Washington

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Health Information Tech Plan Lauded
Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Dennis Moore praised industry efforts to improve consumer access to lifelong personal health records. This followed an announcement by Wal-Mart, Applied Materials, BP America, Intel and Pitney Bowes that these organizations would fund a health information technology initiative called “Dossia” next year.

Moore and Brownback have been working with a growing coalition of healthcare entities to develop a health information technology policy centered around access, control and privacy.  

Jefferson City

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New Stem Cell Challenge
State Senator Matt Bartle and Representative Jim Lembke said they will file Senate and House resolutions next session to place a “genuine ban on human cloning” before Missouri voters in 2008. In November, 51.2 percent of Missouri voters passed a state constitutional amendment to protect federally authorized embryonic stem cell research.  

Topeka

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Lawmakers Suggest Collaboration
Kansas lawmakers adopted a recommendation calling for any Kansas-side proposals aimed at strengthening Kansas City as a life sciences center “be developed jointly” by the medical center and The University of Kansas Hospital, its primary teaching hospital. The recommendation was adopted by a 4-0 vote.

A KC steering committee said it was working to develop new research and academic affiliations among the medical center, Saint Luke’s Health System and Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics as a way to advance the area’s life sciences initiative.

The issue ended up before the interim budget panel after The University of Kansas Hospital complained that the hospital had been marginalized in the discussions and that such partnerships could curtail the hospital’s growth.