aiq-10k_20151231.htm

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

x

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

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2015

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: 1-16609

 

ALLIANCE HEALTHCARE SERVICES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

DELAWARE

 

33-0239910

 

 

 

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification Number)

100 Bayview Circle, Suite 400, Newport Beach, California 92660

(Address of principal executive office)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (949) 242-5300

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 $0.01

 

NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC

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

None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  o    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

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 whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    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 a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer

 

¨

 

Accelerated filer

 

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-accelerated filer

 

¨  (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

Smaller reporting company

 

¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2015, based upon the closing price of the Common Stock as reported by The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC on such date, was $91.1 million.

The number of shares outstanding of Common Stock, $.01 par value, as of March 7, 2016 was 10,616,884 shares.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

The registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be filed within 120 days of December 31, 2015 is incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the extent stated herein.

 

 

 

 

 


 

PART I

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including Item 1, Business; Item 1A, Risk Factors; and Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, particularly in the section entitled Liquidity and Capital Resources, and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

In some cases you can identify these statements by forward-looking words, such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “seek,” “intend” and “continue” or similar words. Forward-looking statements may also use different phrases. Forward-looking statements address, among other things, our future expectations, projections of our future results of operations or of our financial condition and other forward-looking information and include statements related to the Company’s improvement plan, including its efforts to grow the Radiology, Oncology, and Interventional Healthcare Services Divisions, and expected annualized savings.

Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, are forward-looking by their nature:

(a) future legislation and other healthcare regulatory reform actions, and the effect of that legislation and other regulatory actions on our business;

(b) our expectations with respect to future radiology services and radiation oncology volumes and revenues;

(c) the effect of seasonality on our business;

(d) expectations with respect to capital expenditures in 2016;

(e) the effect of recent accounting pronouncements on our results of operations and cash flows or financial position;

(f) our business and strategic plans, including the effect of growth and cost-cutting initiatives;

(g) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;

(h) compliance with our debt covenants;

(i) unrecognized tax benefits and the adequacy of our tax provisions; and

(j) our belief regarding the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to meet our working capital, capital expenditure and other cash needs.

We believe it is important to communicate our expectations to our investors. There may be events in the future, however, that we are unable to predict accurately or that we do not fully control that cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements, including:

 

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our high degree of leverage and our ability to service our debt;

 

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factors affecting our leverage, including interest rates;

 

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the risk that the counterparties to our interest rate swap agreements fail to satisfy their obligations under those agreements;

 

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our ability to obtain financing;

 

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the effect of operating and financial restrictions in our debt instruments;

 

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the accuracy of our estimates regarding our capital requirements;

 

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intense levels of competition and overcapacity in our industry;

 

·

changes in the rates or methods of third-party reimbursements for diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology services;

 

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fluctuations or unpredictability of our revenues, including as a result of seasonality;

 

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changes in the healthcare regulatory environment;

 

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our ability to keep pace with technological developments within our industry;

 

·

the growth or decline in the market for MRI and other services;

 

·

the disruptive effect of natural disasters, including weather;

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·

adverse changes in general domestic and worldwide economic conditions and instability and disruption of credit and equity markets; 

 

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our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions; and

 

·

other factors discussed under Risk Factors in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and that are otherwise described or updated from time to time in our SEC reports.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes statistical data that we obtained from public industry publications. These publications generally indicate that they have obtained their information from sources believed to be reliable but they do not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of their information. Although we believe that the publications are reliable, we have not independently verified their data.

 

 

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ITEM 1.

BUSINESS 

General

Alliance HealthCare Services, Inc. (“Alliance” and together with its direct and indirect subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is a leading national provider of outsourced healthcare services to hospitals and providers. We also operate freestanding outpatient radiology, oncology and interventional clinics, and Ambulatory Surgical Centers (“ASC”) that are not owned by hospitals or providers. Our diagnostic radiology services are delivered through the Radiology Division (Alliance HealthCare Radiology), radiation oncology services through the Oncology Division (Alliance Oncology, LLC), and interventional and pain management services through the Interventional HealthCare Services Division (Alliance HealthCare Interventional Partners, LLC). We are the nation’s largest provider of advanced diagnostic mobile radiology services, an industry-leading operator of fixed-site radiology centers, and a leading provider of stereotactic radiosurgery nationwide. As of December 31, 2015, we operated 563 diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy systems, including 116 fixed-site radiology centers across the country, and 32 radiation therapy centers and stereotactic radiosurgery (“SRS”) facilities. With a strategy of partnering with hospitals, health systems and physician practices, we provide quality healthcare services for over 1,000 hospitals and healthcare partners in 45 states where approximately 2,430 Alliance Team Members are committed to providing exceptional patient care and exceeding customer expectations. We were incorporated in the state of Delaware on May 27, 1987.

Service Overview

 

·

Radiology Division: We provide comprehensive radiology service line management and fixed-site radiology center management through our RAD360TM service in our Radiology Division. We also provide mobile and interim medical imaging systems to hospitals, health systems and provider groups. These services normally include the use of our medical imaging systems, technologists to operate the systems, sales and marketing, patient scheduling and pre authorization, billing and payor management, equipment maintenance and upgrades, and overall management of day-to-day shared-service and fixed-site diagnostic imaging operations.

 

·

Oncology Division: We provide a wide range of radiation oncology services for cancer patients covering initial consultation, preparation for treatment, simulation of treatment, radiation oncology delivery, therapy management and follow-up care. Our services include the use of our linear accelerators (“Linac”) and SRS, therapists to operate those systems, sales and marketing, patient scheduling and pre authorization, billing and payor management, equipment maintenance and upgrades and management of day-to-day operations.

 

·

Interventional HealthCare Services Division: We provide interventional healthcare through therapeutic minimally invasive pain management procedures medical management, laboratory testing, and other services. Interventional procedures are performed in either a procedure room or ASC environment, as determined by the treating physician. Interventional therapies are playing a more critical role in the care and treatment pathway for patients, but they are also playing an important role in how care is delivered.

We currently operate in two reportable business segments – radiology and oncology. Radiology and oncology divisions generated 72% and 21% of our revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2015. Radiology and oncology divisions generated 79% and 21% of our revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2014.  Radiology and oncology divisions generated 83% and 17% of our revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2013. For additional information on reportable business segments, see Note 17 – Segment Information.

Our clients and partners contract with us to provide radiology, oncology and interventional healthcare services to:

 

·

take advantage of our extensive radiology, radiation oncology and interventional healthcare service lines management experience;

 

·

partner with a leader whose core competency is high-quality, efficient and scalable services in the areas of radiology, interventional healthcare and radiation oncology services.

 

·

avoid capital investment, financial risk and contracting for maintenance associated with the purchase of their own systems;

 

·

provide access to radiology, radiation oncology, interventional healthcare and other services for their patients when the demand for these services does not justify the purchase of dedicated, full-time systems;

 

·

eliminate the need to recruit, train and manage qualified technologists or therapists;

 

·

make use of our ancillary services; and,

 

·

gain access to services under our regulatory and licensing approvals when they do not have these approvals.

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Significant 2015 Corporate Events

On December 31, 2015, we executed an agreement to form a partnership between our Oncology Division and the Pacific Cancer Institute (“PCI”), a state-of-the-art radiation therapy and SRS center located in Maui, Hawaii, wherein we acquired a 95% controlling interest in PCI. We expect PCI to generate annualized revenue of approximately $6.3 million.

On October 14, 2015, we acquired a 60% controlling interest in PRC Associates, LLC, (“PRC”), a premier provider of interventional pain management healthcare with eight locations in Central Florida and the Palm Coast, through our Interventional HealthCare Services Division. We expect PRC to generate annualized revenue of approximately $12.0 million.

On September 16, 2015, Fujian Thai Hot Investment Co., Ltd. (“Thai Hot”) agreed to purchase approximately 5,537,945 shares of Company common stock from funds managed by Oaktree, MTS and Larry C. Buckelew (“Buckelew” and together with Oaktree and MTS, the “Selling Stockholders”) for approximately $102.5 million or $18.50 per share (the “Transaction”). In connection with the Transaction, Thai Hot and the Selling Stockholders agreed to bear a specified portion of the following Company expenses related to the Transaction: (i) 100% of the fees and expenses incurred by the Company in connection with the amendment or waiver of its credit agreement, and (ii) all reasonable and documented fees and expenses incurred by the Company in connection with the Transaction in excess of $1 million.  In addition, subject to the approval of the Board or an authorized special committee of the Board, Thai Hot agreed to fund a new management incentive arrangement which involves the issuance of $1.5 million in cash-based awards to the Company’s management.  

Selling Stockholders believe that the Transaction is expected to close within a few weeks of the filing of this Form 10-K. Upon completion of the Transaction, Thai Hot will own a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company. The Company has not agreed to pay any management fees to Thai Hot for any financial advisory services to the Company.

On August 1, 2015, we acquired an additional 15.5% in Alliance-HNI LLC (“AHNI”), thereby increasing our ownership percentage to 65.5% and giving us a controlling interest in AHNI. Prior to August 1, 2015, our interest in AHNI was deemed a noncontrolling interest and, as such, we accounted for the investment using the equity method. Also prior to the step acquisition, AHNI had three subsidiaries: Alliance-HNI Leasing Co. (“AHNIL”), Alliance-HNV PET/CT Services, LLC (“AHNVPS”), and Alliance-HNV PET/CT Leasing, LLC (“AHNVPL”). AHNI held a 98% interest in AHNIL, which AHNI consolidated, and, effectively, a 53.4% interest in AHNVPS, which AHNI did not consolidate. In addition to our original 50% investment in AHNI, we also had a 46.6% interest in AHNVPS prior to the step acquisition and, accordingly, we have consolidated AHNVPS and AHNVPL since the initial acquisition on November 21, 1997. As consideration in the step-up acquisition on August 1, 2015, we contributed our 46.6% interest in HNVPS and our rights to certain assets to AHNI in exchange for the additional 15.5% interest in AHNI. After the completion of the step acquisition, we hold a 65.5% interest in AHNI which, in turn, holds all of the outstanding interest in AHNVPS. As a result of gaining a controlling interest in AHNI, we began consolidating AHNI effective August 1, 2015.

On February 17, 2015, we acquired a 59% controlling interest in The Pain Center of Arizona (“TPC”), including TPC’s affiliated billing and collection company. TPC provides expert medical diagnosis and treatment of people with chronic pain disorders at its 12 locations within the state. This acquisition advances our strategic expansion into adjacent segments of healthcare services as interventional pain management is the largest segment within the interventional therapeutic services space.  

Industry Overview

Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of medical imaging systems to visualize, diagnose or stage diseases and injuries within the human body and convert them to film or digital media.  The images produced by the imaging systems are then interpreted by a licensed Radiologist, with the resulting dictated report being provided to physicians who are delivering care to a patient. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (“MRI”), Positron Emission Tomography (“PET”) and Computed Tomography (“CT”) services have historically comprised the majority of our radiology revenue. Radiation oncology is the practice of delivering ionizing radiation therapy to treat malignant and benign disease processes under the direction of a radiation oncologist. Interventional healthcare services commonly consist of one or more of the following: interventional radiology, interventional pain management and interventional therapeutics.

Radiology Division

Focused on hospitals and providers, we deliver radiology service line and outpatient center management, as well as mobile radiology solutions such as MRI, PET/CT and CT modalities.  Through the Alliance RAD360TM service, we offer an end-to-end business/operational lifecycle solution. RAD360TM is an innovative and comprehensive set of services that provides the sales and marketing, clinical quality, and operational excellence to take a radiology service line to new levels. We also offer premier quality programs and services, including OnPoint, which is automated cloud-based software that allows hospitals and imaging providers to

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manage every scanner in their facilities, automate the quality control measures required for accreditation by the American College of Radiology (ACR), and detect gradual degradation in image quality to identify problems and preventative maintenance before they impact clinical results. Alliance Radiology partners with hospitals and healthcare groups to deliver an outstanding patient experience, drive operational excellence and create competitive differentiation to ensure mutual success.

Our Radiology Division offers the following procedural options:

 

·

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (“MRI”):  Physicians use MRI to find diseases or abnormalities in the body without using X-rays. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of the body. MRI is a non-invasive and painless procedure. Most MRI scans require fewer than sixty minutes to complete. We offer both traditional and “wide-open” (meaning, the bore of the MRI is larger than a traditional bore) MRI scanning options. The large opening of the wide-bore MRI makes it a good option for children, patients with mild anxiety or claustrophobia, large patients, or patients with shoulder injuries.

 

 

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Positron Emission Tomography (“PET”) and Computed Tomography (“CT”): A PET/CT scan combines PET and CT technologies. PET images show the function of cells in the body. CT images show details of body anatomy such as vessels, lymph nodes and organs. Alone, PET and CT are each effective for a wide variety of applications. When PET and CT scans are combined, the fused images help doctors accurately diagnose, stage and treat cancer. PET/CT scans may reduce the need for biopsy or surgery.

PET/CT can help determine:

 

o

Size and location of the growth;

 

o

Whether the cancer is spreading;

 

o

The best form of treatment;

 

o

Whether therapy is working; and

 

o

Whether there has been a recurrence.

 

 

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Computed Tomography (“CT”):  CT uses X-ray technology and computer processing to create images of bones, organs, and blood vessels. These detailed images help doctors diagnose conditions and determine treatment options. CT is often used to assess internal trauma, diagnose cancers, guide procedures and therapies, and diagnose fractures.

CT can generate very detailed three-dimensional images of certain parts of the body, such as soft tissues, blood vessels, lungs, brain, abdomen and bones.  Pictures of the same area are taken from different angles and then digitally combined to produce the images. CT is painless, and usually lasts only a few minutes.  Some patients require an intravenous or oral contrast agent to improve the image quality of body tissues. 

 

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Ultrasound: Ultrasound is a safe, radiation-free imaging method that shows a range of body tissues in real-time.  Ultrasound systems use high-frequency sound waves to create medical images that help doctors evaluate tissues including blood vessels in the neck, abdomen, and legs as well as monitor fetal development. During the ultrasound exam the technologist uses a warm gel to move a transducer (a wand-like instrument) across the patient’s skin.

 

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Nuclear medicine: Nuclear medicine is a specialized area of radiology that uses very small amounts of radioactive substances to evaluate organs, bones, or tissues. Unlike, X-rays, where external radiation is used, nuclear medicine scans involve the patient taking a dose of radiopharmaceuticals internally.

There are several types of nuclear medicine diagnostic techniques. Scintigraphy creates two-dimensional images to evaluate areas such as bone, myocardial perfusion, and parathyroid. SPECT is a 3D technique that helps doctors evaluate functional processes of the body. There are also hybrid techniques that superimpose nuclear medicine scans onto CT images. Nuclear medicine differs from imaging such as CT and MR by revealing the physiological function of the system being evaluated, rather than showing traditional anatomical images.

 

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X-Ray (Digital): Classic X-ray technology is often used as a first-line test in radiologic diagnosis.  X-ray radiation can be used to create two-dimensional images of almost every part of the body. Bone fractures and pneumonia, for example, are often diagnosed with this quick, low-cost, and widely available imaging modality.

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Mammogram: Mammography is an imaging technique that takes low-dose X-rays of the breasts for early detection of cancer. Images are taken of each breast from several angles. This procedure can identify abnormal growths that are too small or deep to be detected during a routine self-exam. Mammography is the most effective method to detect breast disease in women. The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms for women over age 40.  

 

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Bone Density Screening: Bone density screening is the standard measure used in preventing and diagnosing osteoporosis. The bone density test helps predict the patient’s risk of breaking bones, and can monitor the effects of osteoporosis treatment. A bone density test uses X-rays to measure the amount of minerals in the patient’s bones and determine the presence or extent of osteoporosis. The less dense the bones are, the more likely they are to break. We use DEXA (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) or QCT (Quantitative Computed Tomography) to diagnose and monitor osteoporosis as well as the effects of osteoporosis treatment and other conditions that cause bone loss.

We typically provide radiology services in one of the following settings:

 

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Outsourced: Imaging systems, located in mobile trailers or in fixed facilities, are used to provide services to a hospital or physician practice on a shared-service or full-time basis. Generally, the hospital or clinic contracts with Alliance as the radiology service provider to perform scans of its patients, and that hospital or clinic, instead of a third-party payor, pays the radiology service provider directly.

 

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Hospitals and physician practices: Imaging and/or radiation oncology systems are located in a hospital, physician practice or clinic. These systems are primarily used to scan patients of the hospital or clinic, and the hospital or clinic bills patients and third-party payors, such as health insurers, including Medicare or Medicaid.

 

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Independent centers: Systems are located in permanent facilities not generally owned by hospitals or physician practices. These centers depend upon physician referrals for their patients and generally do not maintain dedicated, contractual relationships with hospitals or clinics. Typically these centers are in markets in which strategic hospital partners are not available, but services are still needed. Like hospitals and clinics, these centers bill patients and third-party payors for their services.

Oncology Division

Our oncology services help build, manage and grow oncology service lines for sustained, long-term value. All of our oncology services are provided in a hospital setting or at an independent radiation oncology center. Radiation oncology is the medical practice of delivering radiation therapy under the direction of a trained physician, a radiation oncologist. Radiation oncology uses ionizing radiation to most commonly treat cancer, along with non-malignant conditions. In general, radiation therapy is delivered in daily treatments over a period that varies from a single day (single treatment) to many weeks (40 or more treatments). Ionizing radiation damages a cell's DNA and other vital macromolecules’ that the cell and the body then has to repair. Cancer cells are less able to repair the DNA and macromolecules damage than are normal healthy cells, which usually can repair the damage in the first 4-6 hours after an individual treatment. Over the period during and after the radiation therapy is delivered in one or more daily radiation therapy treatments, the cancer cells are preferentially destroyed while normal cells are able to recover. Eventually, the cancer cells within the irradiated volume are reduced in number and eradicated while the normal surrounding tissue survives: effecting a control of the disease in that treated volume.

We estimate that approximately 60% of all newly diagnosed cancer patients today will be treated with some form of radiation therapy for their cancer therapy throughout their life-time. Radiation therapy often is used together with other oncology treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery. A typical radiation oncology department provides a wide range of services for cancer patients. These include: initial consultation; preparation for treatment; imaging, planning, and simulation for the treatment; delivery of radiation therapy treatments; management of the total course of therapy; and follow-up care. A number of different technologies can deliver the radiation, including Linac, Gamma Knife, CyberKnife and radioactive isotopes - Brachytherapy.

Our oncology division offers the following treatment options:

 

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Conventional beam therapy (“CBT”): CBT is the least sophisticated, but the most established form of radiation therapy delivered by a linear accelerator. It is the simplest form to deliver, using two-dimensional planning, and is typically reserved for use in patients where high precision and conformality of the radiation therapy is not required or when a remission is not envisioned.

 

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3-D conformal radiation therapy (“3D-CRT”): 3D-CRT uses three-dimensional imaging data and three-dimensional treatment planning to more accurately and effectively plan and deliver linear accelerator radiation treatments. It is the most common form of technology used in practices and may be supplanted by IMRT or in conjunction with IGRT when the specific case requires a higher level of precision or conformality.

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Intensity modulated radiation therapy (“IMRT”): IMRT entails the use of hundreds to thousands of beams or beamlets of radiation delivered by a linear accelerator whose intensity is adjusted individually during that actual daily treatment delivery to allow the radiation that is delivered to conform as closely as possible to the three-dimensional volume of the tumor and simultaneously reduce the dose to neighboring normal healthy tissues. It requires extremely sophisticated and time consuming treatment planning to determine what beam’s shapes and orientations should be used and what their intensities should be to provide the optimal patient treatment based on the patient's anatomy of normal tissues and the targeted tumor volume. Extensive treatment quality assurance is required to ensure that all the beams are modulated and delivered correctly. 

 

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Image guided radiation therapy (“IGRT”): IGRT uses a number of different types of imaging technologies to localize precisely the patient and the tumor target volume at the time of each treatment delivery to ensure that the radiation is delivered to the correct location. IGRT is not a radiation treatment in and of itself; it is used in support of advanced forms of treatment delivery such as 3D-CRT, IMRT, stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery.

 

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Stereotactic radiosurgery (“SRS”) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (“SBRT”): SRS was originally developed for intracranial applications. The technology is now being used in a range of extracranial applications such as spine, lung, prostate and other disease sites in the form of SRBT. SRS and SBRT deliver a very high dose of radiation in one to five treatments as opposed to the 10 to 40 treatments used for 3D-CRT, IMRT and IGRT. SRS and SBRT need to be as precisely planned for and delivered as possible because a very high dose of radiation therapy is delivered in a few treatments and results in a more potent dose effect that destroys all cells, cancer and normal alike, that reside within the targeted volume; this results in a “surgical ablative” response to the treated volume. SRS/SBRT is delivered with a range of advanced technologies such as the CyberKnife®, Gamma Knife®, BrainLab, Novalis-Tx, TrueBeam STx, Trilogy, VERO, TomoTherapy®, Elekta Infinity and Axesse.

 

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Low dose rate brachytherapy (“LDR”): LDR allows the radiation oncologist to treat cancer by delivering the dose of radiation from the “inside out.” Radioactive isotopes encased in a metal jacket the size of a grain of rice (“seeds”) are implanted directly in the tumor through needles, with the seeds permanently left in place, or left in place temporarily within catheters (thin hollow tubes) and removed with the catheters when treatment is completed. The radioactive isotopes decay over time (days to years) to an inert form and in the process gradually release ionizing radiation, called gamma rays, which are generally of low energy and thus deposit their therapy over short distances thereby treating the cancer over time (hours to days).

 

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High dose rate brachytherapy (“HDR”): Like LDR, HDR allows the radiation oncologist to treat cancer by delivering the dose of radiation from the “inside out.” HDR utilizes temporary seeds, made of radioactive isotopes that deliver a much higher dose of radiation over a much shorter period of time. These seeds are inserted and removed several times, over several minutes, one to two times per day, for one to 30 treatments delivered over one to 45 days, through catheters that are left in place for the entire course of care and then removed when the treatment course is completed.

Interventional Services Division

We provide minimally invasive interventional healthcare and comprehensive pain management services for a wide range of conditions and diseases. Minimally invasive procedures often result in less trauma and pain with faster recovery and less cost to payors and patients. We use best-in-class treatment protocols and clinical excellence standards. For hospital systems and providers looking to improve their competitive position and expand their continuum of care, we provide comprehensive and scalable solutions to build, manage and optimize interventional healthcare programs.

Our interventional services division offers therapeutic minimally invasive pain management procedures and services, such as epidural steroid injections, discectomy, vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, neuro stimulators, nerve blocks and other procedures that provide intermediary care. As part of the continuum of pain care, we also include clinical management, pharmaceutical referral, functional restoration and other treatments that assist chronic and acute pain care. All of our interventional services are delivered in an outpatient physician practice or at an ambulatory surgery center (“ASC”).

Based on 2012 Part B Medicare Revenue, industry trends are indicating highest value interventional radiology procedures are migrating from hospitals to ASCs.  Persons over the age of 65 comprise one of the fastest growing segments of the population in the United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, this group is expected to increase as much as 33% from 2010 to 2020. We believe the aging population will generate more demand for interventional radiology and pain management procedures.

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Our Competitive Strengths

Deep long-standing relationships with hospitals and healthcare providers

We have relationships with more than 1,000 hospitals and healthcare providers in 45 states throughout the nation. This national footprint enables us to leverage our position as a trusted partner to healthcare providers to expand our services beyond radiology, oncology and interventional services, transforming us into an indispensable outsourced service partner to our clients.

Experienced management team

Our senior management team consists of professionals with extensive and diverse experience within the hospital and healthcare services industry, including six senior executive officers who average approximately 25 years of industry experience.

A leading national provider of shared-service and fixed-site MRI and PET/CT services

We are a leading national provider of shared-service and fixed-site MRI and PET/CT services, based on annual revenue and number of diagnostic imaging systems deployed. As of December 31, 2015, we had 276 MRI systems and 121 PET/CT systems in operation. Our size allows us to achieve operating, sourcing and administrative efficiencies, including (i) the ability to maximize utilization through efficient deployment of our mobile systems and (ii) equipment and medical supply sourcing savings and favorable maintenance contracts from equipment manufacturers and other suppliers.

Exclusive, long-term contracts with a diverse client base

We primarily generate revenues from exclusive, long-term contracts with hospitals and other healthcare providers. These contracts average approximately three years in length for mobile services, approximately five to 10 years in length for fixed-site imaging center arrangements, and approximately 10 to 20 years in length for radiation oncology contracts. During the year ended December 31, 2015, no single client accounted for more than 10% of our revenue.

Comprehensive radiology, interventional healthcare and radiation oncology solutions

We offer our clients comprehensive radiology, interventional healthcare and radiation oncology solutions, as well as ancillary services, such as marketing support, quality patient care programs, education, training, scheduling, billing and cost optimization management. In many cases, we provide services under our regulatory and licensing approvals for clients who lack that authority. We believe that a comprehensive service solution is an important factor when potential clients select a radiology, radiation oncology or interventional healthcare services provider.

Reduced reimbursement risk

For the year ended December 31, 2015, we generated approximately 77% of our revenues by billing hospitals and other healthcare providers rather than billing patients or other third-party payors directly. These payments are due to us regardless of the clients’ receipt of payment from patients or reimbursement from third-party payors, including commercial payors, Medicare and Medicaid. Importantly, this contrasts with the vast majority of other diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology providers, who typically collect directly from patients and third-party payors and are, therefore, directly exposed to reimbursement cuts and higher experiences of bad debt. Our wholesale model reduces our exposure to patient bad debt, as evidenced by our bad debt expense of only 0.6% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2015. Further, our short-term exposure to Medicare reimbursement cuts is limited because we received only approximately 4% of our radiology and oncology revenues directly from Medicare for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Significant cash flow generation

We have generated significant cash flows and have maintained attractive earnings from revenue less cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization) and selling, general and administrative expenses over a sustained period of time. We attribute our strong cash flows and margins to: (1) comprehensive radiology and radiation oncology solutions, (2) the substantial value proposition for customers, (3) the strength of our customer relationships, (4) the largely wholesale nature of our revenues and (5) our economies of scale.

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Our Strategy

We are committed to executing on these critical elements of our strategic growth plan in our key service areas including radiology, oncology and interventional healthcare services to drive our long-term growth and continued success:

 

·

Grow with our current hospital and physician customers. We intend to grow with our current hospital and physician customers by leveraging our sales force to understand and act strategically based on current market environments. This enables us to add value for our customers and grow through business intelligence.

 

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Increase volumes at our sites. We will continue to expand and deepen physician relationships and increase service offerings. 

 

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Leverage existing partnerships. By leveraging existing partnerships, we will drive new growth and explore new strategic partnerships and opportunities.

 

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Continually refine the value proposition. We plan to reinforce our value proposition within each line of business in setting the bar for world-class clinical care delivery.

 

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Implement smart data strategies.  We plan to implement smart data strategies to demonstrate clinical outcomes and evaluate how we collect and use data in connection with our hospital partners, patients, payors and other key stakeholders.

 

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Continue to drive an accountable, performance-based culture. This enables us to deliver efficient, low-cost solutions to our customers and capture market share through operational excellence and effective sales and marketing programs.

Contracts and Payment

Our typical radiology contract is exclusive, averages approximately three years in length for mobile services and approximately five to 10 years in length for fixed-site imaging center arrangements, and often includes an automatic renewal provision. Most of our contracts require a fee for each scan we perform. With other contracts, we bill clients on a fixed-fee basis for a period of time, regardless of the number of scans performed. These fee levels are affected primarily by the type of imaging system provided, scan volume and the number of ancillary services provided. Our typical oncology contract is exclusive, averages approximately 10 to 20 years in length and often includes an automatic renewal provision. We leverage our national footprint and enter into payor contracts on behalf of our joint ventures, wholly owned subsidiaries and interventional healthcare services partners with the objective to gain favorable payor status and reimbursement.  

Segments and Regional Structure

The strategic organization of our business is divided into three divisions: radiology, oncology and interventional healthcare services. For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, there were no revenues derived from business outside the United States. We will continue to focus on growth opportunities in the U.S., and will also explore international market prospects. We operate each of our radiology, oncology and interventional healthcare services divisions as separate profit centers responsible for their own revenues, expenses and overhead, and we manage them on a national basis. For the purposes of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 280, “Segment Reporting,” we have two reportable segments, Radiology and Oncology, based on similar economic and other characteristics. See Note 17 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for financial information about our segments. We have regional managers to oversee local markets throughout the U.S. We believe we will continue to benefit from our regional managers’ local presence and knowledge of the markets we serve, which allows us to address the specific needs of each local operating environment. To complement and support this regional structure, we continue to have standardized contracts, operating policies and other procedures that we implement nationwide in an effort to ensure quality, consistency and efficiency across all regions.

Systems, Management and Maintenance

We purchase our radiology and radiation oncology systems from major medical equipment manufacturers, primarily General Electric Medical Systems, Siemens Medical Systems, Philips Medical Systems, Varian Medical Systems, Elekta and Accuray, Inc. Generally, we contract with clients for new or expanded services before we order new systems. This practice reduces our system utilization risk. As one of the largest commercial purchasers of MRI, PET/CT and SRS systems in the United States, we believe we receive relatively attractive pricing for equipment and service contracts from these equipment manufacturers.

For our mobile radiology systems, we actively manage deployment to increase their utilization while optimizing routes through coordinated transportation. Our current fleet includes 138 power units, which are large trucks that pull the trailers that house and transport our mobile systems. We examine client requirements, route patterns, travel times, fuel costs and system availability in our deployment process. We currently schedule our shared-service MRI and PET/CT systems for as little as one-half day and up to seven

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days per week at any particular client, with an average usage of 1.5 days per week per client. Drivers typically move the systems at night and activate them upon arrival at each client location so that the systems are operational when our technologists arrive.

For our fixed site radiology, oncology and interventional healthcare systems, we actively manage the equipment, associated warranties and service contracts.

Timely and effective maintenance is essential for achieving high utilization rates of our systems. Typically, we contract with the original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) for comprehensive maintenance programs on our systems to minimize the period of time the equipment is unavailable. System repair typically takes less than one day but could take longer, depending upon the nature of the repair. During the warranty period and maintenance contract term, we receive guarantees related to equipment operation and availability.

Information Technology

Our corporate headquarters and many of our facilities are interconnected through a state-of-the-art information technology system. This medical-grade system, which is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is comprised of a number of integrated applications and provides a single operating platform for billing and collections, electronic medical records, practice management and image management. This technology also supports our strategy as an outsourced service provider, thereby creating additional value for the customer from each of our service lines.

Sales and Marketing

Our sales and marketing teams are positioned under national leadership within each division. As of December 31, 2015, our national sales, including business development and field marketing teams, consisted of 91 members who focus on the following:

 

 

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Seeking new customers;

 

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Managing current customers, growing and upselling within each account; consulting with new hospital clients; supporting our current customers to continue our current relationships and helping to identify new opportunities to expand their business with us;

 

·

Improving same-store growth (referring physician sales) within current customer accounts with the goal of increasing the number of scans or healthcare services at that account.

 

Competition

We consider our primary competition to be outpatient radiology service providers, radiation oncology service providers, and interventional healthcare and comprehensive pain management service providers. The markets for these services are competitive and widespread throughout the United States. We believe that the key competitive factors affecting our business include:

 

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the quality and reliability of service;

 

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the quality and type of equipment available;

 

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the availability of types of radiology, radiation oncology and ancillary services;

 

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the availability of locations and flexibility of scheduling;

 

·

pricing;

 

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the knowledge and service quality of technologists;

 

·

the ability to obtain regulatory approvals;

 

·

the ability to establish and maintain relationships with healthcare providers and referring physicians; and

 

·

access to capital.

We are, and expect to continue to be, subject to competition in our targeted markets from businesses offering radiology, oncology and interventional healthcare services, including existing and developing technologies. Many companies are engaged in the shared-service and fixed-site imaging market, including two national competitors and many smaller regional competitors. These competitors include RadNet, Inc., Center for Diagnostic Imaging (purchased by InSight Health Services Corp.), Diagnostic Imaging Group, American Radiology Services and several smaller regional competitors, including Medquest, Inc., Shared Medical Services,

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Kings Medical Company Inc. and DMS Health Group. We also face competitors in the radiation oncology market, including Radiation Therapy Services, Inc., Vantage Oncology, Inc., US Oncology, Inc. (a subsidiary of McKesson Corporation) and many other smaller regional competitors.  Our competitors for interventional healthcare services are primarily smaller, regional-based physician-owned practices.  Some of our competitors may now or in the future have access to greater resources than we do. In addition, some physician practices have established their own diagnostic imaging facilities within their group practices to compete with us.

In addition to direct competition from other radiology and oncology providers, independent imaging centers and referring physicians with diagnostic imaging systems in their own offices, we compete with OEMs that aggressively sell or lease imaging systems to healthcare providers for full-time installation. In recent years, we have seen an increase in direct sales by OEMs of systems to some of our clients. OEMs typically target our higher scan volume clients. These sales efforts by OEMs have resulted in an overcapacity of systems in the marketplace, especially for medical groups that add imaging capacity within their practice settings. This situation has caused an increase in the number of our higher scan volume clients declining renewal of their contracts. We typically replace these higher volume scan clients with lower volume clients.

In all of our businesses, we may also experience greater competition in states that currently have certificate-of-need (“CON”) laws if those laws are repealed, thereby reducing barriers to entry in those states.

Employees

As of December 31, 2015, we had approximately 2,430 employees, of whom 1,329 were trained diagnostic imaging technologists, therapists, medical doctors and assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners, patient coordinators and other clinical and technical support staff or drivers. In addition, we use independent contractor drivers for some long-haul and rural routes. We believe we have good relationships with our employees.

Seasonality

We experience seasonality in the revenues and margins generated for our services. First and fourth quarter revenues are typically lower than those from the second and third quarters. First quarter revenues are affected primarily by inclement weather, typically resulting in fewer patients being scanned or treated during the period. Fourth quarter revenues are affected by holiday and client and patient vacation schedules, resulting in fewer scans or treatments during the period.

Regulation

Our business is subject to extensive federal and state government regulation. This includes the federal Anti-Kickback Law and similar state anti-kickback laws, the Stark Law and similar state laws affecting physician referrals, the federal False Claims Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH Act, and similar state laws addressing privacy and security, state unlawful practice of medicine and fee splitting laws and state CON laws. Although we believe that our operations materially comply with the laws governing our industry, it is possible that non-compliance with existing laws or the adoption of new laws or interpretations of existing laws could adversely affect our financial performance.

Fraud and Abuse Laws; Physician Referral Prohibitions

The healthcare industry is subject to extensive federal and state regulation relating to licensure, conduct of operations, ownership of facilities, addition of facilities and services and payment for services.

In particular, the federal Anti-Kickback Law prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing, recommending, or arranging for a good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The definition of “remuneration” has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value, including for example gifts, discounts, the furnishing of supplies or equipment, credit arrangements, payments of cash, waivers of payments, ownership interests, and providing anything at less than its fair market value. In addition, there is no one generally accepted definition of intent for purposes of finding a violation of the Anti-Kickback Law. For instance, one court has stated that an arrangement will violate the Anti-Kickback Law where any party has the intent to unlawfully induce referrals. In contrast, another court has opined that a party must engage in the proscribed conduct with the specific intent to disobey the law to be found in violation of the Anti-Kickback Law. The lack of uniform interpretation of the Anti-Kickback Law makes compliance with the law difficult. Moreover, recent health care reform legislation has strengthened these laws. For example, the  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (collectively, the “PPACA”), among other things, amends the intent

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requirement of the federal anti-kickback and criminal health care fraud statutes; a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of these statutes or specific intent to violate them. In addition, the PPACA provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the false claims statutes. The penalties for violating the Anti-Kickback Law can be severe. These sanctions include criminal penalties and civil sanctions, including fines, imprisonment and possible exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The Anti-Kickback Law is broad, and it prohibits many arrangements and practices that are lawful in businesses outside of the healthcare industry. Recognizing that the Anti-Kickback Law is broad and may technically prohibit many innocuous or beneficial arrangements within the healthcare industry, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”), issued regulations in July 1991, which the DHHS has referred to as “safe harbors.” These safe harbor regulations set forth certain provisions that, if met in form and substance, will assure healthcare providers and other parties that they will not be prosecuted under the federal Anti-Kickback Law. Additional safe harbor provisions providing similar protections have been published intermittently since 1991. Our arrangements with physicians, physician practice groups, hospitals and other persons or entities who are in a position to refer may not fully meet the stringent criteria specified in the various safe harbors. Although full compliance with these provisions ensures against prosecution under the federal Anti-Kickback Law, the failure of a transaction or arrangement to fit within a specific safe harbor does not necessarily mean that the transaction or arrangement is illegal or that prosecution under the federal Anti-Kickback Law will be pursued. In addition, the Office of Inspector General of the DHHS (“OIG”), issued a Special Advisory Bulletin on Contractual Joint Ventures in April 2003. The OIG Bulletin stated the DHHS's concerns regarding the legality of certain joint contractual arrangements between providers and suppliers of health care items or services. The OIG Bulletin identified characteristics of arrangements the OIG may consider suspect, and focused on arrangements in which a healthcare provider expands into a related service, through a joint contractual arrangement with an existing supplier of the related service, to service the healthcare provider's existing patient population. The OIG noted that such arrangements may be suspect when the provider contracts out all or nearly all aspects of the new venture, including the management, to the existing supplier, and provides only an existing patient base. In the OIG Bulletin, the OIG asserted that the provider's return on its investment in such circumstances may be viewed as remuneration for the referral of the provider's federal health care program patients to the supplier, and thus may violate the Anti-Kickback Law.

Although some of our arrangements may not fall within a safe harbor, we believe that such business arrangements do not violate the Anti-Kickback Law because we are careful to structure them to reflect fair market value and ensure that the reasons underlying our decision to enter into a business arrangement comport with reasonable interpretations of the Anti-Kickback Law. Even though we continuously strive to comply with the requirements of the Anti-Kickback Law, liability under the Anti-Kickback Law may still arise because of the intentions or actions of the parties with whom we do business. In addition, we may have Anti-Kickback Law liability based on arrangements established by the entities we have acquired if any of those arrangements involved an intention or actions to exchange remuneration for referrals covered by the Anti-Kickback Law. While we are not aware of any such intentions or actions, we have only limited knowledge regarding the intentions or actions underlying those arrangements. Conduct and business arrangements that do not fully satisfy one of these safe harbor provisions may result in increased scrutiny by government enforcement authorities such as the OIG.

Many states have adopted laws similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Law. Some of these state prohibitions apply to referral of patients for healthcare services reimbursed by any source, not only the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Although we believe that we comply with both federal and state anti-kickback laws, any finding of a violation of these laws could subject us to criminal and civil penalties or possible exclusion from federal or state healthcare programs. Such penalties would adversely affect our financial performance and our ability to operate our business.

In addition, the Ethics in Patient Referral Act of 1989, commonly referred to as the federal physician self-referral prohibition or Stark Law, prohibits physician referrals of Medicare and Medicaid patients for certain designated health services (including MRI and other diagnostic imaging services) to an entity if the physician or an immediate family member has any financial arrangement with the entity and no statutory or regulatory exception applies. The Stark Law also prohibits the entity from billing for any such prohibited referral. Initially, the Stark Law applied only to clinical laboratory services and regulations applicable to clinical laboratory services were issued in 1995. Earlier that same year, the Stark Law's self-referral prohibition expanded to additional goods and services, including MRI and other imaging services. In 1998, CMS (formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration), published proposed rules for the remaining designated health services, including MRI and other imaging services, and in January 2001, CMS published the first phase of the final rule covering the designated health services. Phase one of the final rule became effective on January 4, 2002, except for a provision relating to certain physician payment arrangements, which became effective July 26, 2004. CMS released phase two of the Stark Law final rule as a final rule which became effective on July 26, 2004. On September 5, 2007, CMS released phase three of the Stark Law final rule which became effective on December 4, 2007. Finally, on August 19, 2008, CMS finalized additional changes to the Stark Law, which became effective on October 1, 2009.

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A person who engages in a scheme to circumvent the Stark Law's referral prohibition may be fined for each such arrangement or scheme. In addition, any person who presents or causes to be presented a claim to the Medicare or Medicaid program in violation of the Stark Law is subject to civil monetary penalties per bill submission, an assessment of up to three times the amount claimed, and possible exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs. Bills submitted in violation of the Stark Law may not be paid by Medicare or Medicaid, and any person collecting any amounts with respect to any such prohibited bill is obligated to refund such amounts.

Several states in which we operate have enacted or are considering legislation that prohibits physician self-referral arrangements or requires physicians to disclose any financial interest they may have with a healthcare provider to their patients when referring patients to that provider. Possible sanctions for violating these state law physician self-referral and disclosure requirements include loss of license and civil and criminal sanctions. State laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and have been interpreted by the courts or regulatory agencies infrequently.

We believe our operations comply with these federal and state physician self-referral prohibition laws. We do not believe we have established any arrangements or schemes involving any service of ours which would violate the Stark Law or the prohibition against schemes designed to circumvent the Stark Law, or any similar state law prohibitions. Because we have financial arrangements with physicians and possibly their immediate family members, and because we may not be aware of all the financial arrangements such physicians and their immediate family members may have with entities to which they refer patients, we rely on physicians and their immediate family members to avoid making prohibited referrals to us in violation of the Stark Law and similar state laws. If we receive a prohibited referral which is not permitted under an exception to the Stark Law and applicable state law, our submission of a bill for the referral could subject us to sanctions under the Stark Law and applicable state law. Any sanctions imposed on us under the Stark Law or any similar state laws could adversely affect our financial results and our ability to operate our business.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), created federal statutes to prevent healthcare fraud and false statements relating to healthcare matters. The healthcare fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private payors. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines, imprisonment or exclusion from government sponsored programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines or imprisonment or exclusion from government sponsored programs.

Both federal and state government agencies are continuing heightened and coordinated civil and criminal enforcement efforts. As part of announced enforcement agency work plans, the federal government will continue to scrutinize, among other things, the billing practices of hospitals and other providers of healthcare services. For instance, as enacted by Congress on January 1, 2013, the American Taxpayor Relief Act of 2012 (“ATRA”), increases the amount of time DHHS may use to recover Medicare overpayments to providers from three to five years. The federal government also has increased funding to fight healthcare fraud, and it is coordinating its enforcement efforts among various agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the OIG, and state Medicaid fraud control units. Moreover, we expect there will continue to be federal and state laws and/or regulations, proposed and implemented, that could impact our operations and business. The extent to which future legislation or regulations, if any, relating to health care fraud abuse laws and/or enforcement, may be enacted or what effect such legislation or regulation would have on our business remains uncertain. We believe that the healthcare industry will continue to be subject to increased government scrutiny and investigations.

Federal False Claims Act

Another trend affecting the healthcare industry is the increased use of the federal False Claims Act and, in particular, actions under the False Claims Act's “whistleblower” provisions. Those provisions allow a private individual to bring actions on behalf of the government alleging that the defendant has defrauded the federal government. After the individual has initiated the lawsuit, the government must decide whether to intervene in the lawsuit and to become the primary prosecutor. If the government declines to join the lawsuit, then the individual may choose to pursue the case alone, in which case the individual's counsel will have primary control over the prosecution, although the government must be kept apprised of the progress of the lawsuit. Whether or not the federal government intervenes in the case, it will receive the majority of any recovery. If the litigation is successful, the individual is entitled to no less than 15%, but no more than 30%, of whatever amount the government recovers. The percentage of the individual's recovery varies, depending on whether the government intervened in the case and other factors. Recently, the number of suits brought against healthcare providers by private individuals has increased dramatically. In addition, various states are considering or have enacted laws modeled after the federal False Claims Act. Under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (“DRA”), states are being encouraged to adopt false claims acts similar to the federal False Claims Act, which establish liability for submission of fraudulent claims to the State Medicaid program and contain whistleblower provisions. Even in instances when a whistleblower action is dismissed with no judgment or settlement, we may incur substantial legal fees and other costs relating to an investigation. Future actions under the False

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Claims Act may result in significant fines and legal fees, which would adversely affect our financial performance and our ability to operate our business.

When an entity is determined to have violated the federal False Claims Act, it may be liable for damages and civil penalties. Liability arises, primarily, when an entity knowingly submits a false claim for reimbursement to the federal government. Simple negligence should not give rise to liability, but submitting a claim with reckless disregard of its truth or falsity could result in substantial civil liability.

Although simple negligence should not give rise to liability, the government or a whistleblower may attempt and could succeed in imposing liability on us for a variety of previous or current failures, including for example:

 

·

Failure to comply with the many technical billing requirements applicable to our Medicare and Medicaid business.

 

·

Failure to comply with Medicare requirements concerning the circumstances in which a hospital, rather than we, must bill Medicare for diagnostic imaging services we provide to outpatients treated by the hospital.

 

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Failure of our hospital clients to accurately identify and report our reimbursable and allowable services to Medicare.

 

·

Failure to comply with the Anti-Kickback Law or Stark Law.

 

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Failure to comply with the prohibition against billing for services ordered or supervised by a physician who is excluded from any federal healthcare programs, or the prohibition against employing or contracting with any person or entity excluded from any federal healthcare programs.

 

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Failure to comply with the Medicare physician supervision requirements for the services we provide, or the Medicare documentation requirements concerning such physician supervision.

 

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The past conduct of the companies we have acquired.

On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (“FERA”), which greatly expanded the types of entities and conduct subject to the False Claims Act. Further, the PPACA requires Medicare providers, suppliers, and other entities to report and return any overpayment of Medicare or Medicaid funds within 60 days of identifying the overpayment or face potential False Claims Act liability. On February 12, 2016, CMS published a final rule that adopts new regulations related to the 60-day reporting requirement, which are effective March 14, 2016. The regulations require Medicare providers and suppliers to exercise reasonable diligence to determine whether an overpayment was received, and within 60 days of that determination, report and return any overpayments identified within 6 years of the date the overpayment was received. Failure to report and return such overpayments within 60 days may subject the provider or supplier to False Claims Act liability, with penalties ranging from $5,500 to $11,000 per false claim, plus treble damages, and may provide the basis for exclusion from federal healthcare programs. We strive to ensure that we meet applicable billing requirements. However, the costs of defending claims under the False Claims Act, as well as sanctions imposed under the Act, could significantly affect our financial performance.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

In addition to creating the new federal statutes discussed above, HIPAA, as amended by the HITECH Act and updated by the January 2013 Omnibus Rule, also establishes uniform standards governing the conduct of certain electronic health care transactions and protecting the security and privacy of individually identifiable health information maintained or transmitted by certain covered entities, including health care providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses. HITECH and the Omnibus Final Rule significantly expanded HIPAA's privacy and security requirements. Among other things, HITECH and the Omnibus Final Rule make HIPAA's privacy and security standards directly applicable to "business associates," which are independent contractors or agents of covered entities that create, receive, maintain, or transmit protected health information (“PHI”) in connection with providing a service for or on behalf of a covered entity. As a covered entity, we must comply with the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, which restrict our use and disclosure of certain individually identifiable health information. We have been required to comply with the Privacy Standards since April 14, 2003. We must also comply with the Standards for Electronic Transactions, which establish standards for common healthcare transactions, such as claims information, plan eligibility, payment information and the use of electronic signatures. We have been required to comply with these standards since October 16, 2003. We must also comply with the Security Standards, which require us to implement security measures to protect the security and integrity of certain electronic health information. We have been required to comply with these standards since April 21, 2005. One other standard relevant to our use of medical information has been promulgated under HIPAA: CMS has published a final rule, which required us to adopt Unique Health Identifiers for use in filing and processing health care claims and other transactions by May 23, 2007. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly referred to as the economic stimulus package signed into law on February 17, 2009, included the HITECH Act, which dramatically expanded, among other things: (1) the scope of HIPAA to apply directly to “business associates,” or independent contractors who receive or obtain PHI in connection with providing a service to the

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covered entity; (2) substantive security and privacy obligations, including new federal security breach notification requirements to affected individuals and DHHS and potentially media outlets, of breaches of unsecured PHI; (3) restrictions on marketing communications and a prohibition on covered entities or business associates from receiving remuneration in exchange for PHI; and (4) the civil and criminal penalties that may be imposed for HIPAA violations, increasing the annual cap in penalties from $25,000 to $1.5 million per year. We believe that we are in compliance with all of the applicable HIPAA and HITECH standards, rules and regulations. If we fail to comply with these standards, we could be subject to criminal penalties and civil sanctions.

In addition to federal regulations issued under HIPAA, some states have enacted privacy and security statutes or regulations that, in some cases, are more stringent than those issued under HIPAA, including the laws of the state of California. In those cases it may be necessary to modify our operations and procedures to comply with the more stringent state laws, which may entail significant and costly changes for us. Similarly, it is possible that private plaintiffs may bring state tort law claims alleging that HIPAA establishes the standard for duty of care. We believe that we are in compliance with such state laws and regulations. However, if we fail to comply with applicable state laws and regulations, we could be subject to additional sanctions.

Unlawful Practice of Medicine and Fee Splitting

The marketing and operation of our business is subject to some states' laws prohibiting the practice of medicine by non-physicians. We believe that our radiology operations do not involve the practice of medicine because all professional medical services relating to our radiology operations, including the interpretation of scans and related diagnoses, are separately provided by licensed physicians not employed by us. Some states also have laws that prohibit any fee-splitting arrangement between a physician and a referring person or entity that would provide for remuneration paid to the referral source on the basis of revenues generated from referrals by the referral source. We believe that our operations do not violate these state laws with respect to fee splitting.

Certificate-of-Need Laws

In some states, a CON or similar regulatory approval is required before the acquisition of high-cost capital items, including diagnostic imaging or radiation oncology systems or provision of diagnostic imaging or radiation oncology services by us or our clients. CON regulations may limit or preclude us from providing diagnostic imaging or radiation oncology services or systems. Revenue from states with CON regulations represented a substantial portion of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2015.

CON laws were enacted to contain rising healthcare costs, prevent the unnecessary duplication of health resources, and increase patient access for health services. In practice, CON laws have prevented hospitals and other providers who have been unable to obtain a CON from acquiring new machines or offering new services. Our current contracts will remain in effect even if the CON states in which we operate modify their programs. However, a significant increase in the number of states regulating our business through CON or similar programs could adversely affect us. Conversely, repeal of existing CON regulations or defunding of CON programs in jurisdictions where we have obtained a CON, or CON exemption, also could adversely affect us by allowing competitors to enter our markets. CON laws are the subject of continuing legislative activity.

Reimbursement

We derive most of our revenues directly from healthcare providers, primarily from acute care hospitals, with whom we contract to provide services to their patients. We generated approximately 77% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2015, by providing services to hospitals and other healthcare providers (“wholesale”). Some of our revenues come from third-party payors, including government programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs that we bill directly. In the year ended December 31, 2015, we derived 20% of our revenues from direct billings to patients and their third-party payors (“retail”). Services for which we submit direct billings for Medicare and Medicaid patients are paid on a fee schedule basis, and patients are responsible for deductibles and coinsurance.

With respect to our retail business, for services for which we bill Medicare directly, we are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which is updated on an annual basis. Under the prior Medicare statutory formula known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) formula, payments under the Physician Fee Schedule would have decreased for the past several years if Congress had failed to intervene. In the past, when the application of the statutory formula would have resulted in lower payment, Congress passed interim legislation to prevent the reductions. For instance, for 2014, CMS estimated that the statutory formula would result in a 20.1% reduction in physician payment rates if Congress failed to intervene. On December 26, 2013, President Obama signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (“2013 Budget Act”), which replaced the payment reduction scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2014, with a 0.5% increase in physician payment rates for the period beginning January 1, 2014 and ending on March 31, 2014. On April 1, 2014, the physician payment rates enacted under the 2013 Budget Act were extended through December 31, 2014, and a 0%

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update from 2014 payment rates was enacted for the period beginning January 1, 2015 and ending on March 31, 2015, under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (“PAMA”).

President Obama signed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (“MACRA”) on April 16, 2015, which repealed and replaced the SGR formula for Medicare payment adjustments to physicians. MACRA provides a solution to the annual interim legislative updates that had previously been necessary to delay or prevent significant reductions to payments under the Physician Fee Schedule. MACRA extended existing payment rates under PAMA through June 30, 2015, with a 0.5% update for July 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015, and for each calendar year through 2019, after which there will be a 0% annual update each year through 2025. In addition, MACRA requires the establishment of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (“MIPS”), beginning in 2019, under which physicians may receive performance-based payment incentives or payment reductions based on their performance with respect to clinical quality, resource use, clinical improvement activities, and meaningful use of electronic health records. MACRA also requires CMS, beginning in 2019, to provide incentive payments for physicians and other eligible professionals that participate in alternative payment models, such as accountable care organizations, that emphasize quality and value over the traditional volume-based fee-for-service model. MACRA is still new and the manner in which it will be implemented is not certain, but at this time, we do not believe that this law will have a material effect on our future retail revenues.

Also with respect to our retail business, for services furnished on or after July 1, 2010, CMS began implementing a 50% reduction in reimbursement for multiple images on contiguous body parts, as mandated by the PPACA. Beginning January 1, 2011, CMS applied the same reduction to certain CT and CT angiography (“CTA”), MRI and MR angiography (“MRA”), and ultrasound services furnished to the same patient in the same session, regardless of the imaging modality, and not limited to contiguous body areas. CMS projected that this expanded policy would reduce payment for 20% more services than the prior multiple procedure payment reduction policy, and would primarily reduce payments for radiology services and to freestanding diagnostic imaging centers, such as our retail business. For 2012, CMS extended this policy to the physician reviews of these imaging services by implementing a 25% multiple procedure reduction to the professional payments to the specialties of radiology and interventional radiology. In addition, beginning in 2013, CMS expanded the 25% multiple-procedure reduction policy to certain other nuclear medicine and cardiovascular diagnostic procedures. At this time, we do not believe that these multiple procedure payment reductions will have a material effect on our future retail revenues.

Other recent legislative and regulatory updates to the Physician Fee Schedule included reduced payment rates for certain diagnostic services using equipment costing more than $1 million through revisions to usage assumptions from the previous 50% usage rate to a 90% usage rate. This change began in 2010 with a planned four-year phase-in period for MRI and CT scans, but not for radiation therapy and other therapeutic equipment. The PPACA superseded CMS's assumed usage rate for such equipment and, beginning on January 1, 2011, CMS instituted a 75% usage rate. Also in 2011, CMS expanded the list of services to which the higher equipment usage rate assumption applies to include certain diagnostic CTA and MRA procedures using similar CT and MRI scanners that cost more than $1 million. Through enactment of the ATRA, Congress increased the usage rate assumption from 75% to 90% for fee schedules to be developed for 2014 and subsequent years. In the final Physician Fee Schedule for 2016, CMS increased the usage rate assumption for linear accelerators used in many radiation oncology treatments from 50% to 70%, which will be phased in over a two-year period. We currently estimate that neither the usage assumptions for MRI and CT scans under the ATRA, nor the changes to the linear accelerator usage rate assumption adopted in the final Physician Fee Schedule for 2016, will have a material adverse effect on our future retail revenues.

Effective January 1, 2011, CMS made further adjustments to the Physician Fee Schedule so that specialties that have a higher proportion of the payment rate attributable to operating expenses such as equipment and supplies, which include radiation oncology, will experience an increase in aggregate payments. In addition, as a result of adjustments to codes identified to be misvalued, radiation oncology specialties and suppliers providing the technical component of diagnostic tests are among the entities that will experience decreases in aggregate payment. Some of these changes are being transitioned over time; for 2013, CMS estimated aggregate payment reductions of 7% in radiation oncology, 3% in radiology, 3% in nuclear medicine, 7% for suppliers providing the technical component of diagnostic tests and 9% for radiation therapy centers. A portion of the payment reduction to radiation oncology and radiation therapy centers stemmed from revisions to the operating expenses and procedure time allotted to perform IMRT and SBRT. CMS is also undertaking a review of procedure times allotted to other radiation oncology treatments. At this time, we do not believe that these regulatory changes will have a material effect on our future retail revenues.

In the Physician Fee Schedule for 2014, CMS made additional revisions to the formula it uses to account for physician time and practice expenses when calculating updates to the Physician Fee Schedule. CMS's revisions include changes to the Medicare Economic Index formula, which have the effect of redistributing some practice expense payment to the physician time component. This policy change, combined with the 90% usage rate assumption described above and various other adjustments for the 2014 Physician Fee Schedule, were projected to result in an aggregate payment increase of 1% in radiation oncology; no change to payments for nuclear medicine; and aggregate payment reductions of 2% in radiology, 11% for suppliers providing the technical component of diagnostic tests, and 1% for radiation therapy centers. In the Physician Fee Schedule for 2015, CMS adopted changes to

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payment policies that are projected to result in an aggregate payment increase of 1% for radiation therapy centers; no aggregate payment change for providers of nuclear medicine; and aggregate payment reductions of 1% in radiology, and 2% for suppliers providing the technical component of diagnostic tests.  In the final 2016 Physician Fee Schedule, CMS adopted changes to payment policies that are projected to result in no aggregate payment change in radiology and for suppliers providing the technical component of diagnostic tests, as well as aggregate payment reductions of 1% for radiation therapy centers; 1% for nuclear medicine; and 2% for radiation oncology. At this time, we do not believe that the final regulatory changes for 2015 or 2016 will have a material effect on our retail revenues.

In addition to annual updates to the Physician Fee Schedule, as indicated above, CMS also publishes regulatory changes to the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (“HOPPS”) on an annual basis. These payments are bundled amounts received by our hospital clients for hospital outpatient services related to MRI scans, PET scans, PET/CT scans and SRS treatments. In the 2016 HOPPS final rule, CMS finalized a 0.3% rate reduction, which, combined with other policy changes finalized under the rule, is expected to result in a 0.4% reduction in payments to hospitals under the HOPPS in 2016. Recent adjustments to the HOPPS payments have not had a material adverse effect on our revenue and earnings in 2015, 2014 or 2013.

Beginning on April 1, 2013, the ATRA required CMS to equalize the HOPPS payment associated with Cobalt 60-based SRS treatments to the payment amount for the less-expensive, linac-based SRS treatment. In the final HOPPS rule for 2014, CMS equalized payments for the treatments by establishing a single new payment level derived from CMS claims data for both treatments, which resulted in a payment increase for linac-based treatments and a payment decrease for Cobalt 60-based treatments beginning January 1, 2014. In addition, beginning in 2014, CMS utilized newly-available data to revise its estimate of hospitals' costs of providing CT and MRI services, which are used to calculate Medicare payments to hospitals for these services. The use of such data could result in payment reductions for CT and MRI procedures performed in the outpatient departments of our hospital clients. At this time, we do not believe that these changes will have a material adverse effect on our future revenues; however, we cannot predict the effect of future rate reductions on our future revenues or business.

Over the past few years, the growth rate of PET/CT and MRI industry wide scan volumes has slowed in part due to weak hospital volumes as reported by several investor-owned hospital companies, additional patient-related cost-sharing programs and an increasing trend of third-party payors intensifying their utilization management efforts, for example, through benefit managers who require prior authorizations to control the growth rate of imaging services generally. We expect that these trends will continue. One recent initiative to potentially reduce utilization of certain imaging services is the Medicare Imaging Demonstration, which is a two-year demonstration project designed to collect data regarding physician use of advanced diagnostic imaging services, quantify rates of appropriate, uncertain, and inappropriate advanced diagnostic image ordering in the Medicare program, and to determine whether exposing physicians to guidelines at the time of the order is associated with more appropriate ordering and the attendant change in utilization. This information would be used to determine the appropriateness of services by developing medical specialty guidelines for advanced imaging procedures within three designated modalities (MRI, CT and nuclear medicine). On February 2, 2011, CMS announced that it selected five participants for the demonstration project. The data collection portion of the demonstration concluded on April 1, 2012, and the 18-month intervention portion of the demonstration then went into effect, during which time the appropriateness of a physician's order for diagnostic imaging services was considered at the time the order was entered into the decision support systems being tested. The demonstration concluded on September 30, 2013, and a report to Congress summarizing the results of the demonstration was published on March 30, 2015. The report stated that exposing ordering physicians to appropriateness guidelines for advanced diagnostic imaging over the course of two years had nearly no effect on utilization for physicians and the report contained no recommendations for legislation or administrative action.

The PAMA required CMS, in conjunction with medical specialty societies, to adopt appropriate use criteria (“AUC”) for certain advanced diagnostic imaging services by November 15, 2015. Beginning in 2017, PAMA requires CMS to establish a program that promotes the use of AUC by requiring physicians who order and furnish advanced diagnostic imaging services to consult and report compliance with the AUC. Advanced imaging services ordered by certain physicians who do not adhere to the AUC are expected to be subject to prior authorization for applicable imaging services provided to Medicare beneficiaries beginning in 2020.

We cannot predict the full impact of the PPACA and other recent and future legislative enactments on our business. The reform law substantially changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers. Although certain provisions may negatively affect payment rates for certain imaging services, the PPACA also extended coverage to an estimated 24 million previously uninsured people, which may result in an increase in the demand for our services. Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the PPACA was enacted, which also may impact our business. On August 2, 2011, the President signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 (“BCA”), which, among other things, created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to recommend proposals in spending reductions to Congress. The Joint Select Committee did not achieve its targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, triggering the legislation's automatic reduction to several government programs. These reductions include aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year, which were scheduled to go into effect on January 2, 2013. The enactment of the ATRA delayed the imposition of the automatic cuts until March 1, 2013.

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On March 1, 2013, the President signed an executive order implementing the automatic budget reductions. Pursuant to that order, payments to Medicare providers for services furnished on or after April 1, 2013 were reduced by 2%. The impact to our revenue related to this 2% reduction was approximately $0.4 million in 2014 and approximately $0.3 million in 2015. The 2013 Budget Act extended the 2% reduction in payments to Medicare providers by another two years (through 2023), and subsequent legislation extended the cuts through 2025. Unless Congress acts to repeal or revise the automatic budget cuts enacted by the BCA, this payment reduction will continue. The PAMA also included a new quality incentive payment policy that, beginning January 1, 2016, reduces Medicare payments for the technical portion of certain CT services paid under the Physician Fee Schedule or HOPPS that are furnished using equipment that does not meet certain dose optimization and management standards, reducing payments for such services by 5% in 2016 and 15% in 2017. The full effect of the PPACA, BCA, ATRA, PAMA, and MACRA on our business is uncertain, and it is not clear whether other legislative changes will be adopted or how those changes would affect the demand for our services.

Payments to us by third-party payors depend substantially upon each payor's coverage, coding and reimbursement policies. Third-party payors may impose limits on coverage or reimbursement for diagnostic imaging services, including denying reimbursement for tests that do not follow recommended diagnostic procedures. In addition, we are subject to a variety of billing and coding requirements, including the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition (“ICD-10”) on October 1, 2015. The adoption of ICD-10 could create claims processing issues for our clinics or our payors that could result in additional claims submission or payment delays or denials, and we may incur additional costs for computer system updates, training and other resources required to implement ICD-10. Coverage policies also may be expanded to reflect emerging technologies. Because unfavorable coverage and reimbursement policies have and may continue to constrict the profit margins of the hospitals and clinics we bill directly, we have and may continue to need to lower our fees to retain existing clients and attract new ones. If coverage is limited or reimbursement rates are inadequate, a healthcare provider might find it financially unattractive to own diagnostic imaging or radiation oncology systems, yet beneficial to purchase our services. It is possible that third-party coverage and reimbursement policies will affect the need or prices for our services in the future, which could significantly affect our financial performance and our ability to conduct our business.

Environmental, Health and Safety Laws

We are subject to federal, state and local regulations governing the storage, use, transport and disposal of materials and waste products, including biohazardous and radioactive wastes. Our PET service and some of our other imaging services require the use of radioactive materials. While this material has a short half-life, meaning it quickly breaks down into inert, or non-radioactive substances, using such materials presents the risk of accidental environmental contamination and physical injury. Although we believe that our safety procedures for storing, handling, transporting and disposing of these hazardous materials comply with the standards prescribed by law and regulation, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from those hazardous materials. We maintain professional liability insurance that covers such matters with coverage that we believe is consistent with industry practice and appropriate in light of the risks attendant to our business. However, in the event of an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result, and any liability could exceed the limits or fall outside the coverage of our insurance. We may not be able to maintain insurance on acceptable terms, or at all. We could incur significant costs and the diversion of our management's attention to comply with current or future environmental laws and regulations. We have not had material expenses related to environmental, health and safety laws or regulations to date.

How to Obtain Our SEC Filings

All reports we file with the SEC are available free of charge via EDGAR through the SEC website at www.sec.gov. We also provide copies of our current reports on Form 8-K, Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, proxy statement and amendments to those documents at no charge to investors upon request and make electronic copies of those reports available through our website at www.alliancehealthcareservices-us.com as soon as reasonably practicable after filing those materials with the SEC. The information found on, or otherwise accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, nor does it form a part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other document that we file with the SEC.

Our Investor Relations Department can be contacted at Alliance HealthCare Services, Inc., 100 Bayview Circle, Suite 400, Newport Beach, California 92660, Attn: Investor Relations, tel: (949) 242-5300.

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Executive Officers of the Registrant

Set forth below is information regarding our executive officers, including their principal occupations for the past five years and their ages as of March 10, 2016. There are no family relationships between any of our executive officers and any other executive officer or board member. Our board of directors elects our executive officers, who serve at the discretion of our board of directors.

 

Name

 

Age

 

Present Position

Percy C. Tomlinson

 

54

 

Chief Executive Officer

Howard K. Aihara (1)

 

52

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Rhonda A. Longmore-Grund

 

53

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Richard W. Johns

 

58

 

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer

Richard A. Jones

 

52

 

President, Alliance Radiology

Gregory E. Spurlock

 

54

 

President, Alliance Oncology and Alliance International

Steven M. Siwek, M.D.

 

61

 

President, Alliance HealthCare Interventional Partners

(1) Mr. Aihara resigned as Chief Financial Officer, effective the date of filing of this Form 10-K.  Ms. Longmore-Grund assumes the role of Chief Financial Officer upon Mr. Aihara’s resignation.

 

Percy C. Tomlinson became Chief Executive Officer in October 2013. Mr. Tomlinson has more than 25 years of diverse executive management and leadership experience, serving in a variety of roles, most recently as the Chief Executive Officer of Midwest Dental, from 2012 until joining us. Previously, he spent 10 years with the Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Inc. (CDI) in several senior roles including Chief Executive Officer from 2011 to 2012, President, and Chief Operating Officer from 2005 to 2011 and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2002 to 2005. Mr. Tomlinson holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. from the University of St. Thomas.

Howard K. Aihara currently serves as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Aihara has resigned from this role, effective the date of filing this Form 10-K. From December 2005 through March 10, 2016, Mr. Aihara served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Aihara joined us in September 2000 as our Vice President and Corporate Controller. From 1997 until September 2000, he was Vice President, Finance, for UniMed Management Company, a physician practice management company. From 1995 through 1997, he was Executive Director and Corporate Controller for AHI Healthcare Systems, Inc. AHI was a publicly traded physician practice management company. Mr. Aihara began his career at Ernst & Young LLP and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). Mr. Aihara holds a B.A. in business administration from California State University-Fullerton.

Rhonda A. Longmore-Grund will commence serving as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer upon Mr. Aihara’s resignation. Ms. Longmore-Grund most recently served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Printronix, a privately-held global industrial technology design and manufacturing company from November 2009 to February 2016. Previously, Ms. Longmore-Grund has held senior management positions at Ingram Micro, Inc., Exult, Inc. and Velocium. Ms. Longmore-Grund received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Richard W. Johns has served as our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer since February 2016. Previously, Mr. Johns served as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since February 2012. Mr. Johns has had a legal career spanning over 30 years providing legal services to a variety of healthcare clients based in the United States and Europe. From 2010 to 2012, he was General Counsel at LaVie Care Centers, a national long-term care company with revenues in excess of $1 billion annually. From 2009 to 2010, Mr. Johns maintained his own law practice serving various healthcare clients in the United States and Europe, and from 1998 to 2008 served as a partner with the internationally recognized firm of Foley & Lardner, where he was instrumental in developing a national healthcare practice. Mr. Johns began his legal career working with various law firms in the Washington, D.C. area and holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California.

Richard A. Jones was appointed President of the Radiology Division in June 2012. Previously, Mr. Jones served as Executive Vice President of the Radiology Division since August 2011. He has been with Alliance since 1996, originally serving as Regional Operations Manager, then Vice President of Business Development, then Vice President of Operations for the North zone, then Senior Vice President of the North zone, and then as Senior Vice President of Operations. Before joining Alliance, Mr. Jones held a number of leadership roles in hospitals and the commercial healthcare sector. Mr. Jones holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Nazarene College.

Gregory E. Spurlock has served as President of Alliance Oncology since April 2013 and was appointed President of Alliance Oncology and International in February 2016. He initially joined Alliance Oncology as Chief Administrative Officer in April 2011, as part of the company’s acquisition of US Radiosurgery and was later promoted to Senior Vice President of Business Development and

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Contract Operations in June of 2012. In his current role, Mr. Spurlock oversees all aspects of Alliance Oncology and will lead the new International Division overseeing both Oncology and Radiology for operations outside of the United States. Mr. Spurlock's career has been focused on ancillary services, physician relationships and facility development. Mr. Spurlock joined US Radiosurgery in 2004 and held various executive leadership positions with the company and its affiliates from 2004 until its acquisition by Alliance in 2011, including Chief Operating Officer of US Radiosurgery, Executive Vice President of NeoSpine, and Chief Executive Officer of Imaging One, LLC. Prior to 2004, Mr. Spurlock also held the role of Executive Director at Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance and at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.

Steven M. Siwek, M.D. was appointed President of Alliance Healthcare Interventional Partners in April 2015. Dr. Siwek initially joined Alliance through the February 2015 acquisition of The Pain Center of Arizona—Arizona’s center of excellence for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain disorders with 12 locations statewide. As founder and CEO of TPC, Dr. Siwek has focused the last 15 years of his medical career on building programs that set national standards for quality coordinated care in pain management. Dr. Siwek’s multi-disciplinary and integrative approach to preventing, treating, and eliminating chronic pain is advancing the way in which interventional and pain management services are accessed and delivered nationwide. Dr. Siwek received his M.D. from the New York Medical College and completed his residency training at the Mayo Clinics in Rochester, Minneapolis, and Scottsdale, Arizona, and fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition, Dr. Siwek holds an M.B.A. from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

 

 

ITEM 1A.

RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below before investing in our publicly-traded securities. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations will likely suffer. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Some of the statements in this Item 1A are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-looking Statements” on page 1.

We have described the risk factors in the following related groups:

 

·

risks related to government regulation of our business;

 

·

other risks related to our business;

 

·

risks related to our governance and stock exchange listing; and

 

·

risks related to our debt.

Risks Related to Government Regulation of Our Business

Changes in the rates or methods of third-party reimbursements for diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology services could result in reduced demand for our services or create downward pressure, which could cause our revenues to decline and harm our financial position.

We derived approximately 20% of our 2015 revenues from direct billings to patients and third-party payors such as Medicare, Medicaid or private health insurance companies. Changes in the rates or methods of reimbursement for the services we provide could have a significant negative effect on those revenues. Moreover, our healthcare provider clients on whom we depend for the majority of our revenues generally rely on reimbursement from third-party payors. If we or our clients receive decreased reimbursements as a result of various governmental efforts to reduce healthcare costs as described in detail in Item 1, Business-Regulation and Reimbursement, these decreases could result in a reduced demand for our services or downward pricing pressures, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.

With respect to our retail business, for services for which we bill Medicare directly, we are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which is updated on an annual basis. Under the Medicare statutory formula, payments under the fee schedule would have decreased for the past several years if Congress had failed to intervene. In the past, when the application of the statutory formula resulted in lower payment, Congress has passed interim legislation to prevent the reductions in payments. If Congress fails to intervene as it has done in the past to prevent the implementation of payment reductions through either another temporary measure or a permanent revision to the statutory formula, the resulting decrease in payment will adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.

We cannot predict the individual and collective effect on our business of the changes described above, but they could negatively affect parts of our business or our entire operations, which could harm our financial performance and condition.

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Complying with federal and state regulations is an expensive and time-consuming process, and any failure to comply could result in substantial penalties.

We are directly or indirectly through our clients subject to extensive regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business, including the federal Anti-Kickback Law and similar state anti-kickback laws, the Stark Law and similar state laws affecting physician referrals, the federal False Claims Act, HIPAA, as amended by the HITECH Act, and similar state laws addressing privacy and security, state unlawful practice of medicine and fee splitting laws, state CON laws, the Medicare and Medicaid statutes and regulations, and requirements for handling biohazardous and radioactive materials and wastes.

Both federal and state government agencies have heightened and coordinated civil and criminal enforcement efforts as part of numerous ongoing investigations of healthcare companies, as well as their executives and managers. These investigations relate to a wide variety of matters, including referral and billing practices. The OIG and the DOJ have, from time to time, established national enforcement initiatives that focus on specific billing practices or other suspected areas of abuse. Some of our activities could become the subject of governmental investigations or inquiries.

If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws and regulations to which we or our clients are subject, we may be subject to the applicable penalty associated with the violation, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines and the curtailment of our operations. Any penalties, damages, fines or curtailment of our operations, individually or in the aggregate, could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results. Our risk of being found in violation of these laws and regulations is increased by the fact that many of them have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of interpretations. Any action against us for violation of these laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert management's attention from the operation of our business. For a more detailed discussion of the various state and federal regulations to which we are subject, see Item 1, Business-Regulation, Reimbursement and Environmental, Health and Safety Laws.

Federal and state anti-kickback and anti-self-referral laws may adversely affect our operations and income.

Various federal and state laws govern financial arrangements among health care providers. The federal Anti-Kickback Law prohibits the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration in return for, or to induce, the referral of Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare program patients, or in return for, or to induce, the purchase, lease or order of items or services that are covered by Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. Many state laws also prohibit the solicitation, payment or receipt of remuneration in return for, or to induce, the referral of patients in private as well as government programs. Violation of these laws may result in substantial civil or criminal penalties and/or exclusion from participation in federal or state healthcare programs. We believe that we are operating in compliance with applicable laws and believe that our arrangements with providers would not be found to violate the federal and state anti-kickback laws. However, these laws could be interpreted in a manner that could have an adverse effect on our operations.

The Stark Law prohibits a physician from referring Medicare or Medicaid patients to any entity for certain designated health services (including MRI and other diagnostic imaging services) if the physician has a prohibited financial relationship with that entity, unless an exception applies. Although we believe that our operations do not violate the Stark Law, our activities may be challenged. If a challenge to our activities is successful, it could have an adverse effect on our operations. In addition, legislation may be enacted in the future that further addresses Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse or that imposes additional requirements or burdens on us.

A number of states in which we operate have adopted a form of anti-kickback law and/or Stark Law. The scope of these laws and the interpretations of them vary from state to state and are enforced by state courts and regulatory authorities, each with broad discretion. A determination of liability under the laws described in this risk factor could result in fines and penalties and restrictions on our ability to operate in these jurisdictions.

In addition, under the DRA, states are encouraged to adopt false claims acts, similar to the federal False Claims Act, which establish liability for submission of fraudulent claims to the state Medicaid program and contain qui tam or whistleblower provisions. States enacting such false claims statutes will receive an increased percentage of any recovery from a state Medicaid judgment or settlement. Adoption of new false claims statutes in states where we operate may impose additional requirements or burdens on us.

Healthcare reform legislation and regulations could adversely affect our operations or limit the prices we can charge for our services, which would reduce our revenues and harm our operating results.

In addition to extensive existing government healthcare regulation, there have been and continue to be numerous initiatives at the federal and state levels for reforms affecting the payment for and availability of healthcare services, including proposals that would significantly limit reimbursement under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Limitations on reimbursement amounts and other cost

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containment pressures have in the past resulted in a decrease in the revenue we receive for each scan we perform, which would reduce our revenues and hard our operating results. For a more detailed discussion of the various state and federal legislation and regulations to which we are subject, see Item 1, Business-Regulation and -Reimbursement.

The application or repeal of state certificate of need regulations could harm our business and financial results.

Some states require a CON or similar regulatory approval prior to the acquisition of high-cost capital items, including diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology systems or provision of diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy services by us or our clients. A majority of the 43 states in which we operate require a CON, and more states may adopt similar licensure frameworks in the future. In many cases, a limited number of these certificates are available in a given state. If we are unable to obtain the applicable certificate or approval or additional certificates or approvals necessary to expand our operations, these regulations may limit or preclude our operations in the relevant jurisdictions.

Conversely, states in which we have obtained a CON may repeal existing CON regulations or liberalize exemptions from the regulations. The repeal of CON regulations or defunding of CON programs in states in which we have obtained a CON or CON exemption would lower barriers to entry for competition in those states and could adversely affect our business.

If we fail to comply with various licensure, certification and accreditation standards, we may be subject to loss of licensure, certification or accreditation, which would adversely affect our operations.

All of the states in which we operate require the imaging technologists and radiation therapists who operate systems to be licensed or certified. Also, each of our retail sites must continue to meet various requirements to receive payments from the Medicare program. In addition, we are currently accredited by The Joint Commission, an independent, non-profit organization that accredits various types of healthcare providers such as hospitals, nursing homes and providers of diagnostic imaging services. In the healthcare industry, various types of organizations are accredited to meet certain Medicare certification requirements, expedite third-party payments and fulfill state licensure requirements. Some managed care providers prefer to contract with accredited organizations. Any lapse in our licenses, certifications or accreditations or those of our technologists, or the failure of any of our retail sites to satisfy the necessary requirements under Medicare could adversely affect our operations and financial results.

We cannot predict the full extent of recent legislative changes on our business, and their effects may harm our financial performance and our stockholder value.

Recent healthcare reform laws, in particular the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA"), substantially changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers. For example, certain provisions may negatively affect payment rates for some imaging and radiation oncology services. A number of states have opted out of participation in the PPACA, which reduces the number of previously uninsured people who can participate in the program. Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the PPACA was enacted. On August 2, 2011, the President signed into law the BCA, which, among other things, created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to recommend proposals in spending reductions to Congress. The Joint Select Committee did not achieve its targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, triggering the legislation's automatic reduction to several government programs. These reductions include aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year. The enactment of the ATRA of 2012 on January 2, 2013, delayed the imposition of these automatic cuts until March 1, 2013. On March 1, 2013, the President signed an executive order implementing the automatic reductions. Pursuant to that order, payments to Medicare providers for services furnished on or after April 1, 2013 were reduced by 2%. The impact to our revenue related to this 2% reduction was approximately $0.4 million in 2014 and $0.3 million in 2015. The 2013 Budget Act extended the 2% reduction in payments to Medicare providers by another two years (through 2023), and subsequent legislation extended the cuts through 2024. Unless Congress acts to repeal or revise the automatic budget cuts enacted by the BCA, this payment reduction will continue. The PAMA also included a new quality incentive payment policy that, beginning January 1, 2016, reduces Medicare payments for certain CT services paid under the Physician Fee Schedule or HOPPS that are furnished using equipment that does not meet certain dose optimization and management standards. The full effect of the PPACA, BCA, ATRA and PAMA on our business is uncertain, and it is not clear whether other legislative changes will be adopted or how those changes would affect the demand for our services.

Other Risks Related to Our Business

Our MRI and PET/CT scan volumes may decline in the future, leading to material adverse effects on the demand for our services and/or our future revenues.

The demand for our MRI and PET/CT scan services and volumes are directly linked to authorization rates by insurance companies, sustained unemployment rates, the number of under-insured or uninsured patients, the reported decline in physician office

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visits, hospitals adding imaging services directly to enhance hospital profitability and other conditions arising from the global economic conditions described below. We believe that demand for MRI and PET/CT scans from our shared-service operations could decline in future periods as a result of these factors. If we are unable to arrest and reverse these declines, our financial performance and condition will suffer.

We experience competition from other medical diagnostic and radiation oncology companies and equipment manufacturers, and this competition, as well as overcapacity to meet demand for medical diagnostic and radiation oncology services, could adversely affect our revenues and our business.

The market for diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology services and systems is competitive. In addition to direct competition from other imaging and radiation oncology providers, we compete with independent imaging centers and referring physicians with diagnostic imaging systems in their own offices, as well as with OEMs that aggressively sell or lease imaging or radiation oncology systems to healthcare providers for full-time installation. Some of our competitors may now or in the future have access to greater resources than we do or may be less burdened with debt and contribute to overcapacity to meet the demand for our services. If we are unable to compete successfully with this diverse group of competitors, particularly if overall MRI usage declines, our client base will decline and our business and financial condition will suffer.

Our revenues may fluctuate or be unpredictable, which may adversely affect our financial results.

The amount and timing of revenues that we may derive from our business will fluctuate based on:

 

·

the effects of governmental laws, regulations and reimbursement policies on payments to us and to third-party payors;

 

·

variations in the rate at which our clients renew their contracts with us;

 

·

the extent to which our mobile shared-service clients become full-time clients;

 

·

competitive factors;

 

·

trends in healthcare treatment and reimbursement by government and private insurance;

 

·

overall revenue trends;

 

·

changes in the number of days of service we can offer with respect to a given system due to equipment malfunctions or the seasonal factors discussed below;

 

·

the mix of wholesale and retail billing for our services; and

 

·

the overall United States economy and the economy in the particular areas where we provide our services.

In addition, we experience seasonality in the sale of our services. First and fourth quarter revenues are typically lower than those from the second and third quarters. First quarter revenues are affected primarily by inclement weather, typically resulting in fewer patients being scanned or treated during the period. Fourth quarter revenues are affected by holiday and client and patient vacation schedules, resulting in fewer scans or treatments during the period. Due to the fixed nature of our costs, the variability in margins is higher than the variability in revenues. As a result, our revenues may vary significantly from quarter to quarter, and our quarterly results have been and may in the future be below market expectations. We also experience fluctuations in revenues due to general economic conditions, including recession or economic slowdown. We may not be able to reduce our expenses, including our debt service obligations, quickly enough to respond to these declines in revenue, which would make our business difficult to operate and would harm our financial results.

We may be unable to renew or maintain our client contracts, which would harm our business and financial results.

When our clients' contracts with us expire, those clients may cease using our imaging services and purchase or lease their own imaging systems or use our competitors' imaging systems. If our clients do not renew or maintain their contracts as we expect, our business will suffer. It is not always possible to obtain replacement clients quickly. Historically, many replacement clients have been smaller facilities that have a lower number of scans and generate less revenue than the clients we lost. We also run the risk of being unable to renew or maintain our client contracts in our Radiation Oncology Division.

Pressure to control healthcare costs could have a negative effect on our results.

One of the principal objectives of managed care organizations, such as health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations, is to control the cost of healthcare services. Healthcare providers participating in managed care plans may be influenced

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to refer patients seeking imaging services or radiation therapy to certain providers depending on the plan in which a covered patient is enrolled. The expansion of health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations and other managed care organizations within the geographic areas we cover could have a negative effect on the utilization and pricing of our services, because these organizations may exert greater control over patients' access to services of the type we offer, the selections of the provider of those services and reimbursement rates for those services.

We may be unable to maintain our imaging and radiation oncology systems effectively or generate revenue when our systems are not working.

Timely, effective service is essential to maintaining our reputation and high utilization rates on our imaging and radiation oncology systems. Repairs to one of our systems can take up to two weeks and result in a loss of revenue. Our warranties and maintenance contracts do not fully compensate us for loss of revenue when our systems are not working. The principal components of our cost of revenues include depreciation; amortization; compensation paid to technologists, therapists, drivers and other clinical staff; system maintenance costs; insurance; medical supplies; system transportation; technologists' travel costs; and professional costs related to the delivery of radiation therapy and professional radiology interpretation services. Because the majority of these expenses are fixed, a reduction in the number of scans or treatments performed due to out-of-service equipment will result in lower revenues and margins. Equipment manufacturers repair our equipment, and they may not be able to perform repairs or supply needed parts in a timely manner. Therefore, if we experience greater than anticipated system malfunctions or if we are unable to promptly obtain the service necessary to keep our systems functioning effectively, our revenues could decline and our ability to provide services would be harmed.

Harsh weather conditions may limit our ability to maximize the utilization of our diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology equipment, which may reduce our revenue.

Harsh weather conditions can adversely affect our operations and financial condition. To the extent severe weather patterns affect the regions in which we operate, potential patients may find it difficult to travel to our centers and we may have difficulty moving our mobile systems along their scheduled routes. As a result, we could experience a decrease in equipment utilization, scan volume and revenues during that period.

Natural disasters could adversely affect our business and operations.

Our corporate headquarters is located in California and we currently operate in various geographic regions across 45 states. Consequently, we are subject to varying risks for natural disaster, including draught, hurricanes, blizzards, floods, earthquakes and tornados. Depending on its severity, a natural disaster could damage our facilities and systems or prevent potential patients from traveling to our centers. Damage to our equipment or any interruption in our business would adversely affect our financial condition and could result in the loss of the capital invested in the damaged facilities or systems or anticipated future cash flows from those facilities or systems.

Adverse changes in general domestic and worldwide economic conditions and instability and disruption of credit markets could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition or liquidity.

We are subject to risks arising from adverse changes in general domestic and global economic conditions, including recession or economic slowdown and disruption of credit markets.  In recent periods, investor concerns about the U.S. and global economic outlook, including concerns about the level of economic recovery in the United States, combined with volatile oil prices, increased tax rates and governmental budget deficits and debt levels have contributed to high volatility levels in our business.

As a result of these and other market conditions, the cost and availability of credit has been adversely affected.  A continued deterioration of credit markets may adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition and the liquidity and financial condition of our customers.  If these market conditions continue or worsen, they may limit our ability to timely access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs, resulting in adverse effects on our financial condition and results of operations.

We may not receive payment from some of our healthcare provider clients because of their financial circumstances.

Some of our healthcare provider clients do not have significant financial resources, liquidity or access to capital. If these clients experience financial difficulties, they may be unable to pay us for the services that we provide. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, write-offs of accounts receivable from healthcare provider clients that become insolvent, file for bankruptcy or are otherwise unable to pay amounts owed to us. A significant deterioration in general or local economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on the financial health of some of our healthcare provider clients. As a result, we may have to increase the amounts of accounts receivable that we write-off, which would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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Technological change in our industry could reduce the demand for our services and require us to incur significant costs to upgrade our equipment.

We operate in a competitive, capital intensive and high fixed-cost industry. The development of new technologies or refinements of existing ones might make our existing systems technologically or economically obsolete, or reduce the need or demand for our systems. Numerous companies currently manufacture MRI and PET/CT, radiation oncology and other diagnostic imaging systems. Competition among manufacturers for a greater share of the MRI, PET/CT and other diagnostic imaging systems market has resulted in and likely will continue to result in technological advances in the speed and imaging capacity of these new systems, including the new ultra-high field MRI systems and 256-slice CT systems. Consequently, the obsolescence of our systems may be accelerated. In the future, to the extent we are unable to generate sufficient cash from our operations or obtain additional funds through bank financing or the issuance of equity or debt securities, we may be unable to maintain a competitive equipment base. In addition, advancing technology may enable hospitals, physicians or other service providers to perform procedures without the assistance of service providers such as ourselves. As a result, we may not be able to maintain our competitive position in our targeted regions or expand our business.

Because a high percentage of our operating expenses are fixed, a relatively small decrease in revenues could have a significant negative effect on our financial results.

A high percentage of our expenses are fixed, meaning they do not vary significantly with the increase or decrease in revenues. Those expenses include debt service and capital lease payments, rent payments, payroll, maintenance, insurance and vehicle operation costs. As a result, a relatively small reduction in the prices we charge for our services or in our procedure volumes could have a disproportionate negative effect on our financial results.

We may be subject to professional liability risks, which could be costly and could negatively affect our business and financial results.

We may be subject to professional liability claims. There is a risk of harm to a patient during an MRI if the patient has certain types of metal implants or cardiac pacemakers within his or her body. Although patients are screened to safeguard against this risk, screening may nevertheless fail to identify the hazard.

In response to recent press reports concerning the risk of significant, sometimes fatal, errors in radiation therapy, especially relating to linear radiation, accreditation of facilities and the establishment of a national error reporting database are under consideration. In addition, various trade organizations have called for quality improvement measures and the establishment of the nation's first central database for the reporting of errors involving linear particle accelerators and CT scanners. Federal legislation in these areas is under consideration and a Congressional hearing was held in February 2010. We are not aware of any actions taken after the hearing. In addition, on September 29, 2010, California enacted a law that requires hospitals and clinics to record radiation doses for CT scans, which became effective July 1, 2012, and to report any overdoses to patients, their doctors and the California Department of Public Health. Effective July 1, 2013, the new California law requires all facilities that furnish CT services to be accredited by an organization approved by CMS, the Medical Board of California or the California Department of Public Health. Other states have considered similar legislation and enacted regulations to implement additional record keeping, education, or oversight requirements relate to CT services. We cannot assure you that the cost of complying with any new regulations will not be substantial, that the negative publicity concerning these errors will not adversely affect our business, or that these types of errors will not occur with our services.

We maintain professional liability insurance with coverage that we believe is consistent with industry practice and appropriate in light of the risks attendant to our business. Nevertheless, any claim made against us could be costly to defend against, result in a substantial damage award against us and divert the attention of our management from our operations, which could have an adverse effect on our financial performance. It is also possible that our insurance coverage will not continue to be available at acceptable costs or on favorable terms.

Loss of key executives and failure to attract qualified managers and sales persons could limit our growth and negatively affect our operations.

Our senior management team has extensive experience in our industry. We believe that they are instrumental in guiding our business, instituting valuable performance and quality monitoring, and driving innovation. Accordingly, our future performance is substantially dependent upon the services of our senior management team and our ability to attract talented executives as and when needed. In particular, we depend upon Tom Tomlinson, our Chief Executive Officer, and Division Presidents, for their skills, experience, and knowledge of our company and industry contacts. We do not have key employee insurance policies covering any of

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our management team. The loss of Mr. Tomlinson and divisional leadership, or other members of our management team could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We require field managers and sales persons with experience in our industry to operate and sell our services for diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology. We cannot predict the availability of qualified field managers and sales persons or the compensation levels that will be required to hire and retain them. The loss of the services of any member of our senior management or our inability to hire qualified field managers and sales persons at compensation levels that are economically reasonable to us could adversely affect our ability to operate and grow our business.

Many of the states in which we operate do not enforce agreements that prohibit a former employee from competing with a former employer. As a result, many of our employees whose employment is terminated are free to compete with us, subject to prohibitions on the use of confidential information and, depending on the terms of the employee's employment agreement, on solicitation of existing employees and customers. A former executive, field or sales manager or other key employee who joins one of our competitors could use the relationships he or she established while our employee and the industry knowledge he or she acquired during that tenure to enhance the new employer's ability to compete with us.

Loss of, and failure to attract, qualified employees, technologists and other clinical staff could limit our growth and negatively affect our operations.

Our future success depends on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. Competition in our industry for qualified employees is intense. In particular, there is a very high demand for qualified technologists who are necessary to operate our systems, particularly PET/CT technologists. We may not be able to hire and retain a sufficient number of technologists, therapists, physicists and dosimetrists, and we expect that our costs for the salaries and benefits of these employees will continue to increase for the foreseeable future because of the industry's competitive demand for their services. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate our existing employees.

Our PET/CT services and some of our other imaging services require the use of radioactive materials, which could subject us to regulation-related costs and delays and potential liabilities for injuries or violations of environmental, health and safety laws and regulations.

Our PET/CT services and some of our other imaging services require radioactive materials. While these radioactive materials have a short half-life-meaning it quickly breaks down into inert or non-radioactive substances - storage, transportation, use and disposal of these materials present the risk of accidental environmental contamination and physical injury. We are subject to federal, state and local regulations governing storage, transportation, handling and disposal of these materials and waste products. In spite of our safety procedures for storing, transporting, handling and disposing of these hazardous materials, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from those hazardous materials. We maintain professional liability insurance with coverage that we believe is consistent with industry practice and appropriate in light of the risks attendant to our business. In the event of an accident, however, we could be held liable for any damages that result, and any liability could exceed the limits or fall outside the coverage of our insurance. We may not be able to maintain insurance on acceptable terms, or at all. We could incur significant costs and the diversion of our management's attention to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations.

We may not be able to achieve the expected benefits from future acquisitions and investments, which would adversely affect our financial condition and results.

We have historically relied on acquisitions and joint venture investments as methods of expanding our business. In addition, we will consider future acquisitions and investments as opportunities arise and our financial performance permits. If we do not successfully integrate acquisitions, we may not realize anticipated operating advantages and cost savings. The integration of companies that have previously operated separately involves a number of risks, including:

 

·

demands on management related to the increase in our size after an acquisition;

 

·

the diversion of management's attention from the management of daily operations to the integration of operations;

 

·

difficulties in the assimilation and retention of employees;

 

·

potential adverse effects on operating results; and

 

·

challenges in retaining clients.

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We may not be able to maintain the levels of operating efficiency that acquired companies have achieved or might achieve separately. Successful integration of each of their operations will depend upon our ability to manage those operations and to eliminate redundant and excess costs. Because of difficulties in combining operations, we may not be able to achieve the cost savings and other size-related benefits that we hoped to achieve after these acquisitions.

Some acquisitions or joint ventures we undertake in the future may be in regions outside the United States, such as Asia.  In these transactions, we will face additional challenges, such as dealing with different languages and cultures, working with a local partner, and having to address the particular economic, currency, political, and regulatory risks associated with specific countries.  If we are unable to obtain the anticipated benefits from acquisitions or joint venture investments, whether within or outside the United States, our financial condition and operating results may be adversely impacted.

High fuel costs can harm our operations and financial performance.

Fuel costs constitute a significant portion of our mobile operating expenses, through diesel fuel for our tractor fleet and mileage reimbursement for our team members. Historically, fuel costs have been subject to wide price fluctuations based on geopolitical issues and supply and demand. Fuel availability is also affected by demand for home heating oil, diesel, gasoline and other petroleum products, as well as overall economic conditions. Because of the effect of these events on the price and availability of fuel, we cannot predict the cost and future availability of fuel with any degree of certainty. In the event of a fuel supply shortage or further increases in fuel prices, we might be forced to curtail our scheduled mobile services. Sustained high fuel costs will harm our financial condition and results of operations.

Insurance costs and claims expenses could adversely affect our earnings.

The transportation aspect of our business is exposed to costs for claims related to property damage claims by others; personal injury; damage to our mobile systems resulting from accidents, vandalism or theft; and workers' compensation. We carry insurance to minimize these exposures. Insurance costs have varied over the past five years, reflecting the level of our operations, the insurance environment for our industry, our claim experience and our self-retained (deductible) level.

We are also responsible for claim expenses within our self-retained (deductible) levels for liability and workers' compensation claims. We maintain insurance to cover claims and expense in excess of our deductible levels with insurance companies that we consider financially sound. Although we believe our aggregate insurance limits are sufficient to cover reasonably expected claims, it is possible that one or more claims could exceed those limits and adversely affect our operating results. If the number or severity of claims within our deductible levels increases, or if we are required to accrue or pay additional amounts because the claims prove to be more severe than our original assessment, our operating results would be adversely affected.

Our transportation operations are regulated, and failure to comply or increased costs of compliance with existing or future regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The transportation aspect of our business is subject to legislative and regulatory changes that can affect our operations and financial performance. Our trucking operations and those of the trucking companies and independent contractors with whom we engage are subject to regulation by the Department of Transportation, or DOT, and various state, local, and foreign governmental agencies, which govern such activities as authorization to engage in motor carrier operations, handling of hazardous materials, safety ratings, insurance requirements, vehicle weight and size, and emissions restrictions. We are also periodically audited by the DOT and other state and federal authorities to ensure that we comply with safety, required licenses, hours-of-service, clean truck regulations, and other rules and regulations.

New governmental laws and regulations, or changes to existing laws and regulations, could affect our transportation operations. Any additional measures that may be required by future laws and regulations or changes to existing laws and regulations may require us to make changes to our operating practices and may result in additional costs which, if we are unable to pass through to our clients, could have an adverse effect on our financial performance.

We are vulnerable to system failures, including those that may be related to cyber security attacks, which could harm our business.

We rely on our technology infrastructure to sell our services, interact with customers, and bill, collect, and make payments.  Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, power loss, telecommunication failures, terrorist or hacker attacks, computer viruses, and other events. When we upgrade or change systems, we may suffer interruptions in service, loss of data, or reduced functionality.   Despite any precautions we may take, such problems could result in improper use of our systems or networks, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of confidential or other information, fraudulent loss of

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assets, and interruptions in our services.  A cyber-related attack, or other information technology system failure, could have a significant adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations. A cyber-related attack could also result in other negative consequences, including damage to our reputation or competitiveness, remediation or increased protection costs, litigation or regulatory action.

Risks Related to Our Governance and Stock Exchange Listing

Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, LLC and MTS Health Investors, LLC beneficially own the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock and are therefore able to exert significant influence over us, including with respect to change of control transactions.

As of December 31, 2015, funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, LLC and MTS Health Investors, LLC (collectively, the “Investor Parties”) beneficially owned approximately 51% of our outstanding shares of common stock. So long as they beneficially own at least 35% of our outstanding shares of common stock, the Investor Parties will have the right to designate three of the members of our board of directors. As a result of their ownership of our common stock and their right to designate three directors, the Investor Parties have the ability to exert significant influence on our management and operations, as well as control the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, including approving mergers, consolidations or sales of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and advisory votes, including advisory votes related to our executive pay practices and appointment of independent registered auditors.

On September 16, 2015, Fujian Thai Hot Investment Co., Ltd. (“Thai Hot”) agreed to purchase approximately 5,537,945 shares of our common stock from the Investor Parties and Larry C. Buckelew (the “Share Purchase”).  The Share Purchase remains subject to various closing conditions, and is expected to be completed within a few weeks of the filing of this Form 10-K.  Upon completion of the Share Purchase, Thai Hot will beneficially own an aggregate of approximately 52% of the outstanding shares of our common stock.  In connection with the Share Purchase, Thai Hot and the Company will enter into a governance, voting and standstill agreement, which will provide that Thai Hot is prohibited, for a period of three years after execution of the agreement, from purchasing any shares of the Company’s equity securities without the approval of the independent directors of the Company not affiliated with Thai Hot, subject to a right of Thai Hot to acquire additional shares to maintain its 52% ownership.  During the three-year period and for so long as Thai Hot owns at least 35% of the fully diluted equity securities of the Company, Thai Hot will have the right to appoint to our Board of Directors the number of directors necessary to comprise a majority of the Board of Directors as well as two designees on certain Board committees. In the event that Thai Hot beneficially owns less than 35% but at least 25% of the Company’s outstanding common stock, Thai Hot will have the right to nominate three members to our Board of Directors, and the number of its permitted committee designees will decrease to one. In the event Thai Hot beneficially own less than 25% but at least 15% of the Company’s outstanding common stock, Thai Hot will have the right to nominate one member to our Board of Directors, and it will lose its right to have any committee designees.  Upon completion of the Share Purchase, Thai Hot will therefore have the ability to exert significant influence on our management and operations, and to control the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval. This concentration of ownership and voting power may have the effect of delaying or preventing a merger, consolidation, sale of assets or other similar transaction that involves a third party. It is possible that the interests of the Investor Parties, prior to completion of the Share Purchase, and Thai Hot, after its completion, may in some circumstances conflict with our interests or the interests of our other stockholders.

Because of the equity ownership of the Investor Parties, we are considered a “controlled company” for purposes of the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations: Global Market ("NASDAQ") listing requirements. We will also be considered a “controlled company” after completion of the Share Purchase.  As such, we are exempt from the requirement that the majority of our board of directors meet the standards of independence established by the NASDAQ and we are exempt from the requirement that we have a separate Compensation Committee comprised entirely of directors who meet those independence standards. We do not currently intend to rely upon the Compensation Committee exemption available for controlled companies, or, if the Thai Hot designees meet the NASDAQ standards of independence, the exemption from having a majority of independent directors.  However, we may choose to use the exemption at any time that we remain a controlled company.  

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Possible volatility in our stock price could negatively affect us and our stockholders.

The trading price of our common stock has fluctuated significantly in the past. During the period from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2015, the trading price of our common stock fluctuated from a high of $34.15 per share to a low of $6.73 per share. The price of our common stock could also be subject to wide fluctuations in the future as a result of a number of other factors, including the following:

 

·

changes in expectations as to future financial performance or buy/sell recommendations of securities analysts;

 

·

our, or a competitor's, announcement of new products or services, or significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments; and

 

·

the operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies.

In addition, the securities markets in the United States have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated to the operating performance of companies in these markets. Broad market and industry factors may lead to volatility in the price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Moreover, our stock has limited trading volume, and this illiquidity may increase the volatility of our stock price.

In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of an individual company's securities, securities class action litigation often has been instituted against that company. The institution of similar litigation against us could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management's attention and resources, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law and our organizational documents may discourage an acquisition of us.

Our organizational documents and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware both contain provisions that impede the removal of directors and may discourage another party from making a proposal to acquire us, even if such a proposal would be in the best interest of our stockholders. For example, the provisions:

 

·

permit the board of directors to increase its own size and fill the resulting vacancies;

 

·

provide for a board composed of three classes of directors with each class serving a staggered three-year term;

 

·

authorize the issuance of additional shares of preferred stock in one or more series without a stockholder vote; and

 

·

establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to the board of directors.

Moreover, these provisions can only be amended by the vote of two-thirds or more of our outstanding shares entitled to vote. Furthermore, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control.

Risks Related to Our Debt

Our substantial debt could restrict our operations and make us more vulnerable to adverse economic conditions.

We are highly leveraged. As of December 31, 2015, we had $577.7 million of outstanding debt, excluding letters of credit, and approximately $25.7 million was available for borrowing under our revolving credit facility. Our substantial debt could have important consequences for our stockholders. For example, it requires us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions and for other general corporate purposes. In addition, our debt could:

 

·

increase our vulnerability to economic downturns and competitive pressures in our industry;

 

·

place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt in relation to cash flow;

 

·

limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry; and

 

·

limit our ability to borrow additional funds on terms that are satisfactory to us or at all.

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Our credit agreement contains restrictions on our ability to incur additional debt and engage in business activities and requirements that we maintain specified financial ratios. If we cannot comply with these covenants, we may be in default under these agreements.

Our credit agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants that restrict, among other things, our ability to:

 

·

incur additional debt;

 

·

sell assets;

 

·

create liens or other encumbrances;

 

·

make certain payments and dividends; or

 

·

merge or consolidate.

In addition, the credit agreement also contains a leverage ratio covenant requiring the Company to maintain a maximum total debt to consolidated adjusted EBITDA expense that ranges from 4.95 to 1.00 to 4.30 to 1.00. For the period ended December 31, 2015, the Credit Agreement requires a maximum leverage ratio of not more than 4.55 to 1.00, decreasing to 4.00 to 1.00 for the period ended December 31, 2016.

All of these restrictions could affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities as they arise. A failure to comply with these covenants and restrictions would permit the relevant creditors to declare all amounts borrowed under the relevant borrowing, together with accrued interest and fees, to be immediately due and payable. If the debt under the credit facility is accelerated, we may not have sufficient assets to repay amounts due under the credit facility or on other debt then outstanding. If we are unable to refinance our debt, we could become subject to bankruptcy proceedings, and you may lose all or a portion of your investment because of the priority of the claims of certain of our creditors on our assets.

If there is a default under the agreements governing our material debt, the value of our assets may not be sufficient to repay our creditors.

Our property and equipment, which make up a significant portion of our tangible assets, had a net book value of $195.3 million as of December 31, 2015 and $149.3 million as of December 31, 2014. The book value of these assets should not be relied on as a measure of realizable value for such assets. The realizable value may be lower than net book value. The value of our assets in the event of liquidation will depend upon market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and similar factors. A sale of these assets in a bankruptcy or similar proceeding would likely be made under duress, which would reduce the amounts recovered. Furthermore, such a sale could occur when other companies in our industry also are distressed, which might increase the supply of similar assets and further reduce the amounts that could be recovered. Our goodwill and other intangible assets had a net book value of $265.7 million as of December 31, 2015 and $179.8 million as of December 31, 2014. These assets primarily consist of the excess of the acquisition cost over the fair market value of the net assets acquired in purchase transactions, customer contracts and costs to obtain certificates of need. The value of goodwill and other intangible assets will continue to depend significantly upon the success of our business as a going concern and the growth in future cash flows. As a result, in the event of a default under the agreements governing our material debt or any bankruptcy or dissolution, the realizable value of these assets will likely be substantially lower and may be insufficient to satisfy the claims of our creditors.

The financial condition of our assets will likely deteriorate during any period of financial distress preceding a sale of our assets. In addition, much of our assets consist of illiquid assets that may have to be sold at a substantial discount in an insolvency situation. Accordingly, the proceeds of any such sale of our assets may not be sufficient to satisfy, and may be substantially less than, amounts due to our creditors.

Despite current debt levels, we and our subsidiaries may still be able to incur substantially more debt, which could increase the risks described above.

We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional debt in the future. The terms of our credit agreement permit us or our subsidiaries to incur additional debt, subject to certain restrictions. In addition, as of December 31, 2015, our credit facility permitted additional borrowings of up to approximately $25.7 million under our revolving credit facility subject to the covenants contained in our credit facility. If we add new debt to our or our subsidiaries' current debt levels, the risks discussed above could intensify.

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If we are unable to generate or borrow sufficient cash to make payments on our debt or to refinance our debt on acceptable terms when it matures, our financial condition would be materially harmed, our business could fail and you may lose all of your investment.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance our obligations at maturity will depend on our financial and operating performance, which will be affected by economic, financial, competitive, business and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. As a result of global market and economic conditions, such as occurred during the recent global financial crisis, the cost and availability of credit and equity capital may be severely affected. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to service our debt or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are unable to meet our debt obligations or fund our other liquidity needs, we may need to restructure or refinance all or a portion of our debt on or before maturity or sell certain of our assets. We cannot assure you that we will be able to restructure or refinance any of our debt on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, which could cause us to default on our debt obligations and impair our liquidity. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations.

Increases in interest rates could adversely affect our financial condition.

An increase in prevailing interest rates would have an effect on the interest rates charged on our variable rate debt, which rise and fall upon changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2015, approximately $537.0 million of our debt was at variable interest rates. If prevailing interest rates or other factors result in higher interest rates, the increased interest expense would adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to service our debt. If interest rates are higher when our debt becomes due, we may be forced to borrow at the higher rates.

As a protection against rising interest rates, we may enter into agreements such as interest rate swaps, caps, floors and other interest rate exchange contracts. These agreements, however, carry the risks that the other parties to the agreements may not perform or that the agreements could be unenforceable. In the fourth quarter of 2013, we entered into five interest rate cap agreements to avoid unplanned volatility in the income statement due to changes in the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") interest rate environment. These agreements, which mature in December 2019, have a total notional amount of $250.0 million and were designated as cash flow hedges of future cash interest payments associated with a portion of our variable rate bank debt. Under these arrangements, we have purchased a cap on LIBOR at 2.50%.

 

 

ITEM 1B.

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

ITEM 2.

PROPERTIES

We lease approximately 40,596 square feet of space in Newport Beach, California for our executive and principal administrative offices. We lease 13,396 square feet of space in Nashville, Tennessee for our Alliance Oncology executive and administrative offices. We also lease 19,979 square feet of space in Canton, Ohio for our retail billing and scheduling operations. We lease 16,243 square feet of space for a large regional office in Andover, Massachusetts, in addition to other small regional offices we lease throughout the country. We also lease an 11,200 square foot operations warehouse in Fontana, California and a 9,000 square foot operations warehouse in Childs, Pennsylvania, which are used for the Radiology Division.

ITEM 3.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time we are involved in routine litigation and regulatory matters incidental to the conduct of our business. We believe that resolution of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.

On June 14, 2013, Alliance Oncology, LLC, our subsidiary, filed a complaint against Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Inc. (“HVMA”) in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, including several claims seeking damages resulting from HVMA’s early termination of a long-term services agreement between the two companies. HVMA filed an answer to Alliance Oncology’s complaint on August 27, 2013.  Without specifying its alleged damages, HVMA also asserted several counterclaims in its answer.  We filed our answer to HVMA’s counterclaims on October 4, 2013. On November 13, 2015, the parties agreed to a mutually acceptable confidential settlement agreement. The complaint was dismissed with prejudice by the District Court.

On February 10, 2015, Alliance Oncology was served with a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri by Dr. Barry Michael Driver. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the Plaintiff was an employed physician at Alliance

32


 

Oncology’s Joplin, Missouri, Radiation Therapy Cancer Treatment Center. The Plaintiff alleged Alliance Oncology breached his employment agreement by failing to pay him in accordance with the terms of the contract. Alliance Oncology disputed Dr. Driver’s interpretation of the employment agreement and asserted Dr. Driver was paid appropriately. On September 9, 2015, the parties agreed to resolve the matter by mutual agreement whereby the Company agreed to pay the Plaintiff $1,500 as full release of any and all claims.

In November 2015, the Company was served with a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio by Todd S. Elwert, DC, Inc.  The Complaint alleges violations of the Junk Fax Prevention Act for allegedly sending an unsolicited advertisement to Plaintiff which promoted commercial availability and/or quality of the Company’s services. The Plaintiff further alleges that it is part of a class of similarly situated chiropractors who received the blast fax, and as such, requested class certification.  The Company filed its response on December 17, 2015 and is currently in the discovery phase of the lawsuit.  

ITEM 4.

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

 

 

33


 

PART II

ITEM 5.

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “AIQ.”  The following table indicates the high and low prices for our common stock for the periods indicated based upon information supplied by the NASDAQ Global Market.

The table below illustrates per share price ranges for each quarter during 2015 and 2014:

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

 

High

 

 

Low

 

 

High

 

 

Low

 

First Quarter

 

$

25.33

 

 

$

19.76

 

 

$

33.81

 

 

$

26.24

 

Second Quarter

 

$

24.49

 

 

$

17.83

 

 

$

34.15

 

 

$

26.91

 

Third Quarter

 

$

19.04

 

 

$

9.00

 

 

$

29.83

 

 

$

22.61

 

Fourth Quarter

 

$

10.92

 

 

$

6.73

 

 

$

25.12

 

 

$

19.14

 

 

Holders

As of March 10, 2016, there were 17 stockholders of record of our common stock and approximately 2,000 beneficial holders of our common stock.

Holders

We have never paid any cash dividends on our common stock and have no current plans to do so. We intend to retain available cash to operate our business, including capital expenditures, future acquisitions and debt repayment. Our credit agreement restricts the payment of cash dividends on our common stock. See Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.

SECURITIES AUTHORIZED FOR ISSUANCE UNDER EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS

Our stockholders have previously approved all stock option plans under which our common stock is reserved for issuance. The following table provides summary information as of December 31, 2015 for all of our stock option plans:

 

 

 

Number of shares

of Common Stock

to be issued upon

exercise of

outstanding options

 

 

Weighted-average

exercise price of

outstanding options

 

 

Number of shares

of Common Stock

remaining available

for future issuance

(excluding shares

reflected in column 1)

 

Stock option plans approved by shareholders

 

 

646,290

 

 

$

19.91

 

 

 

476,044

 

Stock option plans not approved by shareholders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

646,290

 

 

$

19.91

 

 

 

476,044

 

 

34


 

STOCK PERFORMANCE GRAPH

The following graph sets forth the cumulative return on our common stock from December 31, 2010 through December 31, 2015, as compared to the cumulative return of the S&P 500 Index and the cumulative return of the S&P Health Care Index. The graph assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2010 in each of (1) our common stock, (2) the S&P 500 Index and (3) the S&P Health Care Index and that all dividends (if applicable) were reinvested.

 

 

 

 

12/31/2010

 

 

12/31/2011

 

 

12/31/2012

 

 

12/31/2013

 

 

12/31/2014

 

 

12/31/2015

 

Alliance HealthCare Services, Inc.

 

 

100.00

 

 

 

74.26

 

 

 

22.07

 

 

 

22.35

 

 

 

86.65

 

 

 

73.52

 

S&P 500

 

 

100.00

 

 

 

115.06

 

 

 

117.49

 

 

 

136.30

 

 

 

180.44

 

 

 

205.14

 

S&P Health Care Index

 

 

100.00

 

 

 

102.90

 

 

 

116.00

 

 

 

136.75

 

 

 

193.45

 

 

 

242.46

 

 

This graph and the accompanying text are not “soliciting material,” are not deemed filed with the SEC and are not to be incorporated by reference in any filing by us under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation language in any such filing.

 

 

35


 

ITEM 6.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA 

The selected consolidated financial data shown below has been taken or derived from the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company and should be read in conjunction with Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (in thousands, except per share data).

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

 

2012

 

 

2011

 

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenues

 

$

473,054

 

 

$

436,387

 

 

$

448,831

 

 

$

472,258

 

 

$

493,651

 

Costs and expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenues, excluding depreciation and

   amortization

 

 

269,104

 

 

 

237,420

 

 

 

239,397

 

 

 

253,225

 

 

 

279,751

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses

 

 

88,471

 

 

 

79,903

 

 

 

80,215

 

 

 

76,022

 

 

 

77,140

 

Transaction costs

 

 

3,296

 

 

 

2,344

 

 

 

465

 

 

 

994

 

 

 

3,429

 

Shareholder transaction costs

 

 

1,853

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Severance and related costs

 

 

1,347

 

 

 

2,517

 

 

 

1,658

 

 

 

2,226

 

 

 

3,991

 

Impairment charges

 

 

6,817

 

 

 

308

 

 

 

13,031

 

 

 

 

 

 

167,792

 

Loss on extinguishment of debt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26,018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation expense

 

 

48,595

 

 

 

54,971

 

 

 

66,319

 

 

 

79,333

 

 

 

89,974

 

Amortization expense

 

 

9,325

 

 

 

7,880

 

 

 

10,973

 

 

 

15,861

 

 

 

16,444

 

Interest expense and other, net

 

 

26,241

 

 

 

24,693

 

 

 

39,170

 

 

 

54,101

 

 

 

49,789

 

Other (income) and expense, net

 

 

(12,255

)

 

 

(1,823

)

 

 

(1,945

)

 

 

3,036

 

 

 

2,203

 

Total costs and expenses

 

 

442,794

 

 

 

408,213

 

 

 

475,301

 

 

 

484,798

 

 

 

690,513

 

Income (loss) before income taxes, earnings from

   unconsolidated investees and noncontrolling interest

 

 

30,260

 

 

 

28,174

 

 

 

(26,470

)

 

 

(12,540

)

 

 

(196,862

)

Income tax expense (benefit)

 

 

6,536

 

 

 

7,327

 

 

 

(12,398

)

 

 

(6,710

)

 

 

(38,242

)

Earnings from unconsolidated investees

 

 

(3,391

)

 

 

(4,654

)

 

 

(5,630

)

 

 

(4,667

)

 

 

(3,516

)

Net income (loss)

 

 

27,115

 

 

 

25,501

 

 

 

(8,442

)

 

 

(1,163

)

 

 

(155,104

)

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest

 

 

(20,373

)

 

 

(14,883

)

 

 

(13,041

)

 

 

(10,775

)

 

 

(5,008

)

Net income (loss) attributable to Alliance HealthCare

   Services, Inc.

 

$

6,742

 

 

$

10,618

 

 

$

(21,483

)

 

$

(11,938

)

 

$

(160,112

)

Income (loss) per common share attributable to Alliance

   HealthCare Services, Inc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic (1)

 

$

0.63

 

 

$

1.00

 

 

$

(2.02

)

 

$

(1.12

)

 

$

(15.07

)

Diluted

 

$

0.62

 

 

$

0.98

 

 

$

(2.02

)

 

$

(1.12

)

 

$

(15.07

)

Weighted average number of shares of common stock and

   common stock equivalents:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic (1)

 

 

10,741

 

 

 

10,669

 

 

 

10,634

 

 

 

10,624

 

 

 

10,626

 

Diluted

 

 

10,849

 

 

 

10,836

 

 

 

10,634

 

 

 

10,624

 

 

 

10,626

 

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data (at end of period):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

38,070

 

 

$

33,033

 

 

$

34,702

 

 

$

39,977

 

 

$

44,190

 

Total assets

 

 

634,887

 

 

 

500,885

 

 

 

489,847

 

 

 

560,141

 

 

 

663,094

 

Long-term debt, including current maturities

 

 

577,685

 

 

 

507,289

 

 

 

529,674

 

 

 

558,635

 

 

 

643,483

 

Stockholders’ (deficit)

 

 

(66,576

)

 

 

(111,480

)

 

 

(136,617

)

 

 

(116,293

)

 

 

(104,911

)

 

(1)

Share and per share amounts have been retroactively adjusted to reflect our one-for-five reverse stock split effective as of December 26, 2012.

 

 

36


 

ITEM 7.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 

Overview

We are a leading national provider of outsourced healthcare services to hospitals and providers. We also operate freestanding outpatient radiology, oncology and interventional clinics, and Ambulatory Surgical Centers (“ASC”) that are not owned by hospitals or providers. Our diagnostic radiology services are delivered through the Radiology Division (Alliance HealthCare Radiology), radiation oncology services through the Oncology Division (Alliance Oncology, LLC), and interventional and pain management services through the Interventional HealthCare Services Division (Alliance HealthCare Interventional Partners, LLC). We are the nation’s largest provider of advanced diagnostic mobile radiology services, an industry-leading operator of fixed-site radiology centers, and a leading provider of stereotactic radiosurgery nationwide. As of December 31, 2015, we operated 563 diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy systems, including 116 fixed-site radiology centers across the country, and 32 radiation therapy centers and stereotactic radiosurgery (“SRS”) facilities. With a strategy of partnering with hospitals, health systems and physician practices, we provide quality healthcare services for over 1,000 hospitals and healthcare partners in 45 states where approximately 2,430 Alliance Team Members are committed to providing exceptional patient care and exceeding customer expectations. We were incorporated in the state of Delaware on May 27, 1987.

Service Overview

 

·

Radiology Division: We provide comprehensive radiology service line management and fixed-site radiology center management through our RAD360TM service in our Radiology Division. We also provide mobile and interim medical imaging systems to hospitals, health systems and provider groups. These services normally include the use of our medical imaging systems, technologists to operate the systems, sales and marketing, patient scheduling and pre authorization, billing and payor management, equipment maintenance and upgrades, and overall management of day-to-day shared-service and fixed-site diagnostic imaging operations.

 

·

Oncology Division: We provide a wide range of radiation oncology services for cancer patients covering initial consultation, preparation for treatment, simulation of treatment, radiation oncology delivery, therapy management and follow-up care. Our services include the use of our linear accelerators (“Linac”) and SRS, therapists to operate those systems, sales and marketing, patient scheduling and pre authorization, billing and payor management, equipment maintenance and upgrades and management of day-to-day operations.

 

·

Interventional HealthCare Services Division: We provide interventional healthcare through therapeutic minimally invasive pain management procedures medical management, laboratory testing, and other services. Interventional procedures are performed in either a procedure room or ASC environment, as determined by the treating physician. Interventional therapies are playing a more critical role in the care and treatment pathway for patients, but they are also playing an important role in how care is delivered.

We currently operate in two reportable business segments – radiology and oncology. Radiology and oncology divisions generated 72% and 21% of our revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2015. Radiology and oncology divisions generated 79% and 21% of our revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2014.  Radiology and oncology divisions generated 83% and 17% of our revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2013. For additional information on reportable business segments, see Note 17 – Segment Information.

Our clients and partners contract with us to provide radiology, radiation oncology and interventional healthcare services to:

 

·

take advantage of our extensive radiology, radiation oncology and interventional healthcare service lines management experience;

 

·

partner with a leader whose core competency is high-quality, efficient and scalable services in the areas of radiology, interventional healthcare and radiation oncology services.

 

·

avoid capital investment, financial risk and contracting for maintenance associated with the purchase of their own systems;

 

·

provide access to radiology, radiation oncology, interventional healthcare and other services for their patients when the demand for these services does not justify the purchase of dedicated, full-time systems;

 

·

eliminate the need to recruit, train and manage qualified technologists or therapists;

 

·

make use of our ancillary services; and,

 

·

gain access to services under our regulatory and licensing approvals when they do not have these approvals.

37


 

 

Factors Affecting our Results of Operations

Pricing

Continued expansion of health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations and other managed care organizations have influence over the pricing of our services because these organizations can exert greater control over patients' access to our services and reimbursement rates for accessing those services.

Cost of revenues

The principal components of our cost of revenues include compensation paid to technologists, therapists, drivers and other clinical staff; system maintenance costs; insurance; medical supplies; system transportation; team members’ travel costs; and professional costs related to the delivery of radiation therapy and professional radiology interpretation services. Because a majority of these expenses are fixed, increased revenues as a result of higher scan and treatment volumes per system significantly improves our margins while lower scan and treatment volumes result in lower margins.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

The principal components of selling, general and administrative expenses are sales and marketing costs, corporate overhead costs, provision for doubtful accounts, and share-based payment.

Noncontrolling interest and earnings

We record noncontrolling interest and earnings from unconsolidated investees related to our consolidated and unconsolidated subsidiaries, respectively. These subsidiaries primarily provide shared-service and fixed-site diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy services.

Third-party payor reimbursement rates and policies

We experience seasonality in the revenues and margins generated for our services. First and fourth quarter revenues are typically lower than those from the second and third quarters. First quarter revenue is affected primarily by fewer calendar days and inclement weather, typically resulting in fewer patients being scanned or treated during the period. Fourth quarter revenues are affected by holiday and client and patient vacation schedules, resulting in fewer scans or treatments during the period. The variability in margins is higher than the variability in revenues due to the fixed nature of our costs. We also experience fluctuations in our revenues and margins due to acquisition activity and general economic conditions, including recession or economic slowdown.

38


 

Results of Operations

The following table shows our consolidated statements of operations as a percentage of revenues for each of the years ended December 31:

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

Revenues

 

 

100.0

%

 

 

100.0

%

 

 

100.0

%

Costs and expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenues, excluding depreciation and amortization

 

 

56.9

 

 

 

54.4

 

 

 

53.3

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses

 

 

18.7

 

 

 

18.3

 

 

 

17.9

 

Transaction costs

 

 

0.7

 

 

 

0.5

 

 

 

0.1

 

Shareholder transaction costs

 

 

0.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Severance and related costs

 

 

0.3

 

 

 

0.6

 

 

 

0.4

 

Impairment charges

 

 

1.4

 

 

 

0.1

 

 

 

2.9

 

Loss on extinguishment of debt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.8

 

Depreciation expense

 

 

10.3

 

 

 

12.6

 

 

 

14.8

 

Amortization expense

 

 

2.0

 

 

 

1.8

 

 

 

2.4

 

Interest expense and other, net

 

 

5.5

 

 

 

5.7

 

 

 

8.7

 

Other (income) and expense, net

 

 

(2.6

)

 

 

(0.4

)

 

 

(0.4

)

Total costs and expenses

 

 

93.6

 

 

 

93.5

 

 

 

105.9

 

Income (loss) before income taxes, earnings from unconsolidated investees,

   and noncontrolling interest

 

 

6.4

 

 

 

6.5

 

 

 

(5.9

)

Income tax expense (benefit)

 

 

1.4

 

 

 

1.7

 

 

 

(2.8

)

Earnings from unconsolidated investees

 

 

(0.7

)

 

 

(1.1

)

 

 

(1.3

)

Net income (loss)

 

 

5.7

 

 

 

5.8

 

 

 

(1.9

)

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, net of tax

 

 

(4.3

)

 

 

(3.4

)

 

 

(2.9

)

Net income (loss) attributable to Alliance HealthCare Services, Inc.

 

 

1.4

%

 

 

2.4

%

 

 

(4.8

)%

 

The table below provides MRI statistical information for the years ended December 31:

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

MRI statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average number of total systems

 

 

257.2

 

 

 

249.2

 

 

 

256.3

 

Average number of scan-based systems

 

 

208.0

 

 

 

206.9

 

 

 

214.2

 

Scans per system per day (scan-based systems)

 

 

8.98

 

 

 

8.58

 

 

 

8.40

 

Total number of scan-based MRI scans

 

 

508,856

 

 

 

475,044

 

 

 

476,305

 

Price per scan

 

$

315.18

 

 

$

339.84

 

 

$

352.67

 

 

The table below provides PET/CT statistical information for each of the years ended December 31:

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

PET/CT statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average number of total systems

 

 

115.6

 

 

 

112.1

 

 

 

112.2

 

Average number of scan-based systems

 

 

107.9

 

 

 

105.1

 

 

 

105.4

 

Scans per system per day

 

 

5.36

 

 

 

5.32

 

 

 

5.57

 

Total number of PET/CT scans

 

 

139,828

 

 

 

137,313

 

 

 

147,941

 

Price per scan

 

$

890.35

 

 

$

943.28

 

 

$

953.85

 

 

The table below provides oncology statistical information for each of the years ended December 31:

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

Oncology statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linac treatments

 

 

86,491

 

 

 

82,215

 

 

 

63,014

 

Stereotactic radiosurgery patients

 

 

3,416

 

 

 

3,100

 

 

 

2,713

 

 

39


 

Following are the components of revenue (in millions) for each of the years ended December 31:

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

MRI revenue

 

$

183.9

 

 

$

180.8

 

 

$

187.2

 

PET/CT revenue

 

 

128.4

 

 

 

133.2

 

 

 

145.0

 

Oncology revenue

 

 

100.0

 

 

 

92.9

 

 

 

77.9

 

Other revenue

 

 

60.8

 

 

 

29.4

 

 

 

38.7

 

Total

 

$

473.1

 

 

$

436.4

 

 

$

448.8

 

 

 

 

Year ended December 31,

 

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

Total fixed-site imaging center revenue (in millions)

 

$

110.6

 

 

$

109.2

 

 

$

116.2

 

 

Year Ended December 31, 2015 Compared to Year Ended December, 2014

Revenue increased $36.7 million, or 8.4%, to $473.1 million in 2015 compared to $436.4 million in 2014 due to net increases in MRI revenue of $3.1 million, oncology revenue of $7.1 million and other revenues of $31.4 million, partially offset by a decrease of $4.8 million in PET/CT revenue. The increase in our oncology revenue is due to an overall increase in patient volume, number of treatments performed and acquisitions. The increase in our other revenues was primarily due to an incremental $31.1 million from TPC and $3.1 million from PRC, both of which are 2015 joint venture acquisitions. MRI and PET/CT revenue remained consistent with prior year with a slight decrease of $1.7 million.

MRI revenue increased $3.1 million in 2015, or 1.7%, compared to 2014, primarily due to an increase in non scan-based MRI revenue of $4.1 million, or 21.4%, to $23.5 million in 2015 from $19.4 million in 2014, partially offset by a decrease in scan-based MRI revenue of $1.0 million, or 0.7%, to $160.4 million in 2015 from $161.4 million in 2014. The decrease in scan-based MRI revenue was primarily due to year-over-year decreases in the average price per MRI scan offset by increases in the number of the average scan-based systems in service and the average scans per system, per day. The average price per MRI scan decreased 7.3% to $315.18 in 2015 from $339.84 per scan in 2014, as we priced competitively to protect and maintain our market share in the mobile and fixed-site imaging market. The average number of scan-based systems in service increased 0.5% to 208.0 in 2015 from 206.9 systems in 2014, and average scans per system per day increased 4.7% to 8.98 in 2015 from 8.58 scans per day in 2014.

PET/CT revenue in 2015 decreased $4.8 million, or 3.6%, compared to 2014. This decrease was primarily due to a 5.6% decrease in the average price per PET/CT to $890.35 in 2015 from $943.28 per scan in 2014, as we priced competitively to protect and maintain our market share in the mobile imaging market, partially offset by an increase in the number of the average scan-based systems in service of 2.7%, or 107.9 in 2015 from 105.1 in 2014, and an increase in total PET/CT scan volumes of 1.8% to 139,828 scans in 2015 from 137,313 scans in 2014. Scans per system per day increased to 5.36 in 2015 compared to 3.32 in 2014.

Oncology revenue increased $7.1 million, or 7.6%, to $100.0 million in 2015 compared to $92.9 million in 2014, primarily due to a 5.2% increase, or 4,276 Linear accelerator (“Linac”) treatments performed in 2015 when compared to 2014, and a 10.2% increase, or 316 additional SRS patients we treated in 2015 when compared to 2014. The growth in Linac treatments was primarily due to our acquisition of CARTC in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Other revenues, which includes revenues generated from our Interventional HealthCare Services Division, management fees and other, increased by $31.4 million or 106.6%, were $60.8 million in 2015 compared to $29.4 million in 2014. The increase in other revenue was primarily driven by our 2015 acquisitions of TPC and PRC joint ventures in our Interventional HealthCare Services Division.