Vecna VA Patient Self Service Solution

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:	The Vecna Veterans Affairs (VA) Patient Self Service Solution allows patient accessible kiosks to interact with Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA). The purpose of the solution is to streamline and improve patient clinical and administrative processes and to provide standard self-service functionalities for patients and employees to access and update information and perform business transactions. Please note that there is no specific product page for this technology and thus the vendor webpage is used in its place. This technology utilizes a proprietary vendor database that accesses local site VistA data via direct Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs). This technology may be deployed as a desktop or mobile solution. This entry covers the Desktop Edition of this technology and not any mobile versions. Please note that the implementation of mobile technology application that operates on Mobile Operating System must be reviewed and approved by the Mobile Technology and Endpoint Security Engineering Team: http://vaww.eie.va.gov/SysDesign/CS/MT/default.aspx.
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 v24.1
Decision Date:	01/11/2024 at 17:00:48 UTC
Aliases:	VetLink; Patient Information Exchange
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	Vecna Technologies, 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
5.2.x
5.3	03/27/2014
5.3.2	06/27/2014
5.3.3	09/12/2014
5.5.3.x	07/31/2017

Current Decision Matrix (01/05/2024)

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

CY2021

CY2022

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

5.2.x

Unapproved

5.3

Unapproved

5.3.2

Unapproved

5.3.3

Unapproved

5.5.3.x

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 6, 7]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 8, 9]

Approved w/Constraints
[4, 8, 9, 10]

Decision Constraints


[1]	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.

[2]	The solution must be operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines. The software component patch schedule is controlled by the solution vendor. Individual software updates should not be applied without vendor approval and direction.

[3]	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.

[4]	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.

[5]	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).

[6]	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.

[7]	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).

[8]	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.

[9]	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).

[10]	This product can be configured with a PostgreSQL Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms. If PostgreSQL is selected for use with this product, these factors must be considered especially when an instance of this product will be considered a Moderate or High-Risk system. See PostgreSQL Database TRM entry for more details.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 5.5.3.6.1.22 is the most current version, released 12/08/2023.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
There are no references identified for this entry.

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
Vecna Central Authentication Service (vCas)	This component provides solution-specific single sign-on (SSO) functionality for the other components of this technology. Additionally, this component may integrate with VistA.
Vecna Kiosk Services	This component is a custom service that interacts with VistA through Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs).
Vecna Peripherals	This component is used to communicate with the devices attached to the kiosk, including monitor, touchscreen, barcode scanner, card reader, proximity sensor.
Vecna Pulse	This component establishes a service that automatically monitors the health and performance of the Patient Self Service Solution.
Vecna Survey	This component presents surveys to patients.
Vecna Third Party Reports Framework (TPRF)	This component is a reporting framework that allows users to run reports on Vista. Custom reports may be run on the kiosk database.
Vecna UserAdmin	This component supports user administration including role and group management.
Vecna Workflows	This component defines the kiosk screen flow and is used for the management of modules available to patients. This component allows users to enable and disable modules presented to patients and to configure site-based customization as well as other configuration settings such as kiosks, kiosk groups, and clinics. This includes Intelligent Queuing that combines visual and audio paging for administrative oversight and convenient and discreet patient summoning.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Application Technology User Interface	Web UI Framework
Health Care Administrative	Health Delivery Support
Health Care Health Services	Primary Care

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Microsoft Excel - (required for some configurations)
PostgreSQL

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Kiosks in general may reduce the need for staff to perform transactions that customers would otherwise be willing to perform on their own. This may improve process efficiencies by allowing increased processing during peak bandwith periods without requiring significant increases in staff. Patient satisfaction may improve due to reduced waiting times for certain services.
This solution provides configurable application modules that can be customized to the facility or clinic. Combinations of approved applications can be employed based on the location of a kiosk within the facility. Examples of modules include those to support administrative information review/update, appointment check-in, clinical surveys or post appointment patient satisfaction surveys.
Use of this product may help improve the security posture of the organization as this product provides multiple security controls such as security mats, proximity sensors, card readers, biometric devices, and authenticated login processes.
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 solution may provide clinical benefits including improved patient engagement, medication and allergy review, prescription refill, effective utilization of patient waiting time, and electronic questionnaires and screens toward improved health and wellness.

Adoption Risks

The potential for vendor lock exists due to this software’s sole compatibility with proprietary vendor-supplied equipment.
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.
There is no indication based on available vendor documentation that this technology is Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.
There is limited publicly available technical documentation for this technology.
This technology can integrate with and alter database technologies.
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 product can be configured with a PostgreSQL Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms.

Architectural Benefits

This technology can be fully integrated with the Veterans Health Information Systems.

Architectural Risks

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

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