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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

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For the transition period from   to

Commission file number: 001-40785

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ASSURE HOLDINGS CORP.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

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(720) 287-3093

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT to SECTION 12(b) of the ACT:

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SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT to SECTION 12(G) of the ACT: None

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ⌧ No ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 229.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ⌧ No ◻ 

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 definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large Accelerated Filer ◻ Accelerated Filer   Non-Accelerated Filer ☒  Smaller Reporting Company ☒  Emerging Growth Company ☒

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262 (b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

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

As of June 30, 2022, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $18,400,000 based upon the closing sale price of the common stock on such date.

The number of the registrant’s common shares of common stock outstanding as of March 23, 2023 was 1,101,098.

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As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”), references to “Assure,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us” mean Assure Holdings Corp., and consolidated subsidiaries, or any one or more of them, as the context requires.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report, including statements regarding the Company’s future financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, expectations, future performance, business operations and business prospects, are forward-looking statements  and may be identified by the use of words including, but not limited to the following; “may,” “believe,” “will,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “continue,” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements are based on our management’s current plans and expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. We cannot assure you that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated or occur in the manner we expected. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in expected future political, legal, economic, business, competition, market and regulatory conditions and other factors and assumptions of management in making such statements, many of which are beyond our control.

Some of the important risks and uncertainties that could affect forward-looking statements are described further under the section headings “Item 1. Business,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary, possibly materially, from those anticipated, believed, estimated, or expected. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. We qualify all of the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report by the foregoing cautionary statements.

Key Performance Metrics

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This Annual Report contains key performance metrics, managed cases, and remote neurology managed cases, that management of the Company utilizes to determine operational performance from period to period. A managed case is all technical cases Assure performs and any cases where the professional bill is from a 100% owned Assure entity and excludes cases when a global bill is presented, and we calculate it based on bills presented during the relevant measurement period. We define remote neurology managed cases as a subset of managed cases where Assure’s remote neurology platform is utilized and billed. Management believes that managed cases and remote neurology managed cases are important measures of the Company’s operational performance because it is a consistent measurement to evaluate patient revenue streams.

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PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Business Overview

Assure is a best-in-class provider of outsourced Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (“IONM”) and an emerging provider of remote neurology services. The Company delivers a turnkey suite of clinical and operational services to support surgeons and medical facilities during invasive surgical procedures. IONM has been well established as a standard of care and risk mitigation tool for various surgical verticals such as neurosurgery, spine, cardiovascular, orthopedic, ear, nose, and throat (“ENT”), and other surgical procures that place the nervous system at risk. Accredited by The Joint Commission, Assure’s mission is to provide exceptional surgical care and help make invasive surgeries safer. Our strategy focuses on utilizing best of class personnel and partners to deliver outcomes that are beneficial to all stakeholders including patients, surgeons, hospitals, insurers, and stockholders.

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During each procedure, Assure provides two types of services, the Technical Component and Professional Component of IONM. Our in-house Interoperative Neurophysiologists (“INP”) provide the Technical Component IONM services from the operating room throughout the procedure, while telehealth-oriented supervising practitioners provide a level of redundancy and risk mitigation in support of the onsite INPs and the surgical team. In addition, Assure offers a comprehensive suite of IONM services, including scheduling the INP and supervising practitioner, real time monitoring, patient advocacy and subsequent billing and collecting for services provided.

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Clinical leadership, surgeon support and patient care are Assure’s cornerstones. We make substantial ongoing investments in our training and development of clinical staff and have created a training program to rigorously train new INPs to cost-effectively join the Assure team. In addition, we have partnered with the internationally renowned Texas Back Institute on clinical research relating to IONM safety and efficacy. Isador Lieberman, M.D., the director of the scoliosis and spine tumor program at the Texas Back Institute, is a member of Assure’s Medical Advisory Committee.

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Historically, the foundation of Assure’s business has been providing the Technical Component of IONM via our INP staff. We employ highly trained INPs, which provide a direct point of contact in the operating room during the surgeries to relay critical information to the surgical team. In this one-to-one business model, Assure pairs a team of INPs with third-party surgeons to promote a level of familiarity, comfort and efficiency between the surgeon and the INP. Each INP can support approximately 200 cases annually. Our INPs monitor the surgical procedure using state of the art, commercially available, diagnostic medical equipment. Assure INP’s are certified by a third-party accreditation board, ABRET Neurodiagnostic Credentialing and Accreditation (“ABRET”). The success of our service depends upon the timely recognition and successful interpretation of the data signals by our INPs and remote supervisors to quickly determine if the patient is experiencing a deficiency and advise the surgeon to determine if surgical intervention is required to positively impact the patient and surgery. While, employing this model, Assure has rapidly expanded its business, supporting approximately 1,600 managed cases in 2017 to approximately 21,600 in 2022. For the year December 31, 2022, the Company operated in 12 states with the majority of our managed cases in Texas and Colorado.

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Beginning in the second quarter of 2021, Assure began executing on its long-term vertical integration plan by expanding into tele-neurology services. This includes delivering remote neurology services in support of the surgical team and INPs. Supervising practitioners are utilizing equipment and training to monitor electroencephalographic (“EEG”) and electromyography (“EMG”) and several other complex modalities during surgical procedures to pre-emptively notify the surgeon of any nerve related issues as they are identified. Assure has utilized employee and third-party contractors, working from remote locations as supervising practitioners supporting surgical teams and our INPs.  

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The Professional Component of IONM is provided via tele-neurology services under a one-to-many business model, and as a result, has a different financial profile than the Technical Component. Supervising practitioners provide tele-neurology services from an off-site location and maintain the ability to monitor multiple surgical cases simultaneously. As a result, each supervising practitioner has the ability to monitor approximately 2,500 or more cases annually. In 2022, Assure performed approximately 21,600 total managed cases including managing approximately 2,500 remote neurology cases.

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Expanding our role in the Professional Component of IONM generates several positives for Assure. First, the Company is better positioned to oversee quality of service for providing tele-neurology services. This commitment to quality supports our efforts to sign new in-network agreements with insurance payors and facility-wide agreements with hospitals. Second, Assure is able to significantly reduce cost of delivery, allowing the Company to improve profitability on every case we perform. Assure’s objective is to significantly cut the cost of delivery for tele-neurology services going forward. Additional scale will serve as a catalyst for margin expansion in the future. Third, for most cases performed, tele-neurology services represent the creation of a new revenue stream. Fourth, providing tele-neurology services for IONM creates opportunities in adjacent markets where similar tele-neurology services are utilized. Accelerating the Company’s shift to providing remote neurology was straightforward. Assure had already built the platform and maintained the patient volume. Management expects the result will be higher margins, a new revenue stream and turning cash over more quickly.

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Collectively, support from Assure’s high quality Technical and Professional IONM services results in:

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Over the past three years, Assure has built a platform to support our future growth and development. The attributes of our platform include: maintaining exceptional clinical operations, automating our revenue cycle management function and collecting cash faster, boosting managed care through the signing of in-network agreements with insurance payors, minimizing operational bottlenecks, particularly around onboarding and credentialing, instituting an ongoing training and development program for clinical staff to ensure we maintain industry-leading skills and performance, and successful execution of an M&A strategy in a highly fragmented market that has led to four accretive transactions over the past three years. This platform was built with the intent of having these key functional areas support IONM in our key surgical verticals including within IONM: spine, neurosurgery, vascular, ENT and orthopedic. As we transition to becoming a provider of tele-neurology services, we believe our expertise in IONM will assist us in entering adjacent markets in which Assure supervising practitioners can also provide patient services. The Company plans to provide services in new verticals including EEG, epilepsy, sleep study and stroke by leveraging key competencies we have built over the past three years.

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In 2022, Assure provided IONM services for approximately 215 surgeons in 129 hospitals and surgery centers (which we refer to as “Procedure Facilities”) across the Company’s operational footprint. Our continued organic geographic expansion initiatives, including facility-wide outsourcing agreements with medical facilities and hospital networks, potential for selective acquisitions, and the extension of our platform into tele-neurology services, is expected to generate substantial growth opportunities going forward.

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2022 in review

Assure performed a record number of managed cases in 2022. Overall, the Company performed approximately 21,600 managed cases and generated gross revenue of $28.9 million offset by $17.9 million of implicit price concessions.  The Company reported net loss of $30.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Factors Impacting 2022 Results

2022 Areas of Progress

Looking Forward

Our Strategy

Current Strategy

Our strategy is to build a telehealth tele-neurology services company with exceptional capabilities in IONM and numerous adjacent markets.

Assure has a history of providing leading IONM services with an emphasis on clinical excellence and patient well-being, and are in the midst of a significant transformation to position for growth. With a focus on execution and providing a high level of patient care, the Company is transforming from being a provider of the Technical Component of IONM utilizing a one-to-one business model of INPs in the operating room to a business that also provides the Professional Component of IONM via off-site tele-neurology services in a far more scalable one-to-many business model. The next step in our development will relate to opportunities to expand into adjacent tele-neurology services while utilizing Assure’s platform and employees. This will extend our reach and redefine Assure’s position in the industry. We are thoughtfully deploying capital and focusing our investment in high potential growth initiatives including: organically expanding within existing states and into new states, growing our tele-neurology platform, signing new IONM outsourcing agreements with hospitals and medical facilities, as well as opportunistic M&A. In addition, we are investing to make our revenue cycle management function more automated, improving the velocity of our cash collections. The data and analytics-driven Company we are

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building will play a bigger role in the success of our key stakeholder groups: surgeons, hospitals, insurance companies and patients, as we seek to deliver attractive returns to our stockholders.

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Assure has made substantial investments to make its revenue cycle management function more data-driven, analytical, and automated. This modernization facilitated successful state-level arbitrations in 2022. Success in arbitration supported improving cash flow. There is currently a backlog of claims awaiting federal arbitration that we anticipate will begin in earnest in 2023. Many IONM competitors, particularly smaller peers that remain reliant on third-party billing companies lack the analytics and transparency to similarly leverage opportunities presented by the arbitration process.

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As we look forward, Assure is focused on aligning our costs with updated managed case revenue expectations. The Company expects to continue adding scale in favorable markets while fixing the cost of delivering for its services. Further, Assure wants to take advantage of an opportunistic M&A environment in IONM as the industry moves toward a near-term consolidation. Another catalyst for improving financials is moving away from Assure’s legacy Managed Service Agreement (“MSA”) model in order to keep all collections generated from services provided by the Professional Component of IONM. In addition, supported by a data-driven revenue cycle management function, the Company anticipates leveraging state and federal arbitration programs to maximize reimbursement per case. It is our expectation that consistent success in arbitrations will ultimately lead to new in-network contractual agreements with commercial insurance payors, which in turn will speed up cash flow and improve participation rates. Lastly, Assure remains entirely committed to maintaining its clinical leadership, providing surgeon partners and hospitals with clinical excellence and our patients with enhanced safety. Delivering industry-leading quality of service has long anchored the Company’s very strong surgeon retention rates and driven our referral network for winning new business.

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Legacy Strategy

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At the Company’s inception, the delivery of the Technical Component and Professional Component of IONM were reimbursed at nearly identical rates. For several years Assure was primarily focused on collecting and keeping proceeds from the Technical Component while splitting a significant portion of the proceeds from the Professional Component via MSAs in a manner that benefitted surgeons financially. In recent years, the IONM market has changed dramatically and now the Technical Component is perceived by commercial insurance payors to have limited reimbursement value whereas the Professional Component has considerable reimbursement value. Given the changing dynamics in market reimbursement, the Company will no longer be pursuing MSA arrangements and instead focus on collecting and keeping all proceeds from both the Technical and Professional Components of IONM.

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Our Priorities

As we look ahead to 2023, we are pursuing the following objectives:

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Continuing to expand, scale and grow our managed case volume. Assure expects to expand managed case volume in 2023. One potential driver for growth in 2023 is a 3-year agreement the Company was awarded in November 2021 to become the sole contracted provider of IONM services for Premier, Inc., the second largest group purchasing organization in the U.S.

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Opportunistic acquisitions. The Company expects to continue to be a consolidator in the highly fragmented IONM industry. The four acquisition transactions completed by Assure over the past three years have been highly accretive.

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Expand our tele-neurology capabilities. Assure will focus on providing higher quality service at a lower cost. We believe this will support margin expansion as we scale, benefit revenue growth, and assist us in penetrating adjacent markets.

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Set a greater proportion of our commercial insurance volume in contractual rates by signing in-network agreements with insurance payors. This helps Assure reduce risk, minimize complexity, accelerate the timing of payments, and protect our liquidity. Overall, across all markets, Assure has approximately 15% of our total commercial volume in contractual rates with payors, either directly or indirectly. This percentage was cut in half during 2022 as indirect contract utilization fell with the implementation of the federal No Surprises Act. By the end of 2023, our goal is to drive over 50% of our commercial insurance volume in-network. Very few of our intraoperative neuromonitoring peers have the scale in terms of managed case volume nor the organizational expertise to strike similar deals. We will also be aggressive in utilizing the dispute resolution process authorized by state and federal legislation, such as the No Surprises Act, which went into effect in 2022. For the first time, this legislation provides companies like Assure with the ability to arbitrate claims in every U.S. state where we have performed service but were not paid. While federal arbitrations have been backlogged in 2022 due to operational challenges, we expect this process to accelerate in 2023.

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Accelerate digital transformation and automation to add predictability and transparency to cash flows. Cash collection has been a focus over the last three years as we invested in an internal revenue cycle management team. We have improved cash collections significantly, but there is substantial room for further automation, as well as incorporating artificial intelligence and analytics to improve collections and cash flow.

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Extend clinical leadership. We have invested heavily in research and continuing education. This includes establishing our own training program to cost effectively train new INPs. Being seen as an industry leader helps Assure win new business and bring more surgeons onto our platform.

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Taking into account Assure’s scale and managed case volume, the increasing sophistication of our revenue cycle management team, the Company’s shift to providing Professional Component IONM services and collecting all of the associated revenue, as well as maintaining a very high level of patient care in support of exceptional surgeons, the Company believes it will be able to drive higher margin and positive cash flow in 2023.

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Our Service Offering

INPs

Assure offers a turnkey full suite of IONM services including scheduling of the INP and supervising practitioner, real time monitoring and subsequent billing for services provided.

Prior to a patient’s procedure, Assure will coordinate with the surgeon’s office to obtain the necessary information and documentation to provide IONM services, such as the patients’ insurance information, patients’ demographic information and office/clinic notes. We provide educational materials to the surgeon’s office for inclusion in each surgical patient’s pre-operative packets to educate and provide comfort to the patient about IONM services. Prior to the surgery, an Assure patient advocate connects with the patient to explain our role during the surgery, the benefits of IONM and billing issues that may affect the patient. Assure’s INP will arrive at the hospital with an IONM machine and disposable supplies/electrodes. The INP meets with the patient to explain their role during the surgery, discuss the patients’ pertinent past medical history, explain the risks and benefits associated with IONM and have the patient sign a consent form for IONM to be utilized on their procedure.

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All IONM procedures include both technical services (performed by INPs) and professional services (performed by supervising practitioners). During the surgery, the INP will continuously monitor the functional integrity of the peripheral and/or central nervous system by recording, troubleshooting, documenting, and communicating activity arising from the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, somatosensory or motor nerve systems using the IONM machine provided by Assure and communicating the physiologic results in real-time to the surgeon. The INP and surgeon are supported by an off-site supervising practitioner providing tele-neurology oversight services. The supervising practitioner also monitors the functional integrity of the peripheral or central nervous system throughout the procedure communicating in real-time with the surgeon and INP throughout the procedure. In some cases, remote neurology is performed directly by Assure’s supervising practitioners. In other instances, these tele-neurology services are provided by and through subsidiaries, which owns interest in entities that either directly perform the Professional Component through third-party contracted neurologists or oversight reading physicians.

Assure Interoperative Neurophysiologists

Assure currently employs specialized IONM INPs that are board certified Certification Examination in Neurophysiologic Intraoperative Monitoring (“CNIM”) or board eligible CNIM by ABRET. ABRET seeks to encourage, establish and maintain standards of clinical EEG, Evoked Potential Technology, and Neurophysiologic Intraoperative and long-term monitoring, by offering credentialing exams to evaluate the skills and knowledge of technologists, and by supporting lab accreditation.

Assure has developed an Intraoperative Neurophysiologist Training program. This training program trains new INPs from start to board certification, allowing for consistently high caliber well-trained professional INPs for placement into emerging and growing markets. Training and developing our own talent pool allow for more flexible scalability.

Assure Supervising Practitioners

Assure utilizes supervising practitioners performing remote neurology services. These physicians are highly trained and specialized in providing off-site tele neurology services. Multiple Assure supervising practitioners have already received the training necessary to provide remote neurology services in targeted expansion markets including EEG.  

IONM Market in the United States

Overview

A key factor driving growth in the market is the increasing number of surgeries for which IONM is required. Advances in technology, the growth of the geriatric population in the US and a rising incidence of chronic diseases are other factors increasing the number of spinal, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular surgeries, which in turn is expected to drive market growth in IONM. Renowned medical institutions such as the Mayo Clinic are advocating greater adoption of IONM including requiring medical professionals to complete comprehensive neurophysiology training courses and hosting international IONM conferences.

Market Landscape

The IONM market is bifurcated into in-house and outsourced providers. The end user segment is categorized into hospital and ambulatory surgical centers. IONM finds its application in spinal, neurosurgery, cardiovascular, ENT, orthopedic and other surgeries related to the central or peripheral nervous system. IONM modalities include motor evoked potential, somatosensory evoked potential, electroencephalography, electromyography, brainstem auditory evoked potential, and visual evoked potential.

There has been a substantial increase in the use of IONM services by hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers during complex surgeries. Moreover, the market is moving toward outsourced monitoring to provide advanced treatment options for patients suffering from chronic diseases.

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With no dominant players in the industry, the intraoperative neuromonitoring market in the U.S. is highly fragmented. Providers can generally be categorized into three groups: 1) IONM-specific companies, including a limited number of relatively larger players such as Assure and a much larger group of small local and regional providers, 2) In-house providers such as hospitals, and 3) Bundled product companies offering neuromonitoring as part of a broader suite of services including SpecialtyCare, Inc. and NuVasive, Inc. These bundled product companies are believed to be the largest IONM providers in the US, although each is estimated to individually comprise approximately 10% of the overall U.S. IONM market.

Market Segmentation by Application

Current market breakdown as relating to the current IONM utilization by procedure classification is approximately:

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Surgical neurophysiology continues to progress, with the improvement of new applications such as brainstem mapping, spinal cord mapping, and proving the utilization of IONM in surgeries where the nervous system is not at primary risk but a secondary risk of the surgery (such as reducing post-operative deficits caused by malposition).

IONM utilization is also highly regional, with the eastern portions of the United States having higher utilization of IONM as compared to the central and western portions of the country, especially for orthopedic and vascular surgery verticals. This regional nature is partly associated with the regional medico-legal issues, but also the training of the surgeons. If surgeons train with effective IONM they are more likely to continue to use it in their practice in comparison to surgeons who either were not exposed to IONM or exposed to ineffective IONM.

There are large opportunities that Assure is working to capitalize on with respect to growing the use of IONM monitoring in the underutilized verticals. Assure aims to expand in this market by investing in research, correlating improved outcomes in procedures that are not traditionally monitored or where IONM is underutilized. There are also many surgical disciplines that have not been explored with respect to whether IONM could support improved patient outcomes.

Drivers of the IONM Market

The US IONM market is expected to expand, driven by growth in procedures related to an aging population, increase in prevalence of chronic disorders, adoption of IONM in new surgeries, and increased interest in risk mitigation.

High volume of surgeries

Physicians use IONM during many surgeries. IONM is vital in obtaining real-time status of the nervous system. An increase in the volume of neurosurgeries, spinal surgeries, and orthopedic surgeries has fueled the demand for IONM services.

Advances in technology

With the improvement in health care facilities and advances in technology, vendors are developing innovative and efficient IONM devices. Companies such as Cadwell Industries and Natus Medical invest extensively in R&D to develop advanced IONM devices.

Certain service providers offer advanced IONM services for various surgeries including neurosurgeries and ENT, cardiovascular, orthopedic and spinal surgeries. These companies provide IONM devices such as EEG systems for real time monitoring of the nervous system. Advanced IONM devices help physicians to monitor and record complex patterns of neural activities.

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Focus on patient safety

Surgeons use IONM as an additional line of safety during surgeries. IONM systems are used to monitor the nervous system and alert the surgeons prior to the threshold for injury. The IONM systems play a vital role during critical surgeries such as spinal surgeries that involve the insertion of instruments near the nerves or the spinal area and may cause damage to the nervous system. IONM also helps surgeons avoid or minimize common complications such as paraparesis, quadriplegia, and paraplegia that occur during surgeries.

Selected reasons for the rising deployment of IONM include:

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IONM Market Challenges

Cost of surgery with IONM

The cost of surgeries with IONM is more than those without IONM. Surgeries with IONM involve the expenses of IONM devices, intraoperative neurophysiologists, supervising practitioners, and disposable materials. The cost of surgeries restricts the adoption of IONM. Though IONM systems play a crucial role in invasive surgeries such as spinal, neurological, orthopedic, and cardiovascular surgeries, it has not been proven to be a cost-effective therapy in all procedures.

Payor payments

Beginning in 2020 and through 2022, Assure faced an increase in third-party insurance claim payment denials for our technologist services that we believe will continue in the foreseeable future. The increase in technical claim denials is primarily attributable to a shift in third-party insurance company policies to bundle the technologist service payment into the surgical procedure payment made to the facility in which our services are rendered. In response to this change Assure has been renegotiating its facility contracts to obtain reimbursement directly from the facility for technologist services paid through this type of bundling technique.

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Limited interoperative neurophysiologists

Though the number of surgeries that need IONM continues to increase in the US, only a limited number of INPs with expertise in IONM are available. INPs with high levels of expertise are required to effectively use IONM devices to record data and diagnose patient alerts. There is also the risk of false recordings due to physiological artifacts arising from other sites. Only highly skilled INPs can perform IONM in hospitals, surgical centers, and neurophysiological laboratories and provide the greatest levels of service to the surgeons they support.

Complications of IONM

Though the popularity of IONM is growing rapidly, risks and complications associated with IONM remains, as there is for any medical procedure.

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Competition

The IONM industry is highly competitive. We face significant competition from other IONM and tele-neurology providers for patients, physicians, INPs and supervising practitioners. Some of our competitors are larger and have longstanding and well-established relationships with physicians and third-party payors. We also compete with other health care providers in our efforts to hire and retain experienced professionals. As a result, we may have difficulty attracting or retaining key personnel or securing clinical resources.

Some of our competitors are hospitals that provide IONM services for surgeries occurring within their hospital facilities. Assure also has significantly larger competitors, some of which have access to greater marketing, financial and other resources and may be better known in the general community. As a result of these factors, the Company may not be able to compete effectively against current and future competitors. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report.

Corporate Structure

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Assure Holdings Corp.

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Assure Holdings Corp., formerly Montreux Capital Corp, a Canadian Capital Pool Company (“Montreux”), was formed under the British Columbia Business Corporations Act in British Columbia, Canada on September 24, 2007, is a Nevada corporation, existing under the laws of the State of Nevada pursuant to its Articles of Domestication filed with the Nevada Secretary of State on May 15, 2017. A Canadian Capital Pool Company is a special purpose acquisition company organized for the purposes of completing acquisition transactions, known as “qualifying transactions,” with operating companies for the purposes of taking the operating companies public in Canada. Qualifying transactions are subject to Canadian securities laws and exchange listing requirements.

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Assure Holdings, Inc.

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Our direct subsidiary is Assure Holdings, Inc., a Colorado corporation, formed under the laws of the State of Colorado on November 7, 2016. Assure Holdings, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Assure Holdings Corp. on May 15, 2017 when Assure Holdings Inc. and its stockholders and Montreux and its stockholders entered  into  a Share  Exchange  Agreement  pursuant to which the stockholders of  Assure Holdings, Inc. received shares of Montreux as consideration for their assignment of their shares in Assure Holdings, Inc. to Montreux in the “Qualifying Transaction” under the rules of the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”). One of the primary objectives of the Qualifying Transactions was to facilitate our going public and listing on the TSX-V.

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Assure Holdings, Inc. is the sole member of Assure Neuromonitoring, LLC (“Assure Neuromonitoring”), a Colorado limited liability company formed under the laws of the state of Colorado on August 25, 2015. Assure Neuromonitoring became a wholly owned subsidiary of Assure Holdings, Inc. on November 7, 2016, when its members assigned their interest in Assure Neuromonitoring to Assure Holdings, Inc. for shares of Assure Holdings, Inc.

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Assure Holdings, Inc. is the sole member of Assure Networks, LLC (“Assure Networks”), a Colorado limited liability company formed under the laws of the state of Colorado on November 2, 2016. Prior to the Reorganization and Qualifying Transaction, Preston Parsons owned a controlling ownership interest in Assure Networks. Assure Networks became a wholly owned subsidiary of Assure Holdings, Inc. on November 7, 2016, when its members assigned their interest in Assure Networks to Assure Holdings, Inc. for shares of Assure Holdings, Inc.

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Assure Holdings, Inc. is the sole member of Assure Equipment Leasing, LLC (“Assure Equipment Leasing”), a Colorado limited liability company formed under the laws of the state of Colorado on April 20, 2020.

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Assure Neuromonitoring

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Assure Neuromonitoring exists for the purpose of facilitating leading IONM support to surgeons and patients. This includes a Technical Component via our INP staff who utilize technical equipment and technical training to monitor EEG, EMG and a number of complex modalities during surgical procedures to pre-emptively notify the underlying surgeon of any nerve related issues that are identified. The INP’s perform their services in the operating room during the surgeries. The INP’s are certified by a third-party accreditation agency.

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Assure Networks

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Assure Networks exist for the purpose of facilitating the performance of the Professional Component of IONM. Assure Networks provides off-site tele-neurology services for IONM. In some cases, the remote neurology is done directly via the Company’s own supervising practitioners. In other instances, these services are provided by and through the Assure Networks subsidiaries, which owns interest in entities that either (i) directly perform the Professional Component through third-party contracted neurologists or oversight reading physicians, or (ii) provide management services for entities owned by licensed physicians. These oversight services support the INP and strengthen our capacity to pre-emptively notify the underlying surgeon of any nerve related issues that are identified during a surgical procedure.

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Assure Networks Texas Holdings, LLC

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Assure Networks Texas Holdings, LLC (“Assure Networks Texas Holdings”) is a Texas limited liability company, formed under the laws of the State of Texas on November 12, 2019. On October 31, 2019, Assure Networks Texas Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Assure Networks, acquired all of the assets of Neuro- Pro Series, LLC, Neuro-Pro Mgmt.,  LLC, Neuro-Pro Monitoring, LLC,  MONRV, PLLC,  NPJC,  LLC, MONRVortho, PLLC,  NPJCorto LLC and PRONRV, LLC (collectively, the “Neuro-Pro Asset Purchase”). The Neuro-Pro Asset Purchase increased the number of cases for both the Technical Component and the Professional Component and expanded the presence for Assure Neuromonitoring, the Assure Neuromonitoring subsidiaries, Assure Networks and the Assure Networks subsidiaries in the State of Texas.

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Corporate Model

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Ownership Model:

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In the instances where Assure Networks, or the applicable Assure Networks subsidiary, owns an interest in the entity performing the Professional Component, our corporate structure is based on a legal analysis that is completed by a third-party law firm to determine the specific state law requirements with respect to the corporate practice of medicine. Once Assure Networks or the applicable Assure Networks subsidiary obtains a legal determination regarding the recommended corporate structure, the applicable entity is established.

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Management Services Model:

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In the instances where Assure Networks or the applicable Assure Networks subsidiary is unable to own an interest in the entity performing the professional component due to state laws or regulations, Assure Networks or the applicable Assure Networks subsidiary enters into a management services agreement whereby Assure Networks or the applicable Assure Networks subsidiary agrees to perform management services on behalf of a third party unrelated entity performing the Professional Component and is paid fair market value compensation for such services. The fair market value compensation is based on a third-party fair market value valuation prepared by a professional valuation firm engaged by Assure Networks or the applicable Assure Networks subsidiary. Assure’s goal is to terminate its MSA relationships by the end of the first half of 2023.

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Privacy

Assure is committed to protecting the privacy of its patients by safeguarding all medical information in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”). Assure relies on third-party companies and their cloud-based services to ensure all confidential information is safeguarded. These third-party companies include ShareFile, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, NetSuite, and USMON. Microsoft, NetSuite, ShareFile, and USMON have Business Associate Agreements in place per HIPAA regulations. Microsoft, NetSuite, which is owned and operated by Oracle Corporation, and ShareFile, which is owned and operated by Citrix Systems, Inc., have, among other security measures, a third-party validated application and datacenter control from SOC 2 and SSAE 18 audits, bank-level encryption technology, multiple data storage locations around the globe, and disaster recovery centers in the United States and Europe. You can find Assure’s privacy policy on its website at www.assureneuromonitoring.com. Please note that the information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

Government Regulation

We are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations. Government regulation affects our business by controlling our growth, requiring licensure and certification for our facilities and the physicians and other health care personnel who provide services in our facilities and regulating the use of our properties.

Licensure and Accreditation

The health care facilities and our partner professionals are subject to professional and private licensing, certification and accreditation requirements. These include, but are not limited to, requirements imposed by Medicare, Medicaid, state licensing authorities, voluntary accrediting organizations and third-party private payors. Receipt and renewal of such licenses, certifications and accreditations are often based on inspections, surveys, audits, investigations or other reviews, some of which may require affirmative compliance actions by us that could be burdensome and expensive. The applicable standards may change in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain all necessary licenses or certifications in good standing or that they will not be required to incur substantial costs in doing so. The failure to maintain all necessary licenses, certifications and accreditations in good standing, or the expenditure of substantial funds to maintain them, could have an adverse effect on our business.

Anti-Kickback Statutes

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration to induce the referral of a patient or the purchase, lease or order (or the arranging for or recommending of the purchase, lease or order) of health care items or services paid for by federal health care programs, including Medicare or Medicaid. A violation does not require proof that a person had actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate the statute, and court decisions under the Anti-Kickback Statute have consistently held that the law is violated where one purpose of a payment is to induce or reward referrals. Violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute could result in felony conviction, administrative penalties, liability (including penalties) under the False Claims Act and/or exclusion from federal health care programs.

Several states have enacted anti-kickback laws (including so-called “fee splitting” laws) that sometimes apply not only to state-sponsored health care programs, but also to items or services that are paid for by private insurance and self-pay patients. State anti-kickback laws can vary considerably in their applicability and scope and sometimes have fewer statutory and regulatory exceptions than does the federal law.

Our management carefully considers the importance of anti-kickback laws when structuring company operations and relationships. That said, we cannot ensure that the applicable regulatory authorities will not determine that some of our arrangements with hospitals, surgical facilities, physicians, or other referral sources violate the Anti-Kickback Statute or other applicable laws. An adverse determination could subject us to different liabilities, including criminal penalties, civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid or other health care programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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Physician Self-Referral (“Stark”) Laws

The federal Stark Law, 42 U.S.C. §1395nn, also known as the physician self-referral law, generally prohibits a physician from referring Medicare and Medicaid patients to an entity (including hospitals) providing “designated health services,” if the physician has a “financial relationship” with the entity, unless an exception applies. Designated health services include, among other services, inpatient hospital services, outpatient prescription drug services, clinical laboratory services, certain diagnostic imaging services, and other services that our affiliated physicians may order for their patients. The prohibition applies regardless of the reasons for the financial relationship, unless an exception applies. The exceptions to the federal Stark Law are numerous and often complex. The penalties for violating the Stark Law include civil penalties of up to $15,000 for each violation and potential liability (including penalties) under the False Claims Act.

Some states have enacted statutes and regulations concerning physician self-referrals (i.e., referrals by physicians to health care entities with whom the physician has a financial relationship). Such physician self- referrals laws may apply to the referral of patients regardless of payor source and/or type of health care service. These state laws may contain statutory and regulatory exceptions that are different from those of the federal law and that may vary from state to state.

Our management carefully considers the importance of physician self-referral laws when structuring company operations and relationships and seeks legal guidance on the parameters of the law. That said, we cannot ensure that the applicable regulatory authorities will not determine that some of our arrangements with physicians violate the Federal Stark Law or other applicable laws. An adverse determination could subject us to different liabilities, including civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid or other health care programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

False Claims Act

The federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, imposes civil penalties for knowingly submitting or causing the submission of a false or fraudulent claim for payment from a government-sponsored program, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Under the 2023 annual adjustment, the minimum False Claims Act penalty assessed per violation after January 30, 2023, will be not less than $13,508 and not more than $27,018.  This per violation statutory penalty is in addition to the statutory penalty of three times the amount of damages which the government sustains because of the violation.  31 U.S.C. §3729(a)(1). The False Claims Act has “whistleblower” or “qui tam” provisions that allow individuals to commence a civil action in the name of the government, and the whistleblower is entitled to share in any subsequent recovery (plus attorney’s fees). Many states also have enacted civil statutes that largely mirror the federal False Claims Act, but allow states to impose penalties in a state court.

The False Claims Act has been used by the federal government and private whistleblowers to bring enforcement actions under so-called “fraud and abuse” laws like the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law. Such actions are not based on a contention that claims for payment were factually false or inaccurate. Instead, such actions are based on the theory that accurate claims are deemed to be false/fraudulent if there has been noncompliance with some other material law or regulation. The existence of the False Claims Act, under which so-called qui tam plaintiffs can allege liability for a wide range of regulatory noncompliance, increases the potential for such actions to be brought and has increased the potential financial exposure for such actions. These actions are costly and time-consuming to defend.

Our management carefully considers the importance of compliance with all applicable laws and when structuring company operations and relationships. Our management is aware of and actively works to minimize risk related to potential qui tam plaintiffs. That said, we cannot assure that the applicable enforcement authorities or qui tam plaintiffs will not allege violations of the False Claims Act or analogous state false claims laws. A finding of liability under the False Claims Act could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Health Information Privacy and Data Security

The privacy and data security regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), as amended,  contain  detailed requirements  concerning (1) the use and disclosure of individually  identifiable  patient  health  information (“PHI”);  (2) computer  and  data  security  standards regarding  the protection of  electronic  

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PHI  including  storage,  utilization,  access to and  transmission; and (3) notification to individuals and the federal government in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI. HIPAA covered entities and business associates must implement certain administrative, physical, and technical security standards to protect the integrity, confidentiality and availability of certain electronic health information received, maintained, or transmitted. Violations of the HIPAA privacy and security rules may result in civil and criminal penalties, including a tiered system of civil money penalties. HIPAA has four tiers of violations that reflect increasing levels of culpability, with minimum and maximum penalty amounts within each tier and an annual cap on penalties for multiple violations of an identical provision. The indexed penalty amounts for each violation of a HIPAA administrative simplification provision are as follows:

In the event of a breach, a HIPAA covered entity must promptly notify affected individuals of a breach. All breaches must also be reported to the federal government. Where a breach affects more than 500 individuals, additional reporting obligations apply. In addition to federal enforcement, State attorneys general may bring civil actions on behalf of state residents for violations of the HIPAA privacy and security rules, obtain damages on behalf of state residents, and enjoin further violations.  Many states also have laws that protect the privacy and security of confidential, personal information, which may be similar to or even more stringent than HIPAA.  Some of these state laws may impose fines and penalties on violators and may afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. We expect increased federal and state privacy and security enforcement efforts.²

Our management carefully considers the importance of compliance will patient privacy and data security regulations when structuring company operations. Our management is aware of and actively works to minimize risk related to patient privacy and data security. That said, we cannot assure that a breach will not occur or that the applicable enforcement authorities will not allege violations of HIPAA’s patient privacy and data security regulations. A breach or an allegation of noncompliance with HIPAA’s patient privacy and data security regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations

We are subject to federal, state and local regulations governing the storage, use and disposal of waste materials and products. We are compliant with all state and federal licensure and permit requirements. Although we believe that our safety procedures for storing, handling and disposing of these materials and products comply with the standards prescribed by law and regulation, we cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from those hazardous materials. In the event of an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any liability could exceed the limits or fall outside the coverage of our insurance coverage, which we may not be able to maintain on acceptable terms, or at all. We could incur significant costs and attention of our management could be diverted to comply with current or future environmental laws and regulations. Federal regulations promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration impose additional requirements on us, including those protecting employees from exposure to elements such as blood-borne pathogens. We cannot predict the frequency of compliance, monitoring, or enforcement actions to which we may be subject as those regulations are being implemented, which could adversely affect our operations.

Other Federal and State Health Care Laws

We are also subject to other federal and state health care laws that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. The Health Care Fraud Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1347, prohibits any person from knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, which can be either a government or private payor plan. Violation of this statute, even in the absence of actual knowledge of or specific intent to violate the statute, may be charged as a felony offense and may result in fines, imprisonment, or both. The Health Care False Statement Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1035, prohibits, in any matter involving a federal health care

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program, anyone from knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up, by any trick, scheme or device, a material fact, or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation, or making or using any materially false writing or document knowing that it contains a materially false or fraudulent statement. A violation of this statute may be charged as a felony offense and may result in fines, imprisonment or both.

Under the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, a person (including an organization) is prohibited from knowingly presenting or causing to be presented to any United States officer, employee, agent, or department, or any state agency, a claim for payment for medical or other items or services where the person knows or should know (a) the items or services were not provided as described in the coding of the claim, (b) the claim is a false or fraudulent claim, (c) the claim is for a service furnished by an unlicensed physician, (d) the claim is for medical or other items or service furnished by a person or an entity that is in a period of exclusion from the program, or (e) the items or services are medically unnecessary items or services. Penalties range from $10,000 to $50,000 per violation, treble damages, and exclusion from federal health care programs. The Civil Monetary Penalties Law also prohibits a person from transferring any remuneration to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary that the person knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider of Medicare or Medicaid payable items or services.

States have a wide variety of health care laws and regulations that potentially affect our operations and the operations of our partners. Many states have implemented laws and regulations related to so-called “tele-health,” which govern the use of technology to provide health care services, including allowing patients and providers to be in different geographic locations. Tele-health laws may apply to our operations, and the obligations they impose, vary wildly and are in a state of flux. Some states have so-called corporate practice of medicine prohibitions, which govern how physicians are organized to practice medicine (including corporate structure, employment and management). Such prohibitions are used to indirectly regulate ownership of heath care companies and/or management companies and the obligations they impose vary. Some states have “surprise billing” or out-of-network billing laws that impose a variety of obligations on health care providers and health plans. The failure to comply with all state regulatory obligations could be used by health plans to deny payment or to recoup funds, and any noncompliance could subject us to penalties or limitations that could have an adverse effect on our business. The limitations and obligations under “surprise billing” laws vary by state, and many states are actively considering additional legislation and/or regulation in this area creating a state of flux in the law.

Many states have adopted a form of anti-kickback law, self-referral prohibition, and false claims and insurance fraud prohibition. The scope of these laws and the interpretations of them vary from state to state and are enforced by state courts and regulatory authorities, each with broad discretion. Some of these state laws apply to all health care services and not just those covered under a governmental health care program. From time to time, private health plans attempt to use such laws as a basis to deny claims or recoup payments previously made to health care providers.

A determination of liability under any of the laws above could result in fines and penalties and restrictions on our ability to operate in these states. We cannot assure that our arrangements or business practices will not be subject to government scrutiny or be found to violate applicable laws.

Other Regulations

In addition to the regulatory initiatives described above, health care facilities, including our partner facilities, are subject to a wide variety of federal, state, and local environmental and occupational health and safety laws and regulations that may affect their operations, facilities, and properties. Violations of these laws could subject us to civil penalties and fines for not investigating and remedying any contamination by hazardous substances, as well as other liability from third parties.

Human Capital - Employees

Our human capital resources consist of employees and relationships that we maintain with third party service providers, including surgeons and hospitals. As of December 31, 2022, we had 127 full-time employees.

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While we do not use any formal human capital measures or objectives, we focus our hiring efforts on offering competitive opportunities, which means recruitment, training and retaining personnel that demonstrate a high level of technical

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expertise and experience in the medical profession. We value diversity, professionalism, safety and collaboration within our organization.

None of our employees are represented by a labor union covered by a collective bargaining agreement. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have not experienced any work stoppages.

Diversity

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We value the benefits that diversity brings and seek to maintain a workforce comprised of talented and dedicated employees with a diverse mix of experience, skills and backgrounds collectively reflecting the strategic needs of the business and the nature of the environment in which we operate. In identifying qualified hires, we will consider prospective candidates based on merit, having regard to those competencies, expertise, skills, background and other qualities identified from time to time by management as being important in fostering a culture which solicits multiple perspectives and views.

Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company

As a company with less than $1.07 billion in revenue during our most recently completed fiscal year, we qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of specified reduced disclosure and other exemptions from requirements that are otherwise applicable to public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These provisions include:

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We may, and intend to, take advantage of these exemptions for up to five years or such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company if we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenues as of the end of a fiscal year, if we are deemed to be a large-accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC or if we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt over a three-year period.

Available Information

Our executive office address is 7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 500, Denver, Colorado 80111. The telephone number for our executive office is (720) 287-3093.

We make available, free of charge, on or through our Internet website, at www.assureneuromonitoring.com, our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Our Internet website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not intended to be, and are not, incorporated into this Annual Report.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Summary of Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Business

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Risks Related to Regulation of Health Care Industry

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Risks Related to our Debenture

Risks Related to our Stock

The foregoing is a summary of significant risk factors that we think could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected results. However, there could be additional risk factors besides those listed herein that also could affect us in an adverse manner.

Risk Factors

Our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected as a result of any of the following risks. The value of our securities could decline as a result of any of these risks. You could lose all or part of your investment in our securities. Some of the statements in “Risk Factors” are forward-looking statements. The following risk factors are not the only risk factors facing our Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations and it is not possible to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on us or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements.

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Risks Related to Our Business

Meaningful decrease in underlying commercial insurance reimbursement for IONM services provided.

In recent years, the IONM industry including Assure has seen a meaningful compression in reimbursement for IONM services provided. This trend has been more pronounced for the Technical Component relative to the Professional Component, driven in part by a shift in perceived benefit.

In addition, in October 2022, Assure and other IONM providers experienced a meaningful decrease in the Texas reimbursement benchmark, which had been utilized in state arbitration claims to great success from January 2022 through September 2022. In October 2022, Texas state arbitration reimbursement was realigned to a level much closer to the state average across the Company’s operational footprint. As a reminder, Texas is Assure’s largest market and represents approximately 60% of our patient volume. The company is focused on improving margin and increasing participation rates for state arbitrations in Texas. This change does not affect the larger pool of federal arbitrations associated with the No Surprises Act, both in Texas and other states within Assure’s operational footprint still to come. This pool is anticipated to be much larger than the pool of state arbitration claims.

Effective January 1, 2022, the No Surprises Act (enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021), was intended to protect patients from receiving balance bills or “surprise bills”, the difference between what the provider charged and what insurance paid. This new law also provides for negotiation and independent dispute resolution (“IDR”) processes to resolve disputed claim payment amounts for federally regulated insurance plans. Assure has filed several hundred negotiation requests and IDR cases, although decisions for those cases are still pending. Health and Human Services has acknowledged that there is a substantial backlog of IDR case decisions due to a larger than expected demand for dispute resolutions. If we are unsuccessful in arbitrating, or if the arbitration process is delayed, we may not collect for our services or experience delays in collecting for our services and our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 enacted a 2.08% payment cut in Medicare physician fee schedule rates for 2023.  The updating of Medicare physician fee schedule rates will be threatened by budget neutrality requirements for the foreseeable future.   Any future cuts to rates for professional physician services under the Medicare program, other public health care programs in which we may choose to participate, or commercial payor reimbursement could materially and adversely impact our financial results.

Assure management has made strategic and tactical decisions to stay ahead of these reimbursement trends. This includes the Company launching its own remote neurology business in 2021 to realign Assure toward the Professional Component. More recently, Assure has focused on fixing the cost of delivery for IONM services it provides while maintaining a high standard of clinical care. Additional mitigating strategic initiatives include increasing scale through organic growth and M&A in a consolidating IONM market and moving away from the MSA model of revenue sharing.

If we are unable to be reimbursed for our services at expected levels, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

Historical negative operating results

In 2015, we launched our business as a neuromonitoring service company. Since its initial launch, the Company has experienced operating losses. Our net loss was $30.1 million and $2.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.  Although we plan to be profitable in the future, there is no guarantee when profitability will occur. Furthermore, our independent registered public accountants have expressed that substantial doubt exists as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.   See Item 8. Report of Independent Registered Public Accountant for further discussion.

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Our plan is to grow our business through expansion, and we anticipate that we will be required to raise additional funds to finance our operations; however, we may not be able to do so when necessary and/or on terms advantageous or acceptable to us.

We have financed our capital and cash requirements primarily from revenues generated from services, using a bank facility and line of credit, issuing convertible debentures, common stock and warrants in private placement offerings, and more recently using our debt arrangement with Centurion Financial Trust. Our ability to maintain the carrying value of our assets and become profitable is dependent on successfully marketing our services, maintaining future profitable operations, improving our billing and collections processes, successfully negotiating pricing and payment arrangements with payors and maintaining our network of providers, the outcome of which cannot be predicted at this time. We intend to grow our operations by developing additional relationships with Provider Network Entities (“PEs”), which are professional IONM entities, and directly contracting with hospitals and surgery centers for services. In the future, we anticipate that it may be necessary for us to raise additional funds for the continuing development of our business strategy.

Our operations to date have consumed substantial amounts of cash and we have sustained negative cash flows from our operations for the last several years. We anticipate that we will require future additional capital, including public or private financing, strategic partnerships or other arrangements with organizations that have capabilities and/or products that are complementary to our own capabilities and/or products, in order to continue the development of our product candidates. However, there can be no assurances that we will complete any financings, strategic alliances or collaborative development agreements, and the terms of such arrangements may not be advantageous to us. Any additional equity financing will be dilutive to our current stockholders and debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants. If we raise funds through collaborative or licensing arrangements, we may be required to relinquish, on terms that are not favorable to us, rights to some of our technologies or product candidates that we would otherwise seek to develop or commercialize. Our failure to raise capital when needed could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business strategy is to grow through expansion and acquisitions; however, our business is currently not highly diversified.

Our business strategy has been to grow through expansion. Although we operate in numerous states, approximately 75% of our case volume is currently concentrated in Colorado and Texas, where we are susceptible to local and regional fluctuations in demand for our service, downturns in the economy, adverse weather conditions, changes in local or state regulations, and other localized market changes.

Efforts to expand and execute our acquisition strategy may be affected by our ability to identify suitable candidates and negotiate and close acquisition transactions.

Our loan agreement subjects us to covenants that affect the conduct of business. In the event that our shares of common stock do not maintain a sufficient valuation, or potential acquisition candidates are unwilling to accept our common stock as all or part of the purchase consideration, we may be required to use more of our cash resources, if available, or to rely solely on additional financing arrangements to pursue our acquisition and development strategy. We may not have sufficient capital resources or be able to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us for our acquisition and development strategy, which would limit our growth. Without sufficient capital resources to implement this strategy, our future growth could be limited and operations impaired. There can be no assurance that additional financing will be available to fund this growth strategy or that, if available, the financing will be on terms that are acceptable to us.

The business is expanding beyond our legacy provision of the Technical Component of IONM to offer the Professional Component via tele-neurology services.

Historically, our business has provided the Technical Component of IONM. While it remains a core part of our business and we expect it to remain so in the future, Assure has begun providing the Professional Component via off-site tele-neurology services for IONM. In some cases, this is done directly via our own supervising practitioners. In other instances, these services are provided by and through subsidiaries, which own interest in entities that either (i) directly perform the Professional Component through third-party contracted neurologists or oversight reading physicians, or (ii) provide

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management services for entities owned by licensed physicians. Assure employs supervising practitioners and has created a structure deploying them as reading physicians.

Providing the Professional Component of IONM subjects the Company to additional legal and government regulations as well as risk of billing and collecting for these services.

The Termination of Managed Service Agreements.

In instances in which the Professional Component is provided via MSA’s with surgeons or through agreements with PEs, Assure engages in a revenue share based on our percentage ownership of the PE. Assure disclosed during its third quarter 2022 earnings call in November 2022 that the Company was moving away from the MSA model so that it can keep all collections from the Professional Component. Assure’s goal is to entirely terminate its MSA relationships by the middle of 2023. This process may lead to the loss of some surgeon relationships and as a result our business, reputation, and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

We face significant competition from other health care providers.

We compete with other IONM service providers for patients, surgeons, neurologists and INPs. Some of our competitors have longstanding and well-established relationships with physicians and third-party payors in the community. Some of our competitors are hospitals that provide IONM services for surgeries occurring within their hospital facilities. Some of our competitors are also significantly larger than us, may have access to greater marketing, financial and other resources and may be better known in the general community.

The competition among service providers, facilities and hospitals for surgeons, neurologists, professional staff, and patients has intensified in recent years. We face competition from other providers that perform similar services, both inside and outside of our primary service areas. Some of our competitors are owned by non-profit or governmental entities, which may be supported by endowments and charitable contributions or by public or governmental support. These competitors can make capital expenditures without paying sales tax, may hold the property without paying property taxes and may pay for the equipment out of earnings not burdened by income taxes. This competitive advantage may affect our ability to compete effectively with these non-profit or governmental entities.

There are several large, publicly traded companies, divisions or subsidiaries of large publicly held companies, and several private companies that develop and acquire specialty services, which may include neuromonitoring, and these companies compete with us in the acquisition of additional businesses. Further, many surgeon groups develop groups that provide ancillary services, using consultants who typically perform these services for a fee and who may take a small equity interest in the ongoing operations of a business. We can give no assurance that we can compete effectively in these areas. If we are unable to compete effectively to recruit new surgeons, neurologists, attract patients, enter into arrangements with managed care payors or acquire new facilities, our ability to implement our growth strategies successfully could be impaired. This may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Reliance on key personnel, industry partners and our ability to hire experienced employees and professionals.

Our development will depend on the efforts of key management, key personnel and our relationships with medical partners in the surgical industry and our ability to hire experienced employees and professionals. Loss of any of these people and partnerships, particularly to competitors, could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, with respect to the future development of our business, it is necessary to attract additional partners and personnel for such development.

The marketplace for key skilled personnel is becoming more competitive, which means the cost of hiring, training and retaining such personnel may increase. Our business is dependent on our ability to hire and retain employees who have advanced clinical and other technical skills. Employees who meet these high standards are in great demand and are likely to remain a limited resource in the foreseeable future. If we are unable to recruit and retain a sufficient number of these employees, the ability to maintain and grow the business could be negatively impacted. A limited supply of qualified applicants may also contribute to wage increases which outpace the rate of inflation.

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Factors outside our control, including competition for human capital and the high level of technical expertise and experience required to execute this development, will affect our ability to employ the specific personnel required. Due to our relatively small size, the failure to retain or attract a sufficient number of key skilled personnel and partnerships could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of future operations and financial condition.

The intraoperative neuromonitoring industry is relatively new and is subject to risk associated with public scrutiny and gaps in technician oversight and formal board reviews.

The intraoperative neuromonitoring industry is relatively new and many of service providers are small privately held providers of intraoperative neuromonitoring that lack quality assurance programs. Our competitors may be more susceptible to adverse patient outcomes, thus raising public scrutiny of the industry as a whole. Such public scrutiny could impact our ability to maintain and grow the business.

INPs within the intraoperative neuromonitoring industry are not subject to oversight or formal board reviews. Lack of oversight and reviews could lead to declining quality among providers who lack self-governed internal programs designed to ensure high-quality standards. Given the fragmented competitive landscape of the neuromonitoring industry, such gaps in appropriate clinical oversight could impact our ability to maintain or grow the business.

We are subject to fluctuations in revenues and payor mix.

We depend on payments from third-party payors, including private insurers, managed care organizations and government health care programs. We are dependent on private and, to a lesser extent, governmental third- party sources of payment for the managed cases performed in Procedure Facilities. Our competitive position has been, and will continue to be, affected by reimbursement and co-payment initiatives undertaken by third- party payors, including insurance companies, and, to a lesser extent, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid.

As an increasing percentage of patients become subject to health care coverage arrangements with managed care payors, our success may depend in part on our ability to negotiate favorable contracts on behalf of Procedure Facilities with managed care organizations, employer groups and other private third-party payors. There can be no assurances that we will be able to enter into these arrangements on satisfactory terms in the future. Also, to the extent that Procedure Facilities have managed care contracts currently in place, there can be no assurance that such contracts will be renewed, or the rates of reimbursement held at current levels.

Managed care plans often set their reimbursement rates based on Medicare and Medicaid rates and consequently, although only a small portion of our revenues are from Medicare and Medicaid, the rates established by these payors may influence our revenues from private payors. As with most government reimbursement programs, the Medicare and Medicaid programs are subject to statutory and regulatory changes, possible retroactive and prospective rate adjustments, administrative rulings, freezes and funding reductions, all of which may adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services introduced substantial changes to reimbursement and coverage related to ambulatory surgical centers (“ASC”). Under these ASC rules, reimbursement levels decreased and remain subject to change. Consequently, our operating margins may continue to be under pressure as a result of changes in payor mix and growth in operating expenses in excess of increases in payments by third-party payors. In addition, as a result of competitive burdens, our ability to maintain operating margins through price increases to privately insured patients is limited. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. Net patient service revenue is reported at the estimated net realizable amounts from patients, third-party payors, and others for services rendered and is recognized upon performance of the patient service. In determining net patient service revenue, management periodically reviews and evaluates historical payment data, payor mix and current economic conditions and adjusts, as required, the estimated collections as a percentage of gross billings in subsequent periods based on final settlements and collections. Management continues to monitor historical collections and market conditions to manage and report the effects of a change in estimates. While we believe that the current reporting and trending software provides us with an accurate estimate of net patient service revenues, any changes in collections or market conditions that we fail to accurately estimate or predict could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

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We depend on reimbursement from a small group of third-party payors which could lead to delays and uncertainties in the reimbursement rate and process.

Approximately 57% of our accrued revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 relates to 30 third-party payors. The loss or disruption of any one of these payors could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, about 53% of our cash collections during the year ended December 31, 2022 was concentrated among these same third-party payors. Greater diversification of payors is dependent on expansion into new markets.

Our performance is greatly dependent on decisions that Third-Party Payors make regarding their out-of-network benefits and alternatively, our ability to negotiate profitable contracts with Third-Party Payors.

One of the complexities of our business is navigating the increasingly hostile environment for entities that are not participants in the health insurance companies’ (“Third-Party Payors”) provider networks (also referred to as an out-of-network provider or facility). Third-Party Payors negotiate discounted fees with providers and facilities in return for access to the patient populations which those Third-Party Payors cover. The providers and facilities that contractually agree to these rates become part of the Third-Party Payor’s “network”. We are currently out-of-network as to most Third-Party Payors.

There are several risks associated with not participating in Third-Party Payor networks. First, not all Third- Party Payors offer coverage to their patients for services rendered by non-participants in that Third-Party Payor’s network. Further, it is typically the case that patients with so-called “out-of-network benefits” will be obliged to pay higher co-pays, higher deductibles, and a larger percentage of co-insurance payments. In addition, because the out-of-network coverage often mandates payment at a “usual and customary rate”, the determination of the amounts payable by the Third-Party Payor can fluctuate.

Health care providers and facilities that choose not to participate in a Third-Party Payor’s network often face longer times for their claims to be processed and paid. Further, many Third-Party Payors aggressively audit claims from out-of-network providers and facilities and continuously change their benefit policies in various ways that restrict the ability of beneficiaries to access out of network benefits, and to restrict out-of-network providers from treating their beneficiaries. Consequently, it may become necessary for us to change our out- of-network strategy and join Third-Party Payor networks. This may require us to negotiate and maintain numerous contracts with various Third-Party Payors. In either case, our performance is greatly dependent upon decisions that Third-Party Payors make regarding their out-of-network benefits and alternatively, our ability to negotiate profitable contracts with Third-Party Payors.

If it becomes necessary for us to convert entirely to in-network, there is no guarantee that we will be able to successfully negotiate these contracts. Further, we may experience difficulty in establishing and maintaining relationships with health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, and other Third-Party Payors. Out-of-network reimbursement rates are typically higher than in network reimbursement rates, so our revenue would likely decline if we move to an in-network provider strategy and fail to increase our volume of business sufficiently to offset reduced in-network reimbursement rates. These factors could adversely affect our revenues and our business.

Historically, all privately insured cases were billed on an out-of-network basis. Over the past three years, the Company has shifted some of the business to direct and indirect contracts with the payors and related parties. However, as of December 31, 2022, approximately 85% of our privately insured cases remain out of network basis, without any reimbursement rate protection or consistent in-network patient enrollments typically seen from an in-network agreement. Accordingly, we are susceptible to changes in reimbursement policies and procedures by Third-Party Payors and patients’ preference of using their out-of-network benefits which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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The industry trend toward value-based purchasing may negatively impact our revenues.

We believe that value-based purchasing initiatives of both governmental and private payors tying financial incentives to quality and efficiency of care will increasingly affect the results of operations of Procedure Facilities and may negatively impact our revenues if we are unable to meet expected quality standards.

We may be affected by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which contains several provisions intended to promote value-based purchasing in federal health care programs. Medicare now requires providers to report certain quality measures in order to receive full reimbursement increases for inpatient and outpatient procedures that were previously awarded automatically. In addition, hospitals that meet or exceed certain quality performance standards will receive increased reimbursement payments, while hospitals that have “excess readmissions” for specified conditions will receive reduced reimbursement. There is a trend among private payors toward value-based purchasing of health care services, as well. Many large commercial health insurance payors require hospitals to report quality data, and several of these payors will not reimburse hospitals for certain preventable adverse events.

We expect value based purchasing programs, including programs that condition reimbursement on patient outcome measures, to become more common, to involve a higher percentage of reimbursement amounts and to spread to reimbursement for ancillary services. Although we are unable to predict how this trend will affect our future results of operations, it could negatively impact our revenues if we are unable to meet quality standards established by both governmental and private payors.

State and Federal surprise billing legislation could lead to lower reimbursement rates.

In December 2020, federal legislation called the No Surprises Act was passed by Congress and signed by the President. Beginning in 2022, the law was implemented with the intended effect to prohibit surprise billing. Another feature of the No Surprise Act relevant to Assure is that it will for the first time allow companies like Assure to arbitrate disputed claims where we are not being paid in every state. While each arbitration case is treated like an individual lawsuit with unpredictable outcomes, we believe this dispute resolution process has the potential to help us get paid on a greater proportion of our claims.

The majority of U.S. states have laws protecting consumers against out-of-network balance billing or “surprise billing”. While consumer collections represent a negligible amount of our total revenue, most 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. Although we have already experienced lower reimbursement rates from such laws, additional impact may be experienced as more states and/or federal legislation is adopted. Today, approximately 15% of our third-party payor revenue is contracted with in- network rate agreements and we are actively pursuing more in-network agreements to further mitigate this risk.

Our revenues will depend on our customers’ continued receipt of adequate reimbursement from private insurers and government sponsored health care programs.

Political, economic, and regulatory influences continue to change the health care industry in the United States. The ability of hospitals to pay fees for our products partially depends on the extent to which reimbursement for the costs of such materials and related treatments will continue to be available from private health coverage insurers and other similar organizations. We may have difficulty gaining market acceptance for the products we sell if third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement to hospitals. Major third- party payors of hospitals, such as private health care insurers, periodically revise their payment methodologies based, in part, upon changes in government sponsored health care programs. We cannot predict these periodic revisions with certainty, and such revisions may result in stricter standards for reimbursement of hospital charges for certain specified products, potentially adversely impacting our business, results of operations, and financial conditions.

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Changes in accounting estimates due to changes in circumstances may require us to write off accounts receivables or write down intangible assets, such as goodwill, may have a material impact on our financial reporting and results of operations.

We have made updates to estimates resulting from changes in circumstances. For example, during the year ended December 31, 2022, we decreased the useful of intangible assets related to doctor agreements from 10 years to one year as one year more accurately represents our current useful life of such agreements.  As a result of this change in estimate, the amortization of historical doctor agreements was accelerated brining the balance as of December 31, 2022 to nil. There will be no amortization in future periods related to historical capitalized doctor agreements.  Any agreements entered into after December 2022, will be amortized over one year. Future changes in estimates may cause us to write off accounts receivable, intangible assets, such as goodwill, based on changes in circumstances which may have a negative impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Accounts Receivable

In order to more precisely estimate and our accounts receivable reserves, in January 2021 the Company modified its accounting estimate procedures to update its technical and professional collection experience monthly. This change in estimate procedures will not eliminate additional reserves being recorded for fluctuation in the technical and professional collection experience in future periods. However, our change in policy is expected to reduce the magnitude of future reserves that are recorded as a result of fluctuations in the Company’s collection experience.  

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

As a result of purchase accounting for our acquisition transactions, our consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2021 contains intangible assets designated as either goodwill or intangibles totaling approximately $4.4 million in goodwill and approximately $3.6 million in intangibles. Additional acquisitions that result in the recognition of additional intangible assets would cause an increase in these intangible assets. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate whether facts and circumstances indicate any impairment of the value of intangible assets. As of December 31, 2022, we determine that a significant impairment had occurred, which required us to write-off $3.4 million of goodwill and $117 thousand of other intangible assets for a total impairment charge of $3.5 million.   Future impairment charges could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the period in which the write-off occurs.

We depend on referrals.

Our success, in large part, is dependent upon referrals to our physicians from other physicians, systems, health plans and others in the communities in which we operate, and upon our medical staff’s ability to maintain good relations with these referral sources. Physicians who use Procedure Facilities and those who refer patients are not our employees and, in many cases, most physicians have admitting privileges at other hospitals and (subject to any applicable non-competition arrangements) may refer patients to other providers. If we are unable to successfully cultivate and maintain strong relationships with our physicians and their referral sources, the number of managed cases performed at Procedure Facilities may decrease and cause revenues to decline. This could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may be subject to professional liability claims.

As a health care provider, we are subject to professional liability claims both directly and indirectly through the malpractice of members of our medical staff. We are responsible for the standard of care provided in Procedure Facilities by staff working in those facilities. We have legal responsibility for the physical environment and appropriate operation of our equipment used during surgical procedures. In addition, we are subject to various liability for the negligence of its credentialed medical staff under circumstances where we either knew or should have known of a problem leading to a patient injury. The physicians credentialed at Procedure Facilities are involved in the delivery of health care services to the public and are exposed to the risk of professional liability claims. Although we neither control the practice of medicine by physicians nor have responsibility for compliance with certain regulatory and other requirements directly applicable to

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physicians and their services, as a result of the relationship between us and the physicians providing services to patients in Procedure Facilities, we or our subsidiaries may become subject to medical malpractice claims under various legal theories.

Claims of this nature, if successful, could result in damage awards to the claimants in excess of the limits of available insurance coverage. Insurance against losses related to claims of this type can be expensive and varies widely from state to state. We maintain and require the physicians on the medical staff of Procedure Facilities to maintain liability insurance in amounts and coverages believed to be adequate, presently $1 million per claim to an aggregate of $3 million per year.

Most malpractice liability insurance policies do not extend coverage for punitive damages. While extremely rare in the medical area, punitive damages are those damages assessed by a jury with the intent to “punish” a tortfeasor rather than pay for a material loss resulting from the alleged injury. We cannot assure you that we will not incur liability for punitive damage awards even where adequate insurance limits are maintained. We also believe that there has been, and will continue to be, an increase in governmental investigations of physician-owned facilities, particularly in the area of Medicare/Medicaid false claims, as well as an increase in enforcement actions resulting from these investigations. Investigation activity by private third-party payors has also increased with, in some cases, intervention by the states’ attorneys general. Also possible are potential non-covered claims, or “qui tam” or “whistleblower” suits. Any adverse determination in a legal proceeding or governmental investigation, whether currently asserted or arising in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

We may be subject to liability claims for damages and other expenses not covered by insurance that could reduce our earnings and cash flows.

Our operations may subject us, as well as our officers and directors to whom we owe certain defense and indemnity obligations, to litigation and liability for damages. Our business, profitability and growth prospects could suffer if we face negative publicity or we pay damages or defense costs in connection with a claim that is outside the scope or limits of coverage of any applicable insurance coverage, including claims related to adverse patient events, contractual disputes, professional and general liability, and directors’ and officers’ duties. We currently maintain insurance coverage for those risks we deem are appropriate. However, a successful claim, including a professional liability, malpractice or negligence claim which is in excess of any applicable insurance coverage, or not covered by insurance, could have a material adverse effect on our earnings and cash flows. In addition, if our costs of insurance and claims increase, then our earnings could decline. Market rates for insurance premiums and deductibles have been steadily increasing. Our earnings and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by any of these.

We are subject to rising costs, including malpractice insurance premiums or claims may adversely affect our business.

The costs of providing our services have been rising and are expected to continue to rise at a rate higher than that anticipated for consumer goods as a whole. These increased costs may arise from adverse risk management claims against us or increases in the rates for medical malpractice insurance. As a result, our business, operating results or financial condition could be adversely affected if we are unable to implement annual private pay increases due to changing market conditions or otherwise increase our revenues to cover increases in labor and other costs.

We may incur unexpected, material liabilities as a result of acquisitions.

Although we intend to conduct due diligence on any future acquisition, we may inadvertently invest in acquisitions that have material liabilities arising from, for example, the failure to comply with government regulations, medical claims or other past activities. Although we have professional and general liability insurance, we do not currently maintain and are unlikely to acquire insurance specifically covering every unknown or contingent liability that may have occurred prior to our investment in Procedure Facilities, particularly those involving prior civil or criminal misconduct (for which there is no insurance). Incurring such liabilities as a result of future acquisitions could have an adverse effect on our business, operations and financial condition.

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Our reliance on software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) technologies from third parties may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We rely on SaaS technologies from third parties in order to operate critical functions of our business, including financial management services, customer relationship management services, supply chain services and data storage services. If these services become unavailable due to extended outages or interruptions or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms or prices, or for any other reason, our expenses could increase, our ability to manage our finances could be interrupted, our processes for managing sales of our offerings and supporting our customers could be impaired, our ability to communicate with our suppliers could be weakened and our ability to access or save data stored to the cloud may be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business depends on network and mobile infrastructure developed and maintained by third-party providers. Any significant interruptions in service could result in limited capacity, processing delays and loss of customers.

We depend on the development and maintenance of the internet and mobile infrastructure. This includes maintenance of reliable internet and mobile infrastructure with the necessary speed, data capacity and security, as well as timely development of complementary products, for providing reliable Internet and mobile access. We also use and rely on services from other third parties, such as our telecommunications services and credit card processors, and those services may be subject to outages and interruptions that are not within our control. Failures by our telecommunications providers may interrupt our ability to provide phone support to our customers and Distributed denial-of-service (“DDoS”) attacks directed at our telecommunication service providers could prevent customers from accessing our website. In addition, we have in the past and may in the future experience down periods where our third-party credit card processors are unable to process the online payments of our customers, disrupting our ability to receive customer orders. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected if for any reason the reliability of our Internet, telecommunications, payment systems and mobile infrastructure is compromised.

Cybersecurity incidents could disrupt business operations, result in the loss of critical and confidential information, and adversely impact our reputation and results of operations.

We are dependent on the proper function, availability, and security of our information systems, including without limitation those systems utilized in our scheduling and collection operations. We have undertaken measures to protect the safety and security of our information systems and the data maintained within those systems. As part of our efforts, we may be required to expend significant capital to protect against the threat of security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by breaches, including unauthorized access to patient data and personally identifiable information stored in our information systems and the introduction of computer malware to our systems. However, there can be no assurance our safety and security measures will detect and prevent security breaches in a timely manner or otherwise prevent damage or interruption of our systems and operations. We may be vulnerable to losses associated with the improper functioning, security breach or unavailability of our information systems.

If we fail to successfully maintain an effective internal control over financial reporting, the integrity of our financial reporting could be compromised, which could result in a material adverse effect on our reported financial results.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, stockholders could lose confidence in our financial and other public reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our common stock. Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress, including changes in U.S. tax law and the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, may adversely impact us and the value of our common stock.

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Changes to U.S. tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could adversely affect us or holders of our common stock. In recent years, many changes to U.S. federal income tax laws have been proposed and made, and additional changes to U.S. federal income tax laws are likely to continue to occur in the future.

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The U.S. Congress is currently considering numerous items of legislation which may be enacted prospectively or with retroactive effect, which legislation could adversely impact our financial performance and the value of shares of our common stock. Additionally, states in which we operate or own assets may impose new or increased taxes. If enacted, most of the proposals would be effective for the current or later years. The proposed legislation remains subject to change, and its impact on us or our investors is uncertain.

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In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes provisions that will impact the U.S. federal income taxation of corporations. Among other items, this legislation includes provisions that will impose a minimum tax on the book income of certain large corporations and an excise tax on certain corporate stock repurchases that would be imposed on the corporation repurchasing such stock. It is unclear how this legislation will be implemented by the U.S. Department of Treasury and we cannot predict how this legislation or any future changes in tax laws might affect us or investors in our common stock.

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Risks Related to the Regulation of the Healthcare Industry

Our business is subject to substantial government regulation.

The health care industry is heavily regulated, and we are required to comply with extensive and complex laws and regulations at the federal, state and local government levels. A number of these laws specifically relate to the provision of Medicare and Medicaid billing.

Anti-Kickback Statutes

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits the knowing and willful offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of remuneration to induce the referral of a patient or the purchase, lease or order (or the arranging for or recommending of the purchase, lease or order) of health care items or services paid for by federal health care programs, including Medicare or Medicaid. A violation does not require proof that a person had actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate the statute, and court decisions under the Anti-Kickback Statute have consistently held that the law is violated where one purpose of a payment is to induce or reward referrals. Violation of the federal anti-kickback statute could result in felony conviction, administrative penalties, civil liability (including penalties) under the False Claims Act and/or exclusion from federal health care programs.

A number of states have enacted anti-kickback laws (including so-called “fee splitting” laws) that sometimes apply not only to state-sponsored health care programs but also to items or services that are paid for by private insurance and self-pay patients. State anti-kickback laws can vary considerably in their applicability and scope and sometimes have fewer statutory and regulatory exceptions than does the federal law. Enforcement of state anti-kickback laws varies widely and is often inconsistent and erratic.

Our management carefully considers the importance of such anti-kickback laws when structuring company operations. That said, we cannot assure that the applicable regulatory authorities will not determine that some of our arrangements with hospitals, surgical facilities, physicians, or other referral sources violate the Anti-Kickback Statute or other applicable laws. An adverse determination could subject us to different liabilities, including criminal penalties, civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid or other health care programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Physician Self- Referral (“Stark”) Laws

The federal Stark Law, 42 U.S.C. §1395nn, also known as the physician self-referral law, generally prohibits a physician from referring Medicare and Medicaid patients to an entity (including hospitals) providing “designated health services,” if the physician has a “financial relationship” with the entity, unless an exception applies. Designated health services

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include, among other services, inpatient hospital services, outpatient prescription drug services, clinical laboratory services, certain diagnostic imaging services, and other services that our affiliated physicians may order for their patients. The prohibition applies regardless of the reasons for the financial relationship, unless an exception applies. The exceptions to the federal Stark Law are numerous and often complex. The penalties for violating the Stark Law include civil penalties of up to $15,000 for each violation and potential civil liability (including penalties) under the False Claims Act.

Some states have enacted statutes and regulations concerning physician self-referrals (i.e., referrals by a physician to a health care entity in which the physician has an ownership interest). Such physician self-referrals laws may apply to the referral of patients regardless of payor source and/or type of health care service. These state laws may contain statutory and regulatory exceptions that are different from those of the federal law and that may vary from state to state. Enforcement of state physician self-referral laws varies widely and is often inconsistent and erratic.

Our management carefully considers the importance of physician self-referral laws when structuring company operations. That said, we cannot assure that the applicable regulatory authorities will not determine that some of our arrangements with physicians violate the Federal Stark Law or other applicable laws. An adverse determination could subject us to different liabilities, including criminal penalties, civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid or other health care programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

False Claims Act

The federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, imposes civil penalties for knowingly submitting or causing the submission of a false or fraudulent claim for payment to a government-sponsored program, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Violations of the False Claims Act present civil liability of treble damages plus a penalty of at least $11,803 per false claim. The False Claims Act has “whistleblower” or “qui tam” provisions that allow individuals to commence a civil action in the name of the government, and the whistleblower is entitled to share in any subsequent recovery (plus attorney’s fees). Many states also have enacted civil statutes that largely mirror the federal False Claims Act, but allow states to impose penalties in a state court.

The False Claims Act has been used by the federal government and qui tam plaintiffs to bring enforcement actions under so-called “fraud and abuse” laws like the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law. Such actions are not based on a contention that claims for payment were factually false or inaccurate. Instead, such actions are based on the theory that accurate claims are deemed to be false/fraudulent if there has been noncompliance with some other material law or regulation. The existence of the False Claims Act, under which so-called qui tam plaintiffs can allege liability for a wide range of regulatory noncompliance, increases the potential for such actions to be brought and has increased the potential financial exposure for such actions. These actions are costly and time-consuming to defend.

Our management carefully considers the importance of compliance with all applicable laws and when structuring company operations. Our management is aware of and actively works to minimize risk related to potential qui tam plaintiffs. That said, we cannot assure that the applicable enforcement authorities or qui tam plaintiffs will not allege violations of the False Claims Act or analogous state false claims laws. A finding of liability under the False Claims Act could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

State Licensure and Accreditation

States have a wide variety of health care laws and regulations that potentially affect our operations and the operations of our partners. For example: (1) many states have implemented laws and regulations related to so-called “tele-health,” but whether those laws apply to our operations, and the obligations they impose, vary significantly; (2) some states have so-called corporate practice of medicine prohibitions, and such prohibitions are used to indirectly regulate ownership of heath care companies and/or management companies; and (3) some states have “surprise billing” or out-of-network billing laws that impose a variety of obligations on health care providers and health plans. The failure to comply with all state regulatory obligations could be used by health plans to deny payment or to recoup funds, and any noncompliance could subject us to penalties or limitations that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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In addition, our partners’ health care facilities and professionals are subject to professional and private licensing, certification and accreditation requirements. These include, but are not limited to, requirements imposed by Medicare, Medicaid, state licensing authorities, voluntary accrediting organizations and third-party private payors. Receipt and renewal of such licenses, certifications and accreditations are often based on inspections, surveys, audits, investigations or other reviews, some of which may require affirmative compliance actions by us that could be burdensome and expensive. The applicable standards may change in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain all necessary licenses or certifications in good standing or that they will not be required to incur substantial costs in doing so. The failure to maintain all necessary licenses, certifications and accreditations in good standing, or the expenditure of substantial funds to maintain them, could have an adverse effect on our business.

Health Information Privacy and Security Standards

The privacy and data security regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), as amended, contain detailed requirements concerning (1) the use and disclosure of individually identifiable patient health information (“PHI”); (2) computer and data security standards regarding the protection of electronic PHI including storage, utilization, access to and transmission; and (3) notification to individuals and the federal government in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI. HIPAA covered entities and business associates must implement certain administrative, physical, and technical security standards to protect the integrity, confidentiality and availability of certain electronic health information received, maintained, or transmitted. Violations of the HIPAA privacy and security rules may result in civil and criminal penalties. In the event of a breach, a HIPAA covered entity must promptly notify affected individuals of a breach. All breaches must also be reported to the federal government. Where a breach affects more than 500 individuals, additional reporting obligations apply. In addition to federal enforcement, State attorneys general may bring civil actions on behalf of state residents for violations of the HIPAA privacy and security rules, obtain damages on behalf of state residents, and enjoin further violations. Many states also have laws that protect the privacy and security of confidential, personal information, which may be similar to or even more stringent than HIPAA. Some of these state laws may impose fines and penalties on violators and may afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. We expect increased federal and state privacy and security enforcement efforts.

Our management carefully considers the importance of compliance with patient privacy and data security regulations when structuring company operations. Our management is aware of and actively works to minimize risk related to patient privacy and data security. That said, we cannot assure that a breach will not occur or that the applicable enforcement authorities will not allege violations of HIPAA’s patient privacy and data security regulations. A breach or an allegation of noncompliance with HIPAA’s patient privacy and data security regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our ongoing civil investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice could result in significant civil penalties.

In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued Civil Investigative Demands to the Company which seek information with respect to a civil investigation under the Anti-kickback Statute and the False Claims Act. We voluntarily contacted the DOJ offering to provide any materials needed in the investigation and to answer any questions. While our policy during the relevant time was to not seek payments from federal health care programs, the third-party billing company we used at that time submitted some claims to Medicare Advantage plans administered by commercial insurance companies. We have worked diligently to ensure that payments from Medicare Advantage plans have been returned to the commercial insurance companies and we believe we have returned substantially all such payments that we have discovered to date, totaling approximately $450,000. The DOJ has not made any allegations in the investigation, and we are currently unable to predict the eventual scope, ultimate timing, or outcome of this investigation. As a result, we are unable to estimate the amount or range of any potential loss, if any, arising from this investigation, however, if the DOJ alleges that violations of law occurred and we are not successful in defending ourselves in relation to such allegations, we may be required to pay a significant civil penalty.

Our operations are subject to the nation’s health care laws, as amended, repealed, or replaced from time to time.

The ACA and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “Health Care Reform Acts”) mandated changes specific to benefits under Medicare. Several bills have been, and are continuing to be, introduced in

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U.S. Congress to amend all or significant provisions of the ACA, or repeal and replace the ACA with another law. The likelihood of repeal currently appears low given the failure of the Senate’s multiple attempts to repeal various combinations of such ACA provisions. There is no assurance that any future replacement, modification or repeal of the ACA will not adversely affect our business and financial results. The full effects of the ACA may be unknown until all outstanding legal issues are resolved, the statutory provisions are fully implemented, and CMS, the FDA, and other federal and state agencies issue final applicable regulations or guidance. These developments could potentially alter coverage and marketing requirements, thereby affecting our business. The continued implementation of provisions of the ACA, the adoption of new regulations thereunder and ongoing challenges thereto, also added uncertainty about the current state of U.S. health care laws and could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. Health care providers could be subject to federal and state investigations and payor audits.

The amounts we receive for services provided to patients are determined by a number of factors, including the payor mix of our patients and the reimbursement methodologies and rates utilized by our patients’ plans. Reimbursement rates and payments from payors may decline based on renegotiations, and larger payors have significant bargaining power to negotiate higher discounted fee arrangements with healthcare providers. As a result, payors increasingly are demanding discounted fee structures or the assumption by healthcare providers of all or a portion of the financial risk related to paying for care.

Many private payors base their reimbursement rates on the published Medicare rates or, in the case of MA plans, are themselves reimbursed by Medicare for the services we provide. As a result, our results of operations are, in part, dependent on government funding levels for Medicare programs. Any changes that limit or reduce general Medicare reimbursement levels, such as reductions in or limitations of reimbursement amounts or rates under programs, reductions in funding of programs, change or elimination of coverage for certain benefits, or elimination of coverage for certain individuals or treatments under programs, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Changes that could adversely affect our business include:

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A cyber security incident could cause a violation of HIPAA, breach of customer and patient privacy, or other negative impacts.

We rely extensively on our information technology (“IT”) systems to manage scheduling and financial data, communicate with customers and their patients, vendors, and other third parties, and summarize and analyze operating results. In addition, we have made significant investments in technology, including the engagement of a third-party IT provider. A cyber-attack that bypasses our IT security systems could cause an IT security breach, a loss of protected health information, or other data subject to privacy laws, a loss of proprietary business information, or a material disruption of our IT business systems. This in turn could have a material adverse impact on our business and result of operations. In addition, our future results of operations, as well as our reputation, could be adversely impacted by theft, destruction, loss, or misappropriation of public health information, other confidential data, or proprietary business information. See discussion of HIPAA, above. Computer malware, viruses, and hacking and phishing attacks by third parties have become more prevalent in our industry and may occur on our systems in the future. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until successfully launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.

As cyber-security threats develop and grow, it may be necessary to make significant further investments to protect data and infrastructure. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, (i) we could suffer severe reputational damage adversely affecting customer or investor confidence, (ii) the market perception of the effectiveness of our security

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measures could be harmed, (iii) we could lose potential sales and existing customers, our ability to deliver our services or operate our business may be impaired, (iv) we may be subject to litigation or regulatory investigations or orders, and (v) we may incur significant liabilities. Our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover the potentially significant losses that may result from security breaches.

If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer penalties or be required to make significant changes to our operations.

The health care industry is heavily regulated, and we are required to comply with extensive and complex laws and regulations at the federal, state and local government levels relating to among other things:

Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of available exceptions and safe harbors, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of these laws. For example, failure to bill properly for services or return overpayments and violations of other statutes, such as the federal Anti-Kickback Statute or the federal Stark Law, may be the basis for actions under similar state laws. Under HIPAA, criminal penalties may be imposed for health care fraud offenses involving not just federal health care programs but also private health benefit programs. Enforcement actions under some statutes may be brought by the government as well as by a private person under a qui tam or “whistleblower” lawsuit. Federal enforcement officials have numerous enforcement mechanisms to combat fraud and abuse, including bringing civil actions under the Civil Monetary Penalty Law, which has a lesser burden of proof than criminal statutes.

If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer civil or criminal penalties, including fines, damages, recoupment of overpayments, loss of licenses needed to operate, and loss of enrollment and approvals necessary to participate in Medicare, Medicaid and other government sponsored and third-party health care programs. Federal enforcement officials have the ability to exclude from Medicare and Medicaid any investors, officers and managing employees associated with business entities that have committed health care fraud. Many of these laws and regulations have not been fully interpreted by regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are sometimes open to a variety of interpretations. Different interpretations or enforcement of existing or new laws and regulations could subject our current practices to allegations of impropriety or illegality, or require us to make changes in our operations, facilities, equipment, personnel, services, capital expenditure programs or operating expenses to comply with the evolving rules. Any enforcement action against us, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. The laws and regulations governing the provision of health care services are frequently subject to change and may change significantly in the future. We cannot assure you that current or future legislative initiatives, government regulation or judicial or regulatory interpretations thereof will not have a material adverse effect on us. We cannot assure you that a review of our business by judicial,

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regulatory or accreditation authorities will not subject us to fines or penalties, require us to expend significant amounts, reduce the demand for our services or otherwise adversely affect our operations.

Risks Related to Our Debenture

Restrictive covenants in our loan agreements with Centurion Financial Trust may restrict our ability to pursue our business strategies.

The operating and financial restrictions and covenants in our loan agreements with Centurion Financial Trust may adversely affect our ability to finance future operations or capital needs or to engage in other business activities. Such agreements limit our ability, among other things, to:

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Additionally, we have agreed to financial covenants whereby, beginning with the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2021, we will maintain:

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A breach of any of these covenants could result in an event of default under our loan agreements and permits the lender to cease making loans to us, demand immediate payment of all amounts due and payable under the loan agreements and to seek to foreclose on our assets if we can’t make such payments. Management believes the Company will not be in compliance with the covenants in 2023.

If our operating performance declines, we may be required to obtain waivers from the lender under the loan agreements to avoid defaults thereunder. If we are not able to obtain such waivers, our creditors could exercise their rights upon default.

Our obligations to Centurion Financial Trust are secured by a security interest in substantially all of our assets, if we default on those obligations, the lender could foreclose on our assets.

Our obligations under the loan agreements with Centurion Financial Trust and the related transaction documents are secured by a security interest in substantially all of our (the Company and all its subsidiaries) assets. As a result, if we default on our obligations under such loan agreements, the collateral agent on behalf of the lender could foreclose on the security interests and liquidate some or all of our assets, which would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations and could require us to reduce or cease operations and investors may lose all or part of their investment.

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Events of default under the loan agreements include: (a) if default occurs in payment when due of any principal amount payable under the debenture; (b) if default occurs in payment when due of any interest, fees or other amounts payable under the debenture and remains unremedied for a period of five business days after the receipt by the Company of notice of such default; (c) if default occurs in payment or performance of any other obligation (whether arising herein or otherwise) and remains unremedied for a period of sixty days after the receipt by the Company of notice of such default; (d) if default occurs in performance of any other covenant of the Company or any guaranteeing subsidiary (a “Guarantor”) in favor of the lender under the debenture and remains unremedied for a period of sixty days after the receipt by the Company of notice of such default; (e) if an event of default occurs in payment or performance of any obligation in favor of any person from whom the Company or any Guarantor has borrowed in excess of $250,000 which would entitle the holder to accelerate repayment of the borrowed money, and such default is not remedied or waived in writing within sixty days of the occurrence of such default; (f) if the Company or any Guarantor commits an act of bankruptcy or becomes insolvent within the meaning of any bankruptcy or insolvency legislation applicable to it or a petition or other process for the bankruptcy of the Company or any Guarantor is filed or instituted and remains undismissed or unstayed for a period of sixty days or any of the relief sought in such proceeding (including the entry of an order for relief against it or the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official for it or any substantial part of its property) shall occur; (g) if any act, matter or thing is done toward, or any action or proceeding is launched or taken to terminate the corporate existence of the Company, or any Guarantor, whether by winding‒up, surrender of charter or otherwise; (h) if the Company or any Guarantor ceases to carry on its business or makes or proposes to make any sale of its assets in bulk or any sale of its assets out of the usual course of its business unless expressly permitted herein or otherwise by the lender in writing; (i) if any proposal is made or any petition is filed by or against the Company or any Guarantor under any law having for its purpose the extension of time for payment, composition or compromise of the liabilities of such Company or any Guarantor or other reorganization or arrangement respecting its or any Guarantor’s liabilities or if the Company or any Guarantor gives notice of its intention to make or file any such proposal or petition including an application to any court to stay or suspend any proceedings of creditors pending the making or filing of any such proposal or petition; (j) if any receiver, administrator or manager of the property, assets or undertaking of the Company or any Guarantor or a substantial part thereof is appointed pursuant to the terms of any trust deed, trust indenture, debenture or similar instrument or by or under any judgment or order of any court; (k) if any balance sheet or other financial statement provided by the Company to the lender pursuant to the provisions hereof is false or misleading in any material respect; (l) if any proceedings are taken to enforce any encumbrance affecting any of the secured property or if a distress or any similar process be levied or enforced against any of the secured property; (m) if any judgment or order for the payment of money in excess of $250,000 shall be rendered against the Company or any Guarantor and either (A) enforcement proceedings shall have been commenced by any creditor upon such judgment or order, or (B) there shall be any period of sixty consecutive days during which a stay of enforcement of such judgment or order, by reason of a pending appeal or otherwise, shall not be in effect; (n) if any action is taken or power or right be exercised by any governmental body which would have a material adverse effect; (o) if any representation or warranty made by the Company or any Guarantor herein or in any other instrument to which it is a party or in any certificate, statement or report furnished in connection herewith is found to be false or incorrect in any way so as to make it materially misleading when made or when deemed to have been made; (p) if a change of control occurs with respect to the Company, without the lender’s prior written consent; or (q) if there shall occur or arise any change (or any condition, event or development involving a prospective change) in the business, operations, affairs, assets, liabilities (including any contingent liabilities that may arise through outstanding pending or threatened litigation or otherwise), capitalization, financial condition, licenses, permits, rights or privileges, whether contractual or otherwise, or prospects of the Company or any Guarantor which, in the judgment of the lender, acting reasonably, would have a material adverse effect.

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We are dependent on Centurian Financial Trust granting us certain add-backs and other one-time adjustments in the calculation of our financial covenant related to adjusted EBITDA and if we are not granted such allowances we may not meet our financial covenants which could result in a default on our obligations and the lender could foreclose on our assets.

As noted above, certain of our financial covenants under the debt with Centurion Financial Trust is measured against EBITDA including our fixed charge ratio and our ratio of debt to EBITDA.  In past quarters, including the quarter ended December 31, 2022, we have relied upon certain allowances from Centurion Financial Trust in making add-backs and one-time adjustments to our calculation of EBITDA in order to meet these financial covenants.  The letter of commitment from Centurion Financial Trust permits Centurion Financial Trust to grant these allowances to us and they deem appropriate. For the quarter ended December 31, 2022, these allowances included adjustments to Goodwill and Intangible Asset Carrying Values and also adjustments made to Accounts Receivable carrying balances and Excess Revenue accounting treatment as at fiscal year-end.  If Centurion Financial Trust does not grant such allowances in future quarters, we may fail to meet our financial covenants under the debt which may result in an event of default and Centurion Financial Trust foreclosing on our assets.

Risks Related to Our Stock

If our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq, the liquidity and price of our common stock could decrease and our ability to obtain financing could be impaired.

On October 11, 2022, we received a notification letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market stating that we are not in compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, which requires our listed securities to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share. The notification stated that we have a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until April 10, 2022, to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. If at any time during this 180-day compliance period the closing bid price of our common stock is at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, then the Nasdaq Stock Market will provide us with written confirmation of compliance and the matter will be closed. During March 2023, the Company completed a 20:1 reverse split in order to comply with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement.   See Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements for a complete discussion.  

If we are unable to maintain our listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market, the liquidity and price of our stock could decrease. Further, our ability to raise capital through equity or convertible debt financings would be negatively impacted and result in us curtailing our plan of continued growth which could negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our Former Founder, Preston Parsons, has a controlling interest in Assure.

As of March 23, 2023, our former founder, Preston Parsons, directly or indirectly, owns 181,317 shares of common stock and warrants to acquire 1,563 shares of common stock, which in aggregate totals 182,880 shares of common stock (assuming full exercise of his warrants) or beneficial ownership of 16.6% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Of the shares of common stock beneficially owned by Mr. Parsons 33,000 shares were issued under a restricted stock grant agreement and are subject to forfeiture; such shares are fully vested. Mr. Parsons is our single largest stockholder and a control person for the purposes of Canadian and U.S. securities law. As a result, Mr. Parsons has the ability to influence the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholder for approval, which could include the election and removal of directors, amendments to our corporate governing documents and business combinations. In addition to his ability to influence matters submitted to our stockholders, the concentration of ownership in the hands of a single stockholder may discourage an unsolicited bid for our common stock and this may adversely impact the value and trading price of our common stock. In addition, sales of common stock by Mr. Parsons may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.

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The price of our common stock is subject to volatility.

Broad market and industry factors may affect the price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. Factors unrelated to our performance that may have an effect on the price of our securities include the following: the extent of equity research coverage available to investors concerning our business may be limited if

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investment banks with research capabilities do not follow our securities; speculation about our business in the press or the investment community; lessening in trading volume and general market interest in our securities may affect an investor’s ability to trade significant numbers of our securities; additions or departures of key personnel; sales of our common stock, including sales by our directors, officers or significant stockholders; announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships of divestitures; and a substantial decline in the price of our securities that persists for a significant period of time could cause our securities to be delisted from an exchange, further reducing market liquidity. If an active market for our securities does not continue, the liquidity of an investor’s investment may be limited and the price of our securities may decline. If an active market does not exist, investors may lose their entire investment. As a result of these factors, the market price of our securities at any given point in time may not accurately reflect our long-term value. Securities class-action litigation often has been brought against companies in periods of volatility in the market price of their securities and following major corporate transactions or mergers and acquisitions. We may in the future be the target of similar litigation. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and damages and divert management’s attention and resources.

Our bylaws designate the state and federal courts located in Denver, Colorado as the exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings, which could limit a stockholder’s ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes arising with Assure Holdings Corp.

Our bylaws provides that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the applicable court of competent jurisdiction shall be the state and federal courts located in Denver, Colorado (the “Colorado Court”), which Colorado Court shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for actions or other proceedings relating to:

There is uncertainty as to whether a Court will enforce these forum selection clauses. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes, which may discourage such lawsuits. We interpret the forum selection clauses in our bylaws to be limited to the specified actions and not to apply to actions arising under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act. Section 27 of the Exchange Act provides that United States federal courts shall have jurisdiction over all suits and any action brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder and Section 22 of the Securities Act provides that United States federal and state courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

There is a limited trading market for our common stock.

Our common stock is listed in the U.S. on the Nasdaq and was historically traded in Canada on the TSX-V, but was voluntarily delisted on February 7, 2022. Historically, the trading volume for our common stock has been limited. Accordingly, investors may find it more difficult to buy and sell our shares. These factors may have an adverse impact on the trading and price of our common stock.

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Our issuance of common stock upon exercise of warrants or options or conversion of convertible notes may depress the price of our common stock.

As of March 23, 2023, Assure had 1,101,098 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, outstanding warrants to purchase 206,000 shares of common stock; outstanding options to purchase 49,040 shares of common stock; outstanding convertible notes convertible into 19,044 shares of common stock. The issuance of shares of common stock in connection with convertible securities and obligations could result in substantial dilution to our stockholders, which may have a negative effect on the price of our common stock.

In addition, our articles authorize the issuance of 9,000,000 shares of common stock. We may issue additional common stock in the future in connection with a future financing or acquisition.

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act.

As a result, we are permitted to, and intend to, rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements. For so long as we are an emerging growth company, we will not be required to:

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We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our total annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which would occur if the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three year period or (iv) the last day of the fiscal year in which we celebrate the fifth anniversary of our first sale of registered common equity securities pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Until such time, however, we cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. 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 be more volatile.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not Applicable.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Assure currently leases approximately 17,000 square feet of office space for its corporate offices at 7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80111. The current leases expire in December 2025.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We know of no material, existing or pending legal proceedings against our Company or any of our subsidiaries, nor are we involved as a plaintiff in any other material proceeding or pending litigation. There are no other proceedings in which

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any of our directors, executive officers or affiliates, or any registered or beneficial stockholder, is an adverse party or has a material interest adverse to our interest.

In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued Civil Investigative Demands which seek information with respect to a civil investigation under the Anti-kickback Statute and the False Claims Act.  We voluntarily contacted the DOJ offering to provide any materials needed in the investigation and to answer any questions.  While our policy during the relevant time was to not seek payments from federal health care programs, the third-party billing company we used at that time submitted some claims to Medicare Advantage plans administered by commercial insurance companies.  We have worked diligently to ensure that payments from Medicare Advantage plans have been returned to the commercial insurance companies and we believe we have returned substantially all such payments that we have discovered to date, totaling approximately $450,000.  The DOJ has not made any allegations in the investigation, and we are currently unable to predict the eventual scope, ultimate timing, or outcome of this investigation. As a result, we are unable to estimate the amount or range of any potential loss, if any, arising from this investigation. For additional information regarding legal proceedings is summarized in Note 16, “Commitments and Contingencies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

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The primary trading market for our shares of common stock is the Nasdaq Capital Market. Our common stock trades under the symbol “IONM”. On March 23, 2023, the last reported sales price of our common stock as quoted on the Nasdaq was $3.75.

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Holders

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As of March 23, 2023, there were approximately 66 stockholders of record holding 1,101,098 shares of our common stock. This number does not include an indeterminate number of stockholders whose shares are held by brokers in street name through depositaries, including CDS & Co and CEDE & Co. The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive rights and no right to convert their common stock into any other securities. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock.

Dividend Policy

We have never paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain future earnings to fund ongoing operations and future capital requirements of our business. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors (the “Board”) and will be dependent upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and such other factors as our Board deems relevant. Our ability to pay cash dividends is subject to limitations imposed by state law.

Repurchases of Equity Securities

During the quarter ended December 31, 2022, neither the Company nor any affiliate of the Company repurchased any shares of common stock of the Company.

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Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

All sales of equity securities during the year ended December 31, 2022, were previously reported.

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ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. See “Forward-Looking Statements.” Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes included in Item 8 of this Annual Report. This Management’s Discussion and Analysis (this “MD&A”) has been prepared based on information known to management as of March 31, 2023. This MD&A is intended to help the reader understand the consolidated audited financial statements of the Company.

Overview

Assure is a best-in-class provider of outsourced intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (“IONM”) and an emerging provider of remote neurology services that help make surgeries safer. The Company delivers a turnkey suite of clinical and operational services to support surgeons and medical facilities during invasive procedures. This includes scheduling of the interoperative neurophysiologist (“INP”) and supervising practitioner, real time monitoring, patient advocacy and subsequent billing for the services. IONM has been well established as a standard of care and risk mitigation tool for various surgical verticals such as neurosurgery, spine, cardiovascular, orthopedic, ear, nose, and throat, and other surgical procures that place the nervous system at risk.

In 2022, Assure provided IONM services for approximately 215 surgeons in 129 hospitals and surgery centers across the Company’s operational footprint. Our continued geographic expansion initiatives, including facility-wide outsourcing agreements with medical facilities and hospital networks, coupled with the surgical vertical expansion efforts, extending the Company’s reach into remote neurology services and selective acquisitions are expected to generate substantial growth opportunities going forward. In the future, it may be necessary for us to raise additional funds for the continuing development of our business plan.

The Company has financed its cash requirements primarily from revenues generated from its services, by utilizing debt facilities and from the sale of common stock.

See “Item 1. Business” for a complete description of our business.  

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Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2022 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2021

The following table provides selected financial information from the condensed consolidated financial statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. All dollar amounts set forth in the table below are expressed thousands of dollars, except share and per share amounts.

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Revenue

Total Revenue. Total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $11.0 million and $29.2 million, respectively, net of implicit price concessions. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recorded an allowance for implicit price concessions of $17.9 million and $7.4 million, respectively. Gross revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, prior to the application of implicit price concessions, totaled $28.9 million and $36.6 million.  The decrease in gross revenue is primarily related to a decrease in the revenue accrual rate, partially offset by an increase in managed case volume of approximately 4,200 from nearly 17,400 in the year ended December 31, 2021 to nearly 21,600 in the same period of 2022.  The increase in managed cases is primarily related to the acquisition of Sentry Neuromonitoring, LLC (“Sentry”) that was completed during the second quarter of 2021, and the Company’s expansion into remote neurology.  These gains were partially counteracted by Assure’s decision to exit certain markets. The Company utilized market intelligence and data warehousing analytics it did not previously possess to inform our decision to exit

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certain lower performing markets that were dragging down the Company’s average revenue per case. Assure’s go-forward strategy is anchored on achieving the benefit of scale in geographies underpinned by above average reimbursement.

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Gross Revenue. Gross revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was negatively impacted by implicit price concessions related to aged claims. Based on the Company’s historical experience, claims generally become uncollectible once they are aged greater than 24 months. As such, the Company estimated the portion of the Company’s accounts receivable that may become uncollectible due to age, or the implicit price concessions, is $17.9 million for December 31, 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Assure made additional refinements to the reserve process based on multi-year life-to-date collections information which is now possible due to stabilized actual and collection rates over the most recent two years. This process provides a clearer picture of the Company’s estimated collectible accounts receivable. The new process led to a higher than anticipated reserve in 2022. The Company reserves accounts receivable beginning in the fifth quarter after date of service and continuing to increase the reserve percentage until the receivable is aged to 24 months and a day at which point it is fully reserved. The benefit of refining the process in this manner: (1) Assure’s anticipated go-forward exposure in 2023 is substantially reduced and (2) Increased precision and increased visibility in our estimation process.  Going forward, as the Company continues to accelerate its cash receipts there will be less accounts receivable at risk. Management has designated a tactical team to specifically pursue these reserved claims.

Technical and professional service revenue is recognized in the period in which IONM services are rendered, at net realizable amounts due from third party payors when collections are reasonably assured and can be estimated. The majority of the Company’s services are rendered on an out-of-network basis and billed to third-party insurers. We estimate out-of-network technical and professional revenue per case based upon our historical cash collection rates from private health insurance carriers. Our revenue estimation process for out-of-network revenue is based on the collection experience from insurance cases that are between 1-24 months old as management believes the more recent collection experience is more indicative of future per case collection rates.

Other revenue consists of revenue from managed service arrangements on a contractual basis. Revenue from services rendered is recorded after services are rendered.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues for the years ended December 31, 2022 were $15.2 million compared to $14.3 million for the same period in 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the number of neuromonitoring cases increased 24% compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, which drove the costs of revenues increase, partially offset by cost cutting measures. Cost of revenues consist primarily of the cost of our internal billing and collection department, internal and external collection costs, technologist and supervising practitioner wages, third-party supervising practitioner fees, and medical supplies. Technologist and supervising practitioner wages and medical supplies vary with the number of neuromonitoring cases. The cost of our internal billing and collection department increased as we have increased headcount to align with expected growth in volume and the number of cases to invoice has increased. A primary focus for Assure during 2023 will be on reducing the Company’s average cost of the delivery in providing our services, both on the technologist and the remote neurology parts of the business.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses were $15.1 million and $14.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase period-to-period was primarily related to higher employee costs due to severance payments, increased professional fees, such as legal expenses, and higher insurance premiums, partially offset by a decrease in stock-based compensation and other cost cutting measures.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization was $4.1 million and $1.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.   The increase period-to-period was primarily related to the additional amortization due to the change in the estimated life of intangible assets for doctor agreements.  During December 2022, the Company evaluated the useful life

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of doctor agreements which resulted in a decrease in the useful life from 10 years to one year.  See Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements for a completed discussion of this change in estimate.

Impairment charges

Impairment charges were $3.5 million for the year ended December 21, 2022. The impairment charge of $3.4 million related to the qualitative evaluation of the Company’s goodwill balance in comparison to the Company’s market cap and net equity position.  Additionally, the Company wrote off its tradename intangible balance of $117 thousand since the tradename is no longer in use.  There were no similar transactions during the year ended December 31, 2021.  

Gain on Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness

During March 2021, the Company received an unsecured loan under the United States Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) pursuant to the recently adopted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “PPP Loan”) in the amount of $1.7 million. During January 2022, the Company was granted forgiveness of the PPP Loan. As of June 30, 2022, the Company recorded a gain on forgiveness of the PPP Loan of $1.7 million. There were no similar transactions during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Other expense, net

Other expense, net was $1.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 was primarily related to the settlement of amounts due from MSAs and PEs due to the termination of the related MSA and/or PE agreement.

Accretion expense

The Company recorded non-cash accretion expense of $681 thousand and $556 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.  The Company accretes the difference between the fair value of the convertible notes and the face value of the convertible debt over the term of the convertible note.  

Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net was $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 The increase year-over-year is primarily due to higher outstanding debt balances. Specifically, interest expense was $221 thousand and $304 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, related to the convertible debt, and $1.2 million and $456 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, for the Centurion debenture.

Income tax benefit

For the year ended December 31, 2022, income tax benefit was $202 thousand compared to $829 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2021. The Company had an effective tax rate of (0.7)% and 23.1% for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company’s estimated annual tax rate is impacted primarily by the amount of taxable income earned in each jurisdiction the Company operates in and permanent differences between financial statement carrying amounts and the tax basis.

Financial Position, Liquidity and Capital Resources

Funding Requirements

Our cash position as of December 31, 2022 was $905 thousand compared to the December 31, 2021 cash balance of $4.0 million. Working capital was $16.4 million as of December 31, 2022 compared to $34.3 million at December 31, 2021. Our working capital balance and our estimated cash flows from operations during 2022 will not support our operating activities and our obligations for the next 12 months. We intend to seek equity or debt financing and have implemented significant cost cutting measures to mitigate our going concern. Such financings may include the issuance of shares of

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common stock, warrants to purchase common stock, convertible debt or other instruments that may dilute our current stockholders. Financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms depending on market conditions at the time we seek financing. We plan to apply for a $3.2 million refund under the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit program, however there is no guarantee when, or if, these funds will be received during 2023. Furthermore, our independent registered public accountants have expressed that substantial doubt exists as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.   See Item 8. Report of Independent Registered Public Accountant for further discussion.

On October 11, 2022, we received a notification letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market stating that we are not in compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, which requires our listed securities to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share. During March 2023, the Company effectuated a twenty-for-one reverse split in order to comply with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. However, there is no guarantee our common stock will not fall below the minimum bid price of $1.00 per share in the future.  A delisting from The Nasdaq Stock Market would negatively impact our ability to raise additional capital through equity financings on acceptable terms in order to meet our plan of continued growth.

We are also dependent on Centurion Financial Trust granting us certain add-backs and other one-time adjustments in the calculation of our financial covenants related to EBITDA and if we are not granted such allowances we may not meet our financial covenants which could result in a default on our obligations and the lender could foreclose on our assets if we cannot otherwise payoff the debt.

Our near-term cash requirements relate primarily to payroll expenses, trade payables, debt payments, capital lease payments, and general corporate obligations.

Cash flows from operating activities

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we collected approximately $21.8 million of cash from operations compared to collecting approximately $14.3 million in the same prior year period. As of December 31, 2022, accounts receivable, which are recorded net of implicit price concessions, was $13.9 million compared to $27.8 million at December 31, 2021. The decrease in our accounts receivable balance during 2022 is primarily related to the increased velocity of cash receipts and implicit price concession charges.

Cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $8.0 million compared to $13.4 million for the same period in the preceding year. Cash was used to fund operations and to fund our growth strategy.

In October, we experienced a meaningful decrease in the Texas reimbursement benchmark, which has been utilized in state arbitration claims to great success through September of this year. Texas state arbitration reimbursement has realigned to a level much closer to the state average across our operational footprint, based on our arbitration experience. Since Texas represents approximately 60% of our patient volume, we expect to remain focused on participation rates for state arbitrations in Texas.

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Cash flows from investing activities

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Cash used in investing activities of $280 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2022, was related the PE distributions of $80 thousand, offset by payments related to acquisition liabilities of $280 thousand and fixed asset purchases of $80 thousand. Cash provided by investing activities of $1 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2021, was related the PE distributions of $308, offset by payments related to the Sentry acquisition of $307.  

We have receivables from equity investments in PEs and other entities that are due and payable upon those entities collecting on their own accounts receivable. To the extent that these entities are unable to collect on their accounts receivable or there is an impairment in the valuation of those accounts receivable, the Company will need to reduce its related party receivables and/or its equity investments in the PEs.

Cash flows from financing activities

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Cash provided by financing activities of $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, was due to equity financing. Cash provided by financing activities of $13.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, was due to $10.4 million of net proceeds from the debenture, $1.7 million of proceeds from the Payroll Protection Program loan, and $5.1 million in proceeds from common stock issuances, offset by $4.1 million payments of bank debt.

Critical Accounting Policies

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Application of GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and within this MD&A. We consider our most important accounting policies that require significant estimates and management judgment to be those policies with respect to revenue, accounts receivable and income taxes, which are discussed below. Our other significant accounting policies are summarized in Note 2, “Basis of Presentation” and Note 3, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report.

We continually evaluate the accounting policies and estimates used to prepare the consolidated financial statements. In general, our estimates are based on historical experience, evaluation of current trends, information from third-party professionals and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the known facts and circumstances. Estimates can require a significant amount of judgment and a different set of assumptions could result in material changes to our reported results.

Revenue Recognition and Collection Cycle

The Company recognizes revenue primarily from fees for IONM services provided. Revenue is recognized at a point in time upon satisfaction of the Company’s performance obligation to a customer, which is at the time of service. Revenue is based on the Company’s best estimate of the transaction price the Company expects to receive in exchange for the services rendered. Our estimate of the transaction price includes estimates of price concessions for such items as contractual allowances from third-party payors, potential adjustments that may arise from payment, and uncollectible amounts.

The Company performs a collection analysis for out-of-network billings to private insurance companies and adjusts its estimated transaction price if the collection rate is different from the amount recorded in previous periods. Historically, this analysis is performed monthly.

The cash collection cycles of the Company may be protracted due to the majority of its revenue being billed to third-party commercial insurance payors on an out-of-network basis. The collection cycle for IONM to out-of-network payors may require an extended period to maximize reimbursement on claims, which results in accounts receivable growth tied to the Company’s overall growth in technical and professional service revenues. The collection cycle may consist of multiple payments from out-of-network private insurance payors, as the collection process entails multiple rounds of denials, underpayments, appeals and negotiations as part of the process to maximize the reimbursement yield on claims. Based on the Company’s historical experience, claims generally become uncollectible once they are aged greater than 24 months; as such, included in the Company’s allowance for implicit price concessions is an estimate of the likelihood that a portion of the Company’s accounts receivable may become uncollectible due to age. The Company continues collection efforts on claims aged over 24 months. Collections on claims are recorded as revenue in the period received as such collections represent a subsequent change to the initial estimation of the transaction price.

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Technical and professional service revenue

Technical and professional service revenue is recognized at a point in time in which performance obligations are satisfied at the amount that reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled. Performance obligations are satisfied when IONM services are rendered. The majority of the Company’s services are rendered on an out-of-network basis and billed to third party commercial insurers. Since allowable charges for services rendered out-of-network are not explicitly identified in the contract, the Company determines the transaction price based on standard charges for services provided, reduced by an estimate of contractual adjustments and implicit price concessions based on evaluating the payor

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mix, historical settlements and payment data for payor types and current economic conditions to calculate an appropriate net realizable value for revenue and accounts receivable. These estimates are subject to ongoing monitoring and adjustment based on actual experience with final settlements and collections and management revises its revenue estimates as necessary in subsequent periods.

Other revenue

The Company recognizes revenue from managed service arrangements on a contractual basis. Revenue is recorded when the Company has completed its performance obligations, which is the time of service.

Stock-based Compensation Expense

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation expense in accordance with the authoritative guidance on stock-based payments. Under the provisions of the guidance, stock-based compensation expense is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the option using a Black-Scholes option pricing model and is recognized as expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period.

The authoritative guidance also requires that the Company measure and recognize stock-based compensation expense upon modification of the term of a stock award. The stock-based compensation expense for such modification is the sum of any unamortized expense of the award before modification and the modification expense. The modification expense is the incremental amount of the fair value of the award before the modification and the fair value of the award after the modification, measured on the date of modification. In the event the modification results in a longer requisite period than in the original award, the Company has elected to apply the pool method where the aggregate of the unamortized expense and the modification expense is amortized over the new requisite period on a straight-line basis. In addition, any forfeiture will be based on the original requisite period prior to the modification.

Calculating stock-based compensation expense requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected term of the stock-based awards, stock price volatility, and the pre-vesting option forfeiture rate. The Company estimates the expected life of options granted based on historical exercise patterns, which are believed to be representative of future behavior. The Company estimates the volatility of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant based on historical volatility. The assumptions used in calculating the fair value of stock-based awards represent the Company’s best estimates, but these estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors change and the Company uses different assumptions, its stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future. In addition, the Company is required to estimate the expected forfeiture rate and only recognize expense for those shares expected to vest. The Company estimates the forfeiture rate based on historical experience of its stock-based awards that are granted, exercised and cancelled. If the actual forfeiture rate is materially different from the estimate, stock-based compensation expense could be significantly different from what was recorded in the current period.

The Company may grant performance share units (“PSUs”) to employees or consultants. PSU awards will vest if certain employee-specific or company-designated performance targets are achieved. If minimum performance thresholds are achieved, each PSU award will convert into common stock at a defined ratio depending on the degree of achievement of the performance target designated by each individual award. If minimum performance thresholds are not achieved, then no shares will be issued. Based upon the expected levels of achievement, stock-based compensation is recognized on a straight-line basis over the PSUs’ requisite service periods. The expected levels of achievement are reassessed over the requisite service periods and, to the extent that the expected levels of achievement change, stock-based compensation is adjusted in the period of change and recorded on the statements of operations and the remaining unrecognized stock-based compensation is recorded over the remaining requisite service period.

Income Taxes

The Company must make certain estimates and judgments in determining income tax expense for financial statement purposes. These estimates and judgments are used in the calculation of tax credits, tax benefits, tax deductions, and in the calculation of certain deferred taxes and tax liabilities. Significant changes to these estimates may result in an increase or decrease to the Company’s tax provision in a subsequent period.

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The provision for income taxes was determined using the asset and liability method prescribed by GAAP. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes. If and when it is determined that a deferred tax asset will not be realized for its full amount, we will recognize and record a valuation allowance with a corresponding charge to earnings. The calculation of the current tax liability involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws and regulations and in determining the liability for tax positions, if any, taken on the Company’s tax returns in accordance with authoritative guidance on accounting for uncertainty in income taxes.

New Accounting Pronouncements

For information regarding new accounting pronouncements that were issued or became effective during the year ended December 31, 2022 that had, or are expected to have, a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or financial statement disclosures, see the “Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements” and “Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted” sections of Note 3, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report.

Subsequent Events

Reverse stock split

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On March 3, 2023, the Company announced that it effected a reverse stock split (the “Reverse Stock Split”) of its shares of common stock, $0.001 par value, at a ratio of 20 (old) for 1 (new) which became effective on March 4, 2023.

The Reverse Stock Split is primarily intended to bring the Company into compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for maintaining the listing of its common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market and to make the bid price more attractive to investors.

As a result of the 20:1 Reverse Stock Split, the total number of shares of common stock authorized by the Company under its Articles of Incorporation will be reduced from 180,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001, to 9,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001. The number of shares of common stock held by each stockholder of the Company will consolidate automatically on a twenty (old) shares for one (new) share basis.  No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the Reverse Stock Split. All fractional shares will be rounded up to the nearest whole share, pursuant to NRS 78.205(2)(b).

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The Reverse Stock Split affects all issued and outstanding shares of common stock. All outstanding options, restricted stock awards, warrants, preferred stock and convertible notes and other securities entitling their holders to purchase or otherwise receive shares of common stock will be adjusted as a result of the Reverse Stock Split by decreasing the number of shares acquirable pursuant to the ratio of 20:1 and increasing the exercise or conversion price, as applicable, by the same ratio, as required by the terms of each such security. The number of shares of common stock available to be awarded under the Company’s equity incentive plans will also be proportionately adjusted.

As of March 3, 2022, the Company had 22,021,952 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, and after the Reverse Stock Split, the Company will have approximately 1,101,098 shares of common stock issued and outstanding.

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Private placement

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On March 3, 2023, the Company completed a private placement for $300 thousand by issuing 50,000 common shares at a price of $6.00 per common share.

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Nasdaq listing

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As discussed in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq stating the Company was not in compliance with the requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share.  The Company

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completed a reverse split, discussed above, in order to comply with the minimum bid price requirements.  As of March 20, 2023, the Nasdaq has confirmed Assure is compliant with the min minimum bid price requirements.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Not applicable.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The following Consolidated Financial Statements and Report of Independent Registered Public Accountants are filed as part of this Item 8 and are included in this Annual Report.

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders of Assure Holdings Corp.

Denver, Colorado

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Assure Holdings Corp. and its subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years then ended, and the related notes to the consolidated financial statements (collectively, the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

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Going Concern Uncertainty

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The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. As noted in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operation and negative cash flow from operations. This raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also included in Note 2.  The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

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Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

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/s/ Baker Tilly US, LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2018.

Los Angeles, California

March 31, 2023

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ASSURE HOLDINGS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share amounts)

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See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

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ASSURE HOLDINGS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

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See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

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ASSURE HOLDINGS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

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