CPSI 2018 Proxy Statement

20 Role of Executive Officers in Compensation Decisions Our CEO and Chief Growth Officer make recommendations to the Compensation Committee regarding base salaries, commission arrangements, bonuses and equity compensation grants for the remainder of our executives. Neither the CEO nor the Chief Growth Officer is involved in determining his own compensation. The Compensation Committee has discretion to approve, disapprove or modify recommendations made by these executives. Role of Compensation Consultant Our Compensation Committee has the authority to engage the services of outside advisors. Since 2015, the Compensation Committee has retained Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. (“FW Cook”), an independent compensation consulting firm, to provide market and peer group data, to examine pay and performance matters, and to assist the Compensation Committee in making compensation decisions applicable to the Company’s executive officers and non-employee directors. In this role, FW Cook renders services specifically requested by the Compensation Committee, which has included examining the overall pay mix for our executives, conducting a competitive assessment of our executive compensation program and making recommendations to and advising the Compensation Committee on compensation design and levels. In this regard, FW Cook provides advice to the Compensation Committee on structuring annual and long-term incentive arrangements for executives. In addition, FW Cook provides advice to the Compensation Committee on the compensation elements and levels for non-employee directors. The Company did not engage FW Cook for any projects other than those directed by the Compensation Committee, which were limited to engagements involving the compensation of executives and directors, and FW Cook has not performed any other services for the Company. The Compensation Committee assessed FW Cook’s independence based on various factors and has determined that FW Cook’s engagement and the services provided by FW Cook to the Compensation Committee did not raise any conflict of interest. Consideration of Prior Shareholder Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation We provide our stockholders with the opportunity annually to vote to approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our NEOs (often referred to as a “say-on-pay” vote). Although the “say-on-pay” vote is advisory and non-binding, the Compensation Committee considers the outcome of the vote as part of its executive compensation planning process. At each of the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Annual Meetings of Stockholders, over 95% of the votes cast on the “say-on-pay” proposal were voted in favor of the compensation of our NEOs as disclosed in the proxy statement for such meeting. Our Compensation Committee considered this high level of stockholder support when determining the compensation for 2017 and 2018, and decided not to make any significant changes to the structure of our compensation program, other than as discussed under “Compensation Philosophy and Objectives— Compensation Improvements for 2018.” The Committee concluded that the Company’s compensation program should continue to emphasize the performance, alignment and retention objectives described herein. As required by SEC rules, we also provided our stockholders with an opportunity to vote, on an advisory basis, on the frequency of future say-on-pay votes at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. At that meeting, the Company’s stockholders voted overwhelmingly to recommend that future say-on-pay votes be held annually. Our Board adopted that recommendation and, accordingly, our stockholders will continue to have an annual opportunity to vote to approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our NEOs. Pursuant to SEC rules, the next advisory vote on the frequency of future say-on-pay votes will be held no later than the Company’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Peer Group and Benchmarking FW Cook provides the Compensation Committee with market information and assists the Compensation Committee in understanding the competitive market for the Company’s executive positions. In considering the competitive environment, the Committee reviews compensation information disclosed by a peer group of comparatively sized companies with which we compete for business and executive talent, and the composition of the peer group is reviewed annually to ensure that each company remains appropriate for inclusion. At the direction of the Compensation Committee, the peer group was developed with a particular focus on companies that provide services in the health care technology, application software, research and consulting, and other healthcare- related industries and are of a similar size as the Company (as measured by revenue, assets, market capitalization and enterprise value). The Compensation Committee also considers information derived from published survey data that compares the elements of each executive officer’s target total direct compensation to the market information for executives with similar roles. FW Cook compiles this information and size-adjusts the published survey data to reflect our revenue size in relation to the survey participants to more accurately reflect the scope of responsibility for each executive officer. We generally seek to provide our executives with base salaries and target bonus and long-term incentive opportunities that are positioned around the median of competitive practice in order to assist in attracting and retaining talented executives and to further motivate and reward our NEOs for sustained, long-term improvements in the Company’s financial results and the achievement of long-term business objectives. We recognize, however, that