70632 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 227 / Friday, November 24, 2000 / Notices

1The Board will grant a stay if an informed

decision on environmental issues (whether raised

by a party or by the Board’s Section of

Environmental Analysis in its independent

investigation) cannot be made before the

exemption’s effective date. See Exemption of Outof-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any

request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible

so that the Board may take appropriate action before

the exemption’s effective date.

2Each offer of financial assistance must be

accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is

set at $1000. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

expression of intent to file an offer of

financial assistance (OFA) has been

received, these exemptions will be

effective on December 26, 2000, unless

stayed pending reconsideration.

Petitions to stay that do not involve

environmental issues,1 formal

expressions of intent to file an OFA

under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),2 and trail

use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR

1152.29 must be filed by December 4,

2000. Petitions to reopen or requests for

public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by December 14,

2000, with: Surface Transportation

Board, Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20423.

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicants’

representatives: James P. Gatlin, General

Attorney, Union Pacific Railroad

Company, 1416 Dodge Street, Room

830, Omaha, NE 68179; and Richard A.

Allen, Zuckert Scoutt & Rasenberger,

LLP, 888 17th Street, NW., Suite 700,

Washington, DC 20006. If the verified

notice contains false or misleading

information, the exemption is void ab

initio.

UP and AGCR have filed an

environmental report which addresses

the effects of the abandonment and

discontinuance, if any, on the

environment and historic resources. The

Section of Environmental Analysis

(SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) by December 1, 2000.

Interested persons may obtain a copy of

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500,

Surface Transportation Board,

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling

SEA, at (202) 565–1545. Comments on

environmental and historic preservation

matters must be filed within 15 days

after the EA becomes available to the

public.

Environmental, historic preservation,

public use, or trail use/rail banking

conditions will be imposed, where

appropriate, in a subsequent decision.

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR

1152.29(e)(2), UP shall file a notice of

consummation with the Board to signify

that it has exercised the authority

granted and fully abandoned the line. If

consummation has not been effected by

UP’s filing of a notice of consummation

by November 24, 2001, and there are no

legal or regulatory barriers to

consummation, the authority to

abandon will automatically expire.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

‘‘WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.’’

Decided: November 15, 2000.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–29729 Filed 11–22–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Domestic Finance

Notice of Open Meeting of the

Advisory Committee, U.S. Community

Adjustment and Investment Program

The Department of the Treasury,

pursuant to the North American Free

Trade Agreement (‘‘NAFTA’’)

Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103–182)

(the ‘‘Act’’), established an advisory

committee (the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’)

for the community adjustment and

investment program (the ‘‘Program’’)

authorized by the Act. The Program

provides financing to create or preserve

jobs in communities adversely impacted

by NAFTA. The charter of the Advisory

Committee has been filed inaccordance

with the Federal Advisory Committee

Act of October 6, 1972 (Pub. L. 92–463),

with the approval of the Secretary of the

Treasury.

The Advisory Committee consists of

eight members of the public, appointed

by the President, who collectively

represent: (1) Community groups whose

constituencies include low-income

families; (2) scientific, professional,

business, nonprofit, or public interest

organizations or associations, which are

neither affiliated with, nor under the

direction of, a government; and (3) forprofit business interests.

The objectives of the Advisory

Committee are to: (1) Provide informed

advice to the President regarding the

implementation of the Program; and (2)

review on a regular basis, the operation

of the Program, and provide the

President with the conclusions of its

review. Pursuant to Executive Order No.

12916, dated May 13, 1994, the

President established an interagency

Finance Committee to implement the

Program and to receive, on behalf of the

President, advice of the Advisory

Committee. The Finance Committee is

chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury

or his designated representative.

A meeting of the Advisory Committee,

which will be open to the public, will

be held in Washington, D.C. at the

Marriott Hotel at Metro Center, 775 12th

Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20005

(Tel. 202–737–2200) from 9 a.m. to 3

p.m. on Monday, December 11, 2000.

The exact location of the meeting room

will be posted in the hotel lobby on the

day of the meeting. The meeting room

will accommodate approximately 50

persons and seating is available on a

first-come, first-serve basis, unless space

has been reserved in advance. Due to

limited seating, prospective attendees

are encouraged to contact the person

listed below prior to December 5, 2000.

The purpose of the meeting is to

review the operations of the Program,

and to provide the Finance Committee

with advice regarding the conclusions of

its review and other implementation

issues. Specifically, the meeting would

review the recent status of, and

anticipated activities of, the three

Program components, namely, the

federal agency program, the direct loan

program, and the grant program.

If you would like to have the

Advisory Committee consider a written

statement, material must be submitted

to the U.S. Community Adjustment and

Investment Program, Advisory

Committee, Department of the Treasury,

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room

5017, Washington, D.C. 20220 no later

than December 5, 2000. If you have any

questions, please call Jean Whaley at

(202) 622–0741 (Please note that this

telephone number is not toll-free.)

Harry M. Haigood,

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Government

Financial Policy.

[FR Doc. 00–29962 Filed 11–22–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–35–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Privacy Act of 1974; System of

Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs

(VA).

ACTION: Notice of amendment to system

of records.

SUMMARY: The Privacy Act of 1974 (5

U.S.C. 552(e)(4)) requires that all

agencies publish in the Federal Register

a notice of the existence and character

of their systems of records. Notice is

hereby given that VA is amending the

system of records currently entitled

‘‘Decentralized Hospital Computer

Program (DHCP) Medical Management

Records’’ (79VA162) as set forth in the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 227 / Friday, November 24, 2000 / Notices 70633

Federal Register 56 FR 6048. VA is

amending the system by revising the

System Name and number and the

paragraphs for System Location,

Categories of Records in the System,

Authority for Maintenance of the

System, Routine Uses of Records

Maintained in the System, and System

Manager. The change in name will more

accurately identify the system and the

change in number will reflect

organizational changes. VA is

republishing the system notice in its

entirety.

DATES: Comments on the amendment of

this system of records must be received

no later than December 26, 2000. If no

public comment is received, the new

system will become effective December

26, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments

concerning the amendment to this

system of records may be submitted to

the Office of Regulations Management

(02D), Department of Veterans Affairs,

810 Vermont Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20420. Comments will

be available for public inspection at the

above address in the Office of

Regulations Management, Room 1158,

between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30

p.m., Monday through Friday (except

holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Privacy Act Officer, Department of

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20420, telephone

(727) 320–1839.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The name

and number of the system is changed

from ‘‘Decentralized Hospital Computer

Program (DHCP) Medical Management

Records-VA’’ (79VA162) to the

‘‘Veterans Health Information Systems

and Technology Architecture (VistA)

Records-VA’’ (79VA19). The change in

name will more accurately reflect the

new, open system, client-server based

environment and the change in system

number will reflect organizational

changes. The System Location was

amended to reflect the current

organization structure with Veterans

Integrated Service Network Offices

having replaced Regional Director

Offices. Categories of Records in the

System were amended to add five new

types of records maintained in VistA.

The Authority for Maintenance of the

System was amended to reflect current

codification of the statute. The System

Manager was amended to reflect

organization changes.

Background

In the 1980s the Veterans Health

Administration (VHA) developed an

electronic health care architecture

called the Decentralized Hospital

Computer Program (DHCP) that was

comprised of software applications that

were integrated into a complete hospital

information system primarily for

hospital-based activities. DHCP was

installed at VA medical facilities to

provide comprehensive support for

clinical and administrative needs and

for VA-wide management information.

By 1990, VHA upgraded computer

capacity at all medical facilities and

implemented software on a national

scale that supported integrated health

care delivery. In 1996, VHA introduced

the Veterans Health Information

Systems and Technology Architecture

(VistA), a client-server architecture that

tied together workstations and personal

computers and supported the day-to-day

operations at all health care facilities.

The purpose of the system of records

is to provide a repository for the

administrative information that is used

to accomplish the purposes described.

The records include information

provided by applicants for employment,

employees, volunteers, trainees,

contractors and subcontractors,

consultants, maintenance personnel,

students, patients, and information

obtained in the course of routine work

done. Quality assurance information

that is protected by 38 U.S.C. 7311 and

38 CFR 17.500–17.511 is not within the

scope of the Privacy Act and, therefore,

is not included in this system of records

or filed in a manner in which the

information may be retrieved by

reference to an individual identifier.

Data stored in VistA is used to

prepare various management, tracking

and follow-up reports that are used to

assist in the management and operation

of the health care facility, and the

planning and delivery of patient

medical care. Data may be used to track

and evaluate patient care services; the

distribution and utilization of resources;

and the performance of vendors and

employees. The data may also be used

for such purposes as scheduling

employees’ tours of duty and for

scheduling patient treatment services

including nursing care, clinic

appointments, surveys, diagnostic and

therapeutic procedures. Data may also

be used to track the ordering, delivery,

maintenance and repair of equipment

and for follow-up to determine if the

actions were accomplished and to

evaluate the results.

Routine use disclosures have been

added, as described below, to enable

efficient administration and operation of

health care facilities and to assist in the

planning and delivery of patient

medical care:

• Routine use twenty-three (23) states

the social security number, universal

personal identification number and

other identifying information of a health

care provider may be disclosed to a

third party where the third party

requires the agency to provide that

information before it will pay for

medical care provided by VA. VA,

under Public Law 99–272, is required to

recover costs for medical services in

certain circumstances provided to the

veteran from the veteran’s third party

insurance carrier. Third party insurance

carriers may require VA to provide the

social security number(s) of the health

care provider(s) before reimbursing VA

for medical services rendered.

• Routine use twenty-four (24) states

relevant information may be disclosed

to individuals, organizations, private or

public agencies, etc., with whom VA

has a contract or agreement to perform

such services as VA may deem practical

for the purposes of laws administered

by VA, in order for the contractor to

perform the services of the contract or

agreement. This routine use is being

added to allow for the disclosure of

information to contractors when

performing an agency function. VA

must be able to share information with

contractors.

• Routine use twenty-five (25) allows

disclosure of relevant health care

information to individuals or

organizations (private or public) with

whom VA has a contract or sharing

agreement for the provision of health

care, administrative or financial

services. VA must be able to share

information with other organizations

participating in the care of veterans.

The notice of intent to publish and an

advance copy of the system notice have

been sent to the appropriate

Congressional committees and to the

Director of Office of Management and

Budget (OMB), as required by 5 U.S.C.

552a(r) (Privacy Act) and guidelines

issued by OMB (61 FR 6428), February

20, 1996.

Approved: November 8, 2000.

Hershel W. Gober,

Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

79VA19

SYSTEM NAME:

Veterans Health Information Systems

and Technology Architecture (VistA)

Records-VA.

SYSTEM LOCATION:

Records are maintained at each VA

health care facility (in most cases, backup computer tape information is stored

at off-site locations). Address locations

for VA facilities are listed in VA

70634 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 227 / Friday, November 24, 2000 / Notices

Appendix 1. In addition, information

from these records or copies of records

may be maintained at the Department of

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC, VA Data

Processing Centers, VA Chief

Information Officer (CIO) Field Offices,

and Employee education Systems.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM:

The records include information

concerning current and former

employees, applicants for employment,

trainees, contractors, sub-contractors,

contract personnel, students, providers

and consultants, patients and members

of their immediate family, volunteers,

maintenance personnel, as well as

individuals working collaboratively

with VA.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

The records may include information

related to:

1. Workload such as orders entered,

verified, and edited (e.g., engineering

work orders, doctors’ orders for patient

care including nursing care, the

scheduling and delivery of medications,

consultations, radiology, laboratory and

other diagnostic and therapeutic

examinations); results entered; items

checked out and items in use (e.g.,

library books, keys, x-rays, patient

medical records, equipment, supplies,

reference materials); work plans entered

and the subsequent tracking (e.g.,

construction projects, engineering work

orders and equipment maintenance and

repairs assigned to employees and

status, duty schedules, work

assignments, work requirements);

reports of contact with individuals or

groups; employees (including

volunteers) work performance

information (e.g., duties and

responsibilities assigned and completed,

amount of supplies used, time used,

quantity and quality of output,

productivity reports, schedules of

patients assigned and treatment to be

provided);

2. Administrative procedures, duties,

and assignments of certain personnel;

3. Computer access authorizations,

computer applications available and

used, information access attempts,

frequency and time of use; identification

of the person responsible for, currently

assigned, or otherwise engaged in

various categories of patient care or

support of health care delivery; vehicle

registration (motor vehicles and

bicycles) and parking space

assignments; community and special

project participants/attendees (e.g.,

sports events, concerts, National

Wheelchair Games); employee workrelated accidents. The record may

include identifying information (e.g.,

name, date of birth, age, sex, social

security number, taxpayer identification

number); address information (e.g.,

home and/or mailing address, home

telephone number, emergency contact

information such as name, address,

telephone number, and relationship);

information related to training (e.g.,

security, safety, in-service), education

and continuing education (e.g., name

and address of schools and dates of

attendance, courses attended and

scheduled to attend, grades, type of

degree, certificate, etc.); information

related to military service and status;

qualifications for employment (e.g.,

license, degree, registration or

certification, experience); vehicle

information (e.g., type make, model,

license and registration number);

evaluation of clinical and/or technical

skills; services or products purchased

(e.g., vendor name and address, details

about and/or evaluation of service or

product, price, fee, cost, dates

purchased and delivered, employee

workload and productivity data);

employee work-related injuries (cause,

severity, type of injury, body part

affected);

4. Financial information, such as

service line and clinic budgets,

projected and actual costs;

5. Supply information, such as

services, materials and equipment

ordered;

6. Abstract information (e.g., data

warehouses, environmental and

epidemiological registries, etc.) is

maintained in auxiliary paper and

automated records;

7. Electronic messages; and

8. The social security number and

universal personal identification

number of health care providers.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

Title 38, United States Code, section

7301(a).

PURPOSE(S):

The records and information may be

used for statistical analysis to produce

various management, workload tracking

and follow-up reports; to track and

evaluate the ordering and delivery of

equipment, services and patient care;

the planning, distribution and

utilization of resources; the possession

and/or use of equipment or supplies; the

performance of vendors, equipment, and

employees; and to provide clinical and

administrative support to patient

medical care. The data may be used for

research purposes. The data may be

used also for such purposes as assisting

in the scheduling of tours of duties and

job assignments of employees; the

scheduling of patient treatment services,

including nursing care, clinic

appointments, surgery, diagnostic and

therapeutic procedures; the repair and

maintenance of equipment and for

follow-up to determine that the actions

were accomplished and to evaluate the

results; the registration of vehicles and

the assignment and utilization of

parking spaces; to plan, schedule, and

maintain rosters of patients, employees

and others attending or participating in

sports, recreational or other events (e.g.,

National Wheelchair Games, concerts,

picnics); for audits, reviews and

investigations conducted by staff of the

health care facility, the Network

Directors Office, VA Central Office, and

the VA Office of Inspector General

(OIG); for quality assurance audits,

reviews, investigations and inspections;

for law enforcement investigations; and

for personnel management, evaluation

and employee ratings, and performance

evaluations.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES:

To the extent that records contained

in the system include information

protected by 38 U.S.C. 7332, i.e.,

medical treatment information related to

drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse,

sickle cell anemia or infection with the

human immunodeficiency virus, that

information cannot be disclosed under a

routine use unless there is also specific

statutory authority permitting

disclosure.

1. In the event that a record

maintained by VA to carry out its

functions indicates a violation or

potential violation of law, whether civil,

criminal or regulatory in nature, and

whether arising by general statute or

particular program statute, or by

regulation, rule or order issued pursuant

thereto, information may be disclosed to

the appropriate agency whether Federal

State, local or foreign, charged with the

responsibility of investigating or

prosecuting such violation or charged

with enforcing or implementing the

statute or rule, regulation or order

issued pursuant thereto.

2. Disclosure may be made to any

source from which additional

information is requested (to the extent

necessary to identify the individual,

inform the source of the purpose(s) of

the request, and to identify the type of

information requested), when necessary

to obtain information relevant to a

Department decision concerning the

hiring or retention of an employee, the

issuance of a security clearance, the

conducting of a security or suitability

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 227 / Friday, November 24, 2000 / Notices 70635

investigation of an individual, the

letting of a contract, or the issuance of

a license, grant, or other benefits.

3. Disclosure may be made to an

agency in the executive, legislative, or

judicial branch, or the District of

Columbia’s government in response to

its request or at the initiation of VA, in

connection with the hiring of an

employee, the issuance of a security

clearance, the conducting of a security

or suitability investigation of an

individual, the letting of a contract, the

issuance of a license, grant, or other

benefits by the requesting agency, or the

lawful statutory, administrative, or

investigative purpose of the agency to

the extent that the information is

relevant and necessary to the requesting

agency’s decision.

4. Disclosure may be made to a

Congressional office from the record of

an individual in response to an inquiry

from the Congressional office made at

the request of that individual.

5. Disclosure may be made to the

National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA) in records

management inspections conducted

under authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and

2906.

6. Disclosure may be made to the

Department of Justice and United States

attorneys in defense or prosecution of

litigation involving the United States,

and to Federal agencies upon their

request in connection with review of

administrative tort claims filed under

the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.

2672.

7. Hiring, performance, or other

personnel-related information may be

disclosed to any facility with which

there is or there is proposed to be an

affiliation, sharing agreement, contract,

or similar arrangement for purposes of

establishing, maintaining, or expanding

any such relationship.

8. Disclosure may be made to a

Federal, State or local government

licensing board and/or to the Federation

of State Medical Boards or a similar

non-government entity which maintains

records concerning individual

employment histories or concerning the

issuance, retention or revocation of

licenses, certifications, or registration

necessary to practice an occupation,

profession or specialty; in order for the

Department to obtain information

relevant to a Department decision

concerning the hiring, retention or

termination of an employee; or to

inform a Federal agency, licensing

boards or the appropriate nongovernment entities about the health

care practices of a terminated, resigned

or retired health care employee whose

professional health care activity so

significantly failed to conform to

generally accepted standards of

professional medical practice as to raise

reasonable concern for the health and

safety of patients receiving medical care

in the private sector or from another

Federal agency. These records may also

be disclosed as part of an ongoing

computer matching program to

accomplish these purposes.

9. For program review purposes, and

the seeking of accreditation and/or

certification, disclosure may be made to

survey teams of the Joint Commission

on Accreditation of Healthcare

Organizations (JCAHO), College of

American Pathologists, American

Association of Blood Banks, and similar

national accreditation agencies or

boards with whom VA has a contract or

agreement to conduct such reviews but

only to the extent that the information

is necessary and relevant to the review.

10. Disclosure may be made to a State

or local government entity or national

certifying body which has the authority

to make decisions concerning the

issuance, retention or revocation of

licenses, certifications or registrations

required to practice a health care

profession, when requested in writing

by an investigator or supervisory official

of the licensing entity or national

certifying body for the purpose of

making a decision concerning the

issuance, retention or revocation of the

license, certification or registration of a

named health care professional.

11. Any information which is relevant

to a suspected violation or reasonably

imminent violation of law, whether

civil, criminal or regulatory in nature

and whether arising by general or

program statute or by regulation, rule or

order issued pursuant thereto, may be

disclosed to a Federal, State, local or

foreign agency charged with the

responsibility of investigating or

prosecuting such violation, rule or order

issued pursuant thereto.

12. Disclosure may be made to

officials of labor organizations under 5

U.S.C. chapter 71 when relevant and

necessary to their duties of exclusive

representation concerning personnel

policies, practices, and matter affecting

working conditions.

13. Disclosure may be made to the

VA-appointed representative of an

employee, including all notices,

determinations, decision, or other

written communications issued to the

employee in connection with an

examination ordered by VA under

medical evaluation (formerly fitness-forduty) examination procedures or

Department-filed disability retirement

procedures.

14. Disclosure may be made to

officials to the Merit Systems Protection

Board, including the Office of the

Special Counsel, when requested in

connection with appeals, special studies

of the civil service and other merit

systems, review of rules and regulations,

investigation of alleged or possible

prohibited personnel practices, and

such other functions, promulgated in 5

U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as may be

authorized by law.

15. Disclosure may be made to the

Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission when requested in

connection with investigations of

alleged or possible discrimination

practices, examination of Federal

affirmative employment programs,

compliance with the Uniform

Guidelines of Employee Selection

Procedures, or other functions vested in

the Commission by the President’s

Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978.

16. Disclosure may be made to the

Federal Labor Relations Authority,

including its General Counsel, when

requested in connection with

investigation and resolution of

allegations of unfair labor practices, in

connection with the resolution of

exceptions to arbitrator awards when a

question of material fact is raised and

matters before the Federal Service

Impasses Panel.

17. Disclosure may be made in

consideration and selection of

employees for incentive awards and

other honors and to publicize those

granted. This may include disclosure to

other public and private organizations,

including news media, which grant or

publicize employee awards or honors.

18. Disclosure may be made to

consider employees for recognition

through administrative and quality step

increases and to publicize those granted.

This may include disclosure to other

public and private organizations,

including news media, which grant or

publicize employee recognition.

19. Identifying information such as

name, address, social security number

and other information as is reasonably

necessary to identify such individual,

may be disclosed to the National

Practitioner Data Bank at the time of

hiring and/or clinical privileging/

reprivileging of health care practitioners

and at other times as deemed necessary

by VA in order for VA to obtain

information relevant to a Department

decision concerning the hiring,

privileging/reprivileging, retention or

termination of the applicant or

employee.

20. Disclosure of relevant information

may be made to the National

Practitioner Data Bank or to a State or

70636 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 227 / Friday, November 24, 2000 / Notices

local government licensing board which

maintains records concerning the

issuance, retention or revocation of

licenses, certifications, or registrations

necessary to practice an occupation,

profession or specialty when under the

following circumstances, through a peer

review process that is undertaken

pursuant to VA policy, negligence,

professional incompetence,

responsibility for improper care, and/or

professional misconduct has been

assigned to a physician or licensed or

certified health care practitioner: (1) On

any payment in settlement (or partial

settlement) of, or in satisfaction of a

judgment in a medical malpractice

action or claim; or, (2) on any final

decision that adversely affects the

clinical privileges of a physician or

practitioner for a period of more than 30

days. These records may also be

disclosed as part of a computer

matching program to accomplish these

purposes.

21. Disclosure of medical record data,

excluding name and address, unless

name and address is furnished by the

requester, may be made to

epidemiological and other research

facilities for research purposes

determined to be necessary and proper,

and approved by the Under Secretary

for Health.

22. Disclosure of name(s) and

address(es) of present or former

personnel of the Armed Services, and/

or their dependents, may be made to: (a)

A Federal department or agency, at the

written request of the head or designee

of that agency; or (b) directly to a

contractor or subcontractor of a Federal

department or agency, for the purpose of

conducting Federal research necessary

to accomplish a statutory purpose of an

agency. When disclosure of this

information is made directly to a

contractor, the VA may impose

applicable conditions on the

department, agency, and/or contractor

to insure the appropriateness of the

disclosure to the contractor.

23. The social security number,

universal personal identification

number and other identifying

information of a health care provider

may be disclosed to a third party where

the third party requires the agency to

provide that information before it will

pay for medical care provided by VA.

24. Relevant information may be

disclosed to individuals, organizations,

private or public agencies, etc., with

whom VA has a contract or agreement

to perform such services as VA may

deem practical for the purposes of laws

administered by VA, in order for the

contractor to perform the services of the

contract or agreement.

25. Disclosure of relevant health care

information may be made to individuals

or organizations (private or public) with

whom VA has a contract or sharing

agreement for the provision of health

care, administrative or financial

services.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING,

RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND

DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

STORAGE:

Records are maintained on paper,

microfilm, magnetic tape, disk, or laser

optical media. In most cases, copies of

back-up computer files are maintained

at off-site locations.

RETRIEVABILITY:

Records are retrieved by name, social

security number or other assigned

identifiers of the individuals on whom

they are maintained.

SAFEGUARDS:

1. Access to VA working and storage

areas is restricted to VA employees on

a ‘‘need-to-know’’ basis. Strict control

measures are enforced to ensure that

disclosure to these individuals is also

based on this same principle. Generally,

VA file areas are locked after normal

duty hours and the facilities are

protected from outside access by the

Federal Protective Service or other

security personnel.

2. Access to computer rooms at health

care facilities is generally limited by

appropriate locking devices and

restricted to authorized VA employees

and vendor personnel. Automated Data

Processing (ADP) peripheral devices are

placed in secure areas (areas that are

locked or have limited access) or are

otherwise protected. Information in

VistA may be accessed by authorized

VA employees. Access to file

information is controlled at two levels.

The systems recognize authorized

employees by series of individually

unique passwords/codes as a part of

each data message, and the employees

are limited to only that information in

the file which is needed in the

performance of their official duties.

Information that is downloaded from

VistA and maintained on personal

computers is afforded similar storage

and access protections as the data that

is maintained in the original files.

Access to information stored on

automated storage media at other VA

locations is controlled by individually

unique passwords/codes. Access by

Office of Inspector General (OIG) staff

conducting an audit, investigation, or

inspection at the health care facility, or

an OIG office location remote from the

health care facility, is controlled in the

same manner.

3. Information downloaded from

VistA and maintained by the OIG

headquarters and Field Offices on

automated storage media is secured in

storage areas for facilities to which only

OIG staff have access. Paper documents

are similarly secured. Access to paper

documents and information on

automated storage media is limited to

OIG employees who have a need for the

information in the performance of their

official duties. Access to information

stored on automated storage media is

controlled by individually unique

passwords/codes.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

Paper records and information stored

on electronic storage media are

maintained and disposed of in

accordance with records disposition

authority approved by the Archivist of

the United States.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

The official responsible for policies

and procedures is the Associate Chief

Information Officer, Technical Services

(192), Department of Veterans Affairs,

810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington,

DC 20420. The local official responsible

for maintaining the system is the

Director of the facility where the

individual is or was associated.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

Individuals who wish to determine

whether this system of records contains

information about them should contact

the VA facility location at which they

are or were employed or made or have

contact. Inquiries should include the

person’s full name, social security

number, dates of employment, date(s) of

contact, and return address.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:

Individuals seeking information

regarding access to and contesting of

records in this system may write, call or

visit the VA facility where they are or

were employed or made contact.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:

(See Record Access Procedures

above.)

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Information in this system of records

is provided by the individual,

supervisors, other employees, personnel

records, or obtained from their

interaction with the system.

[FR Doc. 00–29945 Filed 11–22–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M