may substantially affect our ability to meet our expenses and continue operations.
Risks related to our healthcare industry
Recent changes in insurance and health care laws have created uncertainty in the health care industry.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, each enacted in March 2010, generally known as the Health Care Reform Law, significantly expanded health insurance coverage to uninsured Americans and changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private payors. Following the 2016 federal elections, which resulted in the election of the Republican presidential nominee and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, there were renewed legislative efforts to significantly modify or repeal the Health Care Reform Law and certain executive policy changes designed to modify its impact, including the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017 which repealed the penalties under the Health Care Reform Law for uninsured persons. In light of the recent 2020 federal elections, which resulted in the election of the Democrat presidential nominee and Democratic majorities in both the Senate and House, we cannot predict what further reform proposals, if any, will be adopted, when they may be adopted, or what impact they may have on our business. There may also be other risks and uncertainties associated with the Health Care Reform Law. If we fail to comply or are unable to effectively manage such risks and uncertainties, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our policies and procedures may not fully comply with complex and increasing regulation by state and federal authorities, which could negatively impact our business operations.
The healthcare industry is highly regulated and continues to undergo significant changes as third-party payors, such as Medicare and Medicaid, traditional indemnity insurers, managed care organizations and other private payors, increase efforts to control cost, utilization and delivery of healthcare services. Healthcare companies are subject to extensive and complex federal, state and local laws, regulations and judicial decisions. Our failure or the failure of our treating physicians, to comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations may result in the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions that we cannot afford, or require redesign or withdrawal of our programs from the market.
We may become subject to medical liability claims, which could cause us to incur significant expenses and may require us to pay significant damages if not covered by insurance.
Our business entails the risk of medical liability claims against both our providers and us. 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. We carry professional liability insurance for ourselves, and we separately carry a general insurance policy, which covers medical malpractice claims. In addition, professional liability insurance is expensive and insurance premiums may increase significantly in the future, particularly as we expand our services. As a result, adequate professional liability insurance may not be available 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.
Our business practices may be found to constitute illegal fee-splitting or corporate practice of medicine, which may lead to penalties and adversely affect our business.
Many states, including California where our principal executive offices are located, have laws that prohibit business corporations, such as us, from practicing medicine, exercising control over medical judgments or decisions of physicians or other health care professionals (such as nurses or nurse practitioners), or engaging in certain business arrangements with physicians or other health care professionals, such as employment of physicians and other health care professionals or fee-splitting. The state laws and regulations and administrative and judicial decisions that enumerate the specific corporate practice and fee-splitting rules vary considerably from state to state and are enforced by both the courts and government agencies, each with broad discretion. Courts, government agencies or other parties, including physicians, may assert that we are engaged in the unlawful corporate practice of medicine, fee-splitting, or payment for referrals by providing administrative and other services in connection with our treatment programs. As a result of such allegations, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties, our contracts could be found invalid and unenforceable, in whole or in part, or we could be required to restructure our contractual arrangements. If so, we may be unable to restructure our contractual arrangements on favorable terms, which would adversely affect our business and operations.
Our business practices may be found to violate anti-kickback, physician self-referral or false claims laws, which may lead to penalties and adversely affect our business.
The healthcare industry is subject to extensive federal and state regulation with respect to kickbacks, physician self-referral arrangements, false claims and other fraud and abuse issues.
The federal anti-kickback law (the “Anti-Kickback Law”) prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting, receiving, or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing, arranging for, or recommending of an item or service that is reimbursable, in whole or in part, by a federal health care program. “Remuneration” is broadly defined to include anything of value, such as, for example, cash payments, gifts or gift certificates, discounts, or the furnishing of services, supplies, or equipment. The Anti-Kickback Law is broad, and it prohibits many arrangements and practices that are lawful in businesses outside of the health care industry.
Recognizing the breadth of the Anti-Kickback Law and the fact that it may technically prohibit many innocuous or beneficial arrangements within the health care industry, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) has issued a series of regulations, known as the “safe harbors.” Compliance with all requirements of a safe harbor immunizes the parties to the business arrangement from prosecution under the Anti-Kickback Law. The failure of a business arrangement to fit within a safe harbor does not necessarily mean that the arrangement is illegal or that the OIG will pursue prosecution. Still, in the absence of an applicable safe harbor, a violation of the Anti-Kickback Law may occur even if only one purpose of an arrangement is to induce referrals. The penalties for violating the Anti-Kickback Law can be severe. These sanctions include criminal and civil penalties, imprisonment, and possible exclusion from the federal health care programs. Many states have adopted laws similar to the Anti-Kickback Law, and some apply to items and services reimbursable by any payor, including private insurers.
In addition, the federal ban on physician self-referrals, commonly known as the Stark Law, prohibits, subject to certain exceptions, physician referrals of Medicare patients to an entity providing certain “designated health services” if the physician or an immediate family member of the physician has any financial relationship with the entity. A “financial relationship” is created by an investment interest or a compensation arrangement. Penalties for violating the Stark Law include the return of funds received for all prohibited referrals, fines, civil monetary penalties, and possible exclusion from the federal health care programs. In addition to the Stark Law, many states have their own self-referral bans, which may extend to all self-referrals, regardless of the payor.
The federal False Claims Act imposes liability on any person or entity that, among other things, knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the federal government. Under the False Claims Act, a person acts knowingly if he has actual knowledge of the information or acts in deliberate ignorance or in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information. Specific intent to defraud is not required. Violations of other laws, such as the Anti-Kickback Law or the FDA prohibitions against promotion of off-label uses of drugs, can lead to liability under the federal False Claims Act. The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act allow a private individual to bring an action on behalf of the federal government and to share in any amounts paid by the defendant to the government in connection with the action. The number of filings of qui tam actions has increased significantly in recent years. When an entity is determined to have violated the False Claims Act, it may be
required to pay up to three times the actual damages sustained by the government, plus civil penalties of between $5,500 and $11,000 for each false claim. Conduct that violates the False Claims Act may also lead to exclusion from the federal health care programs. Given the number of claims likely to be at issue, potential damages under the False Claims Act for even a single inappropriate billing arrangement could be significant. In addition, various states have enacted similar laws modeled after the False Claims Act that apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state health care programs, and, in several states, such laws apply to claims submitted to all payors.
On May 20, 2009, the Federal Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, or FERA, became law, and it significantly amended the federal False Claims Act. Among other things, FERA eliminated the requirement that a claim must be presented to the federal government. As a result, False Claims Act liability extends to any false or fraudulent claim for government money, regardless of whether the claim is submitted to the government directly, or whether the government has physical custody of the money. FERA also specifically imposed False Claims Act liability if an entity “knowingly and improperly avoids or decreases an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the Government.” As a result, the knowing and improper failure to return an overpayment can serve as the basis for a False Claims Act action. In March 2010, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, collectively the ACA, which also made sweeping changes to the federal False Claims Act. The ACA also established that Medicare and Medicaid overpayments must be reported and returned within 60 days of identification or when any corresponding cost report is due.
Finally, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations created the crimes of health care fraud and false statements relating to health care matters. The health care fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, including a private insurer. The false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing, or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits, items, or services. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines, imprisonment, or exclusion from the federal health care programs.
Federal or state authorities may claim that our fee arrangements, our agreements and relationships with contractors, hospitals and physicians, or other activities violate fraud and abuse laws and regulations. If our business practices are found to violate any of these laws or regulations, we may be unable to continue with our relationships or implement our business plans, which would have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Further, defending our business practices could be time consuming and expensive, and an adverse finding could result in substantial penalties or require us to restructure our operations, which we may not be able to do successfully.
Our business practices may be subject to state regulatory and licensure requirements.
Our business practices may be regulated by state regulatory agencies that generally have discretion to issue regulations and interpret and enforce laws and rules. These regulations can vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and the interpretation of existing laws and rules also may change periodically. Some of our business and related activities may be subject to state health care-related regulations and requirements, including managed health care, utilization review (UR) or third-party administrator-related regulations and licensure requirements. These regulations differ from state to state, and may contain network, contracting, and financial and reporting requirements, as well as specific standards for delivery of services, payment of claims, and adequacy of health care professional networks. If a determination is made that we have failed to comply with any applicable state laws or regulations, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
If our providers or experts are characterized as employees, we would be subject to employment and withholding liabilities.
We structure our relationships with our providers and experts in a manner that we believe results in an independent contractor relationship, not an employee relationship. An independent contractor is generally distinguished from an employee by his or her degree of autonomy and independence in providing services. A high degree of autonomy and independence is generally indicative of a contractor relationship, while a high degree of control is generally indicative of an employment relationship. Although we believe that our providers and experts are properly characterized as independent contractors, tax or other regulatory authorities may in the future challenge our characterization of these relationships. If such regulatory authorities or state, federal or foreign courts were to determine that our providers or experts are employees, and not independent contractors, we would be required to withhold income taxes, to withhold and pay social security, Medicare and similar taxes and to pay unemployment and other related payroll taxes. We would also be liable for unpaid past taxes and subject to penalties. As a result, any determination that our providers or experts are our employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to healthcare anti-fraud initiatives, which may lead to penalties and adversely affect our business.
State and federal government agencies are devoting increased attention and resources to anti-fraud initiatives against healthcare providers and the entities and individuals with whom they do business, and such agencies may define fraud
expansively to include our business practices, including the receipt of fees in connection with a healthcare business that is found to violate any of the complex regulations described above. While to our knowledge we have not been the subject of any anti-fraud investigations, if such a claim were made, defending our business practices could be time consuming and expensive and an adverse finding could result in substantial penalties or require us to restructure our operations, which we may not be able to do successfully.
Our use and disclosure of patient information is subject to privacy and security regulations, which may result in increased costs.
In providing administrative services to healthcare providers and operating our treatment programs, we may collect, use, disclose, maintain and transmit patient information in ways that will be subject to many of the numerous state, federal and international laws and regulations governing the collection, use, disclosure, storage, privacy and security of patient-identifiable health information, including the administrative simplification requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH). The HIPAA Privacy Rule restricts the use and disclosure of certain patient information (“Protected Health Information” or “PHI”), and requires safeguarding that information. The HIPAA Security Rule and HITECH establish elaborate requirements for safeguarding PHI transmitted or stored electronically. HIPAA applies to covered entities, which may include healthcare facilities and also includes health plans that will contract for the use of our programs and our services. HIPAA and HITECH require covered entities to bind contractors that use or disclose protected health information (or “Business Associates”) to compliance with certain aspects of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and all of the HIPAA Security Rule. In addition to contractual liability, Business Associates are also directly subject to regulation by the federal government. Direct liability means that we are subject to audit, investigation and enforcement by federal authorities. HITECH imposes breach notification obligations requiring us to report breaches of “Unsecured Protected Health Information” or PHI that has not been encrypted or destroyed in accordance with federal standards. Business Associates must report such breaches so that their covered entity customers may in turn notify all affected patients, the federal government, and in some cases, local or national media outlets. We may be required to indemnify our covered entity customers for costs associated with breach notification and the mitigation of harm resulting from breaches that we cause. If we are providing management services that include electronic billing on behalf of a physician practice or facility that is a covered entity, we may be required to conduct those electronic transactions in accordance with the HIPAA regulations governing the form and format of those transactions. Services provided under our Ontrak solution not only require us to comply with HIPAA and HITECH but also Title 42 Part 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (“Part 2”). Part 2 is a federal, criminal law that severely restricts our ability to use and disclose drug and alcohol treatment information obtained from federally-supported treatment facilities. Our operations must be carefully structured to avoid liability under this law. Our Ontrak solution qualifies as a federally funded treatment facility which requires us to disclose information on members only in compliance with Title 42.
In addition to the federal privacy regulations, there are a number of state laws governing the privacy and security of health and personal information. The penalties for violation of these laws vary widely and the area is rapidly evolving.
In 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”), which gives consumers significant rights over the use of their personal information, including the right to object to the “sale” of their personal information. In 2020, Californians voted to enact the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which amends the CCPA by expanding consumers' rights in their personal information and creating a new governmental agency to interpret and enforce the statute. Most provisions of the CPRA will become effective on January 1, 2023. While information covered by HIPAA is generally exempt from the applicability of the CCPA as amended by the CPRA, the rights of consumers under the CCPA may restrict our ability to use personal information in connection with our business operations. The CCPA also provides a private right of action for certain security breaches.
In 2019, New York passed a law known as the SHIELD Act, which expands data breach reporting obligations and requires companies to have robust data security programs in place. More recently, New York and other states, including Washington, have introduced significant privacy bills, and Congress is debating federal privacy legislation, which if passed, may restrict our business operations and require us to incur additional costs for compliance.
In addition, several foreign countries and governmental bodies, including the E.U., Brazil and Canada, have laws and regulations concerning the collection and use of personally identifiable information obtained from their residents, including identifiable health information, which are often more restrictive than those in the U.S. Laws and regulations in these jurisdictions apply broadly to the collection, use, storage, disclosure and security of personally identifiable information, including health information, identifying, or which may be used to identify, an individual, such as names, email addresses and, in some jurisdictions, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, device identifiers and other data. Although we currently conduct business only in the United States of America, these laws and regulations could become applicable to us in the event we expand our operations into other countries. These and other obligations may be modified and interpreted in different ways by courts, and new laws and regulations may be enacted in the future.
Within the EEA, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") took full effect on May 25, 2018, superseding the 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive and becoming directly applicable across E.U. member states. The GDPR includes more stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of personal data (including health information) established in and outside of the EEA, imposes significant penalties for non-compliance and has broader extra-territorial effect. As the GDPR is a regulation rather than a directive, it applies throughout the EEA, but permits member states to enact supplemental requirements if they so choose. Noncompliance with the GDPR can trigger fines of up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of global annual revenues. Further, a Data Protection Act substantially implementing the GDPR was enacted in the U.K., effective in May 2018. It remains unclear, however, how U.K. data protection laws or regulations will develop in the medium to longer term and how data transfers to and from the U.K. will be regulated in light of the U.K.'s withdrawal from the E.U. In addition, some countries are considering or have enacted legislation requiring local storage and processing of data that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services.
We believe that we have taken the steps required of us to comply with laws governing the privacy and security of personal information, including health information privacy and security laws and regulations, in all applicable jurisdictions, both state and federal. However, we may not be able to maintain compliance in all jurisdictions where we do business. Failure to maintain compliance, or changes in state or federal privacy and security laws could result in civil and/or criminal penalties and could have a material adverse effect on our business, including significant reputational damage associated with a breach. Under HITECH, we are subject to prosecution or administrative enforcement and increased civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance, including a four-tiered system of monetary penalties. We are also subject to enforcement by state attorneys general who were given authority to enforce HIPAA under HITECH, and who have authority to enforce state-specific data privacy and security laws. If regulations change, if we expand the territorial scope of our operations, or if it is determined that we are not in compliance with privacy regulations, we may be required to modify aspects of our program, which may adversely affect program results and our business or profitability.
Security breaches, loss of data and other disruptions could compromise sensitive information related to our business, prevent us from accessing critical information or expose us to liability, which could adversely affect our business and our reputation.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including legally protected patient health information, personally identifiable information about our employees, intellectual property, and proprietary business information. We manage and maintain our applications and data utilizing an off-site co-location facility. These applications and data encompass a wide variety of business critical information including research and development information, commercial information and business and financial information.
The secure processing, storage, maintenance and transmission of this critical information is vital to our operations and business strategy, and we devote significant resources to protecting such information. Although we take measures to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access or disclosure, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers, viruses, breaches or interruptions due to employee error or malfeasance, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, fire, flood, other natural disasters, power loss, computer systems failure, data network failure, Internet failure or lapses in compliance with privacy and security mandates. We may be subject to distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks by hackers aimed at disrupting service to patients and customers. Our response to such DDOS attacks may be insufficient to protect our network and systems. In addition, there has been a continuing increase in the number of malicious software attacks in the technology industry, including malware, ransomware, and email phishing scams, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any such virus, breach or interruption could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed by unauthorized parties, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. We have measures in place that are designed to detect and respond to such security incidents and breaches of privacy and security mandates. Nonetheless, we cannot guarantee our backup systems, regular data backups, security protocols, network protection mechanisms and other procedures currently in place, or that may be in place in the future, will be adequate to prevent or remedy network and service interruption, system failure, damage to one or more of our systems, data loss, security breaches or other data security incidents. We might be required to expend significant capital and resources to protect against or address such incidents. Any access, disclosure or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information (such as HIPAA and state data security laws), government enforcement actions and regulatory penalties. We may also be required to indemnify our customers for costs associated with having their data on our system breached. Unauthorized access, loss or dissemination could also interrupt our operations, including our ability to provide treatment, bill our customers, provide customer support services, conduct research and development activities, process and prepare company financial information, manage various general and administrative aspects of our business and damage our reputation, or we may lose one or more of our customers, especially if they felt their data may be breached, any of which could adversely affect our business.
Certain of our professional healthcare employees, such as nurses, must comply with individual licensing requirements.
All of our healthcare professionals who are subject to licensing requirements, such as our care coaches, are licensed in the state in which they provide professional services in person. While we believe our nurses provide coaching and not professional services, one or more states may require our healthcare professionals to obtain licensure if providing services telephonically
across state lines to the state’s residents. Healthcare professionals who fail to comply with these licensure requirements could face fines or other penalties for practicing without a license, and we could be required to pay those fines on behalf of our healthcare professionals. If we are required to obtain licenses for our nurses in states where they provide telephonic coaching, it would significantly increase the cost of providing our product. In addition, new and evolving agency interpretations, federal or state legislation or regulations, or judicial decisions could lead to the implementation of out-of-state licensure requirements in additional states, and such changes would increase the cost of services and could have a material effect on our business.
Risks related to our Note Agreement
The terms of our Note Agreement place restrictions on our operating and financial flexibility, and failure to comply with covenants or to satisfy certain conditions of the agreement may result in acceleration of our repayment obligations, which could significantly harm our liquidity, financial condition, operating results, business and prospects and cause the price of our securities to decline.
On September 24, 2019 (the “Closing Date”), we entered into the Note Agreement (as amended to date, the "Note Agreement"), by and among us, certain of our subsidiaries as guarantors, Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Holdings, Inc. (with any other purchasers party thereto from time to time, collectively the “Holder”) and Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, L.P., as collateral agent, in connection with the sale of up to $45.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes (the “2024 Notes”). On the Closing Date, we issued an aggregate of $35.0 million in principal amount of 2024 Notes and, on August 25, 2020, we issued an additional $10.0 million in principal amount of 2024 Notes.
The Note Agreement contains customary covenants, including, among others, covenants that restrict the our ability to incur debt, grant liens, make certain investments and acquisitions, pay dividends, repurchase equity interests, repay certain debt, amend certain contracts, enter into affiliate transactions and asset sales or make certain equity issuances, and covenants that require the us to, among other things, provide annual, quarterly and monthly financial statements, together with related compliance certificates, maintain its property in good repair, maintain insurance and comply with applicable laws. The Note Agreement also includes covenants with respect to our maintenance of certain financial ratios, including a fixed charge coverage ratio, leverage ratio and consolidated liquidity as well as minimum levels of consolidated adjusted EBITDA and revenue.
The Note Agreement and the 2024 Notes could have important consequences for us and our stockholders. For example, the Notes require a balloon payment at maturity in September 2024, which may require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our uncommitted cash flow from operations to this future payment if we feel we cannot be successful in our ability to refinance in the future, thereby further reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, and acquisitions, and for other general corporate purposes. In addition, our indebtedness could:
•increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and competitive pressures in our industry;
•place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt;
•limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry; and
•limit our ability to borrow additional funds on terms that are acceptable to us or at all.
The Note Agreement contains restrictive covenants that will restrict our operational flexibility and require that we maintain specified financial ratios. If we cannot comply with these covenants, we may be in default under the Note Agreement.
The Note Agreement contains restrictions and limitations on our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interests. The Note Agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants that limit and restrict, among other things, our ability to:
•incur additional debt;
•sell assets;
•issue equity securities;
•pay dividends or repurchase equity securities;
•incur liens or other encumbrances;
•make certain restricted payments and investments;
•acquire other businesses; and
•merge or consolidate.
The Note Agreement contains a fixed charge coverage ratio covenant, a leverage ratio covenant and minimum revenue and liquidity covenants. Events beyond our control could affect our ability to meet these and other covenants under the Note Agreement. We have in the past required waivers to or modifications of such covenant requirements which the lender has granted.
There can be no assurance that we will not require additional such waivers or modifications or on what terms the lender will be willing to provide them, if at all. The Note Agreement also contains customary events of default, including, among others, payment default, bankruptcy events, cross-default, breaches of covenants and representations and warranties, change of control, judgment defaults and an ownership change within the meaning of Section 382 of the Code. Our failure to comply with our covenants and other obligations under the Note Agreement may result in an event of default thereunder. A default, if not cured or waived, may permit acceleration of the Notes. If the indebtedness represented by the Notes is accelerated, we cannot be certain that we will have sufficient funds available to pay the accelerated indebtedness (together with accrued interest and fees), or that we will have the ability to refinance the accelerated indebtedness on terms favorable to us or at all. This could have serious consequences to our financial condition, operating results, and business, and could cause us to become insolvent or enter bankruptcy proceedings, and shareholders may lose all or a portion of their investment because of the priority of the claims of our creditors on our assets.
If we are unable to generate or borrow sufficient cash to make payments on our indebtedness, our financial condition would be materially harmed, our business could fail, and shareholders may lose all of their investment.
Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance our obligations will depend on our financial and operating performance, which will be affected by economic, financial, competitive, business, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations to service our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are unable to meet our debt obligations or fund our other liquidity needs, we may need to restructure or refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity or sell certain of our assets. We cannot assure you that we will be able to restructure or refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, which could cause us to default on our debt obligations and impair our liquidity. Any refinancing of our indebtedness could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations.
Increases in interest rates could adversely affect our results from operations and financial condition.
The Notes bear interest at either a floating rate plus an applicable margin in the case of Notes subject to cash interest payments or a floating rate plus a slightly higher applicable margin in the case of Notes as to which current interest has been capitalized during the first twelve months following the Closing Date, at the Company’s option. The applicable margins are subject to stepdowns, in each case, following the achievement of certain financial ratios. As a result, an increase in prevailing interest rates would have an effect on the interest rates charged on the Notes, which rise and fall upon changes in interest rates. If prevailing interest rates or other factors result in higher interest rates, the increased interest expense would adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness.
Risks related to our preferred stock
Our Series A Preferred Stock ranks junior to all of our indebtedness and other liabilities.
In the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our affairs, our assets will be available to pay obligations on the Series A Preferred Stock only after all of our indebtedness and other liabilities have been paid. The rights of holders of the Series A Preferred Stock to participate in the distribution of our assets will rank junior to the prior claims of our current and future creditors and any future series or class of preferred stock we may issue that ranks senior to the Series A Preferred Stock. Also, the Series A Preferred Stock effectively ranks junior to all existing and future indebtedness and to the indebtedness and other liabilities of our existing subsidiaries and any future subsidiaries. Our existing subsidiaries are, and future subsidiaries would be, separate legal entities and have no legal obligation to pay any amounts to us in respect of dividends due on the Series A Preferred Stock.
At December 31, 2020, our total liabilities equaled approximately $84.0 million. If we are forced to liquidate our assets to pay our creditors, we may not have sufficient assets to pay amounts due on any or all of the Series A Preferred Stock then outstanding.
Certain of our existing or future debt instruments may restrict the authorization, payment or setting apart of dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock. The Note Agreement restricts the payment of dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock and contains events of default which could result in acceleration of such indebtedness upon the occurrence of certain events, including failure to meet certain financial covenants and the payment of dividends on, or redemption amounts in respect of, the Series A Preferred Stock in violation of the Note Agreement. While the conditional amendment to the Note Agreement entered into in connection with our issuance of the Series A Preferred Stock (the “Conditional Amendment”) permits the payment of dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock for the first eight periods following issuance, thereafter we may only pay such dividends so long as there is no default or event of default under the Note Agreement. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will remain in compliance with the terms of the Conditional Amendment, and if we default, we may be contractually prohibited from paying dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock or any amounts in redemption of or otherwise in respect of, the Series A Preferred Stock. Also,
future offerings of debt or senior equity securities may adversely affect the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock. If we decide to issue debt or senior equity securities in the future, it is possible that these securities will be governed by an indenture or other instruments containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of the Series A Preferred Stock and may result in dilution to owners of the Series A Preferred Stock. We and, indirectly, our stockholders, will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such securities. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. The holders of the Series A Preferred Stock will bear the risk of our future offerings, which may reduce the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock and will dilute the value of their holdings in us.
We may not be able to pay dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock if we have insufficient cash or available ‘surplus’ as defined under Delaware law to make such dividend payments.
Our ability to pay cash dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock requires us to have either net profits or positive net assets (total assets less total liabilities) over our capital, and that we have sufficient working capital in order to be able to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business. Our ability to pay dividends may also be impaired if any of the risks described in this Form 10-K, including the documents incorporated by reference herein, were to occur. Also, payment of our dividends depends upon our financial condition and other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. We cannot assure you that our businesses will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to make distributions on our common stock, if any, and preferred stock, including the Series A Preferred Stock to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs.
We have established a segregated account that will be funded with a portion of the proceeds from sales of Series A Preferred Stock to pre-fund quarterly dividend payments on the Series A Preferred Stock until August 2022, although the payment of such amounts on deposit to holders of the Series A Preferred Stock is subject to compliance with applicable laws and with the foregoing limitations. Additionally, once the funds in the segregated account are exhausted, there can be no assurance that we will have sufficient cash flow from operations to continue such dividend payments. The amounts on deposit are also assets of our consolidated entity and while we have agreed not to use such amount for any corporate purposes other than payments of dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock, such account will be subject to a lien in favor of the collateral agent for the 2024 Notes and otherwise be available to our creditors generally in the event holders of our indebtedness or other obligations arising in the ordinary course of business seek to pursue remedies under bankruptcy or insolvency laws or otherwise. In addition, our Board of Directors may determine that the use of such amount on deposit for other corporate purposes is required pursuant to the exercise of their fiduciary duties to our common stockholders. You should be aware that the pre-funded dividends may not be available to make such payments in the amounts and at the times required under the terms of the Series A Preferred Stock offering.
Our Certificate of Incorporation contains provisions limiting the transferability and conversion of the Series A Preferred stock.
As noted above, the Protective Amendment is designed to assist in protecting the long-term value of our accumulated NOLs by limiting certain transfers of our common stock and certain of our other securities coming within the rules of the Internal Revenue Service under Section 382, including the Series A Preferred Stock as such does not meet the exception provided by Section 1504(a) of the Code and related Treasury Regulation §1.382.-2(a)(3)(i) (collectively, “382 Stock”). While the Board of Directors has approved the issuance of our Series A Preferred Stock after determining that such issuance is not likely to result in a prohibited ownership shift, the Protective Amendment will continue to apply to the Series A Preferred Stock after issuance, including the restrictions on transfer and exchange.
The market for our Series A Preferred Stock may not provide investors with adequate liquidity.
Our Series A Preferred Stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market. However, the trading market for the Series A Preferred Stock may not be maintained and may not provide investors with adequate liquidity. The liquidity of the market for the Series A Preferred Stock depends on a number of factors, including prevailing interest rates, our financial condition and operating results, the number of holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, the market for similar securities and the interest of securities dealers in making a market in the Series A Preferred Stock. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in our Company will maintain the trading market in our Series A Preferred Stock, or how liquid that market will be. If an active market is not maintained, investors may have difficulty selling shares of our Series A Preferred Stock.
Future issuances of preferred stock may reduce the value of the Series A Preferred Stock.
We may sell additional shares of preferred stock on terms that may differ from the Series A Preferred Stock. Such shares could rank on parity with or, subject to the voting rights referred to above (with respect to issuances of new series of preferred stock), senior to the Series A Preferred Stock as to distribution rights or rights upon liquidation, winding up or dissolution. The subsequent issuance of additional shares of Series A Preferred Stock, or the creation and subsequent issuance of additional classes of preferred stock on parity with the Series A Preferred Stock, could dilute the interests of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock offered hereby. Any issuance of preferred stock that is senior to the Series A Preferred Stock would not only dilute the interests of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock, but also could affect our ability to pay distributions on, redeem or pay the liquidation preference on the Series A Preferred Stock.
Market interest rates may materially and adversely affect the value of the Series A Preferred Stock.
One of the factors that influences the price of the Series A Preferred Stock is the dividend yield on the Series A Preferred Stock (as a percentage of the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock) relative to market interest rates. Continued increase in market interest rates, which are currently at low levels relative to historical rates, may lead prospective purchasers of the Series A Preferred Stock to expect a higher dividend yield (and higher interest rates would likely increase our borrowing costs and potentially decrease funds available for dividend payments). Thus, higher market interest rates could cause the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock to materially decrease.
The special exchange right that the Series A Preferred Stock is entitled to may make it more difficult for a party to acquire us or discourage a party from acquiring us.
The Series A Preferred Stock special exchange right may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing certain of our change of control transactions under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price of such equity securities or that stockholders may otherwise believe is in their best interests.
Holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may be unable to use the dividends-received deduction and may not be eligible for the preferential tax rates applicable to “qualified dividend income.”
Distributions paid to corporate U.S. holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction, and distributions paid to non-corporate U.S. holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may be subject to tax at the preferential tax rates applicable to “qualified dividend income,” if we have current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We do not currently have any accumulated earnings and profits. Additionally, we may not have sufficient current earnings and profits during future fiscal years for the distributions on the Series A Preferred Stock to qualify as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If the distributions fail to qualify as dividends, U.S. holders would be unable to use the dividends-received deduction and may not be eligible for the preferential tax rates applicable to “qualified dividend income.”
Holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may be subject to tax if we make or fail to make certain adjustments to the Exchange Rate of the Series A Preferred Stock even though you do not receive a corresponding cash dividend.
The exchange rate for the Series A Preferred Stock special exchange right is subject to adjustment in certain circumstances. A failure to adjust (or to adjust adequately) such exchange rate after an event that increases your proportionate interest in us could be treated as a deemed taxable dividend to you. If you are a non-U.S. holder, any deemed dividend may be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a 30% rate, or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable treaty, which may be set off against subsequent payments on the Series A Preferred Stock. In April 2016, the Internal Revenue Service issued new proposed income tax regulations in regard to the taxability of changes in exchange rights that will apply to the Series A Preferred Stock when published in final form and may be applied to us before final publication in certain instances.
Our revenues, operating results and cash flows may fluctuate in future periods, and we may fail to meet investor expectations, which may cause the price of our Series A Preferred Stock to decline.
Variations in our quarterly and year-end operating results are difficult to predict, and our income and cash flows may fluctuate significantly from period to period. If our operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our Series A Preferred Stock could decline substantially. Specific factors that may cause fluctuations in our operating results include:
The Series A Preferred Stock represents perpetual equity interests in us, and it has no maturity or mandatory redemption date and are not redeemable at the option of investors under any circumstances. As a result, the Series A Preferred Stock will not give rise to a claim for payment of a principal amount at a particular date. As a result, holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may be required to bear the financial risks of an investment in the Series A Preferred Stock for an indefinite period of time. In addition, the Series A Preferred Stock will rank junior to all our current and future indebtedness and other liabilities. The Series A Preferred Stock will also rank junior to any other senior securities we may issue in the future with respect to assets available to satisfy claims against us.
The Series A Preferred Stock has not been rated.
We have not sought to obtain a rating for the Series A Preferred Stock. No assurance can be given, however, that one or more rating agencies might not independently determine to issue such a rating or that such a rating, if issued, would not adversely affect the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock. Also, we may elect in the future to obtain a rating for the Series A Preferred Stock, which could adversely affect the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock. Ratings only reflect the views of the rating agency or agencies issuing the ratings and such ratings could be revised downward, placed on a watch list or withdrawn entirely at the discretion of the issuing rating agency if in its judgment circumstances so warrant. Any such downward revision, placing on a watch list or withdrawal of a rating could have an adverse effect on the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock.
The market price of the Series A Preferred Stock could be substantially affected by various factors.
The market price of the Series A Preferred Stock depends on many factors, which may change from time to time, including:
• prevailing interest rates, increases in which may have an adverse effect on the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock;
• trading prices of similar securities;
• our history of timely dividend payments;
• the annual yield from dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock as compared to yields on other financial instruments;
• general economic and financial market conditions;
• government action or regulation;
• the financial condition, performance and prospects of us and our competitors;
• changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts with respect to us or our competitors in our industry;
• our issuance of additional preferred equity or debt securities;
• actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results of us and our competitors; and
• the ongoing impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of these and other factors, holders of the Series A Preferred Stock may experience a decrease, which could be substantial and rapid, in the market price of the Series A Preferred Stock, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects.
A holder of Series A Preferred Stock has extremely limited voting rights.
The voting rights for a holder of Series A Preferred Stock are limited. Our shares of common stock are the only class of our securities that carry full voting rights. Voting rights for holders of the Series A Preferred Stock exist primarily with respect to voting on amendments to our certificate of incorporation, including the certificate of designations relating to the Series A Preferred Stock, that materially and adversely affect the rights of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock or authorize, increase or create additional classes or series of our capital stock that are senior to the Series A Preferred Stock. Other than the limited circumstances described in the Certificate of Designations establishing the Series A Preferred Stock and except to the extent required by law, holders of Series A Preferred Stock do not have any voting rights.
Risks related to our common stock
Failure to maintain effective internal controls could adversely affect our operating results and the market for our common stock.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we maintain internal control over financial reporting that meets applicable standards. As with many smaller companies with small staff, material weaknesses in our financial controls and procedures may be discovered. If we are unable, or are perceived as unable, to produce reliable financial reports due to internal control deficiencies, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information and operating results, which could result in a negative market reaction and adversely affect our ability to raise capital.
More than 51% of our outstanding common stock is beneficially owned by our chairman and chief executive officer, who has the ability to substantially influence the election of directors and other matters submitted to stockholders.
10,363,344 shares are beneficially held of record by Acuitas Group Holdings, LLC (“Acuitas”), whose sole managing member is our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, which represents beneficial ownership of approximately 55% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, he has and is expected to continue to have the ability to significantly influence the election of our Board of Directors and the outcome of all other matters submitted to our stockholders. His interest may not always coincide with our interests or the interests of other stockholders, and he may act in a manner that advances his best interests and not necessarily those of other stockholders. One consequence to this substantial influence or control is that it may be difficult for investors to remove management of our Company. It could also deter unsolicited takeovers, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current market prices.
Our stock price may be subject to substantial volatility, and the value of our stockholders' investment may decline.
The price at which our common stock trades fluctuates as a result of a number of factors, including the number of shares available for sale in the market, quarterly variations in our operating results and actual or anticipated announcements of our Ontrak solution, announcements regarding new or discontinued Ontrak solution contracts, new products or services by us or competitors, regulatory investigations or determinations, acquisitions or strategic alliances by us or our competitors, recruitment or departures of key personnel, the gain or loss of significant customers, changes in the estimates of our operating performance, actual or threatened litigation, market conditions in our industry and the economy as a whole.
Numerous factors, including many over which we have no control, may have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock, including:
● announcements of new products or services by us or our competitors;
● current events affecting the political, economic and social situation in the United States;
● trends in our industry and the markets in which we operate;
● changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts;
● acquisitions and financings by us or our competitors;
● the gain or loss of a significant customer;
● quarterly variations in operating results;
● the operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors may consider to be comparable;
● purchases or sales of blocks of our securities; and
● issuances of stock.
We have used the market price of our common stock to establish future payment obligations to stockholders of acquisition targets in the past and may continue to do so in the future; any decline in the market price regardless of whether due to our performance or external market dynamics would give rise to a payment obligation to such holders. Furthermore, stockholders may initiate securities class action lawsuits if the market price of our stock drops significantly, which may cause us to incur substantial costs and could divert the time and attention of our management.
Future sales of common stock by existing stockholders, or the perception that such sales may occur, could depress our stock price.
The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales by, or the perceived possibility of sales by, our existing stockholders. Most of our outstanding shares are eligible for public resale pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 9.2 million shares of our common stock are held by our affiliates and may be sold pursuant to an effective registration statement or in accordance with the volume and other limitations of Rule 144 or pursuant to other exempt transactions. Future sales of common stock by significant stockholders, including those who acquired their shares in private placements or who are affiliates, or the perception that such sales may occur, could depress the price of our common stock.
Future issuances of common stock and hedging activities may depress the trading price of our common stock.
Any future issuance of equity securities, including the issuance of shares upon direct registration, upon satisfaction of our obligations, compensation of vendors, exercise of outstanding warrants, or effectuation of a reverse stock split, could dilute the interests of our existing stockholders, and could substantially decrease the trading price of our common stock. As of December 31, 2020, we had outstanding options to purchase 3,616,314 shares of our common stock at exercise prices ranging from $7.50 to $60.16 per share and warrants to purchase 1,465,927 shares of our common stock at exercise prices ranging from $1.80 to $18.71 per share. Also, as of December 31, 2020, we had a total of 30,000 unvested RSUs outstanding. We may issue equity securities in the future for a number of reasons, including to finance our operations and business strategy, in connection with acquisitions, to adjust our ratio of debt to equity, to satisfy our obligations upon the exercise of outstanding warrants or options or for other reasons.
There may be future sales or other dilution of our equity, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In the future, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private financing, which might include sales of equity securities. The issuance of any additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into, exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive common stock or the exercise of such securities could be substantially dilutive to holders of shares of our common stock. Holders of shares of our common stock have no preemptive rights that entitle holders to purchase their pro rata share of any offering of shares of any class or series. The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of shares of our common stock made after this offering or the perception that such sales could occur. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their interests in our Company.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and Delaware law could discourage a change in control, or an acquisition of us by a third party, even if the acquisition would be favorable to you.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the Delaware General Corporation Law contain provisions (including the Section 382 Ownership Limit) that may have the effect of making more difficult or delaying attempts by others to obtain control of our Company, even when these attempts may be in the best interests of stockholders. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors, without stockholder approval, to issue one or more series of preferred stock, which could have voting and conversion rights that adversely affect or dilute the voting power of the holders of common stock. Delaware law also imposes conditions on certain business combination transactions with “interested stockholders.” These provisions and others that could be adopted in the future could deter unsolicited takeovers or delay or prevent changes in our control or management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current market prices. These provisions may also limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.
We do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future.
We have paid no cash dividends on our common stock to date, and we intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the continued development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future on our common stock. Further, any payment of cash dividends will also depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors, including contractual restrictions to which we may be subject, and will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors.
The exercise of our outstanding warrants may result in a dilution of our current stockholders' voting power and an increase in the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market, which may negatively impact the market price of our stock.
The exercise of some or all of our outstanding warrants could significantly dilute the ownership interests of our existing stockholders. As of December 31, 2020, we had outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,465,927 shares of common stock at exercise prices ranging from $1.80 to $18.71 per share. To the extent warrants are exercised, additional shares of common stock will be issued, and such issuance may dilute existing stockholders and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our shares.