The Company had the following acquired intangible assets:



	December 31, 2017						December 31, 2016
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount
	(amounts in thousands)
Intangible assets subject to amortization:
Databases	$	42,909	$	18,702	$	24,207	$	31,609	$	16,147	$	15,462
Customer relationships	55,524		25,912		29,612		41,724		23,316		18,408
Non-compete agreements	3,919		3,600		319		3,619		3,527		92
Trade names	7,716		878		6,838		3,216		343		2,873
Other intangible assets, net	$	110,068	$	49,092	$	60,976	$	80,168	$	43,333	$	36,835
Intangible assets not subject to amortization:
Trade names					26,702						35,402
					$	87,678					$	72,237

As of December 31, 2017, estimated annual amortization expense is as follows:



Years Ending December 31:	(amounts in thousands)
2018	$	7,167
2019	7,131
2020	7,027
2021	6,819
2022	6,743
Thereafter	26,089
	$	60,976

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by segment are as follows:



	Nurse and Allied Staffing Segment			Physician Staffing Segment			Other Human Capital Management Services Segment			Total
	(amounts in thousands)
Balances as of December 31, 2016
Aggregate goodwill acquired	$	304,277		$	43,405		$	19,307		$	366,989
Sale of CCE	—			—			(9,889		)	(9,889		)
Accumulated impairment loss	(259,732		)	(17,720		)	—			(277,452		)
Goodwill, net of impairment loss	44,545			25,685			9,418			79,648

Changes to aggregate goodwill in 2017
Goodwill acquired (a)	43,596			—			—			43,596
Impairment charges	—			(5,655		)	—			(5,655		)

Balances as of December 31, 2017
Aggregate goodwill acquired	347,873			43,405			19,307			410,585
Sale of CCE	—			—			(9,889		)	(9,889		)
Accumulated impairment loss	(259,732		)	(23,375		)	—			(283,107		)
Goodwill, net of impairment loss	$	88,141		$	20,030		$	9,418		$	117,589

_______________


(a)	Goodwill acquired from the acquisition of Advantage. See Note 3 - Acquisitions.

2017 Impairment Charges

The Company performed its annual quantitative impairment test of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets as of October 1, 2017. Upon completion of the impairment testing, it was determined that the estimated fair value of the Physician Staffing reporting unit’s trade name was less than its carrying amount resulting in impairment. For its goodwill impairment testing, with the exception of its Physician Staffing reporting unit, the estimated fair value of its reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values.

Projections of revenue, operating costs, and expected cash flows of each reporting unit are inputs into the quantitative testing for goodwill and intangible assets. The Company reduced its long-term revenue forecast for the Physician Staffing business segment in the fourth quarter. The lower than expected revenue was driven by lower booking volumes, partly due to the loss of customers. In addition, margins of the reporting unit were negatively impacted from continued investments in the business. As a result, the Company recorded non-cash impairment charges of $8.7 million related to its trade names and $5.7 million related to goodwill during the fourth quarter.

2016 and 2015 Impairment Charges

The Company performed its annual impairment test as of October 1, 2016. Upon completion of the impairment testing, the Company determined that no impairment of goodwill, trade names, or other intangible assets was warranted.

During an evaluation of goodwill, trade names, and other intangible assets at June 30, 2016, the Company determined that indicators were present in the Physician Staffing reporting unit which would suggest the fair value of the reporting unit may have declined below its carrying value. The Physician Staffing reporting unit was under-performing relative to management’s expectations. The lower than expected revenue was driven by lower booking volumes partly due to the loss of customers, and margins were negatively impacted from continued investments in the business all through the first half of 2016. The Company considered these factors to be impairment indicators that warranted impairment testing of goodwill, trade names, and other intangible assets. The interim impairment testing resulted in the carrying values of goodwill, trade names, and other intangible assets for Physician Staffing to exceed their estimated fair values. As a result, the interim impairment testing was performed which resulted in the carrying values of goodwill, trade names, and other intangible assets for Physician Staffing to exceed their estimated fair values. As a result, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge totaling $24.3 million: $17.7 million related to goodwill, $0.6 million related to trade names, and $6.0 million related to customer relationships.

The Company performed its annual impairment testing as of October 1, 2015. Upon completion of the impairment testing, the Company determined that the estimated fair value of its reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values. Accordingly, no goodwill impairment charges were warranted for these reporting units.

However, in conjunction with the annual impairment testing of trade names in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company reduced its long-term revenue forecast for the Physician Staffing business segment which caused the calculation of estimated fair value of the trade names to be less than its carrying amount, resulting in a non-cash impairment charge of $2.1 million. The reduced long-term revenue forecast for 2015 was impacted by lower projected volume resulting from an under-investment in new revenue producers to keep pace with attrition. No additional impairments of indefinite-lived intangible assets were identified.

Quantitative Methods and Assumptions

Trade Names

The Relief From Royalty methodology was utilized to value the Physician Staffing trade names using projected cash flows of an estimated royalty fee. The royalty rate was determined by a blended rate using the Market Royalty Rate Method and the Apportionment of Profit Method.

Goodwill

The discounted cash flows serve as the primary basis for the income approach and are based on the Company’s discrete financial forecast of revenue, gross profit margins, operating costs and cash flows. The forecast considers historical and estimated future results, general economic and market conditions, as well as the impact of planned business and operational strategies. For its 2017 testing, the assumptions used in the income approach included discount rates of 11.0% to 15.0% and a terminal value growth rate of 3.0% for cash flows beyond the discrete forecast period of ten years. Assumptions used in the market approach testing included valuation multiples based on an analysis of multiples for comparable public companies. The Company utilized total enterprise value/Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) multiples ranging from 5.8 to 15.0. The concluded fair value was based on a weighting of 75% applied to the income approach and 25% to the market approach for its Physician Staffing and Search reporting units and a 50% weighting was applied to the components of each approach to estimate the total fair value of goodwill for its Nurse and Allied Staffing reporting unit. This weighting was an estimate by management and was developed based on the specific characteristics, risks and uncertainties of the reporting units.

Customer Relationships

The Multi-Period Excess Earnings Method (MPEEM) methodology was utilized for valuing the Physician Staffing customer relationships in its interim impairment testing for the second quarter of 2016. The MPEEM estimates the fair value based on the present value of the allocated future economic benefits. The inputs include the projected revenue and associated expenses from the customers, an estimated attrition rate, and a discount rate of 13.5%.

Although management believes that the Company's current estimates and assumptions are reasonable and supportable, there can be no assurance that the estimates and assumptions made for purposes of the impairment testing will prove to be accurate predictions of future performance.