Aetna 2013 Annual Report Download - page 72

Annual Report- Page 66
needs of providers, employer plan sponsors and members, or keeping pace with industry and regulatory standards,
and our operating results may be adversely affected.
In order to remain competitive, we must further integrate our businesses, processes and systems. Pursuing
multiple initiatives simultaneously could make this integration significantly more challenging.
Many of our businesses, processes and systems, both those we have acquired and those we have developed, are not
integrated, are complex or require disproportionate resources in order to work together effectively. Businesses,
processes and systems that are excessively complex or are not effectively integrated may adversely affect our ability
to compete by, among other things, increasing our costs relative to competitors, reducing our flexibility and limiting
our ability to react quickly to market opportunities or changing circumstances. Accordingly, we must effectively and
efficiently simplify and integrate these businesses, processes and systems to meet changing consumer and vendor
needs and improve our productivity. This task is significantly more difficult when we pursue multiple transactions
or other initiatives, such as significant acquisitions (including the Coventry acquisition), strategic alliances, joint
ventures and multi-year strategic projects, simultaneously. Our existing business partnership relationships and a
limited budget of human resources and capital present further challenges.
If we are unable to successfully simplify and integrate our businesses, processes and systems, including those from
acquisitions (such as Coventry), to realize anticipated economic and other benefits in a timely manner, it could
result in substantial costs or delays and adversely affect our business, operations and operating results.
Sales of our products and services are dependent on our ability to attract and motivate internal sales personnel
and independent third-party brokers, consultants and agents. We may be subject to penalties or other regulatory
actions as a result of the marketing practices of brokers and agents selling our products.
Our products are sold primarily through our sales personnel, who frequently work with independent brokers,
consultants and agents who assist in the production and servicing of business. The independent brokers, consultants
and agents generally are not dedicated to us exclusively and may frequently recommend and/or market health care
benefits products of our competitors. Accordingly, we must compete intensely for their services and allegiance. Our
sales could be adversely affected if we are unable to attract, retain or motivate sales personnel and third-party
brokers, consultants and agents, or if we do not adequately provide support, training and education to this sales
network regarding our complex product portfolio, or if our sales strategy is not appropriately aligned across
distribution channels. This risk is heightened as our business model evolves to include a greater focus on consumers
and direct-to-consumer sales, such as competing for sales on Insurance Exchanges.
In addition, there have been a number of investigations regarding the marketing practices of brokers and agents
selling health care and other insurance products and the payments they receive. These investigations have resulted
in enforcement actions against companies in our industry and brokers and agents marketing and selling those
companies' products. For example, CMS and state departments of insurance have increased their scrutiny of the
marketing practices of brokers and agents who market Medicare products. These investigations and enforcement
actions could result in penalties and the imposition of corrective action plans and/or changes to industry practices,
which could adversely affect our ability to market our products.
We have experienced cyber attacks. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to identify, prevent or
contain the effects of such attacks or other cybersecurity risks or threats in the future.
We have experienced a variety of cyber attacks, and we expect to continue to experience cyber attacks going
forward. Among other things, we have experienced automated attempts to gain access to our public facing
networks, distributed denial of service attacks, attempted virus infections, phishing and cross-site scripting.
Although the impact of such attacks has not been material through December 31, 2013, we can provide no
assurance that we will be able to identify, prevent or contain the effects of such attacks or other cybersecurity risks
or threats in the future. As we expand our HIT business, including through our growth of ACS, Medicity, and Active
Health, increase the amount of information we make available to members and consumers on mobile devices,
expand our use of vendors, expand internationally and expand our use of social media, our exposure to these data