(Source: Business Wire)

CardioNet, Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAT), a leading wireless medical technology
company with an initial focus on the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiac
arrhythmias, today reported results for the third quarter and nine
months ended September 30, 2009.
Highlights and Recent Developments
Increased patient volume in the third quarter by 46.8% over the third
quarter of 2008
Monitored over 260,000 patients nationally since the Company's
inception
Increased revenue to $33.3 million in the third quarter, up 6.8% over
the third quarter of 2008
Signed 42 new payor contracts year-to-date, covering approximately 7
million lives and bringing the total number of covered lives to nearly
200 million
Recognized as a Deloitte Fast 50 Company in Philadelphia and Fast 500
Company Nationally
Awarded 15th U.S. Patent which covers Biological Signal
Management (12 additional U.S. patents are pending; 12 international
patents have been issued and 29 are pending)
Rebilled 100% of older net receivables; experienced positive trends in
the collection of current receivables
$43 million in cash and no debt as of September 30, 2009
Chairman, President and CEO Commentary
Randy Thurman, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
CardioNet, stated, "In the quarter, CardioNet continued to experience
significant growth with patient volume up 47% over the prior year third
quarter and 9% over the second quarter of 2009. This growth demonstrates
the positive acceptance by physicians and leading institutions of
CardioNet's MCOTTM technology and the significant benefit
brought to cardiac patients. Practices and institutions are selecting
CardioNet's MCOTTM over the competition citing exceptional
customer service, superior clinical reporting and the unparalleled
quality of our clinical research. As a result, physician practices and
institutions are selecting CardioNet's MCOTTM 7 out of 10
times.
"Expanding our patient reports and value-added clinical applications
continues to be a successful strategy in improving patient care and in
generating demand. For example, in the second quarter, we introduced
SomNetTM, CardioNet's clinical indicator for sleep disorders,
which has been adopted by nearly 8,000 physicians to date. In the third
quarter, we introduced clinical arrhythmia indicator reporting, which
enhances the ability of physicians to diagnose and treat patients. These
reporting enhancements, along with our growing library of patents,
provide evidence of our commitment to innovation and substantially
advancing the field of wireless medicine and improving the monitoring
and diagnosis of cardiac patients.
"CardioNet is the only mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry company to
have a significant portfolio of clinical evidence supporting the MCOTTM
technology. Included in this portfolio are studies for various
applications of the technology including post AF ablation, sleep
disorder indicator, neurology and arrhythmia diagnosis. Physician
surveys indicate that our growth and success against competitors is
driven in part by our outstanding clinical research, which includes 29
published abstracts or studies. Physicians have also cited CardioNet's
superior patient reporting and customer service. Complementing this
research-based and strong service-oriented strategy is our expanded
sales force which now exceeds 140 trained account executives, the
largest sales organization focused on wireless medicine.
"We are very disappointed by the CMS decision for MCOT reimbursement to
continue to be carrier priced by Highmark Medicare Services ("HMS") at
$754. The mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry industry has now served
over 400,000 patients nationally, of which 37% were Medicare patients.
The industry provided CMS and HMS substantial data that we strongly
believe justifies a significantly higher national rate. As previously
stated, this decision has serious implications for the economic
viability of the current CardioNet business model. CardioNet will
continue to work with CMS and HMS to achieve an appropriate national
rate.
"Despite the unexpected reimbursement reduction by HMS on July 10, 2009
and the commercial reimbursement trends that we previously disclosed, we
believe that CardioNet's path forward is clear. First, we remain
committed to our sales effort in its key role in driving volume, market
share and competitive success. Second, CardioNet must become more cost
efficient and there are a number of current programs and strategies
under development to achieve greater efficiencies. To date, CardioNet
has cut costs that we expect to deliver approximately $8 million in
expense reductions in 2010. CardioNet also has a strong cash position
which assures us the time and resources to execute on this plan as well
as evaluate other strategic options. As we implement these programs, we
will ensure that patients and physicians continue to receive the
outstanding benefits of CardioNet's MCOTTM technology.
"In addition to the unexpected HMS reimbursement cut, earnings in Q3
reflect certain incremental investments aimed at building market share
and supporting the larger selling organization. Bad debt continues to
negatively impact earnings and we are taking aggressive steps to address
this issue. The bad debt issue is partly attributable to the billing and
collections practices stemming from the Company's entrepreneurial past
which have taken longer than expected to correct. In 2009, CardioNet
reorganized the billing and collections area and has recently rebilled
100% of the net receivables over 120 days. As a result of our efforts,
we are now seeing favorable trends with our current receivables. Despite
this progress, we remain unsatisfied with the results to date.
Therefore, we recently moved the entire revenue cycle organization, from
order entry to collections, under one management team creating a
structure for improved transaction flow and enhanced productivity. We
also engaged an outside collections firm to focus on older receivables
and implemented an electronic revenue cycle management platform,
transitioning from a largely paper-based billing system.
"To summarize, the CardioNet MCOTTM technology continues to
provide outstanding clinical value to physicians and patients. Our
volume growth and success against competitors clearly demonstrate that
point. Receivables and collections have taken longer than anticipated to
correct but specific actions have been taken as discussed. All of that
said the most significant matter affecting CardioNet is the unexpected
decrease in reimbursement by HMS, which has negatively impacted
profitability and, without significant restructuring, has put the
Company and MCOTTM technology in jeopardy. All stakeholders
should know that we are taking every step necessary to address these
issues while we simultaneously pursue technology advancements and
strategic options that will ensure physicians and patients continued
access to CardioNet's revolutionary technology. CardioNet's strong cash
position and lack of debt provides us with time to effect these changes.
I would anticipate that, as developments warrant, we will communicate
with stakeholders to provide an update on our efforts and the outlook
for CardioNet's future."
Financial Results
Revenues for the third quarter of 2009 increased to $33.3 million
compared to $31.2 million in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of
$2.1 million, or 6.8%. For the third quarter, the Company's payor mix
was 38% Medicare and 62% commercial. While the increased patient volume
drove additional revenue, it was offset by the September 1, 2009
decrease in Medicare reimbursement as well as the declining commercial
reimbursement trends as disclosed in the Company's June 30, 2009 press
release. Gross profit increased to $21.5 million in the third quarter of
2009, or 64.5% of revenues, compared to $21.2 million in the third
quarter of 2008, or 67.9% of revenues.
On a GAAP basis, operating loss was $5.9 million in the third quarter of
2009 compared to operating income of $1.4 million in the third quarter
of 2008. Excluding $1.3 million of expense primarily related to
restructuring, adjusted operating loss was $4.6 million in the third
quarter of 2009. This compares to adjusted operating income of $4.3
million in the third quarter of 2008, which excludes $2.9 million of
expense related to the integration of PDSHeart and other restructuring
efforts in the prior year period.
On a GAAP basis, net loss for the third quarter of 2009 was $5.4
million, or a loss of $0.23 per diluted share, compared to net income of
$1.0 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2008.
Adjusted net loss for the third quarter of 2009 was $2.4 million, or a
loss of $0.10 per diluted share, excluding expenses primarily related to
restructuring. This compares to adjusted net income of $2.6 million, or
$0.11 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2008, which excludes
the impact of integration, restructuring and other nonrecurring charges.
Revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 increased to
$107.3 million compared to $86.0 million in the comparable period in the
prior year. For the nine months of 2009, gross profit increased to $71.7
million, or 66.8% of revenues, compared to $56.7 million, or 65.9% of
revenues, in the comparable period in the prior year.
On a GAAP basis, operating loss for the first nine months of the year
was $5.1 million compared to operating income of $3.3 million in the
comparable period in the prior year. Excluding $4.5 million of expense
related to restructuring and costs incurred in connection with the
since-terminated merger agreement to acquire Biotel Inc., adjusted
operating loss was $0.7 million in the first nine months of 2009. This
compares to adjusted operating income of $8.1 million in the first nine
months of 2008, which excludes $4.8 million of integration,
restructuring and other nonrecurring charges.
Net loss for the first nine months of 2009 was $4.6 million, or a loss
of $0.19 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.3 million, or
$0.10 per diluted share, for the first nine months of 2008. Adjusted net
loss for the first nine months of 2009 was $0.1 million excluding
expenses related to restructuring and costs incurred in connection with
the since-terminated merger agreement to acquire Biotel Inc. This
compares to adjusted net income of $5.0 million, or $0.23 per diluted
share, for the first nine months of 2008, which excludes the impact of
integration, restructuring and other nonrecurring charges.
On a GAAP basis, net loss available to common shareholders, which is
derived by reducing net income by the accrued dividends and accretion on
mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred stock was a loss of $4.6
million, or a loss of $0.19 per diluted share, for the nine month period
ended September 30, 2009, compared to a net loss of $0.3 million, or a
loss of $0.02 per diluted share, for the same period last year. The
mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred stock, which was issued in
part to finance the March 2007 PDSHeart acquisition, was converted to
common stock in connection with CardioNet's March 2008 initial public
offering.
Marty Galvan, CardioNet's Chief Financial Officer, commented: "While our
patient volume in the quarter increased by 47% over the prior year, our
total revenue grew by 7%. This rate of revenue growth reflects the
impact of lower commercial rates as well as the September 1, 2009
reduction in Medicare reimbursement to $754.
"As Randy noted, our accounts receivables continue to be a challenge and
our days sales outstanding ("DSO") grew to 138 days in the quarter. This
increase was largely driven by our older receivables. In order to
prevent these issues in the future, we are currently implementing new
processes for greater effectiveness and efficiency. To assist in our
efforts to collect these older receivables, we have recently retained
the services of an outside collections firm to directly manage
collections in relation to specific accounts.
"We are beginning to see the positive impact of the increased focus on
accounts receivable with third quarter collections up 49% over the third
quarter of 2008 and up 9% over the second quarter. Collections outpaced
our revenue growth of 7% over the third quarter of 2008 and the revenue
decline as compared to the second quarter. To build on these positive
trends, we are implementing an electronic solution provided by Emdeon
which will automate key functions throughout the revenue cycle and which
will streamline our interactions with the payors.