AudBase

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	AudBase is an audiometric software that allows audiologists to collect, store, share, query, print, and export clinical audiometric data. This technology can integrate with Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems to provide raw data and reports of the audio data to users across the EMR system. Additionally, AudBase is used to collect data from audiometric instruments, such as audiometers and tympanometers, which are used by audiologists. This technology utilizes a proprietary database. Note: This technology does not have a dedicated webpage.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology has not been assessed by the Section 508 Office. The Implementer of this technology has the responsibility to ensure the version deployed is 508-compliant. Section 508 compliance may be reviewed by the Section 508 Office and appropriate remedial action required if necessary. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v24.5
Decision Date:	05/28/2024 at 19:13:17 UTC
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	AudSoft, Inc.

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
3.0.x	09/01/2017

Current Decision Matrix (05/15/2024)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2020

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Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

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Q1

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Q1

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3.0.x

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 3]

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 3, 4]

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 5, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 5, 6, 7]

Decision Constraints


[1]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[2]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[3]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[4]	IPR Additional Constraints: Per the Initial Product Review, users must abide by the following constraints: System owners must ensure VA policies are followed for data in transit and at rest protections are in place for this product. System owners must verify with the vendor the application and database are patched and up to date. Vendor explained that a process can be created that will copy audit logs to a different system or media for audit purposes.

[5]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[6]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[7]	IPR Additional Constraints: Per the Initial Product Review, users must abide by the following constraints: System owners must ensure VA policies are followed for data in transit and at rest protections are in place for this product with FIPS 140-2 certified encryption where applicable. System owners must verify with the vendor the application and database are patched and up to date. Vendor explained that a process can be created that will copy audit logs to a different system or media for audit purposes.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 3.0.18.30 is the most current version, released 02/01/2020.

A standard configuration of this technology was developed by the DDE team. At the time of writing, the standard version is 3.0.0.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
4D Database Management System (DBMS)	AudBase is built on top of 4D DBMS, and uses it for storing data. Access to 4D is restricted to the vendor and requires authentication. The application and 4D are rolled into a single installation with minimal to no access to the user. It is maintained and patched by the vendor.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Health Care Administrative	Health Delivery Support
Health Care Health Services	Rehabilitation Services

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Microsoft Edge. - (required for some configurations)
NOAH
Visual C++ Redistributable Package

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this technology.
The vendor asserts this technology supports Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations and protects patient security and confidentiality.
This is a well-documented technology.

Adoption Risks

Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
This technology can integrate with and alter database technologies.
There is no indication based on either the vendor documentation or the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) that this technology is Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.
The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.
AudBase uses the 4D Database Management System (DBMS) for storing information in its database. Database FIPS 140-2 compliance must be provided by the platform and is not native to 4D DBMS. Access to the database is restricted to the vendor and requires authentication. The application and database are rolled into a single installation with minimal to no access to the user. It is maintained and patched by the vendor.
Previous versions of the Audbase client were found to install Visual C++ 2012 which is listed as Divest on the VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) v24.5. According to correspondence with the vendor the latest version of Audbase,v3.0.018.45a or greater, will run with only the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version 14.38.33135.0 installed. (x64).

Architectural Benefits

This technology is compatible with multiple other Technical Reference Model (TRM) technologies and standards used by the organization.
This technology supports Health Level Seven (HL7) to reduce transcription errors.

Architectural Risks

This technology is not portable as it runs only on Windows platforms.
This technology does not use a VA-preferred database to store data.

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Current Decision Matrix (05/15/2024)

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Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

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Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

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Architectural Benefits

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