Teladoc (TDOC) Risk Factors

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition, or other change in control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors (the "Board") is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our Board. Among other things, these provisions include those establishing: - no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;- the exclusive right of our Board to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of our Board or the resignation, death, or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from filling vacancies on our Board;- the ability of our Board to authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock and to determine the terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;- the ability of our Board to alter our amended and restated bylaws without obtaining stockholder approval;- a prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders; and - advance notice procedures that stockholders must comply with in order to nominate candidates to our Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders' meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer's own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the "DGCL"), which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. Any future debt agreements may also preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. In addition, the trading price of our common stock has been, and could continue to be, subject to wide fluctuations. The price at which our stock trades depends on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. We cannot make any predictions or projections as to what the prevailing market price for our common stock will be at any time, including whether you will achieve any capital appreciation.

Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception and we intend to continue to make significant investments to support our growth, respond to business challenges or opportunities, develop new applications and services, enhance our existing solutions and services, enhance our operating infrastructure, and potentially acquire complementary businesses and technologies. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, our net cash provided by operating activities was $350.0 million and $189.3 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, we had $1,123.7 million of cash and cash equivalents which are held for working capital purposes, capital expenditures, and other corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2023, we had outstanding $1,000.0 million of 1.25% convertible senior notes due 2027 (the "2027 Notes"), $0.7 million of 1.375% convertible senior notes due 2025 (the "2025 Notes"), and $550.0 million of 0.875% convertible senior notes due 2025 that were issued by Livongo Health, Inc. ("Livongo") for which we agreed to assume all of Livongo's rights and obligations (the "Livongo Notes," and together with the 2027 Notes and 2025 Notes, the "Notes"). We may be required to use a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to pay interest and principal on our indebtedness. Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, or to refinance our indebtedness, including the Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. Such payments will reduce the funds available to us for working capital, capital expenditures, and other corporate purposes and limit our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, expansion plans, and other investments, which may in turn limit our ability to implement our business strategy, heighten our vulnerability to downturns in our business, the industry, or in the general economy, limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry, and prevent us from taking advantage of business opportunities as they arise. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt, make necessary capital expenditures and fund our operations. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt, or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. If we are unable to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, it could result in a default on our debt obligations, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may settle conversions of the Notes through payment or delivery, as the case may be, of cash, shares of our common stock, or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock. The amount of cash paid, or number of shares delivered, in connection with any conversion may be material and could result in a significant depletion in the cash available to fund our operations or significant dilution to our stockholders. Our future capital requirements may be significantly different from our current estimates and will depend on many factors, including our growth rate, subscription renewal activity, the timing and extent of spending to support development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the introduction of new or enhanced services, and the continuing market acceptance of virtual care. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings or collaborative arrangements to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity or convertible debt 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 become more expensive due to rising interest rates or involve 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.

We have experienced significant growth in recent years, which puts strain on our business, operations, and employees, and we anticipate that our operations will continue to expand. To manage our current and anticipated future growth effectively, we must continue to maintain and enhance our information technology infrastructure, financial and accounting systems, and controls. For example, we have upgraded our customer relationship management ("CRM") and enterprise resources planning ("ERP") systems in connection with our acquisition and integration activities. Additionally, we began implementing a new EMR system. Even though we expect to realize benefits from the adoption of this new system, any expected benefits will be gradual or may not be realized at all, and there could be inefficiencies as operators learn the new system. In addition, the introduction of a new system can lead to errors and loss of data. If our data were found to be inaccurate or unreliable due to error or fraud, or if we, or any of the third-party service providers we engage, were to fail to maintain information systems, including our new EMR system, and data integrity effectively, we may not achieve the intended benefits of the new system and could experience operational disruptions that may impact our members and providers and hinder our ability to provide services, retain and attract members, and manage our member risk profiles. We must also attract, train, and retain a significant number of qualified sales and marketing personnel, customer support personnel, professional services personnel, software engineers, technical personnel, finance and accounting personnel, and management personnel, and the availability of such personnel, in particular software engineers, may be constrained. Additionally, our growth strategy requires the collection and analysis of a high volumes of data from internal and external sources. Failure to effectively utilize our current data or establish new systems of data capture may adversely impact our ability to achieve our strategic goals and business plans. A key aspect to managing our growth is our ability to scale our capabilities to implement our solutions satisfactorily. Clients often require specific features or functions unique to their membership base, which, at a time of significant growth or during periods of high demand, may strain our implementation capacity and hinder our ability to successfully implement our solutions to our Clients in a timely manner. We may also need to make further investments in our technology and automate portions of our solutions or services to decrease our costs. If we are unable to address the needs of our Clients or members, or our Clients or members are unsatisfied with the quality of our solutions or services, they may not renew their contracts, seek to cancel or terminate their relationship with us, or renew on less favorable terms, any of which could cause our annual net dollar retention rate to decrease. Failure to effectively manage our growth could also lead us to overinvest or underinvest in development and operations, result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, systems, or controls, give rise to operational mistakes, financial losses, loss of productivity or business opportunities and result in loss of employees and reduced productivity of remaining employees. Our growth is expected to require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects such as the development of new applications and services. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our revenue may not increase or may grow more slowly than expected, and we may be unable to implement our business strategy. The quality of our services may also suffer, which could negatively affect our reputation and harm our ability to attract and retain Clients and members. We are continually executing a number of growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans designed to enhance our business, including the introduction of new products and solutions such as virtual primary care. The anticipated benefits from these efforts are based on several assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. Moreover, we may not be able to successfully complete these growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans and realize all of the benefits, including growth targets and cost savings, that we expect to achieve, or it may be more costly to do so than we anticipate. A variety of risks could cause us not to realize some or all of the expected benefits. These risks include, among others, delays in the anticipated timing of activities related to such growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans, increased difficulty and cost in implementing these efforts, including difficulties in complying with new regulatory requirements, and the incurrence of other unexpected costs associated with operating the business. Moreover, our continued implementation of these programs may disrupt our operations and performance. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will realize these benefits. If, for any reason, the benefits we realize are less than our estimates or the implementation of these growth initiatives, strategies and operating plans adversely affect our operations or cost more or take longer to effectuate than we expect, or if our assumptions prove inaccurate, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected. Recently we have begun to implement operational excellence initiatives which include a number of restructuring, realignment and cost reduction initiatives. We may not realize the benefits of these initiatives to the extent or on the timing we anticipated and the ongoing difficulties in implementing these measures may be greater than anticipated and/or offset by inflationary pressures, which could cause us to incur additional costs. In addition, if these measures are not successful or sustainable, we may undertake additional realignment and cost reduction efforts, which could result in significant additional expenses and adversely impact our ability to achieve our other strategic goals and business plans.

In a regulatory climate that is uncertain, our operations have been, and may in the future be, subject to direct and indirect adoption, expansion, or reinterpretation of various laws and regulations. Compliance with these future laws and regulations may require us to change our practices at an undeterminable and possibly significant initial monetary and recurring expense. These additional monetary expenditures may increase future overhead, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, any regulatory changes that make it more difficult to license providers in multiple jurisdictions could adversely impact our ability to efficiently scale our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We have identified what we believe are the areas of government regulation that, if changed, would be costly to us. These areas include: rules governing the provision of telehealth, including, for example, rules that would require in person visits or consultations prior to the provision of telehealth, including, for example, rules that would require in person visits or consultations prior to provision of telehealth; practice of medicine by physicians; licensure standards for doctors, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses, nurses, and mental health professionals; laws limiting the corporate practice of medicine; cybersecurity and privacy laws; laws and rules relating to the distinction between independent contractors and employees; and tax and other laws encouraging employer-sponsored health insurance and group benefits. There could be laws and regulations applicable to our business that we have not identified or that, if changed, may be costly to us, and we cannot predict all the ways in which implementation of such laws and regulations may affect us. In the jurisdictions in which we operate, we believe we are in compliance with all applicable laws, but, due to the uncertain regulatory environment, certain jurisdictions may allege or determine that we are in violation of their laws. In the event that we must remedy such violations, we may be required to modify our services and products in a manner that undermines our solutions' attractiveness to our Clients, members or providers, we may become subject to fines or other penalties or, if we determine that the requirements to operate in compliance in such jurisdictions are overly burdensome, we may elect to terminate our operations in such places. For example, see Note 17. "Commitments and Contingencies," to the consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding the settlement and consent order entered into with the FTC and the related putative class-action litigations, which have resulted in certain changes to the operation of the BetterHelp business. In each case, our revenue may decline, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Additionally, the introduction of new services may require us to comply with additional, yet undetermined, laws and regulations. Compliance may require obtaining appropriate licenses or certificates, increasing our security measures, and expending additional resources to monitor developments in applicable rules and ensure compliance. The failure to adequately comply with these future laws and regulations may delay or possibly prevent some of our products or services from being offered to Clients and members, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We have been and may become subject, from time to time, to legal and regulatory proceedings, including claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our Clients in connection with commercial disputes or employment claims made by our current or former associates. Regardless of outcome, such proceedings may result in substantial costs and may divert management's attention and resources or decrease market acceptance of our solutions, which may substantially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We attempt to limit our liability to Clients by contract; however, the limitations of liability set forth in the contracts may not be enforceable or may not otherwise protect us from liability for damages. Additionally, we may be subject to claims that are not explicitly covered by contract. Insurance may not cover claims against us, may not provide sufficient payments to cover all of the costs to resolve one or more such claims, and may not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. In addition, the insurer might disclaim coverage as to any future claim. A successful claim not fully covered by our insurance could have a material adverse impact on our liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, thereby reducing our earnings and leading analysts or potential investors to reduce their expectations of our performance, which could reduce the market price of our stock. In addition, any insurance coverage would not address the reputational damage that could result from any legal or regulatory proceedings or claims.

Numerous federal, state and foreign laws and regulations govern the collection, dissemination, use, privacy, confidentiality, security, availability, and integrity of PII, including PHI. In particular, in the U.S., HIPAA establishes a set of basic national privacy and security standards for the protection of PHI by health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and certain healthcare providers, referred to as covered entities, and the business associates with whom such covered entities contract for services, which includes us. HIPAA requires healthcare providers like us to develop and maintain policies and procedures with respect to PHI that is used or disclosed, including the adoption of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect such information. HIPAA also implemented the use of standard transaction code sets and standard identifiers that covered entities must use when submitting or receiving certain electronic healthcare transactions, including activities associated with the billing and collection of healthcare claims. HIPAA imposes mandatory penalties for certain violations. However, a single breach incident can result in violations of multiple standards, which could result in significant fines. HIPAA also authorizes state attorneys general to file suit on behalf of their residents. Courts will be able to award damages, costs, and attorneys' fees related to violations of HIPAA in such cases. While HIPAA does not create a private right of action allowing individuals to sue us in civil court for violations of HIPAA, its standards have been used as the basis for duty of care in state civil suits such as those for negligence or recklessness in the misuse or breach of PHI. Any such penalties or lawsuits could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and reputation. In addition, HIPAA mandates that the Secretary of HHS conduct periodic compliance audits of HIPAA-covered entities or business associates for compliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Standards. It also tasks HHS with establishing a methodology whereby harmed individuals who were the victims of breaches of unsecured PHI may receive a percentage of the Civil Monetary Penalty fine paid by the violator. HIPAA further requires that patients be notified of any unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure of their unsecured PHI that has more than a low probability of compromising the privacy or security of such information, with certain exceptions related to unintentional or inadvertent use or disclosure by employees or authorized individuals. HIPAA specifies that such notifications must be made "without unreasonable delay and in no case later than 60 calendar days after discovery of the breach." If a breach affects 500 patients or more, it must be reported to HHS without unreasonable delay, and HHS will post the name of the breaching entity on its public website. Breaches affecting 500 patients or more in the same state or jurisdiction must also be reported to the local media. If a breach involves fewer than 500 people, the covered entity must record it in a log and notify HHS at least annually. Numerous other federal and state laws protect the confidentiality, privacy, availability, integrity, and security of PII, including PHI and other personal data. These laws in many cases are more restrictive than, and may not be preempted by, the HIPAA rules and may be subject to varying interpretations by courts and government agencies, creating complex compliance issues for us and our Clients and potentially exposing us to additional expense, adverse publicity, and liability. In addition to fines and penalties imposed upon violators, some of these state laws also afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. There are many other state-based data privacy and security laws and regulations that may impact our business. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs that are likely to increase over time, may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, divert resources from other initiatives and projects, and could restrict the way services involving data are offered, all of which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For example, U.S. states have begun to introduce more comprehensive data protection laws. The CCPA went into effect in January 2020 and established a new privacy framework for covered businesses such as ours that expands the scope of personal information and provides new privacy rights for California residents. These changes required us to modify our data processing practices and policies and incur compliance-related costs and expenses. The CCPA also provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches, which may increase the likelihood and cost of data breach litigation. Additionally, the CPRA went into effect on January 1, 2023 and significantly modifies the CCPA by, among other things, creating a dedicated privacy regulatory agency, requiring businesses to implement data minimization and data integrity principles, and imposing additional requirements for contracts addressing the processing of personal information. Numerous states have enacted, or are currently reviewing, legislation that is similar to the CCPA and/or CPRA. For example, the Virginia Consumer Data Protect Act, the Colorado Privacy Act, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act became effective in 2023. There are also bills that have been approved or are going through the legislative process in many more states. In 2022, a draft of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act was released and would be a comprehensive federal data privacy law that would seek to ease the burden of a patchwork of overlapping but different state laws. These changes may result in further uncertainty with respect to privacy, data protection, and information security issues and will require us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. New health information standards, whether implemented pursuant to HIPAA, congressional action, or otherwise, could have a significant effect on the manner in which we must handle healthcare-related data, and the cost of complying with standards could be significant. If we do not comply with existing or new laws and regulations related to PHI, we could be subject to criminal or civil sanctions and our reputation could be harmed. Because of the extreme sensitivity of the PII we store and transmit, the security features of our technology platform are very important. If our security measures, some of which are managed by third parties, are breached or fail, unauthorized persons may be able to obtain access to sensitive Client and member data, including HIPAA-regulated PHI. As a result, our reputation could be severely damaged, adversely affecting Client and member confidence. Members may curtail their use of, or stop using, our services or our Client base could decrease, which would cause our business to suffer. In addition, we could face litigation, damages for contract breach, penalties, and regulatory actions for violation of HIPAA and other applicable laws or regulations and significant costs for remediation, notification to individuals, and for measures to prevent future occurrences. Any potential security breach could also result in increased costs associated with liability for stolen assets or information, repairing system damage that may have been caused by such breaches, incentives offered to Clients or other business partners in an effort to maintain our business relationships after a breach, and implementing measures to prevent future occurrences, including organizational changes, deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, training employees, and engaging third-party experts and consultants. While we maintain insurance covering certain security and privacy damages and claim expenses, we may not carry insurance or maintain coverage sufficient to compensate for all liability and in any event, insurance coverage would not address the reputational damage that could result from a security incident. We outsource important aspects of the storage and transmission of Client and member information, and thus rely on third parties to manage functions that have material cybersecurity risks. We attempt to address these risks by requiring outsourcing subcontractors who handle Client and member information to sign business associate agreements and/or data processing agreements contractually requiring those subcontractors to adequately safeguard personal health data to the same extent that applies to us and in some cases by requiring such outsourcing subcontractors to undergo third-party security examinations. In addition, we periodically hire third-party security experts to assess and test our security posture. However, we cannot assure you that these contractual measures and other safeguards will adequately protect us from the risks associated with the storage and transmission of Client and members' proprietary and protected health information. We publish statements to our members and potential members that describe how we handle and protect personal information. If federal or state regulatory authorities or private litigants consider any portion of these statements to be untrue, we may be subject to claims of deceptive practices, which could lead to significant liabilities and consequences, including, without limitation, costs of responding to investigations, defending against litigation, settling claims, and complying with regulatory or court orders. For example, we have been subject to litigation alleging improper disclosure and/or use of PII and PHI. We also engage in digital marketing which has come under additional scrutiny by the FTC and state regulators. If our practices are deemed to have been unlawful or deceptive or potentially a violation of FTC requirements, it could lead to significant liabilities and consequences including, without limitation, costs of responding to investigations, defending against litigation, including class action suits, settling claims, complying with regulatory or court orders, and managing public relations and Client and member concerns associated with such violations. For example, see Note 19. "Legal Matters," to the consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding the settlement and consent order entered into with the FTC and the related putative class-action litigations, which have resulted in certain changes to the operation of the BetterHelp business. We also send short message service ("SMS") text messages to potential end users who are eligible to use our service through certain customers and partners. While we obtain consent from or on behalf of these individuals to send text messages, federal or state regulatory authorities or private litigants may claim that the notices and disclosures we provide, form of consents we obtain, or our SMS texting practices, are not adequate. These SMS texting campaigns are potential sources of risk for our company since they are governed by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which allows for private right of action and class action lawsuits and is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. Numerous class action suits under federal and state laws have been filed against companies that conduct SMS texting programs, with many resulting in multi-million-dollar settlements for the plaintiffs. Any such future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend. Further, there are numerous foreign laws, regulations and directives regarding privacy and the collection, storage, transmission, use, processing, disclosure, and protection of PII and other personal or customer data, the scope of which is continually evolving and subject to differing interpretations. We must comply with such laws, regulations, and directives and we may be subject to significant consequences, including penalties and fines, for our failure to comply. Failure to comply with the requirements of the GDPR and the applicable national data protection laws of the EU member states may result in fines of up to €10,000,000 or up to 2% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher, and other administrative penalties. To comply with the data protection rules imposed by the GDPR we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance. In addition, privacy laws are developing quickly in other jurisdictions where we operate, which impose similar accountability, transparency, and security obligations. These additional privacy law obligations may be onerous and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. In addition, recent legal developments in Europe have created complexity and compliance uncertainty regarding certain transfers of information from the EU to the U.S. If one or more of the legal bases for transferring PII from Europe to the U.S. is invalidated, or if we are unable to transfer PII between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the manner in which we provide our services or could adversely affect our financial results. Furthermore, any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with or make effective modifications to our policies, or to comply with any federal, state, or international privacy, data-retention or data-protection-related laws, regulations, orders, or industry self-regulatory principles could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, a loss of customer confidence, damage to our brand and reputation, and a loss of customers, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business. Finally, federal, state, and foreign legislative or regulatory bodies may enact new or additional laws and regulations concerning privacy, data-retention, and data-protection issues, including laws or regulations mandating disclosure to domestic or international law enforcement bodies, which could adversely impact our business, our brand, or our reputation with customers. For example, some countries have adopted laws mandating that PII regarding customers in their country be maintained solely in their country. Having to maintain local data centers and redesign product, service, and business operations to limit PII processing to within individual countries could increase our operating costs significantly.

Our longer-term results of operations and continued growth will depend in part on our ability to successfully develop and market new applications and services that our Clients and members want and are willing to purchase. In addition, we have invested, and will continue to invest, significant resources in research and development and acquisitions to enhance our existing solutions and introduce new high-quality applications and services. If existing Clients are not willing to make additional payments for such new applications, or if new Clients and members do not value such new applications, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If we are unable to predict user preferences or if our industry changes, or if we are unable to modify our solutions and services on a timely basis, we may lose Clients or members. Our results of operations would also suffer if our innovations are not responsive to the needs of our Clients and members, appropriately timed with market opportunity, or effectively brought to market.

Our success depends in part on our ability to enforce our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. We rely upon a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret laws, as well as license and access agreements and other contractual provisions, to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. In addition, we attempt to protect our intellectual property and proprietary information by requiring our employees, consultants, and certain of our contractors to execute confidentiality and assignment of inventions agreements. These laws, procedures, and restrictions provide only limited protection and any of our intellectual property rights may be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, or misappropriated. To the extent that our intellectual property and other proprietary rights are not adequately protected, third parties may gain access to our proprietary information, develop and market solutions similar to ours, or use trademarks similar to ours, each of which could materially harm our business. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to copy or obtain and use our technology to develop applications with the same functionality as our solutions. Policing unauthorized use of our technology and intellectual property rights is difficult and may not be effective. In addition, the laws of certain foreign countries in which we operate may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the U.S. In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to establish, monitor, and protect these rights. We may not always detect infringement of our intellectual property rights, and defending or enforcing our intellectual property rights, even if successfully detected, prosecuted, enjoined, or remedied, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our proprietary rights, or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any litigation of this nature, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may also incur significant costs in enforcing our trademarks against those who attempt to imitate our brand and other valuable trademarks and service marks. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, countersuits, and adversarial proceedings such as oppositions, inter partes review, post-grant review, re-examination, or other post-issuance proceedings, that attack the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. An adverse determination of any litigation proceedings could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our related pending patent applications at risk of not issuing. The failure to secure and adequately protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The virtual care market is characterized by rapid technological change, changing consumer requirements, short product lifecycles, and evolving industry standards. Our success will depend on our ability to enhance our solutions with next-generation technologies and to develop or to acquire and market new services to access new consumer populations. As our operations grow, we must continuously improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure while maintaining or improving the reliability and integrity of our infrastructure as the cost of technology increases. Our future success also depends on our ability to adapt our systems and infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving consumer trends and demands while continuing to improve the performance, features, and reliability of our solutions in response to competitive services and offerings. We expect the use of alternative platforms such as tablets and wearables will continue to grow and the emergence of niche competitors who may be able to optimize offerings, services, or strategies for such platforms will require new investment in technology. New developments in other areas, such as cloud computing, have made it easier for competition to enter our markets due to lower up-front technology costs. In addition, we may not be able to maintain our existing systems or replace or introduce new technologies and systems as quickly as we would like or in a cost-effective manner. There is no guarantee that we will possess the resources, either financial or personnel, for the research, design, and development of new applications or services, or that we will be able to utilize these resources successfully and avoid technological or market obsolescence. Further, there can be no assurance that technological advances by one or more of our competitors or future competitors will not result in our present or future applications and services becoming uncompetitive or obsolete. If we are unable to enhance our offerings and network capabilities to keep pace with rapid technological and regulatory change, 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 success will also depend on the availability of our mobile apps in app stores and in "super-app" environments, and the creation, maintenance, and development of relationships with key participants in related industries, some of which may also be our competitors. In addition, if the accessibility of various apps is limited by government actions, the full functionality of devices may not be available to our members. Moreover, third-party platforms, services, and offerings are constantly evolving, and we may not be able to modify our platform to assure its compatibility with those of third parties. If we lose such interoperability, we experience difficulties or increased costs in integrating our offerings into alternative devices or systems, or manufacturers or operating systems elect not to include our offerings, make changes that degrade the functionality of our offerings, or give preferential treatment to competitive products, the growth of our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. This risk may be exacerbated by the frequency with which individuals change or upgrade their devices. In the event individuals choose devices that do not already include or support our platform or do not install our mobile apps when they change or upgrade their devices, our member engagement may be harmed. AI and machine learning serve a key role in many of our services. As with many technological innovations, AI and machine learning present risks and challenges that could affect its adoption, and therefore our business. AI and machine learning present potential bias issues based on our population data and if we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy due to their perceived or actual impact on society, we may experience reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. Potential government regulation in the space of AI and machine learning also may increase the burden and cost of research and development in this area, subjecting us to reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. Failure to address AI and machine learning bias and ethics issues by us or others in our industry could undermine public confidence in AI and machine learning and slow adoption of AI and machine learning in our products and services.

Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our key executive officers and other senior leaders. These individuals are at-will employees and therefore they may terminate employment with us at any time with no advance notice. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives or other key employees, which could disrupt our business. The replacement of one or more of our executive officers or other key employees would likely involve significant time and costs and may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives. To continue to execute our growth strategy, we also must attract and retain highly skilled personnel. However, competition in the job market is intense for a limited pool of qualified professionals. Inability to meet the ever-increasing expenses (salaries, benefits and technology costs, and talent inflation) of attracting and retaining talent may threaten our ability to provide the staffing resources needed to execute our growth strategy. We have from time to time in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled personnel with appropriate qualifications, in particular software engineers and product managers. The pool of qualified personnel with experience working in the healthcare market is limited overall. In addition, many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. In addition, in making employment decisions, particularly in high technology industries, job candidates often consider the value of the stock options or other equity-based awards they are to receive in connection with their employment. Volatility in the price of our stock may, therefore, adversely affect our ability to attract or retain highly skilled personnel. Further, the requirement to expense stock options and other equity-based compensation or our efforts to limit stockholder dilution from our equity compensation programs may discourage us from granting the size or type of stock option or equity awards that job candidates require to join our company. Failure to attract new personnel or failure to retain and motivate our current personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We and certain of our third-party suppliers are required to comply with the FDA's Quality System Regulation ("QSR") and similar foreign regulations, which cover the methods and documentation of the design, testing, production, control, quality assurance, labeling, packaging, sterilization, storage, and shipping of medical devices that we distribute. The FDA and foreign regulators audit compliance with the QSR and similar foreign regulations through periodic announced and unannounced inspections of manufacturing and other facilities. The FDA or foreign regulators may impose inspections or audits at any time. If we or our suppliers have significant non-compliance issues or if any corrective action plan that we or our suppliers propose in response to observed deficiencies is not sufficient, the FDA could take enforcement action against us and our third-party suppliers. Similarly, foreign regulators could take action to suspend or withdraw any certifications or licenses required to do business in such jurisdiction. Any of the foregoing actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.