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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


FORM 10-K

 


 

(Mark One)

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

 

For the fiscal year ended May 30, 2003

 

or

 

¨   TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from              to             .

 

Commission File No. 001-12392

 


 

NDCHealth Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 


 

Delaware   58-0977458

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

NDC Plaza
Atlanta, Georgia
  30329-2010
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (404) 728-2000

 


 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class


 

Name of each exchange
on which registered


Common Stock, Par Value $.125 Per Share

  New York Stock Exchange

Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock Purchase Rights

  New York Stock Exchange

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

NONE

(Title of Class)

 


 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes   x    No  ¨.

 

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

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).    Yes  x    No  ¨

 

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $634,996,052 based upon the last reported sale price on The New York Stock Exchange on November 29, 2002 using beneficial ownership of stock rules adopted pursuant to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exclude voting and non-voting common equity owned by all directors and officers of the registrant, some of whom may not be held to be affiliates upon judicial determination.

 

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $.125, outstanding as of July 24, 2003 was 34,936,907.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

Document


 

Part of Form 10-K


Portions of the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement relating to the 2003 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on October 23, 2003

  Part III

 



Table of Contents

NDCHEALTH CORPORATION

2003 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

          Page

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

   2

Part I

         

Item 1.

   Business    3

Item 2.

   Properties    12

Item 3.

   Legal Proceedings    12

Item 4.

   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders    13

Item X.

   Executive Officers of the Registrant    14

Part II

         

Item 5.

   Market For Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters    15

Item 6.

   Selected Financial Data    16

Item 7.

   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations    18

Item 7A.

   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk    44

Item 8.

   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data    46

Item 9.

   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure    83

Part III

         

Item 10.

   Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant    84

Item 11.

   Executive Compensation    84

Item 12.

   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management    84

Item 13.

   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions    84

Item 14.

   Controls and Procedures    84

Item 15.

   Principal Accountant Fees and Services    84

Part IV

         

Item 16.

   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K    85

Signatures

   89

Index to Exhibits

   91


Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY NOTICE REGARDING

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “may,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “project,” “intend,” or similar expressions. These statements include, among others, statements regarding our expected business outlook, anticipated financial and operating results, our business strategy and means to implement the strategy, our objectives, the amount and timing of future capital expenditures, the likelihood of our success in developing and introducing new products and expanding our business, the timing of the introduction of new and modified products or services, financing plans, working capital needs and sources of liquidity.

 

Forward-looking statements are only predictions and are not guarantees of performance. These statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions, which in turn are based on currently available information. Important assumptions relating to the forward-looking statements include, among others, assumptions regarding demand for our products, the cost and timing of product upgrades and new product introductions, expected pricing levels, the timing and cost of planned capital expenditures, expected outcomes of pending litigation and expected synergies relating to acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances. These assumptions could prove to be inaccurate. Forward-looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results that differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. These factors include, but are not limited to, the factors set forth under the caption “Additional Factors That May Affect Future Performance” in Item 7 of this report.

 

We believe our forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, undue reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any of them in light of new information or future events.

 

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PART I

Item 1. BUSINESS

 

Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this report to “our company,” “we,” “our,” “us” and similar expressions refer to NDCHealth Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries. Unless otherwise noted, all references in this report to a particular fiscal year means our fiscal year as described.

 

General

 

NDCHealth Corporation is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 1967 and is a leading healthcare information services company that services pharmacies, hospitals, physicians, payers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

 

We are a leading provider of value-added electronic health information processing services, in terms of the number of electronic transactions processed and the number of pharmaceutical manufacturer customers. We are connected to over 85% of U.S. and Canadian pharmacies, more than 1,500 of the nation’s hospitals and over 1,000 healthcare payers. We provide pharmacy systems to retail pharmacies (both chains and independents) as well as high volume mail order pharmacies in North America and the United Kingdom. We provide services to more than 100 pharmaceutical manufacturers and have sold practice management systems to more than 100,000 physicians. We are in the early phases of expanding internationally and have established information services businesses in Germany and the United Kingdom. We believe that our connectivity and relationships across multiple segments of healthcare (pharmacy, pharmaceutical manufacturers, hospitals, physicians, payers, and distributors) positions us to provide integrated information solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare.

 

As an integrated health information company, we are a leader in providing automated financial, administrative, and selective clinical healthcare transactions, in terms of the number of transactions processed, and in delivering innovative information solutions that generate value for our customers. We are executing a business strategy to evolve from a value added intelligent network and information products provider to an integrated healthcare information solutions company. Our strategy is to continue to expand our markets and add new application content as we offer our customers high quality, quantifiable value-added information solutions in healthcare. We seek to achieve this strategy by leveraging the assets of our two business segments, Network Services and Systems and Information Management, and growing a sustainable business model with a consistent base of recurring revenues.

 

The NDCHealth Intelligent Network is the cornerstone of our Network Services and Systems segment and transmits information from pharmacies and hospitals to third party payers for reimbursement. These payers include private insurance carriers, managed care organizations and government programs. We also link pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers with providers and payers. We offer information processes, including claims submission and adjudication, customized validation and proprietary message editing, eligibility verification, remittance advice, referral authorization, prescription ordering, and refill authorization. Our point-of-service systems in pharmacies, hospitals, and physician offices are the entry and exit points for information to and from our NDCHealth Intelligent Network. Through our network, we are partnering with our customers to improve efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare. Some examples include: real time eligibility verification, drug formulary and inventory management, and facilitation of prompt payment for products and services.

 

Our Information Management segment provides customers with solutions from our NDCHealth Medical Repository, a database of healthcare business information which includes pharmaceutical distribution, pharmaceutical sales, and medical services information. We transform this large volume of drug sales, prescribing physician, and de-identified patient data into information solutions that can help our customers better analyze their markets, more effectively develop and position their product offerings, and ultimately better understand the effectiveness of drug therapies.

 

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The integrated information solutions that we provide from our Network Services and Systems and Information Management segments enable us to partner with our customers to improve business performance and to enhance the quality of patient care. Our applications help customers better manage revenue and accelerate cash flow, reduce overhead costs, react quickly to changing market conditions, improve business operations and streamline administrative processes. Our integrated business model generates revenue consisting of recurring transaction processing fees, recurring maintenance and support fees, information management subscription fees, consulting services and software license revenue.

 

We believe that the healthcare market offers attractive opportunities for continued growth. As we execute our strategy, we seek to increase both our penetration of existing markets and to enter new, related markets through the development of new integrated information solutions. Additionally, we are expanding our distribution channels and, where appropriate, partnering with other companies with complementary products, services, development, and/or distribution capabilities to achieve our vision of being the leading integrated health information company.

 

Acquisitions, Investments and Strategic Alliances

 

From time to time, we have made acquisitions and investments and entered into strategic alliances in an effort to obtain a competitive advantage or an expanded presence in targeted markets. We believe that selective acquisitions, investments and strategic alliances are important to our ability to compete effectively.

 

In May 2003, we completed the acquisition of TechRx Incorporated. TechRx is a leading provider of pharmacy software that automates the prescription fulfillment process, with systems in approximately 30% of pharmacies in the United States. TechRx systems provide pharmacy customers with an integrated solution for in-store operations, centralized processing and connectivity to payers and physicians.

 

We were formerly a minority shareholder in TechRx and in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger under which we agreed to acquire the remaining stock in a two-step transaction. Under the first step in May 2002, we acquired a controlling interest through the purchase of additional common stock and the conversion of non-voting convertible preferred stock for an additional investment in TechRx common stock of approximately $51.0 million. Under the second step, which closed in May 2003, we acquired the remaining shares in TechRx from minority shareholders for $109.7 million cash, net. The purchase price of $5.55 per TechRx common share was determined on the basis of satisfaction of certain financial and operational milestones by TechRx as set forth in the merger agreement.

 

For additional information regarding our acquisitions, please see Note 2 – Business Acquisitions and Investments in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Products, Services and Distribution Channels

 

All of our products are designed to be compliant with the U.S. government’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, regulations. We conduct our business in two primary segments, Network Services and Systems, which we offer primarily to healthcare providers and payers, and Information Management, which we offer to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Financial information about segments and geographic areas can be found in Note 12 – Segment Information in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Prior to the acquisition of TechRx, our Network Services and Systems solutions distributed to the pharmacy, hospital, physician, and payer markets represented between 55% and 60% of our total revenue and our Information Management solutions represented between 40% and 45% of our total revenue. As a result of the acquisition, our Network Services and Systems solutions now represent between 60% and 65% of our total revenue and our Information Management solutions represent between 35% and 40% of our total revenue.

 

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Network Services and Systems Solutions

 

We believe our NDCHealth Intelligent Network and point-of-service systems offer opportunities to streamline our customers’ workflow, improve their cash flow, provide real-time information to help providers better manage their practices, and give the healthcare industry methods to assure a higher quality of care at a lower cost. Our NDCHealth Intelligent Network connects pharmacies and hospitals to hundreds of benefit plans, using batch and real-time online connectivity. On a current run rate basis, we process over four billion healthcare transactions annually. The point-of-service systems that we offer help our customers improve efficiency and reduce costs while also serving as an additional source of transaction volume for our intelligent network.

 

We offer payers customized real-time electronic connectivity to our provider networks through the NDCHealth Intelligent Network for claims/encounter editing, submission and adjudication, eligibility verification, remittance advice, referral authorization, and claim status and tracking.

 

We believe that with the growing acceptance of healthcare technology and the need to speed payment while reducing costs and improving the quality of care, there will be an increase in the number and types of electronic healthcare transactions. Many of the new transaction types may have broad impact across the healthcare continuum. For example, new solutions such as electronic prescriptions create new information management needs and directly impact the way physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and payers practice and do business. Other examples include electronic referrals by physicians to hospitals and the increased use of electronically available medical data by physicians, hospitals and other providers to satisfy new types of healthcare information needs.

 

We believe we are positioned to take advantage of these opportunities, and we have committed development resources to these emerging markets. Accordingly, we expect growth opportunities by further automating our existing customers. We expect a continued increase in transactions as the population ages and use of electronic transmission for both existing and new transaction sets increases. We have developed and continue to expand distribution channels for our solutions through our direct sales force, alliance partners, value-added resellers, direct mail, and inside sales force.

 

Our primary competitors in providing Network Services and Systems solutions are providers’ own in-house solutions, WebMD Corp. and numerous smaller regional companies.

 

Pharmacy Solutions

 

We offer solutions for the pharmacy industry which allow pharmacies to access customer service and marketing information, enhance the accuracy of reimbursements thereby reducing costs, efficiently and accurately handle claims and better manage risks. Our pharmacy solutions include transaction processing, information management services, value-added pre and post transaction edit processes, payer adjudication services and in-store and chain-wide practice management systems. Our pharmacy solutions are available to independent, chain and mail-order pharmacies.

 

Our pharmacy offerings include:

 

    NDC Rx Claim Management Services offers reliable and flexible pharmacy claims management, including real-time claims adjudication.
    NDC Pre & Post Editing performs real-time validation and data management of pharmacy claim submission data to minimize claim submission errors and ensure accurate claims reimbursement.
    NDC eClaims enables pharmacies to process third-party insurance claims over the Internet for efficient and secure processing.
    NDC Market Share Services helps pharmacies capitalize on their incentive programs with pharmaceutical manufacturers by gathering and transferring current, accurate market share information.

 

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    NDC Pharmacy Market Analyzer a convenient online subscription service that delivers cause and effect analyses, as well as performance assessment and decision support tools to optimize the profitability of our pharmacy customers.
    NDC Prescription Price Analyzer and NDC Prescription Price Reporter are web-based tools that provide access to prescription pricing data that allow retail pharmacies to competitively price their prescription offerings.

 

Newly added Pharmacy Solutions

 

During fiscal 2003, we added a number of new pharmacy products. Some of our new pharmacy offerings include:

 

    T-Rex One designed to automate the prescription fulfillment process and provide connectivity to our Intelligent Network. Included in the T-Rex One package are third-party claims transmissions via the NDCHealth Intelligent Network, NDC Pre and Post Editing, software and upgrades, centralized prescriber and product pricing data, automated data backup and storage, electronic prescription capability, digital signature capture, POS interface and a variety of reports.
    NDC eScripts facilitates the transmission of electronic prescriptions between physicians and pharmacies.
    NDC Rx Safety Advisor provides chain and independent retail pharmacies medication error prevention during the dispensing process by monitoring when characteristics of a prescription claim indicate there is a likelihood that a different medication, dispense quantity, or days supply is more appropriate.
    Network Traffic Reporter a client specific audit and reporting tool for monitoring and managing the performance of prescription claims processors.

 

More than eighty-five percent of the pharmacies in North America and twenty percent of the pharmacies in the United Kingdom are connected to our value added services, totaling over 65,000 chain, independent, mail order, managed care and institutional outlets.

 

Our pharmacy solutions are currently offered in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom through our direct sales force and alliance partners. As a provider of pharmacy solutions, we compete with many companies including WebMD Corp., PDX, Inc. and NHIN, Inc., and QS/1 Data Systems, a division of the J M Smith Corporation. Based on the number of pharmacies served, we believe that we are the largest provider of pharmacy systems and transaction processing solutions in North America and one of the leading providers of pharmacy systems in the United Kingdom.

 

Hospital Solutions

 

We have over 1,500 hospital and health system customers. As an established industry leader in revenue cycle management, we offer our customers solutions that provide workflow management offerings and support for many different transactions. Our hospital solution set, NDC ePREMIS, provides tools to allow our customers to accelerate cash flow, reduce bad debt, track accounts receivable and costs, and improve productivity.

 

The NDC ePREMIS revenue cycle management solution set, introduced in fiscal 2003, offers claims management, eligibility verification, remittance management, medical necessity verification, patient correspondence processing, document management and reimbursement acceleration and includes:

 

    NDC ePREMIS Claims Management a workflow-oriented, Web-based claims management solution that helps hospitals manage their revenue cycle and control their financial performance. Our current PREMIS customers may migrate to this Application Service Provider, or ASP, version, which includes increased editing capabilities, faster implementation and a flexible intuitive interface to help control financial performance.

 

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    NDC ePREMIS Eligibility is an integrated, real-time verification solution providing broad access, through a single user interface, to almost 400 payers, transaction routing flexibility, password management and the storage of transactions for retrospective review so the correct eligibility data is always available even when patient coverage changes.
    NDC ePREMIS Remittance Management offers remittance data support/services utilizing electronic data interchange technology to enhance efficiency in the remittance process.
    NDC ePREMIS Medical Necessity helps determine financial responsibility and manage Medicare compliance risks through utilization of a combination of content and application solutions that integrate with existing workflows to ensure compliance, revenue cycle improvement, and reduced operating costs.
    NDC ePREMIS MedPrint Statements is a service that allows providers to electronically transmit patient statements and other statement types to be professionally printed and mailed.
    ProviderPay is an automated solution that assists in the reimbursement cycle – claims editing, submission, payment, posting, auditing, reconciling and remittance reporting.
    DiskXtender 2000 is a claims data and document storage management solution to enable less expensive data storage and data back-up.

 

We compete with many companies in offering hospital solutions including Per-Se Technologies, Inc., and SSI. We believe that we are among the largest providers of network transaction solutions to hospitals in North America in terms of numbers of hospitals. Our hospital solutions are offered in the United States through our direct sales force as well as through multiple strategic alliances such as with Siemens Medical Solutions.

 

Physician Solutions

 

We provide physicians with the resources necessary to streamline billing and other internal processes such as scheduling, increase productivity and optimize accurate reimbursement. We offer our physician customers the ability to submit claims electronically to payers and confirm a patient’s eligibility status through our alliance with ProxyMed, Inc., and transmit patient statements to be professionally printed and mailed.

 

Our Physician Solutions include:

 

    NDC MediSoft is a practice management tool that facilitates patient appointment scheduling, claim form printing, tracking of insurance claims, and assures accurate patient demographic information. NDCMediSoft also provides simplified patient billing and patient accounts receivable reporting.
    NDCLytec Medical XE helps physicians streamline their practice management tasks, allowing physicians to efficiently manage accounts receivable, as well as track authorizations and inventory. Other practice management enhancing features include electronic or paper claims submission, appointment scheduling, management of referrals, and a selection of more than 25 reports.
    CONCEPT Practice Management System is a Microsoft Windows NT based practice management system. CONCEPT provides complete scheduling, patient demographics, electronic billing and accounts receivable in a true Windows environment.
    NDC EDI Payer Enrollment allows providers to complete and send the necessary forms to submit claims via EDI to government payers.
    NDC Encounters & Claims Submission allows providers to submit claims to payers electronically therefore speeding the payment cycle and substantially reducing the costs associated with claims processing.

 

Newly added Physician Solutions

 

During fiscal 2003 we enhanced our physician solutions with upgrades and add-on modules. Some of these modules include:

 

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    ANSI and NSF Direct Modules allows NDCMediSoft or NDCLytec to transmit electronic medical claims directly to payors.
    NDC Carrier Import preloads carrier name, address, phone number, etc. for NDCMediSoft users.

 

Our physician solutions are offered in the United States through value-added resellers, direct mail, our direct sales force, and alliance partners. Our major competitors in providing physician solutions are WebMD Corp., Mysis plc, VitalWorks, Inc., and numerous smaller competitors.

 

Information Management Products and Services

 

Pharmaceutical Solutions

 

We provide innovative decision support solutions enabling pharmaceutical manufacturers to evaluate performance and develop strategies for improved marketing and sales efforts. We collect data from retail pharmacies, drug wholesalers, our NDCHealth Intelligent Network and manufacturers to give our customers a complete source of information on which to base their business decisions.

 

Our sales compensation solutions empower pharmaceutical manufacturers to be more competitive and efficient. We offer a suite of products and services to monitor sales force performance; provide decision support for sales compensation, sales force sizing and alignment; and improve sales detailing effectiveness through more accurate physician demographic information. The following products and services are offered for the domestic United States and may be delivered to customers in a variety of media, including electronically via file transfer protocol, e-mail, CD-ROM or magnetic tape, and paper reports.

 

Our sales compensation offerings include:

 

    NDC Territory Manager is our projected zip code-level prescription information service designed as a sales performance measurement tool. NDC Territory Manager reports projected, prescriber-linked retail prescription data for specific customer-defined markets and sales force alignments.
    NDC Sales & Marketing Analyzer is a web-enabled decision-support tool enabling detailed analysis of sales, marketing and managed care performance by customer-defined products and markets.
    NDC Territory Analyzer an online subscription service, functions as a personal information management department for determining sales force compensation, identifying sales opportunities, allocating sales resources and measuring sales force performance for the customer defined markets and sales force alignments.
    NDC Institution Sales Analyzer an online reporting tool that provides complete analysis of the market.
    NDC Institution Outflow provides information needed to measure and understand how prescribing practices impact a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s retail prescription sales.
    NDC Mail Order provides a comprehensive retail prescription market view that enables effective marketing strategies by tracking the prescriptions dispensed by mail service pharmacies.

 

Our Physician Targeting and Profiling Suite includes:

 

    The NDC Pharmaceutical Audit Suite (PHAST) allows healthcare market researchers and executives to view the most complete and timely source of pharmaceutical sales information across all therapeutic areas, geographies, classes of trade and manufacturers. PHAST is used for determining new market licensing, acquisition and R&D opportunities, evaluating co-promoting effectiveness, forecasting, and tracking new product launches.
    NDC LaunchTrac reports weekly prescribing activity for newly launched pharmaceutical products, line extensions and existing products.
   

NDC Prescriber Offering allows pharmaceutical manufacturers to identify, target and understand their high-potential prescribers using the industry’s first projected prescriber level prescription

 

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database with products including NDC Prescriber, NDC Prescriber Profiles and NDC Prescriber Payer.

    NDC Non-Retail is a comprehensive source of detailed and customizable non-retail sales information.
    NDC Pharmaceutical Rx Q&A+ and NDC Pharmaceutical Non-Retail Q&A+ are web-based decision support tools that allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to access retail or non-retail sales information for their specific therapeutic markets through NDCHealth’s prescription database.
    NDC Practitioner Address and NDC Address Consensus help pharmaceutical manufacturers maximize the effectiveness of sales call files by providing accurate up-to-date call file information to verify prescribers’ demographic information and validate names, registration numbers, and address information.
    NDC Practitioner Validation Service (PVS) validates whether or not a practitioner is eligible to receive samples in accordance with the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA).

 

Our Managed Care Solutions link prescription information to the form of payment for targeting prescribers by their plan affiliations, evaluating sales performance by managed care plans and monitoring contract compliance.

 

    NDC Managed Care Analyzer is a web-enabled analysis and decision-support tool that provides multiple levels of information on prescription activity among third-party payers for pharmaceutical manufacturers to deploy sales resources, profile and target payers, or devise contract strategies and track plan performance.
    NDC Payer Organizational Level offers pharmaceutical manufacturers the information needed to gauge the success of their sales and marketing efforts in individual managed care plans, national level payers and pharmacy benefit managers.
    NDC Payer Geographic Level identifies prescription volume within the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s custom-defined geographic territories to gauge the success of their sales and marketing efforts in individual managed care plans, national level payers and PBMs.
    NDC Managed Care Rx Navigator is a comprehensive software tool providing plan level prescription and targeting information in a user-friendly format.
    NDC Dynamic Claims Analyzer utilizes actual claims data allowing pharmaceutical manufacturers to understand the influence of key claim components such as co-pay, reversals, dispensed-as-written and rejection.

 

Our Research & Consulting business provides information, solutions and industry expertise to help sales and marketing professionals transform market data into successful marketing strategies.

 

    NDC Patient Studies give researchers insight into patient behavior through anonymized encrypted patient-linked longitudinal data, allowing manufacturers to understand the dynamics of patient compliance, persistency, product switching, patient share and counts as well as measuring the impact of direct to consumer (DTC) campaigns on patient use.
    Market Segmentation and Product Positioning are custom studies that integrate prescribing information with primary research to determine physician beliefs and attitudes to provide understanding of physician prescribing patterns.
    NDC DTC Planning and ROI Evaluation helps manufacturers predict and evaluate the effectiveness of promotions of all types.
    NDC AdoptRx helps manufacturers identify the prescribers who are most likely to adopt a new product, thus improving the effectiveness and accuracy of physician detailing.
    Outcomes Research provides customized research studies for providing a competitive advantage by investigating a wide range of disease treatment information through managed care, physician, and hospital claims data.

 

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Newly Added Information Products

 

During fiscal 2003, we added a number of new information management products. Some of our new offerings include:

 

    NDC Practitioner LinkMaster is a relational identifier that links multiple data supplier identifiers to a unique practitioner, providing a current, stable database of practitioner information.
    NDC Weekly Payer RX Organization enables pharmaceutical manufacturers to target and measure performance and compensation on a weekly basis.

 

We provide information management solutions to more than 100 pharmaceutical manufacturers. Our information solutions are offered in the United States and are in early phase operations in the United Kingdom and Germany through our direct sales force. Our primary competitor in providing these solutions is IMS Health.

 

Healthcare Market

 

We believe that the integrated services that we offer to the healthcare industry place us strategically in the center of a very dynamic marketplace. Because of our position, we manage healthcare related information from the point of patient contact through the point of payment and maintain the high standards required for patient confidentiality.

 

There is a growing worldwide need in healthcare for technology based services and comprehensive information solutions. We believe that our integrated solutions provide information and services useful in reducing administrative and other related healthcare costs and expenses and enhancing the quality of care. Additionally, the aging worldwide population is driving demand for improved information technology services relating to the healthcare industry. Because a high percentage of healthcare transactions are still handled using manual, paper-based methods, or are not being consistently performed, we believe that the healthcare industry is one of the largest untapped markets for providing integrated information solutions. Our solutions provide the tools to help providers and payers reduce administrative expense and improve the clinical experience, while at the same time providing a robust source for statistical and analytical information required by our customers.

 

Government Regulation

 

The healthcare industry is highly regulated and is subject to changing political, regulatory and other influences. These factors affect the purchasing practices and operation of healthcare organizations including our customers. Federal and state legislatures and agencies periodically consider programs to reform or revise the U.S. healthcare system. These programs may contain proposals to increase governmental involvement in healthcare, lower reimbursement rates, restrict availability or use of data, or otherwise change the environment in which healthcare industry participants operate. In some instances, regulatory change has a positive impact on our business representing potential for new applications and services. However, we are unable to predict future proposals with any certainty or to predict the effect they would have on our business.

 

In addition, a number of recent legislative and regulatory changes may significantly impact our business. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, Congress required, among other things, the adoption of rules to establish standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of certain health information. These rules also govern the use, disclosure, and security of patient-identifiable health information, and apply to certain of our operations as well as the operations of many of our customers. See a more detailed discussion in “Additional Factors That May Affect Future Performance.”

 

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Operations and Systems Infrastructure

 

We operate multiple data and customer support facilities with primary facilities located in Atlanta, Georgia; Phoenix and Gilbert, Arizona; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Toronto, Canada; the United Kingdom; and Germany. During fiscal 2003, we focused on leveraging technology to reduce operating costs, expanding business of continuity operations to ensure reliable services, and enhancing security of our networks consistent with HIPAA mandates.

 

Due to the large number and variety of our products and services, we do not rely on a single technology to satisfy our sophisticated computer systems needs. We employ technology suited to the particular processing requirement for our business markets focusing on (1) fault-tolerant computers for high volume, real-time transaction processing; (2) client-server technology for end-user database applications; (3) large scale transaction and batch data processing systems for central host system requirements; and (4) Hewlett-Packard, SUN, IBM, UNIX, Dell, Linux, Oracle, NT and Windows-based systems for specialized communication and database applications systems. In addition, stringent procedures are in place within our data centers and networks to ensure informational integrity and customer privacy for personal health information data from the point of data entry to claim adjudication.

 

Our data centers are linked together to maximize the speed and transfer of data between geographic locations. Larger systems are linked via high speed, fiber-optic based networked backbones for file exchange and inter-system communication purposes; other systems use high speed LAN and WAN connections with the bulk of these connections utilizing the Internet TCP/IP architecture. Business continuity necessitates using fault-tolerant or redundant communications equipment to provide “non-stop” operation or to enable service to be quickly restored. Our primary network control center and backup control center are connected by a matrix communication switch allowing key communications lines to be moved between control centers. Distributed network communications equipment employs remote diagnostics and automated error reporting, and auto-reloading of software from local ROMs. Our data and network equipment is supported 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by maintenance and operation personnel. We also maintain storage systems connected to the backbones, including robotic tape libraries and optical storage for archival purposes. Our systems are supported using advanced network control by our experienced systems, operations and production control staffs.

 

Our communications infrastructure linking us to customers and payers is composed of numerous discrete networks, each designed for the particular requirements of our market segments. In addition to our expanding support of the public Internet, we maintain four primary communications networks using fault-tolerant SONET ring technology. This technology includes a dial-up, short transaction network; a private line nationwide high bandwidth network; a frame relay network; and, a dial-up voice/data network for interactive and voice traffic for file transfer systems. We also provide full-time full-bandwidth dial-back up capabilities to both our leased and frame relay networks. Additionally, we use multiple telecommunications providers to further limit network service vulnerabilities. We also maintain a number of support services offering Internet and ISDN connectivity. The network environment supports a diverse set of telecommunication protocols to respond to individual customer requirements.

 

Research and Development

 

During fiscal 2003, 2002, and 2001, we expended approximately $37.7 million, $18.9 million, and $17.5 million, respectively, on activities relating to the development and improvement of new and existing products and services. Excluding TechRx, we expended approximately $21.6 million during fiscal 2003.

 

We capitalize the cost of developing software held for sale to our customers as well as software used internally to provide services to our customers. In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standard, or SFAS, No. 86, “Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software to Be Sold, Leased, or Otherwise Marketed” and Statement of Position 98-1, “Accounting for the Cost of Computer Software Developed or Obtained for Internal Use,” capitalization of costs begins when technological feasibility has been established, or during the application development phase, and ends when the product is available for general release to customers. In accordance with these standards, approximately $31.6 million, $12.0

 

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million, and $9.0 million of our total development costs were capitalized in fiscal 2003, 2002, and 2001, respectively, resulting in net development expenses of approximately $6.1 million, $6.9 million, and $8.5 million, respectively. Excluding TechRx, in fiscal 2003 approximately $15.9 million of our total development costs were capitalized resulting in net development expense of approximately $5.7 million. Our current focus is developing new products such as T-Rex Enterprise, ePREMIS, Next Generation Projection, ePrescribing, Weekly SNR, Canada PPE, Dynamic Claims Analyzer, Future Rx, Payment Optimizer Fraud & Abuse, RX Safety Advisor, and products for the United Kingdom and German markets. The increase in capitalized software development costs from fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2003 reflects this increased development effort.

 

Employees

 

On May 30, 2003,we had approximately 1,833 employees. Many of our employees are professionals or are highly skilled in technical areas specific to the healthcare industry, and we believe that our current and future operations depend substantially on retaining such employees. Our employees are not represented by any labor union and we believe our employee relations are good. We are very committed to sustaining a workplace that enables all employees to contribute their full skills, talents, and knowledge toward company goals.

 

Available Information

 

Our Internet address is www.ndchealth.com. We make available on our Internet website, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with the SEC.

 

Item 2. PROPERTIES

 

Our corporate headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. We own and occupy a six-story, 120,000 square foot building at NDC Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia. There is no outstanding debt on the facility. Additionally, we own a fully occupied four-story, 82,000 square foot building at Four Corporate Square in Atlanta. This facility is currently leased to Global Payments Inc. for a term ending January 31, 2004. There is an existing $2.7 million mortgage on this facility, which we assumed from the seller.

 

In addition to the above facilities, we lease or rent a total of 29 other facilities. Four facilities are primary locations in Phoenix, Arizona; Gilbert, Arizona; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The remaining 25 are sales and support offices including foreign locations in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.

 

We believe that our properties are suitable and adequate for our business as presently conducted. See Note 15—Lease Obligations in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information about leased properties.

 

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

We currently provide pharmaceutical information services solutions to our European customers, pharmaceutical companies, through our German business. In this regard we deliver the aggregated prescription data we receive from our data suppliers in a variety of products to our customers to assist them in operating their businesses. We deliver this prescription data to our customers in an electronic format. The specific electronic format within which such prescription data is actually delivered to such pharmaceutical companies in Germany is the subject matter of the current litigation both before the European Commission and the German courts with IMS Health.

 

In the proceedings before the European Commission instituted by us on December 19, 2000, we are alleging that to the extent this format is copyrighted by IMS Health, the format constitutes an industry standard and an essential facility to competition and must be made available to competitors of IMS Health.

 

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We obtained a ruling from the European Commission ordering IMS Health to license its structure for organizing pharmaceutical sales data to us. However, subsequent to this decision, the Court of First Instance and later the European Court Of Justice stayed this decision pending a complete review of the underlying substantive matters. Those matters are still proceeding.

 

In proceedings before the German courts instituted by IMS Health on December 21, 2000, IMS Health has alleged copyright infringement against each of Pharma Intranet Information AG, or PI, the company from whom we purchased certain assets of our German business, and us, and we each have contested the validity of IMS Health’s alleged copyright. In these proceedings, IMS Health obtained an injunction from the Frankfurt Regional Court to prevent each of PI and us from distributing data in the contested format. On August 13, 2002, the Frankfurt Court of Appeals ruled in our favor by dismissing the preliminary injunction against our use of the industry standard data structure. This decision is final and is not subject to further appeal by IMS Health. On September 17, 2002 the Frankfurt Court of Appeals issued a judgment in the main proceedings against PI. While validating a copyright in the structure, the Court held that IMS Health has no standing to sue to enforce the copyright. The Court also determined that IMS Health does not own the copyright. The Court further denied IMS Health’s claims under the EU Database Directive for protection of the data structure involved. Finally, the Court found that PI breached the German Act Against Unfair Trade Practices (UGW) by reason of identically copying the data structure. We have not sold or used the data structure initially used by PI. We do not own PI and PI is no longer actively conducting business. The case against us remains pending before the Frankfurt Regional Court at this time.

 

Several independent pharmacies filed a lawsuit on December 23, 2002 in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court, St. Clair County, Illinois, against IMS Health, Inc., or IMS, and sixty-two other defendants, including us (collectively the computer systems vendors). We were served with the lawsuit in May 2003. The pharmacies, Douglas & Ogden Medical Center Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a Douglas Main Pharmacy, Timmerman & Associates, Inc. d/b/a Comprehensive Care Pharmacy, and John Hartman d/b/a Bittles Drug Store allege that IMS violated the Illinois Trade Secrets Act and breached alleged contracts it had with the computer systems vendors by reselling what the plaintiffs claim to be proprietary drug information to a competing prescription drug provider. The plaintiffs have also alleged that the computer systems vendors, including us, violated the Illinois Trade Secrets Act and breached alleged contracts with the plaintiffs by providing what they claim to be proprietary pharmacy data to IMS. In connection with the class action that the plaintiffs are seeking, the plaintiffs are claiming damages in excess of $100 million, alleging that other independent pharmacies have similar relationships with IMS and the computer systems vendors.

 

We have denied all liability in the lawsuit, have objected to certification of the class and intend to defend the case vigorously. Our contracts with IMS provide for indemnification, and we have asserted a claim for indemnification against IMS. Based on our preliminary internal investigations, management does not currently anticipate that this case will have a material adverse impact on our financial position, liquidity or results of operations.

 

Additionally, we are party to a number of other claims and lawsuits incidental to our business. We believe that the ultimate outcome of such matters, in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse impact on our financial position, liquidity or results of operations.

 

Item 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

 

There were no matters submitted to a vote of our security holders during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended May 30, 2003.

 

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Item X. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

 

The names, titles, ages, and business experience of our executive officers are listed below. All executive officers are elected annually by and hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Directors, unless they earlier retire or resign.

 

Name


  

Business Experience


   Age

Walter M. Hoff

  

Chairman of the Board of Directors of NDCHealth since October 2002; Chief Executive Officer and President of NDCHealth since February 2001; Chief Executive Officer of NDC Health Information Services from August 1998 to January 2001. Mr. Hoff currently serves on the board of Metris Companies, Inc.

   50

Randolph L.M. Hutto

  

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NDCHealth since November 2000; Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Per-Se Technologies, Inc. from 1998 to 2000.

   54

Charles W. Miller

  

Chief Operating Officer of NDCHealth since February 2003. Executive Vice President—Operations of NDCHealth from January 2000 to February 2003; various executive positions with McKesson Corp. from 1995 to 2000, most recently as Group President—Enterprise Operations

   58

E. Christine Rumsey

  

Executive Vice President—Human Resources of NDCHealth since September 2002; Vice President— Human Resources of NDCHealth from September 1999 to August 2002; Senior Vice President— Human Resources and Administration of McKesson Corp. from January to September 1999; Senior Vice President—Human Resources of McKesson Corp. from 1995 to 1999.

   52

David H. Shenk

  

Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of NDCHealth since January 1998.

   55

Margaret T. Wilkinson

  

Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of NDCHealth since May 2003; private practice of law from 1998 to 2003; Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Dornier Medical Systems, Inc., from 1990 to 1998.

   56

 

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PART II

 

Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

 

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “NDC.” The high and low sales prices and dividends declared per share of common stock for each quarter during the last two fiscal years are listed below. While we have historically paid dividends to holders of our common stock, the declaration and payment of future dividends will depend on many factors, including our earnings, financial condition, business needs, capital and surplus, and regulatory considerations, and is at the discretion of our Board of Directors.

 

     High

   Low

   Dividend Per
Share


Fiscal 2003

                    

First Quarter

   $ 32.28    $ 16.80    $ .040

Second Quarter

     20.42      10.90      .040

Third Quarter

     22.75      17.10      .040

Fourth Quarter

     23.01      14.40      .040

Fiscal 2002

        &nbs