subsequent event (Notes)

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Subsequent Event [Line Items]

Subsequent Events [Text Block]

COVID-19 Impact

The novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic has disrupted economic markets and the future economic impact, duration and spread of the COVID-19 virus is uncertain at this time. Through March 31, 2020, our liquidity and operations had been modestly impacted by the pandemic. In particular, we saw reduced transaction volume in our medical transcription business and PowerScribe radiology solution, as well as a slowdown in payments from certain small healthcare providers towards the end of March. For the remainder of fiscal year 2020, we expect our revenue and cash flows to be adversely impacted due to the business and operational disruptions experienced by our customers. In particular, our Healthcare customers, primarily hospitals and clinics, have been significantly and adversely impacted as their cash flows continue to deteriorate due to the indefinite postponement of elective surgeries and the sharp decline in inpatient visits, which we expect to adversely affect our transaction- or volume-based revenue and cash collections for the remainder of fiscal year 2020.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act") was enacted. The CARES Act includes broad provisions to provide financial aid and economic relief to industries and enterprises impacted by the pandemic. Among other provisions, the CARES Act provides direct financial assistance to small businesses and funnels emergency funds to compensate hospitals and other health care providers for lost revenue and other costs associated with COVID-19. While the CARES Act may benefit our customers, we do not believe we are eligible to receive any direct relief payments. We are still assessing the full impact of the CARES Act.

While our liquidity and results of operations for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 were not significantly impacted, we continue to take proactive measures to manage our cash spend and preserve liquidity. In connection with the contingency planning, on March 24, 2020, we borrowed $230.0 million under our revolving credit facility, which will be available for future working capital as needed. We are committed to increasing shareholders' return and managing our debt leverage ratio in the long term, but have paused our share repurchase activity for the near term and in any event until we have repaid our revolver.

The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the operational changes we have made in response cannot be accurately predicted at this time. While the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly affect our results of operations or liquidity through March 31, 2020, it may adversely impact our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.