Blunt wants Health care to get high tech

Missouri's Medicaid system could stand to learn a thing or two from Jiffy Lube. That was the assertion made by Gov. Matt Blunt during a visit Tuesday to Cross Trails Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

At Jiffy Lube, "they've got all the information on your car. They can tell you what kind of oil it uses, details about repairs that have been done, how many miles it has. There's no reason we should have better information about our vehicles than we have about our bodies," said Blunt.

Blunt said health providers have no similar way to access details about patient history. To remedy this situation, the state recently created a CyberAccess web tool for Medicaid providers and patients. The system is a database of a patient's medical history accessible by all health care professionals.

CyberAccess was created this fiscal year at a state cost of $3.4 million. Through the system, providers could access a patient's current prescriptions, past prescriptions and past treatments. The money is part of the $25 million health care Technology Fund (SB 858) signed by Blunt in 2006. "This will make sure the first health care decision is the right health care decision for that patient," said Blunt

Blunt was joined at Tuesday's meeting by Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, Sen. Charlie Shields, Rep. Scott Lipke and Rep. Nathan Cooper.

Read Wednesday's Southeast Missourian for the full story.