U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Subcontract with Humanitas, Inc. for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Division of Independent Review (DIR)
Objective Review Committee Teleconferences
March 30, 2010 – December 1, 2010

Quality Support, Inc. coordinated the logistics for a series of grant review teleconference meetings where the review participants received, read and independently evaluated assigned applications. The teleconferences were conducted for the purpose of discussing scoring and preparing summary statements to grant applicants. The teleconferences ranged from one to four days, having between 4 to over 100 reviewers, based on the number of grant applications to be reviewed. Quality Support, Inc. reproduced, assembled, and shipped review materials to participants; arranged for and participated in pre-review conference calls and teleconferences; consolidated reviewer comments into on central document for each application that was reviewed; provided administrative support during teleconferences; tabulated post-conference surveys; settled accounts and paid vendors. Summary Statement Operators were available at each teleconference to capture and summarize key discussion points into reports. Quality Support, Inc provided editors to review and make final correction/changes to the summary statements. Weekly progress reports were prepared and submitted to the client.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Office of Rural Health Care Policy (ORHP)
Frontier Areas and Remote Islands
September 2008 - September 2010

The standard definition of frontier has long been a county with six or fewer people per square mile. However, this definition does not take into account distance/travel time from population center or other direct measures of accessibility. The purpose of this project was to provide logistical, management, and clerical support to facilitate three meetings to discuss the development of a formal definition of frontier areas and the service needs of remote islands. The meetings were comprised of 15 participants each and were held in Seattle, WA, Albuquerque, NM, and Washington, DC. Quality Support selected the venue at each location and negotiated the meeting and lodging space; developed and maintained a list of invited stakeholders, guest speakers and consultants; developed and disseminated invitation and registration materials; processed registrations; coordinated Audio/Visual equipment; arranged travel for guest speakers/consultants; reproduced materials and assembled meeting folders; designed and developed conference signage, name badges, table tents; handled breakout room assignments; arranged for All Day Meetings Packages, inclusive of Continental Breakfast, Lunch, AM and PM breaks; conducted onsite registration and provided conference support; developed and disseminated thank you letters along with any required follow-up materials; settled accounts and paid vendors.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Division of Independent Review (DIR)
Objective Review Committee (OCR) Face-to-Face (FTF) Meetings
October 2008 - June 2009

Quality Support coordinated the logistics for a series of grant review meetings where the review participant received, read and independently evaluated their assigned applications. The grant review meetings were conducted for the purpose of discussing, scoring and preparing summary statements. For this project, Quality Support handled the arrangements for 19 grant review meetings and teleconferences conducted over an eight month period and held in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. The review meetings ranged from one to four days, with 4 to 150 reviewers, based on the number of grant applications to be reviewed. Quality Support reproduced, assembled, and shipped review materials to participants; arranged for and participated in pre-review conference calls and teleconferences; arranged travel, lodging, per diem, and reimbursement for reviewers; reproduced materials and assembled meeting folders; produced conference signage, developed name badges, and table tents; arranged for Audio/Visual, All Day Meetings Packages, inclusive of Continental Breakfast, Lunch, AM and PM breaks; consolidated reviewer comments into one central document for each application reviewed; conducted onsite registration and provided conference support; developed and tabulated post conference surveys; settled accounts and paid vendors. Summary Statement Operators and Grant Technical Assistants were also made available at each meeting to capture and summarize key discussion points. Quality Support also provided editors to review and make final correction/changes to the summary statements. Monthly and final progress reports were submitted to the client.

Health Resources And Services Administration (HRSA)
Bureau of Health Professions Division of Nursing
National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice Meetings
March 2007 – February 2011

Quality Support, Inc. provided logistical and administrative support services for NACNEP meetings held in the Washington Metropolitan area. NACNEP meetings were held twice a year for 2 ½ days from 2007 through 2011. Each meeting had an attendance of approximately 85 members, staff and audience participants. Along with arranging for a general session and breakout room for each day of the meeting, other tasks including: securing space and lodging at 4-star hotels at the prevailing Government per diem rate; contacting invited speakers and handling travel, lodging, honorarium and reimbursement; setting up and maintaining a registration database; finalizing the agenda; providing on-site note takers and a technical writer; arranging for an All Day Meetings Package, inclusive of Continental Breakfast, Lunch, AM and PM breaks; arranging for Audio/Visual equipment; preparing name badges and table tents; reproducing meeting materials and assembling member and staff notebooks; designing and developing conference signage; providing on-site registration, oversight, and liaise with the hotel; preparing draft and final meeting minutes; paying vendors; and submitting a final progress report.

Health Resources And Services Administration (HRSA)
Office Of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Grant Programs
September 2006 – September 2013

Within HRSA are offices and programs established to promote improved health care for Americans living in Rural Areas. These programs and collaboratives provide a network of professionals to support rural service providers and bolster rural community healthcare delivery systems. Established in 1987, the Office of Rural Health Care Policy (ORHP) informs and advises the Department on matters affecting rural hospitals and health care, coordinates activities within the Department that relate to rural health care, and maintains a national information clearinghouse. Quality Support currently provides professional technical and evaluation assistance, and logistical, conference management, and administrative support for the ORHP Grant Programs. Working with the Project Officer and HRSA staff, we were responsible for planning and oversight of the annual conferences for each of the grant programs, including defining and identifying meeting agendas, invitee invitation, designing and mailing conference materials, communication with attendees and speakers, procuring conference facilities, coordinating hotel accommodations, travel support, expense reimbursement for speakers and consultants, payment of honorarium, per diem, and other support services. We coordinated conference calls, produced grantee reports, summaries, and directories of grantees, and updated and maintained grantee directories and final report Sourcebooks of grantee reports. We provided on-site support including secretarial support, message handling, registration and information, and computer and Audio/Visual equipment. We administered evaluation forms and provided analyses of collected data, with recommendations for future activities.

Health Resources And Services Administration (HRSA)
Maternal And Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and the Division of
Healthy Start and Perinatal Services (DHSPS)
Lessons Learned from the Depression and Violence Prevention Grants
September 2006 – September 24, 2011

Quality Support, Inc. provided technical and logistical expertise to outline methodologies and developed tools to abstract the key purposes, goals, objectives, findings, and recommendation contained in progress and annual reports submitted by Technical Assistance (TA) contractors and grantees working to promote and improve the health of our Nation’s mothers and children. Tasks included the organization and summarization of data collected for use in the formulation of a final report that included screening and intervention practices and recommendations for dissemination of finds and future discretionary programs to advance public health knowledge and practice in perinatal risk reduction. Quality Support, Inc. convened meetings with representatives from 61 grants and three technical assistance contracts to present draft reports and affects possible edits. Quality Support, Inc.’s project analyst and meeting facilitator have more than 30 years of experience in developing, managing, evaluating, and providing consultation to federal, state, and local programs in the areas of public health, research, cultural affairs , and education. We drafted the agenda for the synthesis meeting, presented aggregate data, described methodology utilized, and facilitated group discussions to solicit additions, deletions, changes, and edits. Additionally, our staff provided logistical and administrative support for grant review meetings including coordination of venues, facilities, food and beverage, audio-visual requirements, transcription services, etc. We prepared a final report to present the developed abstraction tool, data extracted, and data compiled, which included significant screening and intervention practices, relevant recommendations for both dissemination of findings, as well as future discretionary programs to advance public health knowledge and practice in perinatal risk reduction.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
National Survey of Children’s Health and the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs
September 2006 – January 31, 2011

Quality Support provided technical and logistical expertise to the Maternal and Children’s Health Bureau (MCHB) as it developed and analyzed the 2007 version of the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), analyzed the data gathered through the FY 2005 version of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN); and developed the 2009 version. We employed the services of an expert doctorate Project Analyst who has experience with both the MCHB and the NS-CSHCN program and research. Our staff proposed domains of survey content analysis; convened panels of technical experts in programming, researched, survey design, service delivery, and customer needs to assist in the development of the program analysis; as well as developed methods of collaboration with State Title V Directors for individual state analysis. We also provided logistical, administrative, and facilitation support to conduct meetings and conference calls of the NS-CSHCN Analysis Plan Expert Panel and the NSCH Development Expert Panel. Our staff was responsible for assisting MCHB and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in the conceptualization, table and chart specification, and design review of up to four chart books of information from the NS-CSHCN using six months of data to develop the structure of the chart books and work with MCHB and NCHS staffs to analyze and disseminate the information contained in the surveys.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Office of Women’s Health / Division of Transplantation (DOT)
Gift of Life Donation Initiative / Workplace Partnership for Life (Wpfl) Campaign
Workplace Partnership, Train the Trainers Workshops
September 2006 – February 2011

In support of the WPFL program and training workshops, Quality Support, Inc. provided professional logistical, administrative, technical, and conference management support. We coordinated meetings in three different regions, which included securing meeting and lodging facilities, inviting and registering presenters and attendees, managing travel and other logistics requirements, developing conference materials, and coordinating audio-visual and other necessary equipment. Our staff arranged conference calls with the planning committees and, established project objectives and input from these committee meetings, prepared draft agendas for each workshop, including formats and contents, for distribution to the meeting attendees. Prepared monthly progress reports. Processed participant reimbursements.

Health Resources And Services Administration (HRSA)
National Primary Oral Health Care Conference (NPOHC)
September 2006 – June 2007

Quality Support, Inc. provided professional logistical, administrative, technical, and conference management support for HRSA’s Health Disparities Collaborative and the Annual National Primary Oral Health Care Conference. This five-day conference, which attracted close to 400 attendees, was held at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 10 – 14, 2006, and created an opportunity for BPHC-funded programs, oral health care leaders, health partners, and other public and private programs to 1) learn strategies developed in the HRSA Health Disparities Collaborative Oral Health Care Pilot Program involving improvement in prevention and care outcomes for young children and prenatal patients, 2) share best practices information and ideas for creating new access to oral health care services, expand capacity in existing health care centers, and link local resources integration of Oral Health into the HRSA Health Disparities Collaborative, and 3) create an environment that assures quality and increases access to oral health care delivery systems. Working with HRSA staff, Quality Support was responsible for planning and oversight of the conference, including defining and identifying meeting agendas, and identifying and securing the venue which included an exhibitor/trade show area, general session and break-out rooms, and lodging accommodations. We coordinated a call for abstracts and provided the collected abstracts to the Project Officer for review and selection, based on established criteria. We developed and maintained a web-based registration system, with links to the conference co-sponsor (NNOHA’s) website, and were responsible for managing invitee invitation and confirmation, designing, preparing, and delivering (via mail and on-site) conference materials, communication with attendees and speakers, preparing signage, coordinating hotel accommodations, travel support, expense reimbursement, payment of honoraria, per diem, and travel for invited speakers, and other support services. We provided on-site support including secretarial support, message handling, registration and information, and computer and Audio/Visual equipment, as well as Audio/Visual technicians. We posted “best practices” presentations and abstracts on conference website and notified participants of their availability. The conference began with a session on oral health leadership/management for new oral health programs, as well as a review of previous programs. The participants attended educational sessions, an Expo showcasing vendors and their products and services, and a Welcome Reception. Participants were also treated to a tour of the Arizona School of Dentistry. Quality Support administered evaluation forms and provided analyses of data, with recommendations for future activities.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Bureau of Health Professions (BHPR)
All Grantees Meeting
September 2006 - June 2007

Quality Support, Inc. provided logistical, administrative, and technical support to organize BHPr’s All Grantees Conference and related Planning Committee Meetings. The purpose of the All Grantee Meeting was to launch a major initiative to implement BHPr’s Performance Measurement System and address other issues pertaining to BHPr programs. Working with the Project Officer and HRSA staff, we were responsible for defining and identifying meeting agendas; invitee invitation; designing and mailing conference materials; communication with attendees and speakers; procuring conference facilities; coordinating hotel accommodations; travel support; expense reimbursement for speakers and consultants; payment of honoraria; per diem; and other support services. We provided note taking and transcription for each meeting and delivered reports to the Project Officer, as well as to the Core Planning Committee. For the All Grantee Meeting, we arranged for plenary session for 1,700 people and 22 breakout rooms at the selected hotel site. We arranged and paid for travel and hotel rooms for speakers, as well as arranged for and monitored a room block for 1450 attendees. Utilizing a web-based registration system, we sent invitations and confirmed attendance. We coordinated, prepared, and oversaw setup of all Audio/Visual requirements for the plenary and break-out sessions and, working with the A/V support staff at the conference facility, provided all necessary equipment including LCD projectors, microphones, slide projectors, overhead projectors, podiums and flip charts for all rooms as needed. Quality Support also coordinated an Exhibit area large enough to accommodate 100 exhibits of varying size. We provided on-site support including secretarial support, message handling, registration and information, and computer and A/V equipment. We administered evaluation forms and provided analyses of collected data, with recommendations for future activities.

National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director
Records Management and Administrative Support Services
October 2001 – June 2002

Our on-site staff of more than 20 full-time personnel provided professional records management, administrative, management support, and courier services. Our staff maintained more than 20,000 Official Personnel Folders in accordance with OPM guidelines for several agencies within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to include the following: National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); National Cancer Institute (NCI); Office of Human Resource Management (OHRM); Clinical Center (CC); National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); and the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Office of Field Operations
Conference Support Services
September 1998 – September 1999

Quality Support, Inc. provided on and off-site conference support services to the Office of Field Operations, HRSA, DHHS, that included but were not limited to work plan formulation, conference invitation process and registration requirements; hotel and conference room arrangements; graphic art, design, and duplicating services in support of brochure development; correspondence preparation and dissemination; and completion of Power Point presentations. Travel to and from conference locations at nine cities across the United States were arranged, and Quality Support maintained conference desks and automated lists of attendees, and provided detailed after-action reports.

Agency for Healthcare, Research, and Quality (AHRQ)
Mailing and Support Services, Database Management, and Administrative Support
October 1997 - April 2003

Supporting the User Liaison Program (ULP) of the AHRQ's Center for Health Information Dissemination (CHID), Quality Support, Inc. personnel utilized Paradox 8.0 database tools and other software applications to disseminate information to the targeted constituency. Quality Support Inc.’s Database Management Team maintained a critical database of state and local health officials, legislators, Governors' staff, executive branch officials, health care consumers, purchasers, and practitioners. Mass-mailings, electronic events calendar maintenance, report compilation, and graphic art and design services were also provided on a regular basis.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Division of Disadvantaged Assistance
Conference Support Services
September - October 1997

Quality Support, Inc. provided logistical, management and administrative support for the Technical Assistance Workshops held in Rockville, MD, Atlanta, GA, Houston, TX, and Los Angeles, CA. We designed and disseminated invitational materials, workshop presentations, workbooks, and brochures. We received all invitation responses and compiled attendance rosters for each location, and procured presentation equipment. All hotel, banquet, and meeting space requirements were arranged by Quality Support. Additionally, we maintained the registration desk and provided post-conference information.