Did Cerner Buy A Health Care Technology Fund With Campaign Contributions?

There's a must read article in this week's Pitch. Here's the flavor:

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and Cerner Corporation CEO Neal Patterson think alike.

During his State of the State address on January 12, Blunt pushed for
spending $25 million on a Healthcare Technology Fund. Such a program,
Blunt said, would enlist information technology to improve the delivery
of health care and reduce costs.

A citizen didn't have to look far to see who might benefit from the
proposal. On February 2, Patterson touted the advantages of
computerized health records in a Kansas City Star
editorial. Based in North Kansas City, Cerner is a $1.2 billion
supplier of health-care information technology. Just what the governor
ordered.

Blunt and Patterson made similar-sounding arguments. A Blunt statement
released shortly after the State of the State address mentioned a
recent RAND Corporation study that said the United States could save
billions by digitizing medical records. Patterson's editorial also
cited the RAND study.

Campaign-finance records suggest that Blunt and Patterson were not
working independently. In late October, a Cerner lobbyist treated Blunt
health-care policy adviser Jodi Stefanick to a meal. A few weeks later,
Patterson's wife, Jeanne, found herself in a giving mood. She donated
$20,000 to a political party committee that supports Matt Blunt.

Cerner is represented by Jewell Patek, who you'll be hearing a lot more about soon.