MEDAMERICA SEARCH FOR DIRECTOR NARROWS

MedAmerica HealthNet Inc., soon could have a full-time director.

Dr. William Shell, president of the physician-hospital organization's board of directors and a Sikeston physician, said Tuesday that a candidate has been offered the position and the board is awaiting a response.

"I think we'll know in the next week or 10 days," Shell said.

John Fidler, president and CEO of St. Francis Medical Center and a member of MedAmerica HealthNet's board of directors, said the board had interviewed "at least 20" candidates for the position.

Fidler said a month could pass before a director is picked.

The administrators of the five hospitals in the PHO currently share administrative duties for the network, Fidler said. "We're all heavily involved on that side," he said.

"We've got a lot of work we need to do as far as developing the network and developing quality reviews that we can't really do without some full-time people working there," Shell said.

The network, which links the staffs and services of St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville and Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter was the first managed care organization in Southeast Missouri.

The PHO works in cooperation with Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield to offer HealthNet Blue, a cooperative health benefit program offering discounted service to employers, employees and their families in Southeast Missouri.

Jim Floyd, manager of communications for Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield, said the network finished 1995 with 14,300 covered lives. In January, another 5,300 were added, bringing the total to 19,600.

The number of physicians participating "keeps on increasing," Floyd said.

"The network is expanding," he said. "Our increasing membership proves what we thought when we went into the joint venture with MedAmerica HealthNet. By working with local providers, it works for everyone."

James Wente, administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital and vice chairman of MedAmerica HealthNet's board of directors, said members are "very pleased" with the PHO's growth.

"We think we are addressing the needs of this region as they relate to managed care," Wente said.