Bannockburn, Ill. In what president and chief executive officer Michael Rusnak called "a year of record-setting performance," Option Care reported net income for fiscal 1999 ended Dec. 31 of $4.6 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $691,000, or 6 cents a share, for fiscal 1998.

For the fourth quarter of 1999, the company posted net income of $1.4 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a loss of $614,0000, or 6 cents a share, for the same quarter the previous year.

Rusnak said that in 1999, the company streamlined its operations; launched OptionMed (a specialty pharmacy and distribution division); lowered its debt from $22 million to $9 million; and landed contracts with several major pharmaceutical companies and managed care organizations. The company also recorded four consecutive quarters of profitability, he said. Such accomplishments position the company "as a focused and financially sound enterprise poised for healthy growth going forward," Rusnak said.

In other news, Option Care reached two agreements, one with MethodistCare to provide alternate site and home IV services to more than 70,000 members in the Houston, area, the other with AmeriHealth to provide the same services to its 60,000 members in the area. -S.H.