CPSI 2017 Annual Report

20 The healthcare industry is heavily regulated at the local, state and federal levels. Our failure to comply with regulatory requirements could create liability for us, result in adverse publicity and negatively affect our business. The healthcare industry is heavily regulated and is constantly evolving due to the changing political, legislative and regulatory landscapes. In some instances, the impact of these regulations on our business is direct to the extent that we are subject to these laws and regulations ourselves. However, these regulations also impact our business indirectly as, in a number of circumstances, our solutions, devices and services must be capable of being used by our clients in a way that complies with those laws and regulations, even though we may not be directly regulated by the specific healthcare laws and regulations. There is a significant number of wide-ranging regulations, including regulations in the areas of healthcare fraud, e-prescribing, claims processing and transmission, medical devices, the security and privacy of patient data, the ARRA meaningful use program, and interoperability standards, that may be directly or indirectly applicable to our operations and relationships or the business practices of our clients. Specific areas that are subject to increased regulation include, but are not limited to, the following: Healthcare Fraud . Federal and state governments continue to enhance regulation of and increase their scrutiny over practices potentially involving healthcare fraud, waste and abuse by healthcare providers whose services are reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid and other government healthcare programs. Our healthcare provider clients are subject to laws and regulations regarding fraud and abuse that, among other things, prohibit the direct or indirect payment or receipt of any remuneration for patient referrals, or arranging for or recommending referrals or other business paid for in whole or in part by these federal or state healthcare programs. Federal enforcement personnel have substantial funding, powers and remedies to pursue suspected or perceived fraud and abuse. The effect of this government regulation on our clients is difficult to predict. Many of the regulations applicable to our clients and that may be applicable to us, including those relating to marketing incentives offered in connection with medical device sales may be interpreted or applied by a prosecutorial, regulatory or judicial authority in a manner that could broaden their applicability to us or require our clients to make changes in their operations or the way in which they deal with us. If such laws and regulations are determined to be applicable to us and if we fail to comply with any applicable laws and regulations, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties, sanctions or other liabilities, including exclusion from government healthcare programs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even an unsuccessful challenge by a regulatory or prosecutorial authority of our activities could result in adverse publicity, could require a costly response from us and could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. E-Prescribing. The use of our solutions by physicians for electronic prescribing and electronic routing of prescriptions via the Surescripts network to pharmacies is governed by federal and state laws. States have differing regulations that govern the electronic transmission of certain prescriptions and prescription requirements. Standards adopted by the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and regulations adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") related to "EPrescribing and the Prescription Drug Program" set forth implementation standards for the transmission of electronic prescriptions. These standards are detailed and broad, and cover not only routing transactions between prescribers and pharmacies, but also electronic eligibility, formulary and benefits inquiries. In general, regulations in this area can be burdensome and evolve regularly, meaning that any potential benefits to our clients from utilizing such solutions and services may be superseded by a newly-promulgated regulation that adversely affects our business model. Our efforts to provide solutions that enable our clients to comply with these regulations could be time consuming and expensive. Claims Processing and Transmission. Our system electronically transmits medical claims by physicians to patients’ payors for immediate approval and reimbursement. In addition, we offer business management services that include the manual and electronic processing and submission of medical claims by healthcare providers to patients’ payors for approval and reimbursement. Federal and state laws provide that it is a violation for any person to submit, or cause to be submitted, a claim to any payor, including, without limitation, Medicare, Medicaid and all private health plans and managed care plans, seeking payment for any service or product that overbills or bills for items that have not been provided to the patient. We have in place policies and procedures that we believe assure that all claims that are transmitted by our system and through our services are accurate and complete, provided that the information given to us by our clients is also accurate and complete. If, however, we do not follow those procedures and policies, or they are not sufficient to prevent inaccurate claims from being submitted, we could be subject to substantial liability including, but not limited to, civil and criminal liability. Additionally, any such failure of our billing and collection services to comply with these laws and regulations could adversely affect demand for our services and could force us to expend significant capital, research and development, and other resources to address the failure. In most cases where we are permitted to do so, we calculate charges for our billing and collection services based on a percentage of the collections that our clients receive as a result of our services. To the extent that violations or liability for violations of these laws and regulations require intent, it may be alleged that this percentage calculation provides us or our employees with incentive to commit or overlook fraud or abuse in connection with submission and payment of reimbursement