Blunt forms health-info task force

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Julie Eckstein is serving as chairwoman of the 14-member task force. Other members will be announced at a later date.

Specific issues the task force is expected to look at include the status of health care information technology adaptation in the state, the use of telemedicine and delivery of health care information.

The group will make recommendations to Blunt in a preliminary report due July 1 and a final report due Sept. 1. The governor allocated $25 million in his budget recommendation to the legislature for a Healthcare Technology Trust Fund and addressed the issue in his recent State of the State address.

“The current system for sharing vital health care information is badly outdated, expensive and is a disservice to patients in need of care,” Blunt said in a news release.

“I look forward to hearing this task force's deliberations on this issue and to the recommendations to help move the delivery of health care in Missouri into the 21st century.”