By Alissa Smith
Virginia Statehouse News

RICHMOND — Medical records for Virginians are now available electronically – but only if requested by the patient — thanks to a bill that passed the 2011 General Assembly session.

According to the bill's sponsor, Delegate Mark Sickles, D-Franconia, the bill originally began as a way to help patients receive medical information over the Internet.

“People are demanding it these days,” said Sickles. “People are so used to doing their personal business on their computers They think it’s logical to be able to do these things online.”

During the State of the Commonwealth address, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Virginia is a leader in electronic health systems.

“We are working to expand the use of technology and electronic medical records to improve quality and safety and reduce costs,” said McDonnell.

Nova Medical & Urgent Care Center, a Virginia medical practice with four locations, has been using an electronic medical record system called Allscripts since 2005. Melanie Schmidt, public relations director at Nova Medical, said the system will be fully implemented by this spring.

“It’s an exhausting and daunting task, but it’s the right thing to do,” said Dr. Grace Keenan, medical director and chief executive officer of Nova Medical. “It’s a changing world, and it’s here to stay.”

Keenan said that converting records to the electronic system cost the practice $2.5 million and five years, but she said it was impossible to continue using paper in today’s society.

“The big health systems are already doing this themselves, but I think the government's role will be to make sure they all work out,” said Sickles.

Sickles said there has been a lot of resistance to the project. He mentioned a bill he proposed that passed several years ago requiring all Medicaid payments to be made online met with the same contention.

The fear, said Sickles, is for many of the older doctors and rural doctors who may not have reliable access to the Internet or refuse to utilize the new equipment.

Internet availability is what Amy Hewett, assistant director of political advocacy at the Medical Society of Virginia, said is one of the main challenges for doctors to adopt electronic records services.

The Medical Society worked with Sickles during the creation of the bill. Hewett said there had been an initial issue with the language of the legislation, but that the society and Sickles came to an agreement that[protects patient privacy and conformed with federal regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

“We do have a large segment of our membership that is interested in moving forward in that path,” Hewett added.

Sickles said that the bill is all about modernization and that it is long overdue.

“There are bound to be bumps on the road for increased efficiency,” said Sickles.