For more information, contact:
Stephanie Mitchum Murphy, (816) 292-2000

Ellis Brings Strong Background in Health Policy Matters to Leadership Role

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Feb. 13, 2007) – Jeff Ellis, a member at Lathrop & Gage L.C., has been selected to serve as co-chair of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius’ Health Information Exchange (HIE) Commission, a group created to bring providers and stakeholders together to advance the use of information technology in health care.

The HIE Commission will coordinate and focus the state’s continuing efforts to capitalize on the advantages of technology to achieve health care cost effectiveness and quality. It will work to implement the recommendations of existing statewide workgroups within the Governor’s Health Care Cost Containment Commission.  The new HIE Commission will focus its efforts on standardizing physician credentialing procedures, developing a health care ID card and promoting the electronic exchange of health information privately and securely.

“This commission will consider real-life solutions that will save administrative costs, reduce billing errors, enhance the quality of care, and, at the same time, assist patients as they navigate the health care system,” Ellis said. “It is exciting for Kansas to be on the cutting edge of technology, and even more exciting for me to be a part of developing efforts to make technology work for both the patients and Kansas health care providers.”

Ellis has 30 years of experience in health care law and is currently the partner in charge of Lathrop & Gage’s Overland Park office. He represents health care providers in a wide variety of matters, including general corporate law, restructuring of health care systems, government regulatory compliance, mergers of health care entities, hospital medical staff matters and more. Throughout his career, Ellis has participated in state and local government activities dealing with health care planning, policy development, insurance regulation and public health and welfare issues. He has been named to The Best Lawyers in America and Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers.

His co-chair, Karen Braman, currently works with the Kansas Health Policy Authority and on February 26 will join Preferred Health Systems. Other members of the HIE Commission include representatives of the provider community, consumers, business community, health plans, government, and information technology and health policy experts. 

They are charged with taking a public/private approach to advancing the use of information technology and ensuring patients’ private health information is protected and secure. 

For more information on the HIE initiative, visit www.governor.ks.gov/news/NewsRelease.

About Lathrop & Gage:
A leading Midwest full-service law firm, Lathrop & Gage L.C. has 280 attorneys in 10 offices nationwide – from Denver, Colorado, to New York, New York. In 2006, Chambers USA ranked Lathrop & Gage’s corporate, intellectual property, litigation, real estate and labor and employment practices among the best in the Midwest, noting the firm is populated with “excellent legal advisers with a strong commitment to customer service.”

For more information, visit www.lathropgage.com or www.beentherewonthat.com.