CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED
PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

As confidentially submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 28, 2025.

This draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein remains strictly confidential.

Registration No. 333-    ​

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Waystar Holding Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1550 Digital Drive, #300
Lehi, Utah 84043
(844) 492-9782

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)​

Matthew R. A. Heiman
Chief Legal & Administrative Officer
9901 Linn Station Road, Ste. 550
Louisville, Kentucky 40223
(844) 492-9782

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s agent for service)​

With copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement is declared effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box: ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities nor a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED
PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

Subject to Completion, Dated            , 2025

Prospectus

            Shares

WAYSTAR HOLDING CORP.

Common Stock

This is a public offering of shares of common stock of Waystar Holding Corp. The selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering              shares of common stock. We are not selling any shares of common stock under this prospectus and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares by the selling stockholders. Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “WAY.” On           , 2025, the last reported sale price of our common stock on Nasdaq was $           per share.

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 16 of this prospectus to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and, as such, we have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this prospectus and may elect to do so in future filings. See “Prospectus Summary—Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company.”

Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

(1)

See “Underwriting” for a description of the compensation payable to the underwriters.

​

The selling stockholders have granted the underwriters the right, for a period of 30 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to         additional shares of common stock from the selling stockholders at the public offering price less the underwriting discount.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on or about            , 2025.

J.P. Morgan Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

The date of this prospectus is            , 2025

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

Table of Contents

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. None of us, the selling stockholders, or the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with information or representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any free writing prospectus prepared by us or on our behalf. None of us, the selling stockholders, or any of the underwriters take any responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. The information in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus, as the case may be, or any sale of shares of our common stock. Our business, results of operations, and financial condition may have changed since such date.

For investors outside the United States: the selling stockholders are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of our common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. None of us, the selling stockholders, or any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus must inform

 

i

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus outside the United States.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

Within this prospectus, we reference information and statistics regarding the industry in which we operate. We have obtained this information and statistics from various independent third-party sources, independent industry publications, reports by market research firms, and other independent sources. Some data and other information contained in this prospectus are also based on management’s estimates and calculations, which are derived from our review and interpretation of internal surveys and independent sources, as well as third-party reports commissioned by us. The information is as of its original publication dates (and not as of the date of this prospectus). Data regarding the industries in which we compete and our market position and market share within these industries are inherently imprecise and are subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties beyond our control, but we believe they generally indicate size, position, and market share within these industries. While we believe such information is reliable, we have not independently verified any third-party information, and our internal company research, data, and estimates have not been verified by any independent source.

In addition, assumptions and estimates of our and our industry’s future performance are subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors.” These and other factors could cause our future performance to differ materially from our assumptions and estimates. See “Forward-looking Statements.” As a result, you should be aware that market, ranking, and other similar industry data included in this prospectus, and estimates and beliefs based on that data may not be reliable. None of us, the selling stockholders, or the underwriters can guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information contained in this prospectus.

TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS, TRADENAMES, AND COPYRIGHTS

We own a number of registered and common law trademarks and pending applications for trademark registrations in the United States. Unless otherwise indicated, all trademarks, service marks, trade names, and copyrights appearing in this prospectus are proprietary to us, our affiliates, and/or licensors. This prospectus also contains trademarks, tradenames, service marks, and copyrights of third parties, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, tradenames, service marks, and copyrights referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ®, TM, SM, or © symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, tradenames, service marks, and copyrights. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, tradenames, service marks, or copyrights to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The following terms are used in this prospectus and have the following meanings unless otherwise noted or indicated by the context:

•

“Bain” means those certain investment funds of Bain Capital, LP and its affiliates;

​

•

“CPPIB” means Canada Pension Plan Investment Board;

​

•

“Credit Facilities” means, collectively, the First Lien Credit Facility, the Revolving Credit Facility, and the Receivables Facility;

​

•

“DGCL” means the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended;

​

•

“EQT” means those certain investment funds of EQT AB and its affiliates;

​

•

“Exchange Act” means the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;

​

•

“First Lien Credit Facility” means the term loan credit facility under the first lien credit agreement, dated as of October 22, 2019, by and among Waystar Technologies, Inc. and the lenders party thereto, as amended from time to time;

​

 

ii

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

•

“GAAP” means U.S. generally accepted accounting principles;

​

•

“Institutional Investors” means EQT, CPPIB, and Bain, and their respective affiliates;

​

•

“JOBS Act” means the U.S. Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended;

​

•

“Net Revenue Retention Rate” means the total amount invoiced to clients in a given twelve-month period divided by the total amount invoiced to those same clients from the prior twelve-month period. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Performance Metrics and non-GAAP Financial Measures—Net Revenue Retention Rate;”

​

•

“Receivables Facility” means the receivables facility under the receivables financing agreement, dated as of August 13, 2021, by and among Waystar RC LLC, PNC Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, Waystar Technologies, Inc., as initial servicer, and PNC Capital Markets LLC, as structuring agent, as amended from time to time;

​

•

“Revolving Credit Facility” means the revolving credit facility under the first lien credit agreement, dated as of October 22, 2019, by and among Waystar Technologies, Inc. and the lenders party thereto, as amended from time to time;

​

•

“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;

​

•

“Second Lien Credit Facility” means the term loan credit facility under the second lien credit agreement, dated as of October 22, 2019, by and among Waystar Technologies, Inc. and the lenders party thereto, as amended from time to time;

​

•

“Securities Act” means the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended;

​

•

“selling stockholders” means                and               ;

​

•

“Stockholders Agreement” means the stockholders agreement, dated as of June 10, 2024, by and among the Institutional Investors, certain stockholders, and certain members of management;

​

•

“underwriters” means the firms listed on the cover page of this prospectus; and

​

•

“Waystar,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” mean the business of Waystar Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries.

​

Numerical figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, numerical figures shown as totals in various tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

This prospectus contains “non-GAAP financial measures” that are financial measures that either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Specifically, we make use of the non-GAAP financial measures “Adjusted EBITDA,” “Adjusted EBITDA margin,” “non-GAAP net income/(loss),” and “non-GAAP net income/(loss) per share.” Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP net income/​(loss), and non-GAAP net income/(loss) per share have been presented in this prospectus as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. We believe they assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP net income/(loss), and non-GAAP income/(loss) per share are useful to investors in highlighting trends in our operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate, and capital investments. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP net income/(loss), and non-GAAP net income/(loss) per share to supplement GAAP measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation, and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. Management

 

iii

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

supplements GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than GAAP results alone provide.

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP net income/(loss), and non-GAAP net income/(loss) per share are not recognized terms under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) or net income (loss) margin as measures of financial performance or cash provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, these measures are not intended to be a measure of free cash flow available for management’s discretionary use, as they do not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments, and debt service requirements. The presentations of these measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the presentations of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and can differ significantly from company to company. For a discussion of the use of these measures and a reconciliation of the most directly comparable GAAP measures, see “Summary—Summary Historical Financial and Other Data.”

 

iv

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

1

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

2

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

3

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

4

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

5

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

6

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

7

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

8

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

9

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

10

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

11

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

​

​

Nine months ended September 30,

​

​

Year ended December 31,

​

​

​

​

2024

​

​

2023

​

​

2023

​

​

2022

​

​

​

​

($ in thousands, except per share data)

​

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Revenue

​

​

​

$

699,447

​

​

​

​

$

584,315

​

​

​

​

$

791,010

​

​

​

​

$

704,874

​

​

Operating expenses

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expenses)

​

​

​

​

236,188

​

​

​

​

​

182,578

​

​

​

​

​

249,767

​

​

​

​

​

214,891

​

​

Sales and marketing

​

​

​

​

117,945

​

​

​

​

​

93,490

​

​

​

​

​

124,437

​

​

​

​

​

111,470

​

​

General and administrative

​

​

​

​

88,794

​

​

​

​

​

46,524

​

​

​

​

​

62,924

​

​

​

​

​

73,089

​

​

Research and development

​

​

​

​

37,303

​

​

​

​

​

25,548

​

​

​

​

​

35,332

​

​

​

​

​

32,807

​

​

Depreciation and amortization

​

​

​

​

148,635

​

​

​

​

​

131,780

​

​

​

​

​

176,467

​

​

​

​

​

183,167

​

​

Total operating expenses

​

​

​

​

628,865

​

​

​

​

​

479,920

​

​

​

​

​

648,927

​

​

​

​

​

615,424

​

​

Income from operations

​

​

​

​

70,582

​

​

​

​

​

104,395

​

​

​

​

​

142,083

​

​

​

​

​

89,450

​

​

Other expense

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Interest expense

​

​

​

​

(122,759)

​

​

​

​

​

(147,047)

​

​

​

​

​

(198,309)

​

​

​

​

​

(148,967)

​

​

Related party interest expense

​

​

​

​

(3,425)

​

​

​

​

​

(6,010)

​

​

​

​

​

(7,608)

​

​

​

​

​

(6,358)

​

​

Loss before income taxes

​

​

​

​

(55,602)

​

​

​

​

​

(48,662)

​

​

​

​

​

(63,834)

​

​

​

​

​

(65,875)

​

​

Income tax benefit

​

​

​

​

(17,398)

​

​

​

​

​

(11,743)

​

​

​

​

​

(12,500)

​

​

​

​

​

(14,420)

​

​

Net loss

​

​

​

$

(38,204)

​

​

​

​

$

(36,919)

​

​

​

​

$

(51,334)

​

​

​

​

$

(51,455)

​

​

Per Share Data:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Net loss per share:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Basic

​

​

​

$

(0.27)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.30)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.42)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.42)

​

​

Diluted

​

​

​

$

(0.27)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.30)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.42)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.42)

​

​

Weighted-average shares outstanding:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Basic

​

​

​

​

142,367,458

​

​

​

​

​

121,674,189

​

​

​

​

​

121,675,430

​

​

​

​

​

121,684,771

​

​

Diluted

​

​

​

​

142,367,458

​

​

​

​

​

121,674,189

​

​

​

​

​

121,675,430

​

​

​

​

​

121,684,771

​

​

Cash Flow Data:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Net cash provided by (used in):

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Operating activities

​

​

​

$

104,998

​

​

​

​

$

40,004

​

​

​

​

$

51,460

​

​

​

​

$

102,634

​

​

Investing activities

​

​

​

​

(21,044)

​

​

​

​

​

(45,753)

​

​

​

​

​

(61,517)

​

​

​

​

​

(17,433)

​

​

Financing activities

​

​

​

​

14,965

​

​

​

​

​

(14,032)

​

​

​

​

​

(17,151)

​

​

​

​

​

(67,065)

​

​

Other Financial and Operating Data:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Adjusted EBITDA(1)(2)

​

​

​

$

283,343

​

​

​

​

$

247,470

​

​

​

​

$

333,715

​

​

​

​

$

295,508

​

​

Non-GAAP net income/(loss)(1)(3)

​

​

​

$

24,919

​

​

​

​

$

(27,996)

​

​

​

​

$

(39,354)

​

​

​

​

$

(33,371)

​

​

Non-GAAP net income/(loss) per share (diluted)(1)(3)

​

​

​

$

0.17

​

​

​

​

$

(0.23)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.32)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.27)

​

​

Net loss margin

​

​

​

​

(5.5)%

​

​

​

​

​

(6.3)%

​

​

​

​

​

(6.5)%

​

​

​

​

​

(7.3)%

​

​

Adjusted EBITDA margin(1)(2)

​

​

​

​

40.5%

​

​

​

​

​

42.4%

​

​

​

​

​

42.2%

​

​

​

​

​

41.9%

​

​

Balance Sheet Data:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Cash and cash equivalents

​

​

​

$

127,125

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

$

35,580

​

​

​

​

$

64,558

​

​

Total assets

​

​

​

​

4,540,547

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

4,582,974

​

​

​

​

​

4,694,392

​

​

Total liabilities

​

​

​

​

1,487,800

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

2,533,042

​

​

​

​

​

2,588,160

​

​

Total stockholders’ equity

​

​

​

​

3,052,747

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

2,049,932

​

​

​

​

​

2,106,232

​

​

​

12

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

13

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

​

​

Nine months ended September 30,

​

​

Year ended December 31,

​

​

​

​

2024

​

​

2023

​

​

2023

​

​

2022

​

​

​

​

($ in thousands)

​

Net loss

​

​

​

$

(38,204)

​

​

​

​

$

(36,919)

​

​

​

​

$

(51,334)

​

​

​

​

$

(51,455)

​

​

Interest expense, net

​

​

​

​

126,184

​

​

​

​

​

153,057

​

​

​

​

​

205,917

​

​

​

​

​

155,325

​

​

Income tax benefit

​

​

​

​

(17,398)

​

​

​

​

​

(11,743)

​

​

​

​

​

(12,500)

​

​

​

​

​

(14,420)

​

​

Depreciation and amortization

​

​

​

​

148,635

​

​

​

​

​

131,780

​

​

​

​

​

176,467

​

​

​

​

​

183,167

​

​

Stock-based compensation expense

​

​

​

​

47,400

​

​

​

​

​

6,505

​

​

​

​

​

8,848

​

​

​

​

​

8,003

​

​

Acquisition and integration costs

​

​

​

​

696

​

​

​

​

​

3,236

​

​

​

​

​

3,947

​

​

​

​

​

2,208

​

​

Asset and lease impairments(b)

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

10,856

​

​

Costs related to amended debt agreements

​

​

​

​

12,876

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

393

​

​

​

​

​

1,549

​

​

IPO related costs

​

​

​

​

2,114

​

​

​

​

​

1,554

​

​

​

​

​

1,977

​

​

​

​

​

275

​

​

Other(a)

​

​

​

​

1,040

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Adjusted EBITDA

​

​

​

$

283,343

​

​

​

​

$

247,470

​

​

​

​

$

333,715

​

​

​

​

$

295,508

​

​

Revenue

​

​

​

$

699,447

​

​

​

​

$

584,315

​

​

​

​

$

791,010

​

​

​

​

$

704,874

​

​

Net loss margin

​

​

​

​

(5.5)%

​

​

​

​

​

(6.3)%

​

​

​

​

​

(6.5)%

​

​

​

​

​

(7.3)%

​

​

Adjusted EBITDA margin

​

​

​

​

40.5%

​

​

​

​

​

42.4%

​

​

​

​

​

42.2%

​

​

​

​

​

41.9%

​

​

​

​

​

Nine months ended September 30,

​

​

Year ended December 31,

​

​

​

​

2024

​

​

2023

​

​

2023

​

​

2022

​

​

​

​

($ in thousands, except per share data)

​

Net loss

​

​

​

$

(38,204)

​

​

​

​

$

(36,919)

​

​

​

​

$

(51,334)

​

​

​

​

$

(51,455)

​

​

Stock-based compensation expense

​

​

​

​

47,400

​

​

​

​

​

6,505

​

​

​

​

​

8,848

​

​

​

​

​

8,003

​

​

Acquisition and integration costs

​

​

​

​

696

​

​

​

​

​

3,236

​

​

​

​

​

3,947

​

​

​

​

​

2,208

​

​

Costs related to amended debt agreements

​

​

​

​

12,876

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

393

​

​

​

​

​

1,549

​

​

IPO related costs

​

​

​

​

2,114

​

​

​

​

​

1,554

​

​

​

​

​

1,977

​

​

​

​

​

275

​

​

Asset and lease impairments(b)

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

10,856

​

​

Other(a)

​

​

​

​

16,816

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Tax effect of adjustments

​

​

​

​

(16,779)

​

​

​

​

​

(2,372)

​

​

​

​

​

(3,185)

​

​

​

​

​

(4,807)

​

​

Non-GAAP net income/(loss)

​

​

​

$

24,919

​

​

​

​

$

(27,996)

​

​

​

​

$

(39,354)

​

​

​

​

$

(33,371)

​

​

Non-GAAP net income/(loss) per share:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Basic

​

​

​

$

0.18

​

​

​

​

$

(0.23)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.27)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.32)

​

​

Diluted

​

​

​

$

0.17

​

​

​

​

$

(0.23)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.27)

​

​

​

​

$

(0.32)

​

​

Weighted-average shares outstanding:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Basic

​

​

​

​

142,367,458

​

​

​

​

​

121,674,189

​

​

​

​

​

121,675,430

​

​

​

​

​

121,684,771

​

​

Diluted

​

​

​

​

146,843,861

​

​

​

​

​

121,674,189

​

​

​

​

​

121,675,430

​

​

​

​

​

121,684,771

​

​

14

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

​

15

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider all of the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information set forth in this prospectus before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, results of operations, prospects, and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Some statements in this prospectus, including statements in the following risk factors, constitute forward-looking statements. See “Forward-looking Statements.”

Risks Related to our Business and our Industry

We operate in a highly competitive industry.

We operate in a highly fragmented and competitive market that is characterized by rapidly evolving technology standards, evolving regulatory requirements, and frequent changes in client needs and introduction of new products and solutions. Our competitors range from smaller niche companies to large, well-financed, and technologically-sophisticated entities, including EHR and PM, with which we integrate. The increasing standardization of certain healthcare IT products and solutions has made it easier for companies to enter our industry with, or expand their product offerings to include, competitive products and solutions. Many software, hardware, information systems, and business process outsourcing companies, both with and without healthcare companies as their partners, offer or have announced their intention to offer products or solutions that are competitive with products and solutions that we offer. In particular, well-funded large technology companies are increasingly entering the revenue cycle technology market. In addition, EHR and PM providers (including those with which we integrate) could expand their product offerings to include solutions that compete directly with the solutions we provide. Some of these EHR and PM systems already offer, or may begin to offer, solutions that compete with our platform, including claim management and patient management solutions, payment processing tools, and direct patient communication solutions. Further, we expect that competition will continue to increase as a result of consolidation in both the technology and healthcare industries.

We compete on the basis of several factors, including breadth, depth, and quality of products and solutions, ability to deliver financial and operational performance improvement through the use of products and solutions, quality and reliability of solutions, ease of use and convenience, brand recognition, price, and the ability to integrate our platform solutions with various EHR and PM systems and other new and existing technology, including AI. Some of our competitors have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, lower cost products and solutions, and significantly greater resources than we do. As a result, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, or client requirements. In addition, current and potential competitors have established, and may in the future establish, strategic relationships with vendors of complementary products, solutions, technologies, or services to increase the availability of their products to the marketplace. Our competitors may have greater market share, larger client bases, more widely adopted proprietary technologies, greater marketing expertise, greater financial resources, and larger sales forces than we have, which could put us at a competitive disadvantage.

Additionally, the pace of change in the revenue cycle technology market is rapid and there are frequent new solution introductions, solution enhancements, and evolving industry standards and requirements. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to upgrade our existing products and solutions, or introduce new products and solutions at the same rate as our competitors, or at all, nor can we guarantee that upgrades or new products and solutions will achieve market acceptance over or among competitive offerings, or at all.

We also may be subject to pricing pressures as a result of competition within the industry, among other factors. If we reduce our pricing in response to competitive pressure, our margins and results of operations will be adversely affected. Conversely, if we do not reduce our pricing, we could lose clients and be unable to attract new clients to our platform, which would adversely affect our business and our results of operations.

These competitive pressures could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

16

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

We must retain our existing clients and attract new clients.

Our business substantially depends on our ability to retain our existing clients and attract new clients. We expect to derive a significant portion of our revenue from renewal of existing clients’ contracts and sales of additional products and solutions to existing clients. As a result, achieving a high client retention rate, expanding within existing clients, and selling additional products and solutions are critical to our revenue. In addition, our ability to increase our client base will be critical to our future growth. In order to retain existing clients and attract new clients, we must provide solutions that enable our existing and prospective clients to simplify and improve the payment process, increase speed and efficiencies, and deliver exceptional client service.

Factors that may affect our client satisfaction, our ability to sell additional products and solutions to existing clients, and expand our client base include, but are not limited to, the following:

•

the performance and functionality of our platform;

​

•

our ability to deliver a high-quality client experience;

​

•

our ability to develop and sell complementary products and solutions;

​

•

the stability, performance, and security of our hosting infrastructure;

​

•

our ability to attract, retain, and effectively train sales and marketing personnel;

​

•

the delivery of products that are easy to use and deliver tangible value to clients;

​

•

changes in healthcare laws, regulations, or trends, and our ability to quickly adapt;

​

•

the business environment of our clients, including healthcare staffing shortages and headcount reductions by our clients;

​

•

the price of our products and solutions relative to our competitors;

​

•

our ability to integrate with EHR or PM systems; and

​

•

our ability to maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition.

​

Our clients have no obligation to renew their subscriptions for our platform solutions after the initial term expires, which is typically a two to three-year term. Our contracts generally provide for the automatic renewal for one-year subsequent terms, with the ability for our clients to terminate the contract with limited notice to us. Our clients’ renewal rates may fluctuate or decline because of several factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our solutions and support, the prices of our solutions as compared to our competitors’ pricing, or reductions in our clients’ spending levels due to the macroeconomic environment or other factors. In addition, our clients may negotiate terms less advantageous to us upon renewal, which may reduce our revenue from these clients and may decrease our annual revenue. If our clients notify us of intent not to renew, renew their contracts upon less favorable terms, or at lower fee levels or fail to purchase new products and solutions from us, our revenue may decline, or our future revenue growth may be constrained.

We must be able to successfully execute on our business strategies in order to grow.

Our growth strategies include expanding our relationships with existing clients, growing our client base, deepening and expanding our relationships with strategic channel partners, innovating and developing adjacent solutions, and selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions. We are actively identifying growth and expansion opportunities in new markets, technology, or offerings, as well as exploring opportunities to increase our existing client base and cross-sell and upsell to our existing clients. To successfully execute on our growth initiatives, we will need to, among other things, successfully identify and execute on those opportunities and successfully identify, acquire, and integrate complementary businesses. We must also manage changing business conditions, anticipate and react to changes in the regulatory environment, and develop expertise in areas outside of our business’s historical core competencies. In addition, our future financial results will depend in part on our ability to profitably manage our business in new markets that we may enter. Failure to successfully address any of the foregoing risks could have a significant negative impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

17

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

We must accurately assess the risks related to acquisitions and successfully integrate acquired businesses.

We have historically acquired, and in the future may acquire, businesses, technologies, product lines, and other assets. The successful integration of any businesses and assets we have acquired or may acquire may be critical to our business and growth strategy.

The amount and timing of the expected benefits of any acquisition, including potential synergies, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those relating to:

•

our ability to maintain relationships with the clients and suppliers of the acquired business;

​

•

our ability to retain or replace key personnel of the acquired business;

​

•

potential conflicts in payer, client, partner, vendor, or marketing relationships;

​

•

our ability to coordinate organizations that are geographically diverse and may have different business cultures;

​

•

the acceptance of acquired company clients of product upgrades and platform changes;

​

•

the diversion of management’s attention to the integration of the operations of businesses or other assets we have acquired;

​

•

difficulties in the integration or migration of IT systems, including secure data sharing across networks securely, and maintaining the security of the IT systems;

​

•

incurrence of debt or assumption of known and unknown liabilities;

​

•

write-off of goodwill, client lists, and amortization of expenses related to intangible assets; and

​

•

compliance with regulatory, contracting, and other requirements, including internal control over financial reporting.

​

We cannot guarantee that any acquired businesses, technologies, services, product lines, or other assets will be successfully integrated with our operations in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. Failure to successfully integrate acquired businesses or to achieve anticipated operating synergies, revenue enhancements, or cost savings could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. Although we attempt to evaluate the risks inherent in each transaction and evaluate acquisition candidates appropriately, we may not properly ascertain all risks and the acquired businesses or other assets may not perform as expected or enhance our value as a whole. Acquired businesses also may have larger than expected liabilities that are not covered by the indemnification, if any, that we are able to obtain from the sellers. If we are unable to successfully complete and integrate strategic acquisitions in a timely manner, our business and growth strategies could be negatively affected.

Our business depends on our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships.

We depend on strategic relationships, and if we lose any of these strategic relationships or fail to establish additional relationships, or if our relationships fail to benefit us as expected, this could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and operating results. For example, our solutions are integrated with many EHR and PM solutions offered by providers with whom we have a strategic relationship. Our ability to form and maintain these relationships in order to facilitate the integration of our platform into the EHR and PM systems used by our clients and their patients is important to the success of our business. If providers of EHR or PM solutions amend, terminate, or fail to perform their obligations under their agreements with us, we may need to seek other ways of integrating our platform with the EHR and PM systems of our clients, which could be costly and time consuming, and could adversely affect our business results.

In addition, we have entered into contracts with channel partners to market and sell certain of our solutions, which are generally on a non-exclusive basis. However, under contracts with some channel partners, we may be bound by provisions that restrict our ability to market and sell solutions to potential clients. Our arrangements with some of these channel partners involve negotiated payments to them based on percentages of revenue our common clients generate. These arrangements subject us to federal and state

 

18

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

healthcare laws and regulations. For more information regarding risks related to such laws and regulations, see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Legal and Governmental Regulation—We conduct business in a heavily regulated industry.” Additionally, if the payments prove to be too high, we may be unable to realize acceptable margins, but if the payments prove to be too low, channel partners may not be motivated to work with us at the levels initially contemplated. The success of these partnerships will depend in part upon the channel partners’ own competitive, marketing, and strategic considerations, including the relative advantages of using alternative solutions being developed and marketed by them or by competitors. If channel partners are unsuccessful in marketing our solutions or seek to amend the terms of their contracts, we may need to broaden our marketing efforts and alter our strategy, which may divert planned efforts and resources from other projects and may increase our costs. In addition, as part of the packages these channel partners sell, they may offer a choice to end-users between our solutions and similar solutions offered by competitors or by the channel partners directly. If our solutions are not chosen or renewed by existing channel partner end-users, revenue we earn via our channel partner relationships will decrease. Significant changes in the terms of our agreements with channel partners may also have an adverse effect on our ability to successfully market our solutions.

Our revenues rely, in part, on the growth and success of our clients and overall healthcare transaction volumes, which are subject to factors outside of our control.

We enter into agreements with our clients, under which a significant portion of our fees may be variable, including fees which are dependent upon the number of add-on features that our clients choose to subscribe to and the utilization of our solutions. These fees, above contractual minimums, are generally not required to be paid in the absence of healthcare transactions. Therefore, if there is a general reduction in patient visits, it may result in a reduction in fees generated from our clients or a reduction in the number of add-on features subscribed for by our clients. Our revenue can also be adversely affected by the impact of lower than normal healthcare utilization trends and other negative economic factors such as higher unemployment. For example, weakened economic conditions or a recession could reduce the amounts patients are willing or able to spend on healthcare services. Further, the number of patients utilizing our patient payment solutions, and the amounts those patients pay directly to our clients for services, is often impacted by factors outside of our control, such as the number of patients with high deductible health plans. The growth and success of our clients could also be impacted by changes in governmental policies and regulations, such as the creation of any future government single-payer system, which would have a significant adverse impact on our business.

For these reasons, revenue under these agreements can be uncertain and unpredictable, and if the associated transaction volumes were reduced by a material amount, such decrease would lead to a decrease in our revenue, which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Consolidation in the healthcare industry could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Many healthcare provider organizations are consolidating to create integrated healthcare delivery systems with greater market power. As provider networks and managed care organizations consolidate, thus decreasing the number of market participants, competition to provide products and solutions like ours will become more intense, and the importance of establishing and maintaining relationships with key industry participants will increase. These industry participants may try to use their market power to negotiate price reductions for our products and solutions. Further, consolidation of management and billing services through integrated delivery systems may decrease demand for our products. Such consolidation may also lead integrated delivery systems to require newly acquired physician practices to replace our product with that already in use in the larger enterprise. In addition, vertical integration whereby healthcare provider organizations acquire EHR, PM, revenue management cycle, or similar systems may make it more challenging to establish new relationships with such providers or may lead to such provider organizations replacing our solutions with those offered by systems that they acquire. Any of these factors could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We face a selling cycle of variable length to secure new client agreements.

We face a selling cycle of variable length, which can span from weeks to 18 months or longer, to secure a new agreement with a client. We invest a substantial amount of time and resources on our sales efforts

 

19

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

without any assurance that our efforts will produce sales. Even if we succeed at completing a sale, we may be unable to predict the size of the initial arrangement until very late in the sales cycle. We expend time and resources as part of our sales effort, and we may not recognize any revenue to offset such expenditures in the same period, particularly for longer sales cycles. We cannot accurately predict the timing of entering into agreements with new clients due to the complex procurement decision processes of many healthcare providers, which often involves high-level management or board committee approvals that can be delayed due to factors beyond our and their control. Due to our variable selling cycle length, we have only a limited ability to predict the timing of specific new client relationships, which affects our ability to predict future revenues and cash flows.

We face an implementation cycle that is dependent on our clients’ timing and resources.

We face an implementation cycle that is dependent on our clients’ timing, which may pose scheduling challenges, and our clients’ resources, which may be constrained or significantly diverted to larger projects, each of which can impact timing of implementation of our solutions. Providers are faced with labor-intensive, manual tasks as well as disconnected systems and tools, compounded by broad workforce shortages and high staff turnover rates, which can further limit their resources and ability to implement our solutions. Implementation of our solutions may also require other technology implementation or process changes by the client. If implementation periods are delayed or extended, our ability to generate revenue from these solutions would also be delayed even though we have expended time and resources in the implementation of such solutions. Even if implementation has begun, there can be no assurance that we will recognize revenue on a timely basis or at all from our efforts, and any revenue may not be recognized during the same period in which we incur implementation expenses.

We depend on our senior management team and certain key employees and must continue to attract and retain highly skilled employees.

Our success depends, in part, on the skills, working relationships, and continued services of Matthew Hawkins (our Chief Executive Officer), the senior management team, and other key personnel. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. In addition, our hybrid work environment could make it difficult to manage our business and adequately oversee our employees and business functions, potentially resulting in harm to our company culture, increased employee attrition, and the loss of key personnel.

We must attract, train, and retain a significant number of highly skilled employees, including sales and marketing personnel, client support personnel, professional services personnel, software engineers, technical personnel, and management personnel, and the availability of such personnel, in particular software engineers, may be constrained. We also believe that our future growth will depend on the continued development of our direct sales force and its ability to obtain new clients and to manage our existing client base. If we are unable to hire and develop sufficient numbers of productive direct sales personnel or if new direct sales personnel are unable to achieve desired productivity levels in a reasonable period of time, sales of our products and solutions will suffer and our growth will be impeded.

Competition for qualified management and employees in our industry is intense and identifying and recruiting qualified personnel and training them requires significant time, expense, and attention. Many of the companies with which we compete for personnel have greater financial and other resources than we do. While we have entered into offer letters or employment agreements with certain of our executive officers, all of our employees are “at-will” employees, and their employment can be terminated by us or them at any time, for any reason, and without notice, subject, in certain cases, to severance payment rights. The departure and replacement of one or more of our executive officers or other key employees would likely involve significant time and costs, may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives, and could materially harm our business. In addition, volatility or lack of performance in our stock price may affect our ability to attract replacements should key personnel depart.

The estimates and assumptions we use to determine the size of our total addressable market may prove to be inaccurate.

Market estimates and growth forecasts that we disclose are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. The estimates and forecasts relating

 

20

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

to the size and expected growth of the market for our products and solutions may prove to be inaccurate. These estimates and forecasts may be impacted by economic uncertainty that is outside our control, including macroeconomic trends such as domestic supply chain risks, inflationary pressure, interest rate increases, and declines in consumer confidence that impact our clients. While we believe the information on which we base our total addressable market and the underlying estimates and assumptions is generally reliable, such information is inherently imprecise. We cannot assure you that these assumptions will prove to be accurate.

Risks Related to our Products and Solutions

We may not be able to develop and market new solutions, or enhance our existing solutions, to respond to technological changes or evolving industry standards.

The markets in which we operate are characterized by rapid technological and regulatory change, evolving industry standards, and increasingly sophisticated client needs. For example, from time to time, government agencies may alter format and data code requirements applicable to electronic transactions. In addition, clients may request that solutions be customized to satisfy particular security protocols, modifications, and other contractual terms in excess of industry norms and standard configurations. In order to compete successfully, we must keep pace with our competitors in anticipating and responding to these rapid changes and evolving client demands. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to enhance and improve the functionality of our existing solutions (including the successful continued deployment of the use of AI in our products and solutions) and develop and introduce in a timely manner or acquire new solutions that keep pace with technological and regulatory developments and industry requirements, satisfy increasingly sophisticated client requirements, and achieve market acceptance. Because some of our solutions are complex and require rigorous testing, development cycles can be lengthy, depending upon the solution and other factors. Our estimates of research and development expenses may be too low, our revenue may not be sufficient to support the future product development that is required for us to remain competitive, and development cycles may be longer than anticipated. Further, there is no assurance that research and development expenditures will lead to successful solutions or enhancements to our existing solutions. In addition, technological advances also may result in the downward pricing pressures, which could result in us losing sales unless we lower the prices we charge or provide additional efficiencies or capabilities to the client.

In addition, because some of the software and systems that we use to provide solutions to clients are inherently complex, changing, updating, enhancing, or creating new versions of our solutions or the software or systems we use to provide our solutions introduces a risk of errors or performance problems. These updates and enhancements also require training and support to effectively implement, and our clients may have difficulties doing so. If significant problems occur as a result of these changes, we may fail to meet our contractual obligations to clients, which could result in claims being made against us or in the loss of client relationships.

If we are unable, for technological or other reasons, to develop or acquire on a timely and cost-effective basis new software solutions or enhancements to existing solutions or if such new solutions or enhancements do not achieve market acceptance or are not properly implemented, or if new technologies emerge that are able to deliver competitive offerings at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently, or more securely than our offerings, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our business depends on the interoperability, connectivity, and integration of our solutions with our clients’ and their vendors’ networks and infrastructures.

Our solutions must interoperate, connect, and integrate with our clients’ and their vendors’ existing infrastructures, which often have different specifications, utilize multiple protocol standards, deploy products and solutions from multiple vendors, and contain multiple generations of products that have been added to that infrastructure over time. Some of the technologies supporting our clients and their vendors are constantly evolving and we must continue to adapt to these changes in a timely and effective manner at an acceptable cost. In addition, our clients and their vendors may implement new technologies into their existing networks and systems infrastructures that may not immediately interoperate with our solutions. Our

 

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continued success will depend on our ability to adapt to changing technologies, manage, and process ever-increasing amounts of data and information and improve the performance, features, and reliability of our solutions in response to changing client and industry demands. If we encounter complications related to network configurations or settings, we may have to modify our solutions to enable them to interoperate with our clients’ and their vendors’ networks and manage clients’ transactions in the manner intended. For example, if clients or their vendors implement new encryption protocols, it may be necessary for us to obtain a license to implement or interoperate with such protocols, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such a license on acceptable terms, if at all. On the other hand, any new or enhanced technologies that we employ must be accepted by our clients’ and their vendors’ existing infrastructures and be able to be integrated with their platforms and solutions. For example, we use automated software applications or “bot” technology and Application Interface (“API”) technology in a number of our solutions. Certain of our clients’ platforms may not support those technologies or functionalities for various reasons, which would adversely impact connectivity of our solutions. Any of these difficulties could delay or prevent the successful design, development, testing, introduction, or marketing of our solutions.

Further, because our solutions are interoperated and integrated, any disruption to our clients’ and their vendors’ networks and infrastructures, such as those of the EHR and PM vendors of our clients, could cause our solutions to become unavailable.

As a consequence of any of the foregoing, our ability to sell our solutions may be impaired, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

The successful operation of our business depends upon the performance and reliability of internet, mobile, and other infrastructure, none of which are under our control.

Our business and ability to provide our products and solutions is highly dependent upon the reliable performance of our platform and the underlying network and server infrastructure, including the performance and reliability of internet, mobile, and other infrastructures that are not under our control. This includes maintenance of a reliable network backbone with the necessary speed, data capacity, and security for providing reliable internet access and services and reliable mobile device, and telephone all at a predictable and reasonable cost. We have experienced and expect that we will experience interruptions and delays in services and availability from time to time.

We serve our clients primarily from third-party data-hosting facilities. These facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures, and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism, and similar misconduct. Their systems and servers could also be subject to software and hardware errors, hacking, ransomware, viruses, and other disruptive problems or vulnerabilities. Despite precautions taken at these facilities, the occurrence of a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, a decision to close the facilities without adequate notice, or other unanticipated problems at the facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our solutions. Although we have instituted disaster recovery arrangements, in certain cases, we do not maintain redundant systems or facilities. In the event of a catastrophic event, we may experience an extended period of system unavailability, which could negatively impact our relationship with users or clients.

Any disruption in network access or telecommunications could significantly harm our business. Almost all access to the internet is maintained through telecommunication operators who have significant market power that could take actions that degrade, disrupt, or increase the cost of users’ ability to access our platform. Disruptions in internet infrastructure, cloud-based hosting, or the failure of telecommunications network operators to provide us with the bandwidth we need to provide our products and solutions could temporarily disrupt or shut down our business. The insurance coverage under our policies may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses that may occur. In addition, we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage at an acceptable cost.

Further, the reliability and performance of the internet may be harmed by increased usage or by denial-of-service attacks. The internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damages to portions of its infrastructure, and it could face outages and delays in the future. These outages and delays could reduce the level of internet usage as well as the availability of the internet to us for delivery of

 

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our products and solutions. Finally, recent changes in law could impact the cost and availability of necessary internet infrastructure. Increased costs and/or decreased availability would negatively affect our results of operations.

Our business would be adversely affected if we cannot obtain, process, use, disclose, or distribute the highly regulated data we require to provide our solutions.

Our business relies in part on our ability to obtain, process, monetize, use, disclose, and distribute highly regulated data in the healthcare and technology industries in a manner that complies with applicable laws, regulations, and contractual and technological restrictions. The failure by us or our data suppliers, processors, partners, and vendors to obtain, provide, maintain, use, and disclose data in a compliant manner could have a harmful effect on our ability to use and disclose data which in turn could impair our functions and operations, including our ability to share data with third parties or incorporate it into our product offerings. In addition, the processing, use, disclosure, and distribution of data may require us or our data suppliers, processors, partners, and vendors to obtain consent from third parties or follow additional laws, regulations, or contractual and technological restrictions that apply to the healthcare industry. These requirements could interfere with or prevent creation or use of rules and analyses or limit other data-driven activities that benefit us. Moreover, due to lack of valid notice, permission, authorization, consent, or waiver, we may be subject to claims or liability for use or disclosure of information. We have policies and procedures in place to address the proper handling, use, and disclosure of data, but could face claims that our practices occur in a manner not permitted under applicable laws or our agreements with or obligations to data providers, individuals, or other third parties. These claims or liabilities and other failures to comply with applicable requirements could damage our reputation, subject us to unexpected costs, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. See “Risks Related to Information Technology Systems, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property—Privacy concerns or security breaches or incidents relating to our platform could result in economic loss, damage to our reputation, deter users from using our products, expose us to legal penalties and liability, and otherwise adversely affect our business” and “Risks Related to Legal and Governmental Regulation—We are subject to health care laws and data privacy and security laws and regulations governing our Processing of personal information, including protected health information (“PHI”), personal health records, and payment card data.”

Additionally, to the extent we are permitted to de-identify personal information, including PHI, and use and disclose such de-identified information for our purposes, we must determine whether such PHI has been sufficiently de-identified to comply with our contractual obligations and the privacy standards under HIPAA. Such determinations may require complex factual and statistical analyses and may be subject to interpretation. Accordingly, we may be subject to claims or liability for failure to sufficiently de-identify data to comply with the HIPAA privacy standards and our contractual obligations. These claims or liabilities could damage our reputation, subject us to unexpected costs and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. If we are unable to properly protect the privacy and security of PHI entrusted to us, we could be found to have breached our contracts with our clients and be subject to investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), or other governmental or regulatory authorities. In the event OCR or other governmental or regulatory authorities find that we have failed to comply with applicable privacy and security standards, we could face civil and criminal penalties. Additionally, in recent years, consumer advocates, media, and elected officials increasingly and publicly have criticized companies in data-focused industries regarding the Processing of personal information, including the licensing of de-identified information, by such companies. Concerns about our practices with regard to the Processing or security of PHI, personal information, the licensing of de-identified information, or other privacy related matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We rely on certain third-party vendors and providers.

We have entered contracts with third-party providers to provide critical services relating to our business, including clearinghouse systems and payment processing services. We primarily use clearinghouse systems for our claims and payer payment management solutions to facilitate data exchanges between providers and payors in connection with the reimbursement process, and use payment processing services in

 

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our patient financial care solutions to facilitate patient payments to their providers. We also rely on third-party data providers to enable us to deliver automated eligibility and benefits verification as part of our financial clearance solutions, as well as third parties who print and deliver paper statements to patients as part of our patient financial care solution. We also use various third-party vendors, such as software as a service and infrastructure as a service, cybersecurity solutions, and cloud based hosting of our proprietary solutions. We rely on hosted software as a service applications from third parties to operate critical functions of our business, including enterprise resource planning, order management, contract management billing, accounting, human resources, and other operational activities. We also rely third parties with respect to internet, mobile, and other infrastructure as described under “—The successful operation of our business depends upon the performance and reliability of internet, mobile, and other infrastructure, none of which are under our control” below.

Our dependence on these third parties to support key functions of our business creates numerous risks, in particular, the risk that we may not maintain service quality, control, or effective management with respect to these operations, which, among other things, could result in our inability to meet certain obligations to our clients. For example, if our clearinghouse partners experience a disruption to their system, this could significantly adversely impact the availability and functionality of our claims management suite and, among other things, could cause us to be in breach of certain client contracts. In the event that these service providers fail to maintain adequate levels of support, do not provide high quality service, increase the fees they charge us, discontinue their lines of business, terminate our contractual arrangements, or cease or reduce operations, we may suffer additional costs and be required to pursue new third-party relationships, which could materially disrupt our operations and our ability to provide our products and solutions, divert management’s time and resources, and cause us to fail to meet required service levels stipulated in our client contracts.

Our reputation and our clients’ willingness to purchase our products and partners’ willingness to use our products depend, in part, on our third-party providers’ compliance with ethical employment practices, such as with respect to child labor, wages and benefits, forced labor, discrimination, safe and healthy working conditions, and with all legal and regulatory requirements relating to the conduct of their businesses. If our third-party providers fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations, safety codes, employment practices, human rights standards, quality standards, environmental standards, production practices, or other obligations, norms, or ethical standards, our reputation and brand image could be harmed and we could be exposed to litigation and additional costs that would harm our business, reputation, and results of operations. The ability of our third-party providers to effectively satisfy our business requirements could also be impacted by financial difficulty of our third-party providers or damage to their operations caused by fire, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other events.

Any termination of our agreements with, or disruption in the performance of, one or more of these service providers could result in disruption or unavailability of our platform, and harm our ability to continue to develop, maintain, and improve our products, as well as harm our brand and reputation. While we have entered into agreements with these third-party service providers, they have no obligation to renew their agreements on similar terms or on terms that we find commercially reasonable, or at all. Identifying replacement third-party service providers, and negotiating agreements with them, requires significant time and resources. If any one of our material third-party service provider’s ability to perform their obligations was impaired, we may not be able to find an alternative supplier in a timely manner or on acceptable financial terms, and we may not be able to meet the full demands of our clients within the time periods expected, or at all.

Any errors or malfunctions in our products and solutions could result in liability to our clients.

Our products and solutions are used to help simplify the payment process for healthcare providers. If our products and solutions fail to provide accurate and timely information or are associated with errors or malfunctions, then our clients could assert claims against us that could result in substantial costs to us, harm our reputation in the industry, and cause demand for our products and solutions to decline. Although we attempt to limit by contract our liability for damages, the allocations of responsibility and limitations of liability set forth in our contracts may not be enforceable or may not otherwise sufficiently protect us from liability for damages. In certain circumstances, we may also be liable for the acts or omissions of others,

 

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such as our vendors or suppliers. On occasion, we enter into standard indemnification arrangements in the ordinary course of business. Pursuant to these arrangements, we indemnify, hold harmless, and agree to reimburse the indemnified parties for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party, in connection with any trade secret, copyright, patent, or other intellectual property infringement claim by any third-party with respect to its technology. The terms of these indemnification agreements are generally perpetual. See “Business—Indemnification and Insurance.”

Moreover, our products and solutions may contain defects, errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or failures that are not detected until after the software is introduced or updates and new versions are released. From time to time we have discovered defects, errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or failures in our software, and such defects, errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or failures can be expected to occur in the future. Defects, errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or failures that are not timely detected and remedied could expose us to risk of liability to our clients and cause delays in introduction of new solutions, result in increased costs and diversion of development resources, require design modifications, decrease market acceptance or client satisfaction with our solutions, and harm our brand and reputation.

In addition, we create rules within our products and solutions based on payers’ authorization policy documents, and which may be used for financial recovery by our clients. These policies and related legal requirements can be complex and are subject to frequent changes. If such rules are inaccurate or contain errors, or if we fail to timely update our rules to reflect any changes in policies or requirements, then we may be subject to liability. If any of these risks occur, they could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Failure by our clients to obtain proper permissions or provide us with accurate and appropriate information may result in claims against us or may limit or prevent our use of information.

To the extent we are not otherwise permitted to use and/or disclose client information, we require our clients to provide necessary notices and obtain necessary permissions, consents, and authorizations for the use and disclosure of the information that we receive from our solutions. We then provide patient information to third parties, pursuant to patient permissions, consents, and authorizations that permit the third parties to collect such information, and such patient information may be aggregated or combined with other data sources to gain additional insights from such patient information. Such patient information may also be anonymized/de-identified and sold to or collected by a data aggregator.

If our clients do not provide necessary notices or obtain necessary permissions, consents, or authorizations, then our use and disclosure of information that we receive from them or on their behalf may be limited or prohibited by federal or state privacy or other laws. Such failures by our clients could impair our functions, processes, and databases that reflect, contain, or are based upon such information. In addition, such failures by our clients could interfere with or prevent creation or use of rules, analyses, or other data-driven activities that benefit us or make our solutions less useful. Accordingly, we may be subject to claims or liability for inaccurate claims data submitted to payers, inaccurate or incomplete billing and coding claims or for use or disclosure of information by reason of lack of valid notice, permission, consent, or authorization. These claims or liabilities could damage our reputation, subject us to unexpected costs, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Certain of our solutions present the potential for embezzlement, identity theft, or other similar illegal behavior by our employees or vendors and a failure of our employees or vendors to observe quality standards or adhere to environmental, social, and governance standards could damage our reputation.

As a payments facilitator, we handle payments from payers and from patients for many of our provider clients and are in possession of payment card information and banking account information. Even when we do not facilitate payments, our solutions also involve the use and disclosure of personal and business information that could be used to impersonate third parties or otherwise gain access to their data or funds. If any of our employees or vendors or other bad actors does not comply with the law or engages in unethical conduct, such as taking, converting, or misusing funds, documents, or information, or if we experience a data breach creating a risk of identity theft, we could be liable for damages, and our reputation could be damaged or destroyed.

 

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In addition, we could be perceived to have facilitated or participated in illegal misappropriation of funds, documents, or data and, therefore, be subject to civil or criminal liability. Federal and state regulators may take the position that a data breach or misdirection of data constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or trade practice. We also may be required to notify individuals affected by any data breaches. Further, a data breach or similar incident could impact the ability of our clients that are creditors to comply with the federal “red flags” rules, which require the implementation of identity theft prevention programs to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft in connection with client accounts. Any such data breach could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and reputation.

We must comply with the applicable rules of the National Automated Clearing House Association (“NACHA”), and we, our clients, and our sales partners must comply with the applicable requirements of card networks.

We provide payments solutions for the secure processing of patient payments. Our payment processing tools can connect to multiple financial services providers and acquiring banks and can also connect directly with patients. We have developed partnerships with ACH operators and primary credit card processors to facilitate payment processing as a third-party sender for patient payments as well as funds disbursements to healthcare providers, and we are registered with numerous card networks as a service provider (payment facilitator or the equivalent) for acquiring banks. The NACHA and these card networks set the operating rules and standards with which we must comply. The termination of our status as a third-party sender or a decision by NACHA to bar us from serving as such, the termination of our status as a certified service provider or a decision by the card networks to disallow payment facilitators or bar us from serving as such, or any changes in NACHA or card network rules or standards, including interpretation and implementation of the operating rules or standards, that increase the cost of doing business or limit our ability to provide payment processing solutions to our clients, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

In addition, we and our clients are subject to card network rules that could subject us or our clients to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by card networks for certain acts or omissions by us or our clients. If a client or sales partner fails to comply with the applicable requirements of card networks, we could be subject to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by card networks. We may have to bear the cost of such fines or penalties if we cannot collect them from the applicable client or sales partner, resulting in lower earnings or losses for us. Our violation of the network rules may result in the termination or suspension of our registration with the affected network. The termination of our registration, including a card network barring us from acting as a payment facilitator, or any changes in card network rules that would impair our registration, could require us to stop providing payment solutions relating to the affected card network, which would adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.

In addition, the rules of card networks are set by their boards, which may be influenced by card issuers. Many banks directly or indirectly sell payment processing services to clients in competition with us. These banks could attempt, by virtue of their influence on the networks, to alter the networks’ rules or policies to the detriment of non-members, including us.

We are subject to increases in card network fees and other changes to fee arrangements.

From time to time, card networks, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover, increase the fees that they charge, which are indirectly passed down to payment facilitators like us. Although we may attempt to pass these increases along to our clients, this may result in the loss of clients to our competitors that do not pass along the increases. If competitive practices prevent us from passing along the higher fees to our clients in the future, we may have to absorb all or a portion of such increases, which may increase our operating costs and adversely impact our results of operations.

Further, any future regulations on processing rates being capped when applied to transaction refunds could have a negative impact on our business. A provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) known as the Durbin Amendment empowered the Federal Reserve Board to establish and regulate a cap on the interchange fees that merchants pay banks for electronic clearing of debit card transactions. The final rule implementing the Durbin Amendment established standards for assessing whether debit card interchange fees received by debit card issuers were reasonable and proportional to the costs incurred by issuers for electronic debit transactions, and it established a

 

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maximum permissible interchange fee that an issuer may receive for an electronic debit transaction, limiting the fee revenue to debit card issuers and payment processors. To the extent that HSA-linked payment cards and other exempt payment cards used on our platform (or their issuing banks) lose their exempt status under the current rules or if the current interchange rate caps applicable to other payment cards used on our platform are increased, any such amendment, rule-making, or legislation could increase the interchange fees applicable to payment card transactions processed through our platform. As a result, this could decrease our revenue and profit and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to the effect of payer and provider conduct which we cannot control.

We offer certain electronic claims submission products as part of our platform. While we have implemented certain product features designed to maximize the accuracy and completeness of claims submissions, these features may not be sufficient to prevent inaccurate claims data from being submitted to payers. Should inaccurate claims data be submitted to payers due to errors and omissions by Waystar, we may be subject to liability claims. Electronic data transmission services are offered by certain payers to healthcare providers that establish a direct link between the provider and payer. This process could reduce revenue to vendors such as us. A significant increase in the utilization of direct links between providers and payers would reduce the number of transactions that we process and for which we are paid, resulting in a decrease in revenue and an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Information Technology Systems, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property

We and our vendors are subject to attacks of such information technology systems, including cyber-attacks, security breaches, or other incidents impacting the information Processed through our platform.

We collect, create, receive, maintain, process, use, transmit, disclose, transfer, alter, and store (collectively, “Process”) significant amounts of personal information of patients received in connection with the utilization of our platform and otherwise in connection with the operation of our business, and other sensitive, confidential, and proprietary information such as payment data and PHI. Attacks on information technology systems are increasing in their frequency, levels of persistence, sophistication, and intensity, and they are being conducted by increasingly sophisticated and organized groups and individuals, including state-sponsored organizations, with a wide range of motives and expertise. In addition to extracting personal information and other sensitive or confidential information, such attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering, and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity, security, and availability of our information or information technology systems. The prevalent use of mobile devices also increases the risk of data security incidents. Further, like all internet-based solutions, our solutions are vulnerable to software bugs, computer viruses, malware, internet worms, break-ins, phishing attacks, attempts to overload servers with denial-of-service, or other attacks or similar disruptions from unauthorized use of our and third-party computer systems, any of which could lead to system interruptions, delays, or shutdowns, causing loss of critical data, or the unauthorized acquisition of or access to data. While we believe we have taken reasonable steps to protect such data, techniques used to gain unauthorized access to or acquisitions of data and systems, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to anticipate such techniques or implement adequate preventative measures to avoid unauthorized access, acquisitions of, or other adverse impacts to such data or our systems. The risk of state-supported and geopolitical-related cyber-attacks may increase in connection with the war in Ukraine and any related political or economic responses and counter-responses. In addition, competitors in our industry have suffered successful cyberattacks in the past, which may lead to us facing additional scrutiny, and we may face similar attacks ourselves. We may not discover all such incidents or activity or be able to respond or otherwise address them promptly, in sufficient respects or at all. Any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security, and availability of our products, or failure to prevent software bugs and other corruptants such as those listed above, to the satisfaction of our clients or their patients, may harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing clients, negatively affect our clients and their patients, and adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

 

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In addition, some of our third-party service providers and vendors also Process our personal information and other sensitive information such as our clients’ data on our behalf. These service providers and vendors are subject to similar threats of cyber-attacks, security incidents, and other malicious internet-based activities, which could also expose us to risk of loss, litigation, potential liability, and/or other costs. We may have limited insight into the data privacy or security practices of third-party vendors and providers, including as it relates to our AI algorithms. We have also acquired and may continue to acquire companies that are vulnerable to cyber-attacks and security incidents and breaches, and we may be responsible for any such attacks, incidents, and breaches of these newly acquired companies.

Further, the security systems in place at our employees’, vendors’, and service providers’ offices and homes may be less secure than those used in our offices, and while we have implemented technical, physical, and administrative safeguards to help protect our systems when our employees, vendors, and service providers work from their offices, homes, and other remote locations, we may be subject to increased cybersecurity risk, which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss, and could disrupt our business operations. There is no guarantee that the data security and privacy safeguards we have put in place will ultimately be effective or that we will not encounter risks associated with employees, vendors, and service providers accessing company data and systems remotely. If an actual or perceived breach of security occurs to our systems or a third-party’s systems, we could be required to expend significant resources to mitigate the breach of security, pay any applicable fines, and address matters related to any such breach, including notifying impacted individuals, the media, or regulators, making public disclosures, and addressing reputational harm.

Any theft, loss, or misappropriation of, or access to, clients’, or other proprietary data, or other breach of our third-party service providers’ or vendors’ information technology systems could result in fines, legal claims, or proceedings, including regulatory investigations and actions, or liability for failure to comply with privacy and information security laws, which could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, and expose us to claims from clients, individuals, and others, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The costs of mitigating data security risks are significant and are likely to increase in the future. Although we carry cybersecurity insurance, we cannot ensure our limits are sufficient to cover us against all potential losses for damages or fines in an amount exceeding our policy.

Our business is subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.

There are numerous U.S. federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity that govern the Processing of personal information and other information. The scope of these laws and regulations is expanding and evolving, subject to differing interpretations, may be inconsistent among jurisdictions, or conflict with other rules. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and obligations to third parties related to privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.

For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”) took effect on January 1, 2020, which broadly defines personal information, gives California residents expanded privacy rights and protections, and provides for civil penalties for certain violations. Furthermore, in November 2020, California voters passed the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act of 2020 (the “CPRA”), which amended and expanded the CCPA with additional data privacy compliance requirements and established a regulatory agency dedicated to enforcing those requirements. Many other states, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia have since also passed comprehensive state privacy laws that may impose additional obligations and requirements on our business. Additionally, we may be subject to new laws governing the privacy of certain specific types of data, including, most notably, consumer health data. For example, Washington’s My Health My Data Act broadly defines consumer health data, creates a private right of action to allow individuals to sue for violations of the law, imposes stringent consent requirements, and grants consumers certain rights with respect to their health data, including to request deletion of their information.

 

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In addition, varying jurisdictional requirements could increase the costs and complexity of our compliance efforts and violations of applicable data privacy laws can result in significant penalties. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with applicable data protection or other laws could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, subject us to significant fines, penalties, judgments, and negative publicity, require us to change our business practices, increase the costs and complexity of compliance, and adversely affect our business. Many of these new laws, if applicable, may require us to allow individuals to opt-out of the use of their personal information for targeted advertising, which may impact our marketing strategy. Additionally, businesses are legally required to notify affected individuals, governmental entities, and/or credit reporting agencies of certain security incidents affecting personal information. Such laws are not all consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread security incident is complex and costly and may be difficult to implement. We may also be contractually required to indemnify and hold harmless clients from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any laws, regulations, or other legal obligations relating to data privacy or health care laws or any inadvertent or unauthorized Processing of personal information or PHI that we store or handle as part of operating our business. Our existing general liability and cyber liability insurance policies may not cover, or may cover only a portion of, any potential claims related to security breaches to which we are exposed or may not be adequate to indemnify us for all or any portion of liabilities that may be imposed. See “Risks Related to Legal and Governmental Regulation—We are subject to health care laws and data privacy and security laws and regulations governing our Processing of personal information, including PHI, personal health records, and payment card data” below for further discussion.

If our intellectual property rights are not adequately protected and enforced, we may not be able to build name recognition or protect our technology and products.

Our business depends on proprietary technology and content, including software, databases, confidential information and know-how, the protection of which is crucial to the success of our business. We rely on a combination of trademark, trade-secret, copyright, and other intellectual property laws, confidentiality procedures, and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property rights in our proprietary technology, content, and brand. We may, over time, increase our investment in protecting our intellectual property through additional trademark, patent, and other intellectual property filings that could be expensive and time-consuming. Effective trademark, trade-secret, and copyright protection is expensive to develop and maintain, both in terms of initial and ongoing registration requirements and the costs of asserting our rights against third parties. Further, these measures may not be sufficient to offer us meaningful protection. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and assert our rights in such intellectual property against third parties, our brand, competitive position, and business could be harmed, as third parties may be able to dilute our brand or commercialize and use technologies and software products that are substantially the same as ours without incurring the development and licensing costs that we have incurred. Any of our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, or misappropriated, our trade secrets and other confidential information could be disclosed in an unauthorized manner to third parties, or our intellectual property rights may not be sufficient to permit us to take advantage of current market trends or otherwise provide us with competitive advantages, which could result in costly redesign efforts, discontinuance of certain products and solutions, or other competitive harm.

Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. From time to time, we seek to analyze our competitors’ products and solutions, and may in the future seek to enforce our rights against potential infringement. However, the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to prevent infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. Any inability to meaningfully protect or enforce our intellectual property rights could result in harm to our brand or our ability to compete and reduce demand for our technology and products. Moreover, our failure to develop and properly manage new intellectual property could adversely affect our market positions and business opportunities. Also, some of our products and solutions rely on technologies and software developed by or licensed from third parties. Any disruption or disturbance in such third-party products or services, which we have experienced in the past and may experience again in the future, could interrupt the operation of our platform, and could cause us to be in breach of contracts with our clients. We may not be able to maintain our relationships with such third parties or enter into similar relationships in the future on reasonable terms or at all.

 

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Additional uncertainty may result from changes to intellectual property legislation enacted in the United States and elsewhere, and from interpretations of intellectual property laws by applicable courts and agencies. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to obtain and maintain the intellectual property rights necessary to provide us with a competitive advantage. Our failure to obtain, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business depends on our ability to use or license data and integrate third-party technologies.

We depend upon licenses from third parties for some of the technology and data used in our products and solutions, and for some of the technology platforms upon which these products and solutions are built and operate. We expect that we may need to obtain additional licenses from third parties in the future in connection with the development of our products and solutions. In addition, we obtain a portion of the data that we use from government entities and public records for specific client engagements. We believe that we have all rights necessary to use the data that is incorporated into, or used to develop and improve, our products and solutions. However, we cannot assure you that our licenses for information will allow us to use that information for all potential or contemplated products and solutions. In addition, our ability to use data to support and improve existing products and solutions and to develop new products and solutions is largely dependent upon the contractual rights we secure. For example, certain of our products depend on maintaining our data and analytics platform, which is populated with data disclosed to us by healthcare providers and payers with their consent. If these providers and/or payers revoke their consent for us to maintain, use, de-identify, and share this data, consistent with applicable law, our data assets could be degraded.

In the future, data providers could withdraw their data from us or restrict our usage for any reason, including if there is a competitive reason to do so, if legislation is passed restricting the use of the data, or if judicial interpretations are issued restricting use of the data that we currently use in or for development and maintenance of our products and solutions. In addition, data providers could fail to adhere to our quality control standards in the future, causing us to incur additional expense to appropriately utilize the data. If a substantial number of data providers were to withdraw or restrict their data, or if they fail to adhere to our quality control standards, and if we are unable to identify and contract with suitable alternative data suppliers and integrate these data sources into our offerings, our ability to provide products and solutions to our partners would be materially adversely impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We also integrate into our proprietary products and solutions and use third-party software to maintain and enhance, among other things, content generation and delivery, and to support our technology infrastructure.

Some of this software is proprietary and some is open source software. Our use of third-party technologies and open source software exposes us to increased risks, including, but not limited to, risks associated with the integration of new technology into our platform, the diversion of our resources from development of our own proprietary technology and our inability to generate revenue from licensed technology sufficient to offset associated acquisition and maintenance costs. These technologies may not be available to us in the future on commercially reasonable terms or at all and could be difficult to replace once integrated into our own proprietary products and solutions. Most of these licenses can be renewed only by mutual consent and may be terminated if we breach the terms of the license and fail to cure the breach within a specified period of time. Our inability to obtain, maintain, or comply with any of these licenses could delay development until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed, and integrated, which would harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Most of our third-party licenses are non-exclusive and our competitors may obtain the right to use any of the technology covered by these licenses to compete directly with us. If our data suppliers choose to discontinue support of the licensed technology in the future, we might not be able to modify or adapt our own solutions.

 

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Our use of “open source” software could adversely affect our ability to offer our products and solutions and subject us to possible litigation.

We have in the past incorporated and may in the future incorporate certain open source software into our products and solutions. Open source software is licensed by its authors or owners under open source licenses, which in some instances may subject us to certain unfavorable conditions, including requirements that we offer our products and solutions that incorporate such open source software for no cost, that we make publicly available the source code for any modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software, or that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of the particular open source license. In addition, the use of third-party open source software could expose us to greater risks than the use of third-party commercial software to the extent open-source licensors do not provide warranties or controls on the functionality or origin of the software equivalent to those provided by third-party commercial software providers. Further, the public availability of open source software may make it easier for attackers to target and compromise our platform through cyber-attacks. Open sourcing such software requires us to make the source code publicly available, and therefore can limit our ability to protect our intellectual property rights with respect to that software. From time to time, companies that use open source software have faced claims challenging the use of open source software or compliance with open source license terms. Furthermore, there is an increasing number of open source software license types, many of which have not been tested in a court of law. We could be subject to suits by parties claiming copyright infringement or noncompliance with open source licensing terms. While we monitor the use of open source software and try to ensure that none is used in a manner that would require us to disclose our proprietary source code or that would otherwise breach the terms of an open source license, such use could inadvertently occur, in part because open source license terms are often ambiguous. Any requirement to disclose our proprietary source code or pay damages for breach of contract could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and could help our competitors develop products and solutions that are similar to or better than ours.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights.

Our commercial success depends on our ability to develop and commercialize our products and solutions and use our proprietary technology without infringing the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. However, from time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business with respect to intellectual property. Intellectual property disputes can be costly to defend and may cause our business, operating results, and financial condition to suffer. As the market for healthcare technology solutions in the United States expands and more patents are issued, the risk increases that there may be patents issued to third parties that relate to our products and technology of which we are not aware or that we must challenge to continue our operations as currently contemplated. Whether merited or not, we may face allegations that we, our licensees, or parties indemnified by us have infringed or otherwise violated the patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights of third parties. Such claims may be made by competitors seeking to obtain a competitive advantage or by other parties. Additionally, so-called non-practicing entities collect patents and make claims of infringement in an attempt to extract settlements from companies like ours. We have faced such claims, although we do not believe they are material, and may attract such claims in the future. We may also face allegations that our employees have misappropriated the intellectual property or proprietary rights of their former employers or other third parties.

It may be necessary for us to initiate litigation to defend ourselves in order to determine the scope, enforceability, and validity of third-party intellectual property or proprietary rights, or to establish our respective rights. Regardless of whether claims that we are infringing patents or other intellectual property rights have merit, such claims can be time-consuming, divert management’s attention and financial resources, and can be costly to evaluate and defend. Results of any such litigation are difficult to predict and may require us to stop commercializing or using our products or technology, obtain licenses, modify our solutions and technology while we develop non-infringing substitutes, or incur substantial damages, settlement costs, or face a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting us from marketing or providing the affected products and solutions. If we require a third-party license, it may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, and we may have to pay substantial royalties, upfront fees, or grant cross-licenses to intellectual property rights for

 

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our products and solutions. We may also have to redesign our products or solutions so they do not infringe third-party intellectual property rights, which may not be possible or may require substantial monetary expenditures and time, during which our technology and products may not be available for commercialization or use. Even if we have an agreement to indemnify us against such costs, the indemnifying party may be unable to uphold its contractual obligations. If we cannot or do not obtain a third-party license to the infringed technology, license the technology on reasonable terms, or obtain similar technology from another source, our revenue and earnings could be adversely impacted.

Further, some third parties may be able to sustain the costs of complex litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. And even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Moreover, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations. Assertions by third parties that we violate their intellectual property rights could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties.

We receive confidential and proprietary information from third parties in connection with the operation of our business. In addition, we may employ individuals who were previously employed at other technology companies, including our competitors. We may be subject to claims that us or our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise improperly used or disclosed confidential information of these third parties or our employees’ or contractors’ former employers. Further, we may be subject to ownership disputes in the future arising, for example, from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants, or others who are involved in developing our solutions. We may also be subject to claims that former employees, consultants, independent contractors or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging our right to and use of confidential and proprietary information. In addition to paying monetary damages, if we fail in defending against any such claims we may lose our rights therein, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and employees.

Risks Related to Legal and Governmental Regulation

We conduct business in a heavily regulated industry.

Our current and future arrangements with our channel partners, healthcare professionals, consultants, clients, and third-party payors subject us to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws and other healthcare laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (the “AKS”) and state kickback laws, the federal civil and criminal false claims laws, civil monetary penalties laws, the Stark Law, HIPAA, and the regulations promulgated under such laws. These laws impact, among other things, proposed sales, marketing, and educational programs, and other interactions with healthcare professionals and provider clients. For more information regarding the risks related to these laws and regulations please see “Business—Regulation—Healthcare fraud and abuse provisions.”

These laws are complex, may change rapidly, and the scope and enforcement and application of each of these laws to our specific services and relationships may not be clear and may be applied to our business in ways we do not anticipate. Federal and state regulatory and law enforcement authorities continue to focus on enforcement activities with respect to Medicare, Medicaid, other government and third-party payor programs, and other healthcare reimbursement laws and rules in an effort to reduce overall healthcare spending. Federal and state enforcement bodies have recently increased their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions,

 

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convictions, and settlements in the healthcare industry. Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of their statutory or regulatory exceptions and safe harbors, some of our business activities may be subject to challenge under one or more of them. In addition, new and evolving payment structures, for example, such as accountable care organizations and other arrangements involving combinations of healthcare providers who share savings, potentially implicate anti-kickback and other fraud and abuse laws. The government has prosecuted revenue cycle management service providers for causing the submission of false or fraudulent claims in violation of the federal civil False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. (the “FCA”), and vendors of EHR software for, among other things, misrepresenting the capabilities of their software and payment of kickbacks to certain customers in exchange for promoting their products in violation of the AKS and the FCA. Errors created by our platform and our proprietary products and solutions that relate to entry, formatting, preparation, or transmission of claims, reporting of quality or other data pursuant to value-based purchasing initiatives, or cost report information may be alleged or determined to cause the submission of false claims or otherwise be in violation of these laws. As we continue to build new and evolving technologies, such as AI, machine learning, analytics, and biometrics, into our products and solutions, our business may become subject to additional complex and evolving regulatory requirements pertaining to the sale or use of these technologies. The sale of these technologies, or their use by us or by our clients or partners, may also subject us to additional risks, including reputational harm, competitive harm, or legal liabilities.

Ensuring that our internal operations and future business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Achieving and sustaining compliance requires us to implement controls across our entire organization which may prove costly and challenging to monitor and enforce. The risk of our being found in violation of healthcare laws and regulations is increased by the fact that their provisions are sometimes open to a variety of interpretations. We cannot assure you that our arrangements and activities will be deemed outside the scope of these laws or that increased enforcement activities will not directly or indirectly have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance, or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including administrative, civil, and criminal penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, the exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, disqualification from providing services to healthcare providers doing business with government programs, individual imprisonment, reputational harm, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, requirements to change or terminate some portions of our operations or business, as well as additional reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws. If we are determined to have violated any of these laws, we may be required to give our clients the right to terminate our services agreements with them and/or required to refund portions of our base fee revenues and incentive payment revenues, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Likewise, if any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found to not be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs and imprisonment as well. Any violations by, and resulting penalties or exclusions imposed upon, our clients could adversely affect their financial condition and, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Even absent an alleged violation of law by us, participants in the healthcare industry receive inquiries or subpoenas to produce documents and provide testimony in connection with government investigations. We could be required to expend significant time and resources to comply with these requests, and the attention of our management team could be diverted by these efforts. Further, defending against any such actions can be costly and time consuming, and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired. If any of the above occur, our ability to operate our business and our results of operations could be adversely affected.

The healthcare regulatory and political framework is uncertain and evolving.

Almost all of our revenue is derived from the healthcare industry, which is subject to changing political, legislative, regulatory, and other influences. Healthcare laws and regulations are rapidly evolving

 

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and may change significantly in the future, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) was adopted, which is a healthcare reform measure that provides healthcare insurance for millions of Americans. The ACA includes a variety of healthcare reform provisions and requirements that substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, which significantly impact our industry and our business. We are unable to predict the full impact of any health reform initiatives or legislative updates to current healthcare laws on our operations in light of the uncertainty regarding whether, when, and how alternative reforms, if any, may be enacted, the timing of enactment and implementation of alternative provisions and the impact of alternative provisions on various healthcare industry participants.

We are also unable to predict how recent regulatory reforms regarding information blocking, algorithm transparency, interoperability, and health data will impact our business and whether the new presidential Administration will continue to enforce or implement past reforms. For example, President Trump’s Administration revoked President Biden’s executive order on AI and it is unclear how the new Administration will implement final rules on Health Data, Technology and Interoperability (HTI-1, HTI-2, and HTI-3) that took effect in 2024. Future legislative, executive, and regulatory proposals may constitute a significant departure from previous regulations regarding patient data. While certain of these rules benefit us in that certain EHR vendors will no longer be permitted to interfere with our attempts at integration, they may also make it easier for other similar companies to enter the market, creating increased competition and reducing our market share.

In addition, we are subject to various other laws and regulations, including, among others, anti-kickback laws, antitrust laws, and the privacy and data protection laws described below. See “Business—​Regulation—Healthcare fraud and abuse provisions.”

We are subject to health care laws and data privacy and security laws and regulations governing our Processing of personal information, including PHI, personal health records, and payment card data.

Numerous complex federal and state laws and regulations govern the Processing of personal information, including PHI, personal health records, and payment card data. State laws may be even more restrictive and not preempted by HIPAA and may be subject to varying interpretations by the courts and government agencies. These laws and regulations, including their interpretation by governmental agencies, are subject to frequent change and could have a negative impact on our business. Further, these varying interpretations could create complex compliance issues for us and our partners and potentially expose us to additional expense, liability, penalties, negatively impact our client relationships, and lead to adverse publicity, and these risks could adversely affect our business in the short and long term. See “Business— Regulation—Federal and state health information privacy and security laws.”

We are a “covered entity” as defined under HIPAA when we provide our clearinghouse services, and we also are a “business associate” as defined under HIPAA for other covered entities when we provide revenue cycle management and other solutions. HHS OCR may impose civil penalties on both covered entities and business associates for their failure to comply with HIPAA requirements. These requirements are subject to change. In December 2024, HHS OCR issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on the HIPAA Security Rule, which is specifically aimed at strengthening cybersecurity of electronic PHI, and we are monitoring this proposed rulemaking. The U.S. Department of Justice is responsible for criminal prosecutions under HIPAA. Penalties can vary significantly depending on a number of factors, such as whether the covered entity’s or business associate’s failure to comply was due to willful neglect. Violations of HIPAA could result in criminal penalties up to $250,000 and ten years in prison and civil penalties of up to $68,928 for each violation, with a cap of $2,067,813 for violations of the same standard per calendar year, administrative fines and penalties, and/or additional reporting and oversight obligations if we are required to enter into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan. A single breach incident can result in violations of multiple standards over many years, resulting in potential penalties in excess of $2,067,813 per year. For example, HIPAA violations at one covered entity resulted in total penalties of $16 million in 2018. HIPAA also authorizes state attorneys general to file suit on behalf of the residents of their states. While HIPAA does not create a private right of action that would allow individuals to sue in civil court for HIPAA violations, its standards have been used as the basis for the duty of care in state civil suits, such as those for recklessness in misusing individuals’ health information. If we are subject to investigation or litigation related to an

 

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alleged violation of HIPAA, then we may elect to resolve the matter through additional reporting and oversight obligations through a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with HHS to settle allegations of HIPAA non-compliance. Such settlement could require payment of a civil penalty or damages, corrective action, and/or monitoring of our business by a third party.

The security measures that we and our third-party vendors and subcontractors have in place to ensure compliance with privacy and data protection laws may not protect our facilities and systems from security breaches or incidents, acts of vandalism or theft, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, malfeasance, programming, and human errors or other similar events. We may also be liable for privacy and security breaches and failures of our business associates and subcontractors. Even though we provide for appropriate protections through our agreements with our subcontractors, we still have limited control over their actions and practices. A breach of privacy or security of individually identifiable health information by a subcontractor may result in an enforcement action, including criminal and civil liability, against us. We are not able to predict the extent of the impact such incidents may have on our business. Our failure to comply with HIPAA and other health privacy laws may also result in criminal and civil liability. Enforcement actions against us could be costly and could interrupt regular operations, which may adversely affect our business. While we have not received any notices of violation of the applicable privacy and data protection laws and believe we are in compliance with such laws, there can be no assurance that we will not receive such notices in the future.

Our AI platform and the data it uses may also subject us to additional risks. We use de-identified claims data to train our revenue cycle management AI. In order to de-identify PHI for our AI, we must have explicit rights and permissions to do so from our clients. If we do not de-identify PHI in accordance with HIPAA’s safe harbor method or if we do not have rights or permissions to de-identify PHI, but de-identify PHI for such purposes, a regulator or client may consider such actions to be a breach of HIPAA’s requirements or of contractual requirements, and we may be subject to criminal and civil liability or other actions and our clients may not renew or terminate their contracts with us.

Many states are also enacting legislation on the use, creation, and deployment of AI. For example, in March 2024, Utah enacted the Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, which requires disclosures to consumers about the use of AI in certain circumstances, including advance AI use disclosures by physicians and individuals in other regulated occupations. In Connecticut, proposed legislation would regulate the development, deployment, and use of certain AI systems. The Connecticut bill would address algorithmic discrimination, decisions with respect to healthcare services, and studies on the use of AI by healthcare providers. Developers of generative AI systems would be required to complete impact assessments and disclose measures the developer has taken to mitigate any known or reasonably foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination that may arise from deployment of certain “high-risk” AI systems that are developed and marketed to make consequential decisions, such as decisions that have a material legal or similarly significant effect on consumer access to certain services, including healthcare and financial services. Other states have introduced similar bills.

Even when HIPAA does not apply, according to the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure constitutes unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (the “FTCA”) 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business, and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. Individually identifiable health information is considered sensitive data that merits stronger safeguards. The FTC’s current guidance for appropriately securing consumers’ personal information is similar to what is required by the HIPAA security regulations, but this guidance may change in the future, resulting in increased complexity and the need to expend additional resources to ensure we are complying with the FTCA. For information that is not subject to HIPAA and deemed to be “personal health records,” the FTC may also impose penalties for violations of the Health Breach Notification Rule (“HBNR”) to the extent we are considered a “personal health record-related entity” or “third party service provider.” The FTC has taken several enforcement actions under HBNR this year and indicated that the FTC will continue to protect consumer privacy through greater use of the agency’s enforcement authorities. As a result, we expect even greater scrutiny by federal and state regulators, partners, and consumers of our Processing of health information, particularly with our

 

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AI-enabled solutions. Additionally, federal and state consumer protection laws are increasingly being applied by the FTC and states’ attorneys general to regulate the Processing of personal information, through websites or otherwise, and to regulate the presentation of website content.

Other federal and state laws that restrict the use and protect the privacy and security of personally identifiable information are, in many cases, not preempted by HIPAA and may be subject to varying interpretations by the courts and government agencies. These varying interpretations can create complex compliance issues for us and our partners and potentially expose us to additional expense, adverse publicity, and liability, any of which could adversely affect our business. Recently, several states have enacted consumer health data laws, which generally require consent for the collection, use, or sharing of any “consumer health data,” which is typically defined as personal information that is linked or reasonably linkable to a consumer and that identifies a consumer’s past, present, or future physical or mental health. Other states have enacted similar bills.

Future laws, regulations, standards, obligations, amendments, and changes in the interpretation of existing laws, regulations, standards, and obligations could impair our or our clients’ ability to Process information relating to consumers, which could decrease demand for our platform, increase our costs, and impair our ability to maintain and grow our client base, and increase our revenue. New laws, amendments to or re-interpretations of existing laws and regulations, industry standards, and contractual obligations could impair our or our clients’ ability to collect, use, or disclose information relating to patients or consumers, which could decrease demand for our platform offerings, increase our costs, and impair our ability to maintain and grow our client base, and increase our revenue. Accordingly, we may find it necessary or desirable to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or to expend significant resources to modify our software or platform and otherwise adapt to these changes.

We are also subject to self-regulatory standards and industry certifications that may legally or contractually apply to us. These include the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (“PCI-DSS”) and AICPA Systems and Organization Controls 2 (“SOC 2”), with which we are currently compliant, and HITRUST certification, which we currently maintain. In the event we fail to comply with the PCI-DSS or fail to maintain our SOC 2 or HITRUST certification, we could be in breach of our obligations under client and other contracts, fines, and other penalties could result, and we may suffer reputational harm and damage to our business. Further, our clients may expect us to comply with more stringent privacy, data storage, and data security requirements than those imposed by laws, regulations or self-regulatory requirements, and we may be obligated contractually to comply with additional or different standards relating to our handling or protection of data.

Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with domestic laws or regulations, industry standards, or other legal obligations, or any actual or suspected breach or privacy or security incident, whether or not resulting in unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other data, may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines, and penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our clients to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all, and our ability to develop new products and features could be limited. Any of these developments could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Privacy and data security concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit retention of our platform or services by existing clients or adoption of our platform or services by new clients.

The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving, and we may experience reduced revenues and/or be forced to reduce our prices in response to changes to the healthcare regulatory landscape. Value-based care, surprise medical billing, and other laws and regulations that reduce or otherwise affect physician payments and reimbursement could adversely affect the number of transactions we process and our ability to recover charges for our clients’ services.

We may be subject to revenue reductions or pricing pressures arising from various sources, including government actions and the trend of payors shifting to new reimbursement models and value-based care arrangements that incentivize healthcare providers to improve the health of their patients while managing medical expenses of a particular population. Value-based care reimbursement models implemented by government healthcare programs or private third-party payors could materially change the manner in which

 

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our clients are reimbursed. Our clients and other entities with which we have business relationships are also affected by other changes in statutes, regulations, and limitations on government spending for Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs. Recent and future government actions and legislation could limit government spending for Medicare and Medicaid programs, limit payments to healthcare providers, initiate new and expanded value-based care reimbursement programs, impose price controls, and create other programs that potentially could have an adverse effect on our clients and the other entities with which we have a business relationship. If such actions or programs reduce the number of transactions, our revenues may decline along with our ability to absorb overhead costs, which may leave our business less profitable. Any failure to adequately implement strategic initiatives to adjust to these developments could have a material adverse impact on our business.

For example, the federal No Surprises Act, enacted in 2020, has impacted our clients, and may impact our business, product offerings, and procedures surrounding claims processing. The No Surprises Act may impact transaction volume and the manner in which our clients use our platform and may necessitate changes to our client contracting model to better align with the ways that our clients are being reimbursed. The No Surprises Act prohibits, among other things, “balance billing” or “surprise billing” by limiting patient costs for services to cost-sharing amounts and by banning providers from billing patients above these cost-sharing amounts. The No Surprises Act also created additional price transparency requirements, including the requirement that providers send patients and health plans a good faith estimate of the expected charges for furnishing certain items or services. If the actual charges are substantially higher than the estimate, the patient can invoke a dispute resolution process to challenge the higher amount. Further, subject to limited exceptions, the No Surprises Act also prohibited out-of-network providers from charging patients more than the relevant in-network cost sharing amount.

A number of state governments have also enacted or may enact legislation on surprise medical bills, which may adversely affect our revenue in those states. These measures could limit the amount our clients can recover for certain services they furnish where they have not contracted with the insurer, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. For example, state surprise billing laws have established payment standards based on the median in-network rate or a multiplier of what Medicare would pay. These payment standards are often less than the average out-of-network payment and could therefore have an adverse effect on reimbursement rates, and we may experience additional impacts if more states adopt such laws. Moreover, these measures could affect our client’s ability to contract with certain payors or under historically similar terms, and may cause, and the prospect of these changes may cause, payors to seek to terminate or modify their contracts with our clients, further affecting our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. There is also risk that additional legislation at the federal and state level will give rise to major third-party payors leveraging this legislation or related changes as an opportunity to terminate and renegotiate existing reimbursement rates, which may also adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Additionally, there have been numerous federal legislative and administrative actions that have affected government programs, including adjustments that have reduced or increased payments to physicians and other healthcare providers and adjustments that have affected the complexity of our work. For example, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 established a Quality Payment Program that requires physician groups to track and report a multitude of data relating to quality, clinical practice improvement activities, use of an EHR, and cost. Success or failure with respect to these measures may impact reimbursement in future years. Similarly, hospitals participating in the Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program, which requires the reporting of quality and cost measures, may receive a net decrease in payments. It is possible that the federal or state governments will implement additional reductions, increases, or changes in reimbursement under government programs that will adversely affect our client base or increase the cost of providing our services. Any such changes could adversely affect our own financial condition by reducing the reimbursement rates of our clients.

We may be a party to legal, regulatory, and other proceedings that could result in adverse outcomes.

We have been, and may in the future be, a party to legal and regulatory proceedings and investigations, and other proceedings and investigations arising in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our clients in connection with commercial disputes and employment claims made by our current or former

 

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employees. Claims may also be asserted by or on behalf of a variety of other parties, including government agencies, patients or vendors of our clients, or stockholders. In addition, there are an increasing number of, and we may be subject to, investigations and proceedings in the healthcare industry generally that seek recovery under HIPAA, anti-kickback laws, false claims laws, civil monetary penalties laws, the Stark Law, state laws, and other statutes and regulations applicable to our business as described in more detail above. These and other similar statutory requirements impose statutory penalties for proven violations, which could be significant. We also may be subject to legal proceedings under non-healthcare federal and state laws affecting our business, such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the “TCPA”), the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (the “FDCPA”), the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (the “CAN-SPAM Act”), Junk Fax Act, the CCPA, employment, banking and financial services, and USPS laws and regulations, as further detailed above and below. Such proceedings are inherently unpredictable, and the outcome can result in verdicts and/or injunctive relief that may affect how we operate our business or we may enter into settlements of claims for monetary payments. In some cases, substantial non-economic remedies or punitive damages may be sought. Governmental investigations, audits, and other reviews could also result in criminal penalties or other sanctions, including restrictions, changes in the way we conduct business, or exclusion from participation in government programs. We evaluate our exposure to these legal and regulatory proceedings and establish reserves for the estimated liabilities in accordance with GAAP. Assessing and predicting the outcome of these matters involves substantial uncertainties. Unexpected outcomes in these legal proceedings, or changes in management’s evaluations or predictions and accompanying changes in established reserves, could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Litigation is costly, time-consuming, and disruptive to normal business operations. The defense of these matters could also result in continued diversion of our management’s time and attention away from business operations, which could also harm our business. Insurance may not cover existing or future claims, be sufficient to fully compensate us for one or more of such claims, or continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, thereby reducing our results of operations and resulting in a reduction in the trading price of our common stock. Even if these matters are resolved in our favor, the uncertainty and expense associated with unresolved legal proceedings could harm our business and reputation.

We are contractually required to comply with Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”) laws and regulations as a payment facilitator in certain instances.

We are contractually required to comply with certain anti-money laundering laws and regulations. For instance, we comply with certain provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, and its implementing regulations (collectively, the “BSA”), which are enforced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Justice. We have policies, procedures, systems, and controls designed to identify and address potentially impermissible transactions under these laws and regulations. In addition, we provide BSA/AML training to certain employees to help ensure compliance with such contractual requirements. However, any failure to comply with such contractual requirements could subject us to potential liability for breach of contract, which could adversely affect our business or financial condition.

Existing laws regulate our ability to engage in certain marketing activities.

We rely on a variety of marketing techniques, including email and telephone marketing. These activities are regulated by legislation such as the CAN-SPAM Act and the TCPA. The CAN-SPAM Act imposes penalties for the transmission of commercial emails that do not comply with certain requirements, such as providing an opt-out mechanism for stopping future emails from the sender. The TCPA places certain restrictions on making outbound calls, faxes, and text messages to consumers. Any failure by us to comply fully with any such applicable laws or regulations may subject us to substantial fines and penalties. In addition, any future restrictions in laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act, the TCPA, and various other laws and regulations regarding marketing and solicitation activities could adversely affect the continuing effectiveness of our marketing efforts and could force changes in our marketing strategies. If this occurs, we may not be able to develop adequate alternative marketing strategies, which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.

 

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We must comply fully with website accessibility standards.

We conduct business through various internet websites and web-based applications that are subject to accessibility requirements. Courts have ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) applies to internet websites and other digital experiences and litigation related to ADA website accessibility has soared in recent years. Failing to comply with those requirements could leave us subject to claims, litigation, lawsuits, and, ultimately, substantial fines and penalties.

We could be subject to changes in our tax rates, the adoption of new tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities.

Current economic and political conditions make tax rates in any jurisdiction subject to significant change. Our future effective tax rates could also be affected by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in tax laws or their interpretation, including changes in tax laws affecting our products and solutions and the healthcare industry more generally. We are also subject to the examination of our tax returns and other documentation by the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for taxes. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of these examinations or that our assessments of the likelihood of an adverse outcome will be correct. If our effective tax rates were to increase or if the ultimate determination of our taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, then this could materially and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) eliminated the option to deduct research and development expenses for tax purposes in the year incurred and requires taxpayers to capitalize and subsequently amortize such expenses over five years for research activities conducted in the United States and over 15 years for research activities conducted outside the United States. This change was effective January 1, 2022. Unless the United States Treasury Department issues regulations that narrow the application of this provision or the provision is deferred, modified, or repealed by Congress, it could harm our future operating results by effectively increasing our future tax obligations. The actual impact of this provision will depend on multiple factors, including the amount of research and development expenses we will incur, whether we achieve sufficient income to fully utilize such deductions, and whether we conduct our research and development activities inside or outside the United States.

Our ability to use our net operating losses (“NOLs”) to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.

Future changes in our stock ownership, some of which are outside of our control, could result in an ownership change under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). In addition, under the TCJA, as amended by The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020, the amount of post 2017 NOLs that we are permitted to utilize in any taxable year is limited to 80% of our taxable income in such year, where taxable income is determined without regard to the NOL deduction itself. For these reasons, we may not be able to realize a tax benefit from the use of our NOLs. We have a valuation allowance related to our NOLs to recognize only the portion of the NOL that is more likely than not to be realized.

Goodwill and other intangible assets, net represent approximately 90% of our total assets as of September 30, 2024 and we could suffer losses due to asset impairment charges.

In accordance with GAAP, goodwill and intangible assets with an indefinite life are not amortized but are subject to a periodic impairment evaluation. We assess our goodwill and other intangible assets for impairment periodically in accordance with applicable authoritative accounting guidance. Our ability to realize the value of the goodwill and intangible assets will depend on the future cash flows of the businesses we have acquired, which in turn depend in part on how well we have integrated these businesses into our own business. Judgments made by management relate to the expected useful lives of long-lived assets and our ability to realize undiscounted cash flows of the carrying amounts of such assets. The accuracy of these judgments may be adversely affected by several factors, including significant:

 

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•

underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results;

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changes in the manner of our use of acquired assets or the strategy for our overall business;

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negative industry or economic trends; or

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decline in our market capitalization relative to net book value for a sustained period.

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These types of events or indicators and the resulting impairment analysis could result in impairment charges in the future. If we are not able to realize the value of the goodwill and intangible assets, we may be required to incur material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. Such impairment charges could materially and negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to our Indebtedness

We have a substantial amount of debt, which could adversely affect our financial position and our ability to raise additional capital and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under our obligations.

As of September 30, 2024, we had outstanding indebtedness of approximately $1.2 billion, consisting of $1.2 billion outstanding under our First Lien Credit Facility and $80.0 million outstanding under our Receivables Facility and not including $12.4 million of finance lease obligations. Additionally, we had $342.5 million of availability under our Revolving Credit Facility as of September 30, 2024. As of September 30, 2024, there is no outstanding balance on our Revolving Credit Facility.

Our substantial indebtedness may:

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make it difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations, including with respect to our indebtedness;

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limit our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, or other general business purposes;

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require us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flow available for future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, or other general business purposes;

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expose us to the risk of increased interest rates as certain of our borrowings, including under our secured credit facilities, are at variable rates of interest;

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limit our ability to pay dividends;

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limit our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business and industry;

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place us at a competitive disadvantage compared with our less-leveraged competitors;

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increase our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic, competitive, and industry conditions; and

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increase our cost of borrowing.

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Restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our Credit Facilities may restrict our ability to pursue our business strategies.

The credit agreements governing our Credit Facilities contain, and any future credit agreements we may enter into may contain, a number of covenants that, among other things, restrict our ability to, subject to certain exceptions:

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incur additional indebtedness and guarantee indebtedness;

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create or incur liens;

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enter into sale and lease-back transactions;

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engage in fundamental changes;

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sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of assets;

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•

pay dividends and distributions or repurchase capital stock;

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make investments or acquisitions;

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prepay, redeem, repurchase, or amend the terms of certain subordinated indebtedness;

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create negative pledge clauses; and

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enter into transactions with affiliates.

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As a result of these covenants and restrictions, we are and will be limited in how we conduct our business, and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities.

In addition, the Revolving Credit Facility requires us to maintain a first lien leverage ratio, to be tested on the last day of each fiscal quarter for which financial statements have been delivered, but only if, on the last day of such fiscal quarter, the aggregate amount of loans under the Revolving Credit Facility and certain letters of credit (in each case subject to certain exceptions specified therein) which are outstanding and/or issued, as applicable, exceeds 35% of the total amount of the commitments in respect of the Revolving Credit Facility.

Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, and we may not be able to meet those covenants. The terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could include more restrictive covenants. A breach of any such covenants could result in a default under the applicable credit agreement, which could cause all of the outstanding indebtedness under such debt agreement to become immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit. If we are unable to meet our obligations, we may be required to repay any outstanding amounts with sources of capital we may otherwise use to fund our business, operations, and strategy. In addition, if we are forced to refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Interest rate fluctuations may affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Because a substantial portion of our debt is variable-rate debt, fluctuations in interest rates could have a material effect on our business. We currently utilize, and may in the future utilize, derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swaps to hedge some of our exposure to interest rate fluctuations, but such instruments may not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest fluctuations, and we may discontinue utilizing them at any time. As a result, we may incur higher interest costs if interest rates increase. These higher interest costs could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and the levels of cash we maintain for working capital.

In order to support the growth of our business, we may need to incur additional indebtedness under our current Credit Facilities or seek capital through new equity or debt financings, which sources of additional capital may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.

We intend to continue to make significant investments to support our business growth, respond to business challenges or opportunities, develop new products and solutions, enhance our existing products and solutions, enhance our operating infrastructure, and potentially acquire complementary businesses and technologies.

Our future capital requirements may be significantly different from our current estimates and will depend on many factors, including the need to:

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finance unanticipated working capital requirements;

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develop or enhance our technological infrastructure and our existing products and solutions;

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fund strategic relationships, including channel partners, joint ventures, and co-investments;

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respond to competitive pressures; and

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acquire complementary businesses, technologies, products, or solutions.

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Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings or collaborative arrangements to secure additional funds. Additional financing may not be available on terms favorable to us, or at all. If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity or equity-linked securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing secured by us in the future could involve additional restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. In addition, during times of economic instability, it has been difficult for many companies to obtain financing in the public markets or to obtain debt financing, and we may not be able to obtain additional financing on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

General Risk Factors

Our business is significantly impacted by general macroeconomic conditions.

Geopolitical instability, including the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, actual and potential shifts in U.S. and foreign, trade, economic, and other policies, and rising trade tensions between the United States and China, as well as other global events, have significantly increased macroeconomic uncertainty at a global level. The current U.S. macroeconomic environment is characterized by recent record-high inflation, supply chain challenges, labor shortages, high interest rates, foreign currency exchange volatility, volatility in global capital markets, and growing recession risk. Such economic volatility could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and future market disruptions could negatively impact us. Further, adverse macroeconomic conditions affect our clients’ and prospective clients’ operations and financial condition and make it difficult for our clients and prospective clients to accurately forecast and plan future business activities, which may in turn cause our clients to elect not to renew their contracts or affect their ability to pay amounts owed to us in a timely manner or at all, or adversely affect prospective clients’ ability or willingness to enter into contracts with us. We have also observed the effect of inflation on our labor and cost structure. If these trends continue, our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows may be materially adversely affected.

An economic downturn or increased uncertainty may also lead to increased credit and collectability risks, higher borrowing costs or reduced availability of capital and credit markets, reduced liquidity, adverse impacts on our suppliers, failures of counterparties including financial institutions and insurers, asset impairments, and declines in the value of our financial instruments.

We have a history of losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.

We incurred net losses of $38.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and $51.3 million and $51.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our operating expenses may increase substantially in the foreseeable future, as we increase investments in our business. Furthermore, as a public company, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional legal, accounting, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. As a result, our net losses may continue for the foreseeable future.

These efforts and additional expenses may prove more expensive than we expect, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to increase our revenue to offset such expenses. Our revenue growth may slow or our revenue may decline for a number of other reasons, including increased competition, or if we cannot capitalize on growth opportunities. If our revenue does not grow at a greater rate than our operating expenses, we will not be able to achieve profitability.

Risks Related to this Offering and Ownership of our Common Stock

The Institutional Investors will continue to hold a significant percentage of our outstanding common stock after this offering and their interests may be different than the interests of other holders of our securities.

Upon the completion of this offering, the Institutional Investors will own approximately      % of our outstanding common stock, or approximately       % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to

 

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purchase additional shares. As a result, the Institutional Investors are able to control or influence actions to be taken by us, including future issuances of our common stock or other securities, the payment of dividends, if any, on our common stock, amendments to our organizational documents, and the approval of significant corporate transactions, including mergers, sales of substantially all of our assets, distributions of our assets, the incurrence of indebtedness, and any incurrence of liens on our assets.

The interests of the Institutional Investors may be materially different than the interests of our other stakeholders. In addition, the Institutional Investors may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions that, in their judgment, could enhance their investment, even though such transactions might involve risks to you. For example, the Institutional Investors may cause us to take actions or pursue strategies that could impact our ability to make payments under our Credit Facilities or cause a change of control. In addition, to the extent permitted by agreements governing our Credit Facilities, the Institutional Investors may cause us to pay dividends rather than make capital expenditures or repay debt. The Institutional Investors are in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that none of the Institutional Investors, any of their respective affiliates, or any director who is not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of our officers in both his director and officer capacities) or his or her affiliates will have any duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same business activities or similar business activities or lines of business in which we operate. The Institutional Investors also may pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us.

So long as the Institutional Investors continue to own a significant amount of our outstanding common stock, even if such amount is less than 50%, they will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions and, so long as each of the Institutional Investors continues to own shares of our outstanding common stock, they will have the ability to nominate individuals to our board of directors. See “Description of Capital Stock” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions— Stockholders Agreement.” In addition, the Institutional Investors, acting together, will be able to determine the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval and will be able to cause or prevent a change of control of our company or a change in the composition of our board of directors and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of our company. The concentration of ownership could deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares of common stock as part of a sale of our company and ultimately might affect the market price of our common stock.

We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions and relief from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.” In particular, while we are an “emerging growth company,” among other exemptions:

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we will not be required to engage an independent registered public accounting firm to report on our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,

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we will be subject to reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and

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we will not be required to comply with the requirement in Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Auditing Standard 3101, The Auditor’s Report on an Audit of Financial Statements When the Auditor Expresses an Unqualified Opinion, to communicate critical audit matters in the auditor’s report;

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we will be permitted to present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our periodic reports and registration statements, including in this prospectus;

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we will not be required to disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the chief executive officer’s compensation to median employee compensation; or

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•

we will not be required submit certain executive compensation matters to stockholder advisory votes, such as “say-on-pay,” “say-on-frequency,” and “say-on-golden parachutes.”

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In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards, meaning that we can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of this extended transition period, and as a result, our financial statements may not be comparable with similarly situated public companies.

We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest to occur of (1) our reporting of $1.24 billion or more in annual gross revenue; (2) our becoming a “large accelerated filer,” with at least $700 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates; (3) our issuance, in any three year period, of more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt; and (4) the fiscal year end following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering.

We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on the exemptions and relief granted by the JOBS Act. For example, if we do not adopt a new or revised accounting standard, our future results of operations may not be as comparable to the results of operations of certain other companies in our industry that adopted such standards. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock, and our stock price may decline and/or become more volatile.

We have incurred significant increased costs and become subject to additional regulations and requirements as a result of becoming a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to compliance matters.

As a public company, we have incurred and will continue to incur significant legal, regulatory, finance, accounting, investor relations, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements and costs of recruiting and retaining non-executive directors. We also have incurred and will continue to incur costs associated with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, and related rules implemented by the SEC, and Nasdaq. The expenses incurred by public companies for reporting and corporate governance purposes have been increasing. These rules and regulations have increased our legal and financial compliance costs and have made some activities more time-consuming and costly. Our management devotes a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these requirements, diverting the attention of management away from revenue-producing activities. These laws and regulations also could make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees, or as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of our common stock, fines, sanctions, and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.

Failure to comply with requirements to design, implement, and maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

As a public company, we are subject to significant requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. If we are unable to establish or maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations on a timely basis, result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements, and harm our results of operations. In addition, we are required, pursuant to Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Section 404”), to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in the second annual report following the

 

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completion of our initial public offering. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing, and possible remediation. Testing and maintaining internal controls may divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to our business. Once we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” our auditors will be required to issue an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal controls on an annual basis.

In connection with the implementation of the necessary procedures and practices related to internal control over financial reporting, we may identify deficiencies that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the deadline imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. In addition, we may encounter problems or delays in completing the remediation of any deficiencies identified by us or our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with the issuance of their attestation report. Our testing, or the subsequent testing (if required) by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. Any material weaknesses could result in a material misstatement of our annual or quarterly financial statements or disclosures that may not be prevented or detected.

We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 or our independent registered public accounting firm may not issue an unqualified opinion. If either we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report (to the extent it is required to issue a report), investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock has been volatile and may continue to fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our common stock.

The stock market has experienced extreme volatility in the past. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. Since shares of our common stock were sold in our initial public offering in June 2024 at a price of $21.50 per share, our stock price has ranged from $       to $       through            , 2025. The market price of our common stock has fluctuated in the past and may continue to fluctuate substantially due to a number of factors such as those listed in “—Risks Related to our Business and our Industry” and the following:

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results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

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results of operations that vary from those of our competitors;

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changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors, or failure of securities analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our common stock;

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changes in economic conditions for companies in our industry;

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changes in market valuations of, or earnings and other announcements by, companies in our industry;

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declines in the market prices of stocks generally, particularly those of healthcare technology companies or SaaS companies regardless of industry;

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additions or departures of key management personnel;

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strategic actions by us or our competitors;

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announcements by us, our competitors, dispositions, joint ventures, other strategic relationships, or capital commitments;

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future sales of our common stock by our officers, directors, and significant stockholders;

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expiration of market standoff or lock-up agreements;

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•

changes in preference of our clients and our market share;

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changes in general economic or market conditions or trends in our industry or the economy as a whole;

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changes in business or regulatory conditions;

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future sales of our common stock or other securities;

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investor perceptions of or the investment opportunity associated with our common stock relative to other investment alternatives;

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the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC;

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changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations or differing interpretations or enforcement thereof affecting our business;

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announcements, claims and/or allegations relating to litigation, governmental investigations, or compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

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guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in this guidance, or our failure to meet this guidance;

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the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our stock;

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changes in accounting principles; and

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other events or factors, including those resulting from informational technology system failures and disruptions, data security incidents or breaches, natural disasters, war, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, acts of terrorism, or responses to these events.

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Furthermore, the stock markets in general have experienced extreme volatility that, in some cases, may be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our common stock are low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from our business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted by future issuances of our common stock, which could reduce your influence over matters on which stockholders vote.

After this offering we will have approximately         shares of common stock authorized but unissued. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue these shares of common stock, other equity or equity-linked securities, options, and other equity awards relating to our common stock for the consideration and on the terms and conditions established by our board of directors in its sole discretion, whether in connection with acquisitions or otherwise. Issuances of common stock or voting preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which our stockholders vote, and, in the case of issuances of preferred stock, would likely result in your interest in us being subject to the prior rights of holders of that preferred stock, if any.

We have reserved, or will reserve in the future, shares for issuance (i) for outstanding awards under our 2019 Stock Incentive Plan and for grants under our 2024 Equity Incentive Plan and (ii) under our 2024 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. See “Executive Compensation—Equity awards.” Any common stock that we issue, including under our 2019 Stock Incentive Plan, 2024 Equity Incentive Plan, 2024 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future, would dilute the percentage ownership held by the investors who purchase common stock in this offering. In the future, we may also issue our securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of shares of our common stock

 

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issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of our common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to you.

Because we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your shares of common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount, and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors, and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations and financial condition, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax, and regulatory restrictions and implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, including restrictions under our credit agreements and other indebtedness we may incur, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. See “Dividend Policy.”

As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our common stock unless you sell our common stock for a price greater than your purchase price.

Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by us or our existing stockholders in the public market following the completion of this offering could cause the market price for our common stock to decline.

The sale of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market after this offering, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.

The selling stockholders and certain of our executive officers and directors have signed lock-up agreements in connection with this offering that restrict the sale of the shares of our common stock and certain other securities held by them for 90 days from the date of this prospectus. Upon the expiration of such lock-up agreements, all of the outstanding            shares held by the selling stockholders, certain executive officers and directors will be eligible for resale in a public market, subject to vesting in some cases and to volume, manner of sale and other limitations under Rule 144.

In addition, pursuant to the Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of June 10, 2024, by and among Waystar Holding Corp. and the other parties named therein, certain of our existing stockholders have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of their shares of our common stock under the Securities Act. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Registration Rights Agreement.” By exercising their demand registration rights and selling a large number of shares, such existing stockholders could cause the prevailing market price of our common stock to decline. Following completion of this offering, the shares covered by demand registration rights would represent approximately       % of common stock outstanding (or      % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). Registration of any of these outstanding shares of our common stock would result in such shares becoming freely tradable without compliance with Rule 144 upon effectiveness of the registration statement. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.”

We filed a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register common stock issued or reserved for issuance under our 2019 Stock Incentive Plan, 2024 Equity Incentive Plan, and 2024 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which automatically became effective upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under such registration statement are available for sale in the open market, unless such shares are subject to vesting restrictions or lock-up restrictions.

As restrictions on resale end, or if the existing stockholders exercise their registration rights, the market price of our shares of common stock could drop significantly if the holders of these restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of our shares of common stock or other securities.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our stock or our sector, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts. Furthermore, if one or

 

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more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, deter, or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt, or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders. These provisions provide for, among other things:

•

a classified board of directors until the second annual meeting of stockholders after the date on which the Institutional Investors collectively own less than 15% in voting power of the then-outstanding power of the then-outstanding shares of stock of our Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, as a result of which our board of directors will be divided into three classes until such time, with each class serving for staggered three-year terms;

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•

the ability of our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock;

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•

advance notice requirements for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at our annual meetings;

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certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings and taking stockholder action by written consent;

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•

during the Protective Period (as defined in “Description of Capital Stock”), the removal of directors only for cause and only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 662∕3% of the shares of common stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors; and

​

•

during the Protective Period, the required approval of at least 662∕3% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, to adopt, amend, or repeal certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

​

Further, EQT has the right to nominate to our board of directors (i) two nominees for so long as EQT beneficially owns 25% or greater of our then-outstanding common stock and (ii) one nominee for so long as EQT beneficially owns 5% or greater, but less than 25%, of our then outstanding common stock. CPPIB has the right to nominate to our board of directors one nominee for so long as CPPIB beneficially owns 5% or greater of our then-outstanding common stock. Bain has the right to nominate to our board of directors one nominee for so long as Bain beneficially owns 5% or greater of our then-outstanding common stock.

These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. See “Description of Capital Stock.”

Our board of directors is authorized to issue and designate shares of our preferred stock in additional series without stockholder approval.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors, without the approval of our stockholders, to issue 100,000,000 shares of our preferred stock, subject to limitations prescribed by applicable law, rules and regulations and the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as shares of preferred stock in series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences, and rights of the shares of each such series, and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions thereof. The powers, preferences, and rights of these additional series of preferred stock may be senior to or on parity with our common stock, which may reduce its value.

 

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or if such court does not have jurisdiction, another state or the federal courts (as appropriate) located within the State of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, or stockholders.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or if such court does not have jurisdiction, another state or the federal courts (as appropriate) located within the State of Delaware) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, or other employee or stockholder of ours to us or our stockholders, (iii) action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer of ours arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (iv) action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the State of Delaware. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the federal securities laws of the United States, including any claims under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. However, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder and accordingly, we cannot be certain that a court would enforce such provision. See “Description of Capital Stock—Exclusive Forum.”

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, except our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived (and cannot waive) compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees, or stockholders which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus includes forward-looking statements that reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our operations and financial performance. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are included throughout this prospectus, including in the sections entitled “Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business” and relate to matters such as our industry, business strategy, goals, and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, capital expenditures, liquidity, and capital resources and other financial and operating information. We have used the words “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “future,” “will,” “seek,” “foreseeable,” the negative version of these words or similar terms and phrases to identify forward-looking statements in this prospectus.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on management’s current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Our expectations, beliefs, and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, and projections will result or be achieved. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional, or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We believe that these factors include but are not limited to those described under “Risk Factors” and the following:

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our operation in a highly competitive industry;

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our ability to retain our existing clients and attract new clients;

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our ability to successfully execute on our business strategies in order to grow;

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our ability to accurately assess the risks related to acquisitions and successfully integrate acquired businesses;

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our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships;

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the growth and success of our clients and overall healthcare transaction volumes;

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consolidation in the healthcare industry;

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our selling cycle of variable length to secure new client agreements;

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our implementation cycle that is dependent on our clients’ timing and resources;

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our dependence on our senior management team and certain key employees, and our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees;

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the accuracy of the estimates and assumptions we use to determine the size of our total addressable market;

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our ability to develop and market new solutions, or enhance our existing solutions, to respond to technological changes, or evolving industry standards;

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the interoperability, connectivity, and integration of our solutions with our clients’ and their vendors’ networks and infrastructures;

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the performance and reliability of internet, mobile, and other infrastructure;

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the consequences if we cannot obtain, process, use, disclose, or distribute the highly regulated data we require to provide our solutions;

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our reliance on certain third-party vendors and providers;

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any errors or malfunctions in our products and solutions;

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failure by our clients to obtain proper permissions or provide us with accurate and appropriate information;

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the potential for embezzlement, identity theft, or other similar illegal behavior by our employees or vendors, and a failure of our employees or vendors to observe quality standards or adhere to environmental, social, and governance standards;

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our compliance with the applicable rules of NACHA and the applicable requirements of card networks;

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increases in card network fees and other changes to fee arrangements;

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the effect of payer and provider conduct which we cannot control;

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privacy concerns and security breaches or incidents relating to our platform;

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the complex and evolving laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity;

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our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights;

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our ability to use or license data and integrate third-party technologies;

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our use of “open source” software;

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legal proceedings initiated by third parties alleging that we are infringing or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights;

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claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties;

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the heavily regulated industry in which we conduct business;

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the uncertain and evolving healthcare regulatory and political framework;

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health care laws and data privacy and security laws and regulations governing our Processing of personal information;

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reduced revenues in response to changes to the healthcare regulatory landscape;

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legal, regulatory, and other proceedings that could result in adverse outcomes;

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consumer protection laws and regulations;

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contractual obligations requiring compliance with certain provisions of BSA/AML laws and regulations;

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existing laws that regulate our ability to engage in certain marketing activities;

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our full compliance with website accessibility standards;

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any changes in our tax rates, the adoption of new tax legislation, or exposure to additional tax liabilities;

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limitations on our ability to use our NOLs to offset future taxable income;

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losses due to asset impairment charges;

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restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our Credit Facilities;

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interest rate fluctuations;

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unavailability of additional capital on acceptable terms or at all;

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the impact of general macroeconomic conditions;

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our history of net losses and our ability to achieve or maintain profitability;

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the interests of the Institutional Investors may be different than the interests of other holders of our securities;

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our status as an “emerging growth company” and whether the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” will make our common stock less attractive to investors; and

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•

the other factors discussed elsewhere in this prospectus, including in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

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These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this prospectus. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statements made by us in this prospectus speak only as of the date of this prospectus and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this prospectus. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.

Investors and others should note that we routinely announce financial and other material information using our Investor Relations website (investors.waystar.com), SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels of distribution to communicate with our investors and members of the public about our company, our services, and other items of interest. Information contained on our website is not part of this prospectus or our other filings with the SEC.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

The selling stockholders will receive all of the net proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock in this offering. We are not selling any shares of common stock under this prospectus and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders or if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares. The selling stockholders will bear the underwriting commissions and discounts attributable to their sale of our common stock, and expenses incurred by the selling stockholders for brokerage, accounting, tax services, or any other expenses incurred by the selling stockholders, except we will bear the fees and expenses of up to two counsels for the selling stockholders. We will bear all other costs, fees, and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the shares covered by this prospectus, including, without limitation, all registration and filing fees, and fees and expenses of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants. See “Principal and Selling Stockholders.”

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We currently expect to retain all future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and have no current plans to pay dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount, and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors, and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations and financial condition, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions and implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, including restrictions under our credit agreements and other indebtedness we may incur, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. If we elect to pay such dividends in the future, we may reduce or discontinue entirely the payment of such dividends at any time.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of September 30, 2024.

You should read this table in conjunction with the information contained in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” as well as our financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

(1)

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition—​Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness” for more information regarding our Revolving Credit Facility, First Lien Credit Facility, and Receivables Facility.

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

This management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations section should be read in conjunction with “Summary-Summary Historical Financial and Other Data,” our consolidated financial statements, and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties about our business and operations and other factors outside the Company’s control, as well as assumptions, such as our plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Our actual results and the timing of selected events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those we describe under “Risk Factors,” “Forward-looking Statements,” and elsewhere in this prospectus. Additionally, our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future.

Overview

Waystar provides healthcare organizations with mission-critical cloud software that simplifies healthcare payments. Our enterprise-grade platform streamlines the complex and disparate processes our healthcare provider clients must manage to be reimbursed correctly, while improving the payments experience for providers, patients, and payers. We leverage AI as well as proprietary, advanced algorithms to automate payment-related workflow tasks and drive continuous improvement, which enhances claim and billing accuracy, enriches data integrity, and reduces labor costs for providers.

Our software is used daily by providers of all types and sizes across the continuum of care, including physician practices, clinics, surgical centers, and laboratories, as well as large hospitals and health systems. We currently serve over 30,000 clients of various sizes, representing over one million distinct providers practicing across a variety of care sites, including 16 of the top 20 institutions on the U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor Roll. Our business model is designed such that as our clients grow to serve more patients, their claims and transactional volumes increase, resulting in corresponding growth in our business. In addition, our clients frequently adopt a greater number of our solutions over time and introduce our solutions across new sites of care. In 2024, we facilitated over six billion healthcare payments transactions, including over $1.8 trillion in gross claims volume, spanning approximately 50% of patients in the United States.

Our platform benefits from powerful network effects. Our cloud-based software is driven by a sophisticated, automated, and curated rules engine, employing AI to generate and incorporate real-time feedback from millions of network transactions processed through our platform each day. Every transaction we process provides additional data insights across providers, patients, and payers, which are embedded in updates that are deployed efficiently across our client base. This results in cumulative benefits to us over time — as we capture more data from each transaction we process, we leverage that data to continue to improve the Waystar platform through embedded machine learning, advanced algorithms, and other in-house AI technologies to deliver added value to our clients. In turn, the more value we create for our clients, the more likely it is that they will continue to use our products, allowing us to continue to capture more data that results in tangible improvements to our platform. As a result, our clients benefit from faster and more efficient performance from software that is evolving to meet ever-changing regulatory and payer requirements, enabling accurate and timely reimbursement.

We have demonstrated an ability to drive recurring, predictable, and profitable growth. Over 99% of our revenue is either recurring subscription or based on highly predictable volumes. For the twelve months ended September 30, 2024, our Net Revenue Retention Rate was 109.4%, and we have 1,173 clients as of September 30, 2024 generating over $100,000 over the same twelve-month period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, our Net Revenue Retention Rate was 108.6%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we generated revenue of $699.4 million (reflecting a 19.7% increase compared to revenue of $584.3 million for the same period in the prior year), net loss of $38.2 million (reflecting a 3.5% increase to net loss compared to net loss of $36.9 million for the same period in the prior year), and Adjusted EBITDA of $283.3 million (reflecting a 14.5% increase compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $247.5 million for the same period in the prior year). For the year ended December 31, 2023, we generated revenue of $791.0 million (reflecting a 12.2% increase compared to revenue of $704.9 million in the prior year), net loss of $51.3 million (reflecting a 0.2% decrease compared to net loss of $51.5 million in the prior year), and

 

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Adjusted EBITDA of $333.7 million (reflecting a 12.9% increase compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $295.5 million in the prior year).

Initial Public Offering

In June 2024, we completed an initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 45,000,000 shares of common stock at a price of $21.50 per share. After underwriting discounts and commissions of $53.2 million, we received total proceeds from the offering of $914.3 million. On July 5, 2024, pursuant to the option granted to the underwriters for a period of 30 days from the date of the IPO to purchase up to 6,750,000 additional shares of common stock from us at the IPO price less the underwriting discount, the underwriters exercised the right to purchase 5,059,010 additional shares of common stock, resulting in additional net proceeds of $102.8 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $6.0 million. The remaining option to purchase additional shares expired unexercised at the end of the 30-day period.

Significant items affecting comparability

We believe that the future growth and profitability of our business, and the comparability of our results from period to period, depend on numerous factors, including the following:

Our ability to expand our relationship with existing clients.   As our clients grow their businesses and provide more services and see more patients, our volume-based revenues also increase. In addition, our growth in revenues also depends on our ability to sell more products and solutions to existing clients, including through cross-selling as our clients adopt additional Waystar offerings as well as up-selling as our clients leverage our solutions across additional providers and sites of care.

Our ability to grow our client base.   We are focused on continuing to grow our client base, which will depend in part on our ability to continue to maintain our product leadership, invest in our research and development team, and maintain our reputation and brand.

Timing and number of acquisitions.   Since 2018, we have completed and successfully integrated nine acquisitions, two of which closed in the second half of 2023; HealthPay24 on August 3, 2023; and certain assets of Olive AI, Inc.’s Clearinghouse and Patient Access business on October 31, 2023. The historical results of operations of our acquisitions are only included starting from the date of closing of such acquisition. As a result, our consolidated statements of operations for any given period during which an acquisition closed may not be comparable to future periods, which would include the results of operations of such acquisition for the entirety of such future period.

Impacts of our competitor’s cybersecurity attack.   Following the February 2024 cybersecurity incident involving one of our competitors, more than 30,000 providers, including a significant number of large health systems and ambulatory providers, began adopting our solutions, and we were able to implement our solutions for many of these new clients in as little as 48 hours. This incident and our response to it generated approximately $22 million in additional revenue in the nine months ended September 30, 2024 due to increased win rates above our historically competitive rates and associated accelerated implementation timeline.

Impacts of the IPO.

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Debt Repayment.   In connection with the closing of the IPO, we repaid $909.1 million outstanding principal amount and $2.8 million accrued interest on our First Lien Credit Facility and incurred debt extinguishment costs of $9.8 million related to the write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs. On July 12, 2024, we utilized the additional proceeds from the underwriters’ exercise of the overallotment option, as well as cash on hand, to repay $110.9 million outstanding principal and $0.4 million accrued interest on our First Lien Credit Facility. The debt repayments will result in lower interest expense moving forward, partially offset by losses on extinguishment of debt in the period the debt repayment is made.

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Stock-based compensation expenses.   We expect to recognize stock-based compensation expense of $17.9 million per year over the applicable vesting periods in connection with equity awards granted in connection with the IPO. Such stock-based compensation expense will be reflected in our results of

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operations from the closing date of the IPO through the applicable vesting periods of such awards. Additionally, we recognized $33.1 million of stock-based compensation expense during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as the vesting of our performance condition options became probable upon the closing of the IPO as the implicit service period for the awards established at the grant date had elapsed.

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Incremental public company expenses.   Following the IPO, we have begun to incur significant expenses on an ongoing basis that we did not incur as a private company. Those costs include additional director and officer liability insurance expenses, as well as third-party and internal resources related to accounting, auditing, Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance, legal, and investor and public relations expenses. These costs will generally be expensed under general and administrative expenses.

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Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We primarily generate two types of revenue: (i) subscription revenue and (ii) volume-based revenue, which account for 99% of total revenue for all periods presented. We believe we have high visibility into our volume-based and subscription revenue from existing clients. We refer to the solutions our clients use to better process and understand their payment workflows from payers as provider solutions, and we refer to the products that assist healthcare providers in collecting payments from patients as patient payment solutions. We expect provider solutions will continue to generate the substantial majority of our total revenue, although the revenue mix attributable to patient payment solutions is expected to increase slightly over time.

Subscription revenue.   Reflects recurring monthly provider count fees and minimum amounts owed. The vast majority of subscription revenue is generated by provider solutions, which constituted approximately 70% of total revenue in each of 2022, 2023, and the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.

Volume-based revenue.   Represents recurring fees associated with transaction count or dollar volumes in excess of minimums. Generally, approximately half of our volume-based revenue is generated from provider solutions that are based on transaction count, with the other half from patient payments solutions that are based on either dollar volumes or transaction count.

We also derive revenue from implementation fees for our software, as well as hardware sales to facilitate patient payments. Our implementation fees are billed upfront and the revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term.

Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

Cost of revenue includes salaries, stock-based compensation, and benefits (“personnel costs”) for our team members who are focused on implementation, support, and other client-focused operations, as well as team members focused on enhancing and developing our platform. Cost of revenue also includes costs for third-party technology such as interchange fees and infrastructure related to the operations of our platform, including communicating and processing patient payments, and services to support the delivery of our solutions. Third-party costs for patient payments solutions are approximately 60% of the revenue generated from these solutions, while third-party costs for provider solutions are 6% to 8% of the associated revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing costs consist primarily of personnel costs, internal sales commissions, channel partner fees, travel, and advertising costs.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses consist of personnel costs incurred in our corporate service functions such as finance expenses, legal, human resources, and information technology, as well as other professional service costs.

 

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Research and development

Research and development (“R&D”) costs consist primarily of personnel costs for team members engaged in research and development activities as well as third-party fees. All such costs are expensed as incurred, except for capitalized software development costs.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization consists of the depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of certain intangible assets, including capitalized software.

Other expense

Other expense consists primarily of interest expense and related-party interest expense, inclusive of the impact of interest rate swaps.

Income tax benefit

Income tax benefit includes current income tax and income tax credits from deferred taxes. Income tax benefit is recognized in profit and loss except to the extent that it relates to items recognized in equity or other comprehensive income, in which case the income tax expense is also recognized in equity or other comprehensive income.

Results of Operations for the Nine Months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023

The following table provides consolidated operating results for the periods indicated and percentage of revenue for each line item:

 

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Revenue

Revenue was $699.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $584.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $115.1 million, or 19.7%, of which $38.8 million was attributed to subscription revenue from new and existing clients, with $36.4 million generated by provider solutions, and $2.4 million generated from patient payments solutions. Another $74.5 million was attributed to volume-based revenue primarily related to expansion of existing client usage and acquired clients, of which $31.4 million was generated by provider solutions and $43.2 million by patient payments solutions.

Included within the revenue increases over the period is an estimated $22 million increase due to our heightened win rates above our historically high rates and accelerated implementation timelines related to the cybersecurity incident involving one of our competitors in February 2024.

Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

Cost of revenue was $236.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $182.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $53.6 million, or 29.4%. The increase was primarily driven by $42.7 million in increased costs stemming from higher transaction volume and associated third-party costs, including higher platform usage, of which approximately $12.8 million was from costs associated with provider solutions and $29.9 million from patient payments solutions. Additionally, there was a $5.4 million increase in personnel costs, and a $2.1 million increase in stock-based compensation expense primarily related to the recognition of performance condition options and new option and RSU grants related to the June IPO.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expense was $117.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $93.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $24.5 million, or 26.2%. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in channel partner fees and amortization of the internal commission deferred contract costs asset of $11.3 million associated with revenue growth. Additionally, there was a $9.6 million increase in stock-based compensation expense primarily related to the recognition of performance condition options and new option and RSU grants related to the June IPO.

General and administrative

General and administrative expense was $88.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $46.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $42.3 million, or 90.9%. The increase was driven by a $23.4 million increase in stock-based compensation primarily related to the recognition of performance condition options and new option and RSU grants related to the June IPO. Additionally, there were third-party fees of $12.8 million expensed as incurred, including $10.3 million related to the debt modification related to the February 2024 refinancing of the First Lien Credit Facility, $2.4 million related to the June 2024 debt repricing and $0.1 million relates to the payoff of the Second Lien Credit Facility in February 2024.

Research and development

Research and development expense was $37.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $25.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $11.8 million, or

 

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46.0%. The increase was driven by a $6.3 million increase in stock-based compensation primarily related to the recognition of performance condition options and new option and RSU grants related to the June IPO. Additionally, there were increased personnel costs, net of capitalized expenses, of $5.8 million.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense was $148.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, as compared to $131.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $16.9 million, or 12.8%. Due to the relocation of one of our office locations, we reduced the useful life of the related finance lease and leasehold improvement assets which represented $15.8 million of accelerated depreciation for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Other expense

Total interest expense was $126.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $153.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, a decrease of $26.9 million, or 17.6%. The decrease was driven by the paydowns during 2024 totaling $1.0 billion on our First Lien Credit Facility decreasing the corresponding interest expense.

Income tax benefit

Income tax benefit was $17.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 as compared to $11.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, an increase of $5.7 million, or 48.2%. The increase was primarily due to the increase in pre-tax loss, which was primarily driven by stock-based compensation expense related to the recognition of performance condition options, partially offset by improved income from operations and a decrease in interest expense.

Results of Operations for the Years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

The following table provides consolidated operating results for the periods indicated and percentage of revenue for each line item: