A West Virginian is seriously injured in a car accident and unconscious — hundreds of miles from home while on a Florida vacation.

When the person arrives at an emergency room, health care providers will not have any idea what chronic medical conditions and allergies he or she may have, medications taken or previous medical history. But with electronic medical records, health care providers in Florida or anywhere else could get the information they need instantly. That could literally be the difference between life or death.

But electronic medical records also present new concerns for both providers and patients — namely, security and cost.

Patty Ruddick, a registered nurse and patient safety director for the West Virginia Medical Institute, discussed electronic medical record concerns with the Raleigh County Medical Society Thursday at Tamarack. WVMI is a federally designated Medicare quality improvement organization.

Ruddick is the project director of the West Virginia Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

West Virginia was one of 42 states and territories that worked on a variety of projects designed to educate health care consumers and providers about the importance of privacy and security when it comes to electronic health records. Gov. Joe Manchin appointed WVMI to serve as the state’s lead non-governmental agency in 2006, along with the West Virginia Health Information Network.

About 20 percent of West Virginia’s health care providers use electronic records. Ruddick said that figure is close the nation’s.

A primary benefit of electronic records is patient safety, Ruddick said. Often, patients in dire situations cannot speak.

“If you go to Myrtle Beach and get in an accident, and the physicians there need your medical records from West Virginia, they could get them with the touch of a mouse,” she said. “If you’re in an accident and allergic to penicillin — and you forgot your bracelet — this could stop someone from giving you penicillin. That’s one life saved.”

After Hurricane Katrina, evacuees were literally sent all over the world, Ruddick noted. Numerous paper medical records being destroyed aggravated the situation.

Adopting electronic medical records could be a significant cost to providers at first, Ruddick said. However, they could also provide long-term savings and efficiency for both them and patients. Paper, printing and storage costs could be significantly reduced or eliminated.

Also, patients would not have to have duplicate tests, she said.

“If I had a CAT scan in Wheeling and I’m here in Beckley, I could save another thousand dollars if someone could access that previous record,” Ruddick said. “Already, costs are a problem. Patients would not have to suffer through a redone test.”

But both providers and patients alike have serious concerns.

Electronic records systems must have safeguards like password protection to keep unauthorized people from accessing them, she said. Some systems have also experienced glitches.

Privacy and security were of utmost concern for Dr. Suresh Thomas, president-elect of the Raleigh County Medical Society. Thomas practices internal medicine in Beckley.

“Privacy is a concern because there are laws that must be followed. You also don’t want someone to hack into these systems and retrieve someone’s information,” he said.

Thomas said a federal mandate will soon push all providers to make the switch. He hopes grant funding will be available to help.

“The cost is certainly not cheap,” he said. “For small businesses, solo practitioners and small groups, this could be prohibitive.”

Thomas believes electronic records will benefit both providers and patients, but such systems are still evolving. The electronic health record industry has “exploded,” and there are numerous vendors. Accreditation of these systems should help providers make more informed decisions.

More information is available online at www.ehealthwv.org.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com