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 December 31, 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 Number 001-15699
Concentra Operating Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Nevada | 75-2822620 | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
| 5080 Spectrum Drive, Suite 400 West Addison, Texas |
75001 | |
| (address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |
(972) 364-8000
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
9.5% Senior Subordinated Notes Due 2010
13.0% Series B Subordinated Notes Due 2009
Guarantees of Senior Subordinated Notes Due 2009
(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 (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants 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. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2m of the Act). Yes ¨ No x
The aggregate market value of the voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of the last business day of the registrants most recently completed second fiscal quarter is $0.00. The aggregate market value of the non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of the last business day of the registrants most recently completed second fiscal quarter is $0.00.
The registrant is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Concentra Inc., a Delaware corporation. As of March 1, 2004, there were 35,553,873 shares outstanding of Concentra Inc. common stock, none of which were publicly traded. Currently there is no established trading market for these shares.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None
CONCENTRA OPERATING CORPORATION
FORM 10-K
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2003
INDEX
| Page | ||||
| PART I | ||||
| Item 1 |
Business | 3 | ||
| Item 2 |
Properties | 30 | ||
| Item 3 |
Legal Proceedings | 30 | ||
| Item 4 |
Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders | 30 | ||
| PART II | ||||
| Item 5 |
Market for Registrants Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters | 32 | ||
| Item 6 |
Selected Financial Data | 32 | ||
| Item 7 |
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 33 | ||
| Item 7A |
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk | 53 | ||
| Item 8 |
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 53 | ||
| Item 9 |
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | 53 | ||
| Item 9A |
Controls and Procedures | 53 | ||
| PART III | ||||
| Item 10 |
Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant | 54 | ||
| Item 11 |
Executive Compensation | 57 | ||
| Item 12 |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management | 63 | ||
| Item 13 |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions | 65 | ||
| Item 14 |
Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 68 | ||
| PART IV | ||||
| Item 15 |
Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K | 69 | ||
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FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Our disclosure and analysis in this report, including Item 7, Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations or forecasts of future events. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this report, including statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Wherever possible, we have identified these forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act)) by words and phrases such as anticipate, believe, continue, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, will, and similar expressions.
Although we believe that these forward-looking statements reasonably reflect our plans, intentions and expectations, we can give no assurance that we will achieve these plans, intentions and expectations. Any or all forward-looking statements in this report may turn out to be wrong. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we currently believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described under the headings in Item 1, Business, including Risk Factors.
Because we are subject to these risks and uncertainties, and for the other reasons described above, we caution readers not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements we make. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements and risk factors contained throughout this report. Other than as required by law, our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
General
Concentra Operating Corporation (Concentra Operating or the Company) is a direct subsidiary of Concentra Inc. (Concentra Holding). References to we, us and our refer to Concentra Holding, Concentra Operating and their subsidiaries. We are a leading provider of workers compensation and other occupational healthcare services in the United States. We offer our customers a broad range of services designed to improve patient recovery and to reduce the total costs of healthcare. In 2003, we serviced over five million patient visits, reviewed and repriced over $12.0 billion in medical bills and managed or reviewed over 313,000 cases. Our initial treatment of workplace injuries and illnesses accounts for approximately 7% of total reported workplace injuries in the United States. The knowledge we have developed in improving workers compensation results for our customers has enabled us to expand successfully into other industries, such as group health and auto insurance, where payors of healthcare and insurance benefits also seek to reduce costs.
We believe we are the largest outsource provider of occupational healthcare improvement and cost containment services in the nation. Through our nationwide network of occupational healthcare centers, we serve employers who have more than 123,200 locations. We also provide services to over 3,500 insurance companies, group health plans, third-party administrators and other healthcare payors. These payors and our employer customers provide virtually all of our revenue, with less than 0.1% of our revenue derived from Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement.
We provide our services through three operating segments: Health Services, Network Services and Care Management Services. Our Health Services segment treats workplace injuries and performs other occupational healthcare services. We provide these services through our 250 owned and managed centers, located in 81 markets within 34 states at March 1, 2004. Approximately 569 affiliated primary care physicians, as well as affiliated physical therapists, nurses and other healthcare providers, perform professional services at our centers. Our Network Services segment assists insurance companies and other payors in the review and reduction of the bills they receive from medical providers. During 2003, this segment enabled our customers to eliminate an estimated $2.1 billion in
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excess costs. Our Care Management Services segment offers services designed to monitor cases and facilitate the return to work of injured employees who have been out of work for an extended period of time due primarily to a work-related illness or injury.
The following chart provides an overview of our services and customer markets:
| Health Services | Care Management Services | Network Services | ||||
| 250 centers nationwide Treatment for work related injuries & illnesses Physical therapy Pre-placement physicals Drug & alcohol testing |
Professional services aimed at reviewing and resolving extended cases, including: Case management Independent medical exams |
Review, reprice and reduce medical bills received by insurance companies and other payors Achieve customer savings through fee negotiation, bill repricing and access to provider networks |
| Occupational Health |
Workers Compensation and Auto Insurance |
Group Health |
Employers & Payors
Our Business Strategy
Our goal is to further establish ourselves as a leading provider of healthcare outcomes improvement and cost containment services. We intend to achieve this goal by pursuing the following strategies:
Actively Target New Health Services Customers. We intend to continue to expand our Health Services operations by selling our services to employers and payors and by utilizing advanced database research techniques to identify potential new customers and new locations for our facilities. Qualified customers who could benefit from the services offered by one of our existing facilities are called on by one of our more than 230-person Health Services sales force. We also have a dedicated business development team that will continue to build and selectively acquire facilities in new and existing markets. By giving new customers access to high quality physicians employed by our affiliated physician groups, highly trained personnel and experience-based protocols, we intend to grow our patient visits and enhance our industry-leading position in occupational healthcare services.
Intensify the Marketing of Our Network Services and Care Management Services. We believe that multi-state insurance carriers, third party administrators and self-funded employers will continue to seek innovative ways to address rising healthcare and workers compensation costs, and will increasingly seek to outsource outcomes improvement and cost containment services to third parties. Across our three business segments, we have built a continuum of services that responds to these outsourcing needs. We intend to build on our reputation as a leading provider of workers compensation services to expand our Network Services and Care Management Services segments by intensifying our marketing of these services to payors in the group health marketplace. We believe that our size and experience in the workers compensation industry has allowed us to build awareness and credibility with this customer base. In addition, we believe that our significant visibility among key decision makers within these organizations will enhance our ability to expand the services we provide these current and potential customers through our Network Services and Care Management Services segments. We believe that our growth will be further enhanced as our multi-state customers, in turn, gain market share, due in part to the outcomes and efficiencies they enjoy by using our services.
Continue Investing in Technology To Broaden Our Service Offerings and Increase Profitability. We have used technology effectively to deliver and demonstrate better outcomes at a more efficient cost. We intend to continue to invest in technology to identify and deliver further improvements in the treatment, management and
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administrative oversight of medical cases, thereby creating additional revenue opportunities for us from this proprietary resource. We also intend to continue building electronic interfaces with payors in an effort to reduce their administrative burdens and reduce our operating expenses. Additionally, we are currently evaluating strategies to provide our customers with fully outsourced document management and mailroom management solutions that would provide a single electronic storage location for all documents related to a claim. Our objective is to reduce our customers costs related to claim and bill administration by combining this single electronic storage location with a proprietary web-based tool set that would allow easy entry of referrals, queries, and other request for services, as well as access to all documentation including reports, bills, and claims.
Profitably Expand Our Outsourcing Services into the Group Health Market. We intend to expand our presence in the group health industry. Historically, our focus in this industry has been in services designed to reduce and limit out-of-network medical costs. We believe that we are the largest outsource provider of these services in the nation today, managing over $5.7 billion annually in medical claim volume. We recently expanded the services we perform for this industry to include network management services, consisting of processes required to maintain numerous preferred provider and other managed care networks. Our services enable payors to outsource components of the network management function, namely contract repricing and provider file management, in order to improve payment accuracy and cycle times, eliminate redundant costs and improve network management efficiency. We also provide complementary services that reduce the medical and administrative costs associated with network and out-of-network medical care and assist our customers in meeting automatic claim-adjudication objectives. We believe we are uniquely positioned to capture greater market share as demand for such strategic outsourcing services grows.
Industry Overview
Health Services
Occupational healthcare consists of two primary components: workers compensation injury care and non-injury occupational healthcare services.
Workers Compensation Injury Care. Generally, workers compensation is a state-mandated, comprehensive insurance program for work-related injuries and illnesses. In the United States, each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and, for federal employees, the federal government, maintains its own individual workers compensation program. Canada has a federal workers compensation program and similar workers insurance programs at the provincial level. Each political jurisdiction is responsible for implementing and regulating its own program. Consequently, workers compensation benefits and arrangements vary considerably among jurisdictions and are often highly complex.
Workers compensation legislation in the United States generally requires employers, either directly or indirectly through the use of insurance, to fund the total costs of an employees medical treatment and all lost wages, legal fees and other costs associated with a work-related injury or illness. Typically, work-related maladies are broadly defined, and injured or ill employees are entitled to extensive benefits. Employers are required to provide first-dollar coverage with no co-payment or deductible due from the injured or ill employee and, in many states, there is no lifetime limit on expenses any one employee can incur. In exchange for providing this coverage to employees, employers are not liable for benefits in excess of those provided under the relevant state statute. Employers provide this extensive benefits coverage, both for medical costs and lost wages, by purchasing commercial insurance from private insurance companies, participating in state-run insurance funds or self-insuring.
The amounts and methods of compensation for healthcare providers who perform workers compensation injury care services differ from state to state. As of March 1, 2004, 40 states had adopted fee schedules under which all healthcare providers are uniformly compensated within a particular state. The fee schedules are set by each state and generally prescribe the maximum amounts that may be paid for a designated procedure. In states without fee schedules, healthcare providers are reimbursed based on usual, customary and reasonable fees charged in the particular state in which the services are provided.
Limits on an employees right to select a specific workers compensation healthcare provider vary among states. According to the Workers Compensation Research Institute, 37 states currently limit employees initial choice of provider, and two states prohibit employees from changing providers. Furthermore, 45 states and the District of Columbia place restrictions on employees ability to switch providers, including provisions requiring
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employer approval for any changes. Generally, an employer will also have the ability to direct its employees to particular providers when the employer is self-insured. It has been our experience that our results of operations and business prospects in a particular state do not materially differ as a result of state-to-state differences in the requirements regarding direction of care. We believe that employers greatly influence their employees choices of physicians even in states that permit employees to select their own providers.
Many employers have been slow to adopt cost savings techniques to control their workers compensation expenses until recently, primarily because the total costs involved are relatively small compared to those associated with group health benefits and because state-by-state regulations related to workers compensation are more complex than those related to group health benefits. However, in recent years, the dollar amount of workers compensation claims has increased significantly. According to the National Safety Council, total workers compensation costs to employers in the United States exceeded $146.6 billion in 2003.
Although total U.S. workers compensation costs have increased, work-related injury rates have declined recently due to improvements in workplace safety and general shifts in job composition toward less physical work activities, as well as outsourcing of certain job functions to foreign countries. Historically, steady increases in the overall workforce have partially offset these declining injury rates. We believe the market for workers compensation and occupational healthcare will grow in future years primarily due to the following factors:
| | premium increases for workers compensation insurance; |
| | broader definitions of work-related injuries and illnesses covered by workers compensation laws; |
| | the shifting of medical costs from group health plans to the workers compensation system as the result of an increase in the number of uninsured individuals and the first dollar coverage provided in workers compensation programs; |
| | an aging work force; |
| | medical cost inflation; |
| | the under-utilization to date of comprehensive cost containment programs in the workers compensation industry; and |
| | the recovery of employment growth rates within the United States. |
Because workers compensation benefits are mandated by law and subject to extensive regulation, insurers, third party administrators and employers do not have the same flexibility to alter benefits as they have with other health benefit programs. In addition, workers compensation programs vary among jurisdictions, making it difficult for insurance companies and multi-state employers to adopt uniform policies to administer, manage and control the costs of benefits across states. As a result, managing the cost of workers compensation requires approaches that are tailored to the specific regulatory environments in which the employer operates.
Non-Injury Occupational Health Services. Non-injury occupational health services include occupational physical examinations, drug and alcohol testing, functional capacity testing and other related programs designed to meet specific employer, state or federal requirements. Non-injury occupational healthcare services also include programs to assist employers in complying with an increasing number of federal and state health and safety requirements, including hearing conservation programs, toxic chemical exposure surveillance and monitoring programs and physical examinations mandated by the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. Federal laws governing health issues in the workplace, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, have increased employers demand for healthcare professionals who are experts in the delivery of these services.
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Network Services and Care Management Services
Our Network Services segment is designed to assist payors in the review and reduction of medical bills. Our Care Management Services are designed to monitor and facilitate the resolution of cases involving injured employees who have been out of work for an extended period of time due to a work-related illness or injury. We provide our network services and care management services to the following three industries:
Workers Compensation Industry. As workers compensation costs continue to increase, employers are increasingly seeking assistance from strategic outsourcing providers to help control their costs. A number of states have adopted legislation encouraging the use of workers compensation managed care organizations in an effort to enable employers to control their workers compensation costs. State laws regulating managed care organizations generally provide employers with an opportunity to channel injured employees into provider networks.
Auto Insurance Industry. Auto insurance carriers have experienced increased costs associated with the reimbursement of medical expenses, lost wages and other essential services related to personal injury protection coverage. In most states, medical evaluations and peer reviews are the primary mechanisms used to manage care rendered to individuals injured in auto accidents. Provider bill review may also be used to determine the appropriate reimbursement rate for medical services provided to injured parties. A few states have adopted formal medical management regulations that endorse the use of provider networks or formal utilization review programs.
Group Health Industry. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, private health insurance expenditures for personal healthcare in the United States were estimated to total over $607.0 billion in 2003. In particular, healthcare payors are exposed to high costs when medical care under a group health plan is delivered on a non-contractual basis, commonly referred to as an out-of-network claim. These claims arise when services are provided outside of either a healthcare payors geographic coverage area or its network of providers. Out-of-network healthcare claims expose payors to a greater incidence of over-utilization, cost shifting, upcoding and billing errors than contracted or in-network claims do. Out-of-network bill review service providers produce savings for their customers by analyzing and applying cost savings techniques to out-of-network medical claims.
Services and Operations
We provide our services through three primary operating segments: Health Services, Network Services and Care Management Services. Our service offerings in these segments encompass the performance of necessary services for each stage of a healthcare claim, from the initial incident through its final resolution.
Health Services
Our health services include injury care services and other occupational healthcare services to assist our customers in maintaining healthy employees and safe workplaces. During 2003, approximately 50.1% of all patient visits to our centers were for the treatment of injuries or illnesses and 49.9% were for non-injury occupational healthcare services.
The principal channel for delivering our health services is our 250 owned and managed occupational healthcare centers, located in 81 markets within 34 states. In response to the needs of large employers whose workforces extend beyond the geographic coverage available through our centers, we have expanded our healthcare service offerings to include a network of select occupational healthcare providers. These providers use our proprietary software to benchmark treatment methodologies and outcomes achieved, thereby extending the delivery of consistent, high quality health services to our customers.
By serving as an entry point for quality medical care in workers compensation cases, we can promptly identify for employers those cases that have the potential to result in significant recovery time and employer costs. Also, through our ancillary programs, such as physical examinations, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance assistance, substance abuse testing, job-specific return-to-work evaluation and related injury prevention services, we strengthen our relationships with employers and help prevent occurrences of workplace injuries and illnesses.
We develop clusters of centers in new and existing geographic markets through acquisitions and internal development. In selected markets in which a hospital management company, hospital system or other healthcare provider has a significant presence, we focus our expansion efforts on strategic joint ventures or management agreements. In our joint venture relationships, we typically acquire a majority ownership interest in the venture and agree to manage the venture for a management fee based on its net revenue.
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Provider Arrangements. We manage physician-owned entities or groups that employ physicians, physical therapists and other healthcare providers who perform healthcare services at our centers. Our affiliated physician groups are independently organized professional corporations or associations owned by physicians that hire these licensed providers to provide healthcare services to the centers patients. The physicians employed by our affiliated physician groups do not maintain other practices. Each of the physicians typically enters into a written employment agreement with one of our affiliated physician groups that prohibits the physician from competing with the group within a defined geographic area and from soliciting its employees and clients for a period of time after termination of employment. The enforceability of these restrictive covenants varies from state to state, but the physician groups attempt to structure and enforce all of them in compliance with applicable laws.
We maintain long-term management agreements with our affiliated physician groups under which we exclusively manage all aspects of the operation other than the provision of medical services. Under each management agreement, we provide a wide array of business services to our affiliated physician groups, such as:
| | non-medical support personnel; |
| | practice and facilities management; |
| | billing and collection; |
| | accounting; |
| | tax and financial management; |
| | human resources management; |
| | risk management; |
| | marketing and information-based services, such as process management and outcomes analysis; and |
| | assistance in the recruitment of physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and other healthcare providers. |
We receive a management fee based on the services performed at the centers. The management fee is subject to renegotiation and may be adjusted from time to time to reflect industry practice, business conditions and actual expenses for contractual allowances and bad debts. Our affiliated physician groups operate in accordance with annual budgets. We consult with our affiliated physician groups to aid in establishing their budgets. The management agreements with our affiliated physician groups provide that we have no obligation to supply working capital out of our funds for our affiliated physician groups or their operations.
The physician owners of our affiliated physician groups retain sole responsibility for all medical decisions, as well as for hiring and managing physician employees, developing operating policies and procedures, implementing professional standards and controls and maintaining malpractice insurance. Subject to certain exceptions, each of our affiliated physician groups indemnifies us against any loss or expense arising from acts or omissions of the physician group, including claims for malpractice.
Information Systems. We use information systems and technology to enhance the delivery of occupational healthcare services. The backbone of our platform is a wide area network, or WAN, in each market in which we provide health services. All centers in a market use a patient administration system named OccuSource that allows each center to access and share a common database for that market. The database contains employer protocols, patient records and other information regarding our operations in the market. We also have created a centralized repository of patient data to be used for clinical outcomes analysis, among other things. We believe that our commitment to continued development of our healthcare information system assists us in our delivery of high quality, cost-effective services.
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We recently implemented a new application for our providers using wireless, handheld touchscreen devices in all of our centers. Our providers are now able to create and approve clinical notes in real time, thereby decreasing the time spent on patient processing and invoice development.
We typically generate revenue from our health services on a fee-for-service basis. Revenue from health services as a percentage of our total revenue was approximately 51.7% in 2001, 47.2% in 2002 and 48.7% in 2003.
Network Services
Our network services include:
| | in-network and out-of-network provider bill review and repricing services; |
| | network management; |
| | access to preferred provider networks; and |
| | first notice of loss or injury services. |
These services are designed to reduce medical and administrative costs by monitoring the timing, appropriateness and pricing of medical care. Our network services customers typically pay us an agreed-upon fee per bill reviewed and repriced or a percentage of their savings generated by the performance of our services, except that our first notice of loss or injury customers reimburse us on a fee-for-service basis.
Although we perform all of our network services for the workers compensation and auto insurance markets, these markets predominantly use our provider bill review and repricing services, preferred provider networks and first notice of loss or injury services. Currently, our principal customer base for our out-of-network bill review services is the group health market, but we continue to expand our out-of-network bill review services to the workers compensation and auto insurance markets.
We offer our network services both separately and on a bundled basis as a part of or as a full-service cost containment program. Our comprehensive approach to cost containment serves the needs of a broad range of customers, from local to national accounts.
We believe that the demand for our network services will continue to increase as a result of:
| | greater payor awareness of the availability of these techniques for controlling the costs of medical claims; |
| | verifiable savings obtained through the application of cost containment techniques; |
| | ongoing improvements in savings obtained through cost containment techniques; and |
| | the need for enhanced claims processing efficiencies that will drive administrative savings in each industry we serve. |
In-Network and Out-of-Network Provider Bill Review and Repricing. We review and reprice medical bills for workers compensation and auto insurance claims. Workers compensation claims are repriced to either the state-mandated fee schedule rates or, for non-fee schedule states, a percentage of the usual, customary and reasonable rates. Additionally, our automated bill review service enables us to identify duplicative billings and provide our customers with access to certain preferred provider pricing schedules, including those of our contracted provider networks, to achieve additional savings below the fee schedules or below the usual, customary and reasonable rates. Our customers compensate us for these services by providing us a percentage of the savings we achieve, a flat fee per bill reviewed, or a combination of these two compensation methods.
Out-of-network claims arise when medical services are provided outside a healthcare payors geographic coverage area or its contracted network of providers. This type of claim often exposes healthcare payors to very high medical costs. Our services focus on the repricing of out-of-network medical bills and the reduction of administrative expenses associated with reviewing and analyzing medical bills.
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We believe that we are the market leader in the out-of-network bill review business in the group health market and seek to increase further our presence in this market. We hope to continue to expand our services in the workers compensation and auto insurance markets through performance of out-of-network provider bill repricing and review services.
Network Management. We perform network management services that enable our customers to outsource the processes required to maintain and apply the discounts for numerous preferred provider and other managed care networks. By performing these services for our customers, we improve payment accuracy and cycle times and eliminate redundant cost. Our customers reimburse us for these services on a fee-for-service basis according to the types of network management services we perform on their behalf.
Access to Preferred Provider Networks. We provide our customers with access to national provider networks. These provider networks offer high quality medical care at pre-negotiated discounts, enabling our customers to refer or, in certain states, to direct, patients to a contracted provider network as a means of managing their healthcare costs. As of March 1, 2004, our national workers compensation provider network included over 460,000 individual providers and over 4,000 hospitals located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Our customers compensate us for access to contracted provider networks by paying us primarily a percentage of their savings.
First Notice of Loss or Injury Services. We provide a computerized first notice of loss or injury service using three centralized call centers and a web-based intake platform. We provide our first notice of loss or injury services primarily to workers compensation carriers for first report of injuries and to the auto industry for first notice of loss reporting. We receive claims from individuals, employers, agents, risk managers and insurance personnel. Upon receipt, we electronically transfer each report of loss or injury to the appropriate state agency, the employer and the employers insurance company in accordance with applicable state requirements and the unique business rules of each customer.
Our first notice of loss or injury services assist our customers in the timely preparation and distribution of state-mandated injury reports, serve as an early intervention tool for claim management, and provide us with cross-selling and referral opportunities. By receiving the initial reports of injuries or accidents, we are able to assist our customers in mitigating the costs associated with those events. For the performance of our first notice of loss or injury services, our customers pay us on a fee-per-claim basis.
Information Systems. We use a proprietary system to perform our out-of-network bill review services. We receive bills through multiple access points in order to minimize the administrative cost to our customers. Once a bill is entered into our system, we evaluate and analyze the bill, using our extensive database and applying our customers preferences and requirements to identify the type of claims review service with the greatest expected savings. We are compensated for these services primarily on a percentage-of-savings basis.
For our first notice of loss or injury service line, we have developed and licensed to third parties a web-based reporting system for all lines of insurance that enables users to report first notices of loss or injury and obtain immediate access to customized networks and routing to appropriate and qualified healthcare providers. This application has increased the speed and efficiency of our reporting system.
Revenue from Network Services as a percentage of our total revenue was approximately 21.6% in 2001, 23.1% in 2002 and 24.7% in 2003.
Care Management Services
We provide care management services designed to monitor and resolve cases involving injured or ill individuals who have been out of work, receiving healthcare, or both, for an extended period of time due to a work-related or auto incident. Our care management services include:
| | field case management; |
| | telephonic case management; |
| | independent medical examinations; |
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| | utilization management; and |
| | peer reviews. |
We are optimistic that we will achieve growth of our care management services due to the increased acceptance of care management techniques to help reduce the total cost of a claim and to facilitate an early return to work. We are able to identify at an early stage those cases for which cost savings may be achieved through the performance of care management services.
Field Case Management. We provide field case management services for workers compensation and auto injury cases through case managers working at the local level on a one-on-one basis with injured employees and their healthcare professionals, employers and insurance company adjusters. Our field case managers are located in 48 states, the District of Columbia and parts of Canada.
Our field case managers focus on coordinating case activities to enable injured or ill workers to recover and return to work as quickly and safely as possible through medical management and vocational rehabilitation services. The medical management services we offer include reviewing diagnoses, prognoses and treatment plans, coordinating the efforts of healthcare professionals, employers and insurance company adjusters, and encouraging compliance and active participation on the part of the injured or ill worker to increase the effectiveness of the medical care provided. Our vocational rehabilitation services include job analysis, work capacity assessments, labor market assessments, job placement assistance and return-to-work coordination.
Telephonic Case Management. Our telephonic case management services consist of telephonic management of workers compensation and auto injury claims, as well as of short-term disability, long-term disability and employee absences covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act. While similar to field case management in that telephonic case managers coordinate the efforts of individuals involved in a medical claim, telephonic case management is typically performed for claims of shorter duration. Most telephonic case management claims are completed within 30 to 90 days. Telephonic case management is an important component of early intervention that enables us to identify promptly those cases that require field case management or independent medical exams.
Independent Medical Examinations. We provide our customers with access to healthcare professionals who perform independent medical examinations to evaluate the medical condition and treatment plan of patients. We perform independent medical examination services primarily for the occupational healthcare, disability and auto industries. Through our extensive network of independent medical professionals, our customers can receive independent medical reviews for injured claimants nationwide. Our technology enables customers to make on-line referrals and check on the current status of their cases.
Utilization Management, Precertification and Concurrent Review. Customers use our precertification and concurrent review services to ensure that a physician or registered nurse reviews, and precertifies if appropriate, specified medical procedures for medical necessity and appropriateness. Our precertification and concurrent review determinations are only recommendations to the customer, and the customers claims adjuster makes the actual decision to approve or deny a request for medical services. After we precertify a treatment plan, we follow-up with the claimant to evaluate compliance and, as appropriate, discuss alternative treatment plans if the claimant does not respond to the initial plan.
Peer Reviews. Our peer review services consist of the review of medical files by a physician, therapist, chiropractor or other healthcare provider to determine if the care provided by other healthcare professionals appears to be necessary and appropriate.
Information Systems. Our information systems enable us to improve our performance of care management services and our communications with our customers. Our proprietary care management information systems allow immediate exchange of information among our case managers. We have recently enhanced our care management information systems to enable our customers to make on-line referrals and check on the current status of their cases.
We have also recently completed a major technology initiative that we believe will eventually streamline operations and enable business process improvement for our care management operations. This technology is based on a professional services automation product deployed to all of our field case managers. This technology enables us to eliminate numerous redundant, non-value-added activities, automate service delivery expectations for billing to customer contracts, and collect and report on a daily basis management performance information.
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Our customers compensate us for our care management services on a fee-for-service basis. The fees are typically flat fees determined in advance for each type of service we perform. For some of our care management services, including field and telephonic case management, fees are typically based on the number of hours we dedicate to performing services. The fees for our independent medical examination, utilization management and peer review services vary according to the geographic location, specialty and type of medical provider performing the medical examination or review. Revenue from care management services as a percentage of our total revenue was approximately 26.7% in 2001, 29.7% in 2002 and 26.6% in 2003.
Customers
Through our nationwide network of centers, we serve employers with over 123,200 locations. We also serve more than 3,500 network services and care management customers across the United States and Canada, including major underwriters of workers compensation, group health, auto and disability insurance, third party administrators, healthcare payors and self-insured employers.
Although no single customer represented more than 5% of our total revenue in 2003, our two largest customers represented 4.5% and 3.8%, respectively, of our total revenue in 2003. We do not have written agreements with most of our health services customers; however, many of our network services and care management relationships are based on written agreements (most of which are terminable by either party on short notice and without penalty). We typically do not assume risk of loss in connection with the services we provide. We have no capitated arrangements. Less than 0.1% of our revenue is dependent on Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement.
Sales and Marketing
We position ourselves as a quality service provider addressing the nations problem of rising workers compensation and medical costs. Our vision is to be our customers most valued partner by providing innovative, knowledge-based medical and cost savings solutions based on our:
| | extensive clinical research and consistent performance of evidence-based medicine; |
| | knowledge and expertise in workers compensation and medical costs; and |
| | significant investments in technology to integrate our services and to increase productivity and efficiency in the delivery and management of healthcare services. |
Our sales strategy is focused on selling our services at the national, regional and local levels. Our national sales force focuses on selling our integrated services to large, strategic accounts, including Fortune 1000 companies, third party administrators and insurance carriers and brokers. Our regional sales force focuses on regional customers and supports our national sales force at the regional level. The local sales force is also a key component of our strategy as customer decisions are often made at the local level.
As part of our marketing and sales strategy, we conduct research on medical outcomes associated with different treatment plans. Some of our research has been published in national medical journals. We also provide our existing and potential customers with reports demonstrating medical outcomes and cost savings achieved by using our services.
Quality Assurance and Corporate Compliance Program
We routinely use internal reviews to test the quality of our services. We conduct audits of compliance with special instructions by our customers, completion of activities in a timely fashion, quality of reporting, accuracy of billing and professionalism in contacts with healthcare providers. We also conduct audits on a nationwide basis for particular customers or on a local office basis by randomly selecting files for review. We generate detailed reports outlining the audit findings and providing specific recommendations for service delivery improvements. When appropriate, we conduct follow-up audits to ensure that recommendations from the initial audit have been implemented.
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We have a comprehensive, company-wide corporate compliance program. The key components of our compliance program include the following:
| | a compliance officer and compliance committee responsible for oversight of our compliance program and reporting to our board of directors and the audit and compliance committee of our board of directors; |
| | a code of business conduct and ethics, addressing certain legal and ethical obligations of our directors and employees; |
| | employee education and training requirements; |
| | an internal system for reporting employees concerns; |
| | a hotline staffed by a third party vendor for reporting employees concerns anonymously; |
| | an annual compliance survey distributed to certain management employees; |
| | ongoing auditing and monitoring programs, including periodic risk assessments and reviews; |
| | enforcement provisions if the compliance program policies are violated; and |
| | periodic reporting to and oversight by our board of directors and the audit and compliance committee of our board of directors. |
Competition
Health Services
The market to provide occupational healthcare services is highly fragmented and competitive. Historically, our primary competitors have typically been independent physicians, hospital emergency departments and hospital-owned or hospital-affiliated medical facilities. As managed care techniques continue to gain acceptance in the occupational healthcare marketplace, however, we believe that our competitors will increasingly consist of nationally-focused workers compensation managed care service companies, specialized provider groups, insurance companies, health management organizations and other significant providers of managed care products. These organizations may be significantly larger and have greater financial and marketing resources than we do. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete effectively against these organizations in the future.
Because we believe the barriers to entry in our geographic markets are not substantial and our current customers have the flexibility to move easily to new healthcare service providers, the addition of new competitors may occur relatively quickly. Some of our contracted physicians and other healthcare providers may elect to compete with us by offering their own products and services to our customers. In addition, significant merger and acquisition activity has occurred in our industry as well as in industries that supply products to us, such as the hospital, physician, pharmaceutical, medical device and health information systems industries. If competition within our industry intensifies, our ability to retain customers or physicians, or maintain or increase our revenue growth, pricing flexibility and control over medical cost trends and marketing expenses, may be compromised.
Network Services and Care Management Services
The market for our network services and care management services is also fragmented and competitive. Our competitors include national managed care providers, preferred provider networks, smaller independent providers and insurance companies. Companies that offer one or more workers compensation managed care services on a national basis are our primary competitors. Additionally, we encounter pricing competition from smaller providers of out-of-network services. We also compete with many smaller vendors that generally provide unbundled services on a local level, particularly companies that have an established relationship with a local insurance company adjuster. In addition, several large workers compensation insurance carriers offer managed care services for their customers either by performance of the services in-house or by outsourcing to organizations like ours. If these carriers increase their performance of these services in-house, our business could be adversely affected.
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Government Regulation
General
As a provider of health, network and care management services, we are subject to extensive and increasing regulation by a number of governmental entities at the federal, state and local levels. We are also subject to laws and regulations relating to business corporations in general. In recent years, Congress and state legislatures have introduced an increasing number of proposals to make significant changes in the healthcare system. Changes in law and regulatory interpretations could reduce our revenue and profitability.
Workers Compensation Laws and Regulations
In performing services for the workers compensation industry, we must comply with applicable workers compensation laws. Workers compensation laws generally require employers to assume financial responsibility for medical costs, lost wages and related legal costs of work-related illnesses and injuries. These laws establish the rights of workers to receive benefits and to appeal benefit denials. Workers compensation laws generally prohibit charging medical co-payments or deductibles to employees. In addition, certain states restrict employers rights to select healthcare providers.
Several states have special requirements for physicians providing non-emergency care for workers compensation patients. These requirements frequently require registration with the state agency governing workers compensation, as well as special continuing education and training requirements. In those states, we must establish procedures to confirm that physicians providing services at our centers have completed these requirements.
At present, our affiliated physicians perform health services in 25 states that have treatment-specific fee schedules with established maximum reimbursement levels. The remaining states in which we manage clinics provide for a reasonableness review of medical costs paid or reimbursed by workers compensation. When not governed by a fee schedule, we adjust our charges to the usual, customary and reasonable levels accepted by the payor.
Some states limit the ability of the employer to direct an injured employee to a specific provider to receive non-emergency workers compensation medical care, while other states allow the employer to direct care to a specific provider. In other states, the employee is free to receive treatment from any qualified provider the employee chooses. Even in those states where the employer is permitted to direct an injured employee to a specific provider, the employers ability to direct care is frequently limited only to a certain timeframe and/or to a limited group of eligible providers. States typically also mandate administrative procedures for employees who desire to change providers. In some states that typically do not permit direction of care, the employer still has the right to direct care if the employer participates in a managed care organization for workers compensation medical care.
Many states permit an employer to post a list of primary care physicians available to provide care to injured employees. Those states frequently place restrictions on the content of those postings, including the number and categories of providers that must be listed.
Many states have licensing and other regulatory requirements related to workers compensation that apply to our network services and care management business lines. Twenty-five states have enacted laws that require licensing of businesses that provide workers compensation medical review services. These laws typically establish minimum standards for qualifications of personnel, confidentiality, internal quality control and dispute resolution procedures. In addition, a number of states have adopted laws regulating the operation of managed care provider networks. These laws apply to managed care provider networks having contracts with us and, in some states, to provider networks that we are affiliated with and may affiliate with in the future. To the extent that we are governed by these regulations, we may be subject to additional licensing requirements, financial oversight and procedural standards for beneficiaries and providers.
Corporate Practice of Medicine and Other Laws
We are not licensed to practice medicine. Every state in which Health Services operates limits the practice of medicine to licensed individuals or professional organizations comprised of licensed individuals. Corporations generally may not exercise control over the medical decisions of physicians. Many states also limit the scope of
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business relationships between business entities and medical professionals, particularly with respect to fee splitting. Most state fee-splitting laws only prohibit a physician from sharing medical fees with a referral source, but some states have interpreted certain management agreements between business entities and physicians as unlawful fee-splitting. Statutes and regulations relating to the practice of medicine, fee-splitting and similar issues vary widely from state to state. Because these laws are often vague, their application is frequently dependent on court rulings and attorney general opinions.
Under the management agreements with our affiliated physician groups, the groups retain sole responsibility for all medical decisions, as well as for hiring and managing physician employees, developing operating policies and procedures, implementing professional standards and controls and maintaining malpractice insurance. We attempt to structure all of our health services operations, including arrangements with our affiliated physician groups, to comply with applicable state statutes regarding corporate practice of medicine, fee-splitting and similar issues. However, there can be no assurance:
| | that private parties, or courts or governmental officials with the power to interpret or enforce these laws and regulations, will not assert that we are in violation of such laws and regulations; |
| | that future interpretations of such laws and regulations will not require us to modify the structure and organization of our business; or |
| | that any such enforcement action, which could subject us and our affiliated physician groups to penalties or restructuring or reorganization of our business, will not adversely affect our business or results of operations. |
Laboratory Regulation
We own a toxicology laboratory, Advanced Toxicology Network, which tests urine samples to determine drug and alcohol levels. Many of these samples are obtained from our health services operations. Our laboratory is certified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and maintains licensure where required for toxicology laboratory operations.
Anti-Kickback, Physician Self-Referral and Other Fraud and Abuse Laws
A federal law commonly referred to as the Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits the offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration to induce, or in return for, the referral of Medicare or other governmental health program patients or patient care opportunities, or in return for the purchase, lease or order of items or services that are covered by Medicare or other federal governmental health programs. Because the prohibitions contained in the Anti-Kickback Statute apply to the furnishing of items or services for which payment is made in whole or in part, the Anti-Kickback Statute could be implicated if any portion of an item or service we provide is covered by any of the state or federal health benefit programs described above. Violation of these provisions constitutes a felony criminal offense and applicable sanctions include imprisonment of up to five years, criminal fines of up to $25,000, civil monetary penalties of up to $50,000 per act plus three times the amount claimed or remuneration offered and exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Section 1877 of the Social Security Act, referred to herein as the Stark Law, prohibits physicians, subject to certain exceptions described below, from referring Medicare or Medicaid patients to an entity providing designated health services in which the physician, or an immediate family member, has an ownership or investment interest or with which the physician, or an immediate family member, has entered into a compensation arrangement. These prohibitions, contained in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, commonly known as Stark II, amended prior federal physician self-referral legislation known as Stark I by expanding the list of designated health services to a total of 11 categories of health services. The physician groups with which we are affiliated provide one or more of these designated health services. Persons or entities that violate the Stark Law are subject to denial of payment for services furnished pursuant to an improper referral, civil monetary penalties of up to $15,000 for each improper claim and exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Final regulations interpreting Stark I, referred to herein as the Stark I Regulations, were issued on August 14, 1995. On January 4, 2001, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued final regulations modifying the Stark I Regulations and interpreting parts of Stark II. These regulations are considered Phase I of a two-phase process, with the remaining regulations to be published at an unknown future date.
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