OptimizeRx (OPRX) Risk Factors

Our solutions face competition from numerous other companies, both in attracting users and in generating revenue from advertisers and sponsors. We compete for users with online services and websites that provide savings on medications and healthcare products, including both commercial sites and not-for-profit sites. We compete for advertisers and sponsors with health-related web sites, general purpose consumer web sites that offer specialized health sub-channels, other high-traffic web sites that include both healthcare-related and non-healthcare-related content and services, search engines that provide specialized health searches, and advertising networks that aggregate traffic from multiple sites. Many of our competitors have greater financial, technical, product development, marketing and other resources than we do. These organizations may be better known than we are and have more customers or users than we do. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to compete successfully against these organizations or any alliances they have formed or may form. Since there are no substantial barriers to entry into the markets in which we participate, we expect that competitors will continue to enter these markets.

Our business is dependent, in part, on our ability to innovate, and, as a result, we are reliant on our intellectual property. We generally protect our intellectual property through patents, trademarks, trade secrets, confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements and other measures to the extent our budget permits. There can be no assurance that patents will be issued from pending applications that we have filed or that our patents will be sufficient to protect our key technology from misappropriation or falling into the public domain, nor can assurances be made that any of our patents, patent applications, trademarks or our other intellectual property or proprietary rights will not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. In the event a competitor or other party successfully challenges our solutions, processes, patents or licenses or claims that we have infringed upon their intellectual property, we could incur substantial litigation costs defending against such claims, be required to pay royalties, license fees or other damages or be barred from using the intellectual property at issue, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. We cannot assure that steps taken by us to protect our intellectual property and other contractual agreements for our business will be adequate, that our competitors will not independently develop or patent substantially equivalent or superior technologies or be able to design around patents that we may receive, or that our intellectual property will not be misappropriated. If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights, we may be at a disadvantage to others who do not incur the substantial time and expense we incur. Preventing unauthorized use or infringement of our intellectual property rights is inherently difficult. Moreover, it may be difficult or practically impossible to detect theft or unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Global cybersecurity threats can range from uncoordinated individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to our information technology (IT) systems to sophisticated and targeted measures known as advanced persistent threats. While we employ extensive measures to prevent, detect, address and mitigate these threats (including access controls, insurance, vulnerability assessments, continuous monitoring of our IT networks and systems, maintenance of backup and protective systems and user training and education), cybersecurity incidents, depending on their nature and scope, could potentially result in the misappropriation, destruction, corruption or unavailability of critical data and confidential or proprietary information (our own or that of third parties) and the disruption of business operations. The potential consequences of a material cybersecurity incident include reputational damage, loss of customers, loss of income, litigation with customers and other parties, loss of trade secrets and other proprietary business data and increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs, which in turn could adversely affect our competitiveness and results of operations.

Recently, inflation has increased throughout the U.S. economy. In an inflationary environment, we may experience increases in the prices of labor and other costs of doing business. Additionally, cost increases may outpace our expectations, causing us to use our cash and other liquid assets faster than forecasted. If we are unable to successfully manage the effects of inflation, our business, operating results, cash flows and financial condition may be adversely affected. The occurrence or perception of an economic slowdown or recession, or of a further increase in inflation, may have a negative impact on the global economy and may reduce customer demand for our products and services. In addition, macroeconomic effects such as changes in interest rates and other measures taken by central banks and other policy makers could have a negative effect on overall economic activity that could reduce our customers' demand for our products and serves. Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in heightened market volatility and may detract from our performance to the extent we are exposed to such interest rates and/or volatility. An adjustment in rates would impact our variable rate debt. If interest rates increase or remain elevated, we could face higher debt service requirements, which would adversely affect our cash flow and could adversely impact our results of operations. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt or to fund our other liquidity needs, we could need to restructure or refinance all or a portion of our debt. Any refinancing of indebtedness could be at higher interest rates, thereby resulting in an overall increase in interest expense. Adverse changes in demand could impact our business, collection of accounts receivable and our expected cash flow generation, which may adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Operating in international markets requires significant resources and management attention and will subject us to regulatory, economic and political risks that may be different from, and incremental to, those in the United States. In addition to the risks that we face in the United States, our international operations in Israel and Croatia, may involve risks that could adversely affect our business, including: - difficulties and costs associated with staffing and managing foreign operations;- natural or man-made disasters, political, social and economic instability, including wars, terrorism and political unrest, outbreak of disease, boycotts, curtailment of trade, and other business restrictions;- compliance with United States laws, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, export controls and economic sanctions, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials;- unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;- less favorable foreign intellectual property laws;- adverse tax consequences such as those related to repatriation of cash from foreign jurisdictions into the United States, non-income related taxes such as value-added tax or other indirect taxes, changes in tax laws or their interpretations, or the application of judgment in determining our global provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities given inter-company transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain;- fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could impact expenses of our international operations and expose us to foreign currency exchange rate risk;- profit repatriation and other restrictions on the transfer of funds;- differing payment processing systems as well as use and acceptance of electronic payment methods, such as payment cards;- new and different sources of competition; and - different and more stringent user protection, data protection, privacy and other laws. Our failure to manage any of these risks successfully could harm our international operations and our overall business, as well as results of our operations.

As a result of our various acquisitions, the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2023 contains goodwill of approximately $78.4 million and intangible assets, net of approximately $49.4 million. We evaluate on an ongoing basis whether facts and circumstances indicate any impairment to the carrying value of indefinite-lived intangible assets such as goodwill. As circumstances after an acquisition can change, we may not realize the value of these intangible assets. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded impairment charges, related to certain intangible assets, of approximately $6.7 million. Any future impairment charges related to our goodwill or long-lived assets could require us to record additional impairment charges, which would negatively impact our results of operations.

The global data protection landscape is rapidly evolving, and we are or may become subject to numerous state, federal and foreign laws, requirements and regulations governing the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and security of personal information, including health-related information. This evolution may create uncertainty in our business, affect our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions or to collect, store, transfer, use and share personal information, necessitate the acceptance of more onerous obligations in our contracts, result in liability or impose additional costs on us. The cost of compliance with these laws, regulations and standards is high and is likely to increase in the future. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal, state or foreign laws or regulation, our internal policies and procedures or our contracts governing our processing of personal information could result in negative publicity, government investigations and enforcement actions, claims by third parties, and damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operations, financial performance and business. We also may be bound by contractual obligations and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security that are more stringent than applicable laws and regulations. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, laws, regulations, standards, and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security are significant. Although we work to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and standards, our contractual obligations and other legal obligations, these requirements are evolving and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with another or other legal obligations with which we must comply. Accordingly, our failure, or perceived inability, to comply with these laws, regulations, standards, and other obligations may limit the use and adoption of our solution, reduce overall demand for our solution, lead to regulatory investigations, breach of contract claims, litigation, and significant fines, penalties, or liabilities for actual or alleged noncompliance or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, any of which could harm our business. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, and the rules promulgated thereunder require certain entities, referred to as Covered Entities, to comply with established standards, including standards regarding the privacy and security of protected health information, or PHI. HIPAA further requires that Covered Entities enter into agreements meeting certain regulatory requirements with their business associates, as such term is defined by HIPAA, which, among other things, obligate the business associates to safeguard the covered entity's PHI against improper use and disclosure. While we are not a Covered Entity, we have contracted as a business associate of our Covered Entity customers and, as such, may be regulated by HIPAA and have contractual obligations under such agreements, including to enter into business associate agreements with our third-party vendors. We, and our Covered Entity customers might face significant contractual liability pursuant to such business associate agreements if the business associate breaches the agreement or causes the Covered Entity to fail to comply with HIPAA. Certain other laws and regulations such as federal and state anti-kickback and false claims laws may apply to us indirectly through our relationships with our customers and partners. Violations can result in considerable penalties and sanctions. If we are found to have violated, or to have facilitated the violation of such laws, we could be subject to significant penalties.

Our agreements with our ERx and EHR channel partners provide for revenue-sharing payments to them based on the revenue we generate through their platforms and systems. These payments are subject to audit by our channel partners, at their cost, and if there is a dispute as to the calculation, we may be liable for additional payments. Some agreements would require us to also pay for the cost of the audit if an underpayment is determined to be in excess of a certain amount.

Our success has been largely dependent on the skills, experience and efforts of our senior management team and key employees and the loss of the services of any of our senior management team or other key employees, without a properly executed transition plan, could have an adverse effect on us. The loss of any member of our senior management team or any of our other key employees could damage critical customer relationships, result in the loss of vital knowledge, experience and expertise, lead to an increase in recruitment and training costs, and make it more difficult to successfully operate our business and execute our business strategy. We may not be able to find qualified potential replacements for these individuals and the integration of potential replacements may be disruptive to our business. Furthermore, our business also depends on our ability to attract and retain qualified management, sales and technical personnel. However, competition for these types of employees is intense due to the limited number of qualified professionals with expertise in our industry. Our ability to meet our business development objectives will depend in part on our ability to recruit, train, incentivize, and retain top quality people with advanced skills who understand our industry, technology, and business. Our compensation arrangements, including our equity award programs, are essential to retaining our senior management team and other key employees, but may not always be successful in attracting new employees or retaining and motivating our existing key employees for reasons that may include movement in our stock price or our ability to maintain or increase our equity pool. If we are unable to engage, incentivize, and retain the necessary personnel, our business may be materially and adversely affected.