SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Aiming for national growth, Admar Group has begun marketing its Med Network health care program in St. Louis. Admar, a preferred-provider organization based in Orange, organizes local networks of doctors, clinical laboratories, hospitals and pharmacies to provide services at discounted prices to patients who subscribe to the Med Network plan.

Admar reports that so far, more than 3,500 employers have added Med Network to their health-care programs. Subscribers represent more than 400,000 workers and family members who are covered by the plan in California, Missouri and Arizona.

And that’s just the beginning, according to Joe Manheim, the company’s director of development. “We are in a national expansion mode right now,” said Manheim, who anticipates a fourfold increase in enrollment in the Med Network system within 15 months. By then, he said, Admar will have begun marketing its medical care delivery plan in Houston, Denver, Boston, Albuquerque and Washington.

Admar also is looking at acquisition possibilities. At the company’s annual meeting earlier this week, stockholders voted to increase the number of authorized shares to 100 million from 50 million. The additional shares are intended to be issued in connection with future acquisitions, the company said without elaborating.