NOAH

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:	NOAH is a software product and a mobile/tablet application developed by the Hearing Instrument Manufacturers` Software Association (HIMSA) to allow hearing care health care professionals to combine measurement and fitting modules from many different suppliers into one integrated system. NOAH uses a Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server database to transmit and store data. The Microsoft SQL Server database can act as a centralized database which has the potential to interface with other VA systems which could allow for the data to be manipulated. The usage of a database with NOAH is optional, and the data can also be stored on a user`s local hard drive. It is unknown if the data stored on the database is encrypted; however, individual user logins and associated privileges are available. This entry covers the Desktop Edition of this technology and not any mobile versions. Please note that the implementation of mobile technology applications that operate on Mobile Operating Systems 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 been assessed by the Section 508 Office and found non-conformant. 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. Please see reference tab for more information concerning product versions.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v23.12
Decision Date:	12/11/2023 at 20:10:31 UTC
Introduced By:	SCCM
Vendor Name:	HIMSA

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 Desupport Date
1
1.06
1.1
1.6
2
3		09/30/2013
3.6
3.7
4.0	06/01/2011	10/30/2013
4.1	10/01/2011	01/30/2014
4.2	06/01/2012	10/30/2014
4.3	01/01/2013	01/30/2016
4.4	01/03/2014
4.5.x	01/31/2016
4.7.x	11/30/2016
4.8.x	11/01/2017
4.9.x	05/30/2018
4.10.x	04/01/2019
4.12.x	06/01/2019
4.14.x
4.15.x	06/01/2023

Current Decision Matrix (12/06/2023)

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

CY2021

CY2022

CY2023

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

4.0

Unapproved

4.1

Unapproved

4.2

Unapproved

4.3

Unapproved

4.4

Unapproved

4.5.x

Unapproved

4.7.x

Unapproved

4.8.x

Divest
[5, 8, 9, 10]

Divest
[5, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Unapproved

4.9.x

Divest
[5, 8, 9, 10]

Divest
[5, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Unapproved

4.10.x

Divest
[5, 8, 9, 10]

Divest
[5, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Unapproved

4.12.x

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 8, 9, 10]

Divest
[5, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Divest
[5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]

Unapproved

4.14.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]

Approved w/Constraints
[5, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18]

4.15.x

Unapproved

Decision Constraints


[1]	Projects using this technology must meet Veterans Affairs (VA) Directive 6500 and implement Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS 199) for all laptop devices and National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 for all desktop devices when VA sensitive information is involved, or additional mitigating controls must be documented in an approved System Security Plan (SSP) to prevent potential disclosure of PII/PHI data. Additionally, projects which interface with external VA partners must have a Memorandum of Understanding and Interconnection Security Agreements (MOU/ISA), which detail the security requirements for users and systems that share information and resources outside of the VA production network.

[2]	As of April 23, 2015, per the Deputy CIO of Architecture, Strategy and Design (ASD), all technologies in use by the VA require an assessment by the VA Section 508 office. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 is a federal law that sets the guidelines for technology accessibility. A VA Section 508 assessment of this technology has not been completed at the time of publication. Therefore, as of April 23, 2015 only users of this technology who have deployed the technology to the production environment, or have project design and implementation plans approved, may continue to operate this technology. In the case of a project that has implemented, or been approved for a specific site or number of users, and that project needs to expand operations to other sites or to an increased user base, it may do so as long as the project stays on the existing version of the technology that was approved or implemented as of April 22, 2015. Use of this technology in all other cases is prohibited.

[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]	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).

[5]	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.

[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]	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.

[8]	Users must ensure that Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server and Microsoft Internet Explorer are implemented with VA-approved baselines. (refer to the ‘Category’ tab under ‘Runtime Dependencies’)

[9]	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.

[10]	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).

[11]	Users must ensure that Google Chrome, Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server and Microsoft Internet Explorer are implemented with VA-approved baselines. (refer to the ‘Category’ tab under ‘Runtime Dependencies’) Users must Divest the use of Internet Explorer with this technology. Other approved internet browsers are available. See Category Tab for details.

[12]	New installations or major expansions of this technology that transmit data over the VA Wide Area Network (WAN) must complete a WAN impact review (yourIT Service Portal:[SNOW Service Requests]) prior to implementation to ensure proper compliance to VA network design and usage requirements.

[13]	NOAH is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified. This technology will require third party FIPS 140-2 certified solution for any data containing PHI/PII or VA sensitive information. Users must utilize approved internet browsers, as Microsoft Internet Explorer has reached End of Life status. See Category Tab for details. Users must ensure that Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Sever is implemented with VA-approved baselines. (Refer to the ‘Category’ tab under ‘Runtime Dependencies’)

[14]	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 ISSO (Information System Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[15]	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 System Security Officer (ISSO) 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).

[16]	This product includes a Bluetooth capability. If that capability is leveraged, the implementer must conform to the Bluetooth Standard. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISSO (Information System Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[17]	Users must utilize approved internet browsers, as Microsoft Internet Explorer has reached End of Life status. See Category Tab for details. Users must ensure that Google, Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Sever are implemented with VA-approved baselines. (Refer to the ‘Category’ tab under ‘Runtime Dependencies’)

[18]	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 ISSO (Information System Security Officer) to ensure compliance with both VA Handbook 6500 and VA Directive 6500.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 4.15.0 is the most current version.

A standard configuration of this technology was developed by the DDE team. At the time of writing, the baseline version is 4.14.1 (4.02.0000).

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Description
Vendor Provided*	Upgrading to Noah System 4.15	This webpage provides the download link for this version of the software.
Vendor Provided*	Noah System	This webpage provides information on how to install and upgrade the software.
Vendor Provided*	Noah 4 Knowledgebase	This webpage provides links to documentation for the software.
Vendor Provided*	Minimum system requirements for Noah System 4	This webpage provides information on the system requirements for this software.
Vendor Provided*	Preparing for Noah System 4	This webpage provides more information to prepare for use of this software.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

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
Audiogram Module	The Audiogram Module is a free Noah module for Noah 4 owners, released in October 2017.
Journal Module	The Journal Module is a free Noah module for Noah 4 owners, released in May 2019.
Questionnaire Module	The Audiogram Module is a free Noah module for Noah 4 owners, Released in March 2019.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

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

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

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

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Microsoft .NET Framework
Microsoft Edge. - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This is a well-documented technology.
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 product is modular, allowing it to be customized to the needs of the organization.
This technology supports both standalone and network configurations, and integrates with multiple approved TRM technologies.
There are minimal other TRM-approved technologies that provide the same functionality.
This vendor stated that modules used with this technology are Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.

Adoption Risks

This technology involves the use Bluetooth connections and proper security precautions must be taken when used.
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 may transmit data over the VA Wide Area Network (WAN).
This technology can integrate with and alter database technologies.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, a dependency of this technology, is in End of Life status and must no longer be used.
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.

Architectural Benefits

This product can be extended with additional modules and is compatible with various audiological measurement systems.
This technology is compatible with multiple other Technical Reference Model (TRM) technologies and standards used by the organization.

Architectural Risks

This technology is not portable as it runs only on Windows platforms.

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Decision Constraints

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Technology Components

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Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

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Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

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VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

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Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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