and emergency department visits while
enhancing access to quality care for the
state’s most vulnerable and rural residents.
“We teamed up with community para-
medicine experts in our area to produce
these videos as a way to help both patients
and health care providers understand
the positive impact of CP on people with
Medicare who live in West Virginia,”
says Biddy Smith, network task lead for
special projects at Quality Insights.
The videos, which are available on
Quality Insights Quality Innovation
Network’s YouTube channel, include a
patient-focused video titled “Community
Paramedicine: Quality Health Care at Your
Door” that explains the benefits of CP
from the patient perspective. A provider-
focused video, titled “Community Para-
medicine: Enhancing Access to Quality
Health Care,” examines the impact of
CP on the health care industry.
“Community paramedicine is filling
a gap of needs within our communi-
ties,” says Monica Mason, director of
community paramedicine at KCEAA.
“Once patients are discharged from the
hospital, our paramedics go out into the
home and visit them to ensure the plan
86
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
of care from the hospital is continued
to the home until they get back to their
doctor’s office for follow-up and further
recommendations.”
West Virginia Forward and Discover
the Real West Virginia Host Round
Table on Urgency to Reduce National
Security Backlog to Accelerate
Job Growth in West Virginia
The increasing national backlog of
security clearance approval hinders West
Virginia’s ability to take advantage of one
of the nation’s fastest-growing economic
sectors, prompting two development
groups—West Virginia Forward and
Discover the Real West Virginia Foun-
dation (DRWV)—to convene a discus-
sion this fall with Senator Joe Manchin,
representatives from the office of Sena-
tor Shelley Moore Capito and an array of
government officials and industry lead-
ers on how to chip away at the buildup.
Although there are many existing assets
and structural advantages that make West
Virginia an attractive destination to bol-
ster the state’s cyber and IT industry, West
Virginia businesses have faced difficul-
ties as a result of the security clearance
backlog, noting the national backlog has
dramatically increased from 190,000
cases in 2014 to a record high of 725,000
in June 2018, according to the Office of
Personnel Management.
More than 40 experts participated in
the discussion, with U.S. Department of
Defense officials providing a status report
of the federal government’s plan to bring
down the backlog and others sharing
insights on ways to continue to grow
West Virginia’s cybersecurity and IT ser-
vices sectors as the government works
to modernize the clearance process and
reduce the backlog.
“There is an understanding among
government, industry and academia that
there is urgency to improve the security
clearance process and solve the national
backlog issue, both of which impact busi-
ness growth and our national security,”
says Tom Heywood, board member of
DRWV Foundation and managing part-
ner at Bowles Rice LLP. “By examining
solutions and opportunities within this
promising industry, we can open doors
to broaden this industry’s job market
and garner a bigger IT workforce. As a
member of DRWV and a partner of West