NCMA Woodlawn,

Please join the NCMA Woodlawn Chapter on 10/16 for this month’s lunch and learn for Melissa Starinsky, the CMS Head of the Contracting Activity for an interactive discussion on FY’18 and looking forward as well as an innovative procurement techniques that will:  (1) lower barriers to entry, (2) shorten time to award, and (3) increase the likelihood of successful outcomes by focusing on evaluation techniques to select the most qualified vendors.  

We will be collecting questions from attendees in advance of the meeting. These questions will be reviewed and responded to by Ms. Starinsky at the event. If you are attending and would like to submit a question(s) please send them directly to [email protected].

The event will kick off with Julie Boughn, Director, Data and Systems Group, Center for Medicaid & Children Health Insurance Program Services who will provide an overview of the Department

Melissa's Bio:

Melissa Starinsky is the Director and Head of the Contracting Activity for the Office of Acquisition & Grants Management within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. She is responsible for overseeing the execution of more than $9 billion annually in discretionary contract, grant, and interagency spend. She began her career as an acquisition intern in 1989 with the U.S. Department of the Navy and has since held various acquisition, policy, and programmatic leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the private sector. Ms. Starinsky has an extensive background in contracting operations, having previously served as a Contracting Officer on billion dollar programs—including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Strategic Information Systems Technology Integration Resources, which was the agency’s then largest and first multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity type contract, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicare Administrative Contractor contracts. She also was the Contracting Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ first seat management contract in 1999 and was the Office of Acquisition & Grants Management’s Deputy Director from 2011 to 2013.

Ms. Starinsky has significant experience in advancing the capabilities of the acquisition workforce through her prior roles as the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute at the U.S. General Services Administration and the Chancellor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy; both are award-winning organizations where she was responsible for developing and executing human capital and career development strategies for hundreds of thousands of civilian agency acquisition workforce members.

Ms. Starinsky holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland. She also is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Contract Management Association.

Julie's Bio:

Julie has returned to Centers for Medicare & CHIP Services (CMCS) to serve as the Director of the Data and Systems Group (DSG). She joins the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) most recently from Audacious Inquiry, LLC, a Maryland-based health information policy and technology company, where she was a Senior Director. Julie has more than 30 years of experience in operations, data, and information technologies supporting health care and social service programs. She is experienced in program management, large-scale health care eligibility and payment operations, business process design, and the development and implementation of large scale information technology. She has served in several senior leadership positions at CMS including: Deputy Director of CMCS, Deputy Director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and as the agency’s Chief Information Officer.

For fun, Julie likes to hang out at the beach, preferably with her nieces and nephews, hike with her dogs, and cook. She gets her best ideas while riding her bicycle, preferably in some interesting locale, but also on the local roads of central Maryland and southern Delaware.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Charleston

President, NCMA Woodlawn