Requesting Access to VA Data

Data at the Corporate Franchise Data Center (formerly, the Austin Automation Center)

1. VA Employees (including Without Compensation, or WOC)

Using VA data maintained at the Corporate Franchise Data Center (CFD formerly: AAC) requires a timesharing user account on the CFD mainframe computer with permission to utilize the particular dataset(s) needed.

User accounts are assigned and monitored by the Automated Customer Registration System (ACRS-pronounced "akers"), which has a Point of Contact (POC) at almost every VA facility.

The ACRS POC is normally an employee of the Information Resources Management (IRM) office, often the Information Security Officer (ISO) for the facility. The Point of Contact can help you complete the paperwork for your request for access to data at the CFD (formerly: AAC) and then will process your request.

Find out who is the ACRS Point of Contact for your facility

• Call your local IRM office,
or
• Call the CFD (formerly: AAC) Help Desk at 512-326-6780 and ask for the ACRS central office; the ACRS central office can tell you who is your facility POC.

Complete the ACRS Time Sharing Request Form

• Print VA Form 9957
  
• See page 2 of the form for general instructions.
  
• Your "Time Sharing Customer ID" is the letter "S" followed by your three-digit Station Identifier and your three initials.
  
• Item H asks for your Subsystem Application Function Code (SAFC); for Veterans Health Administration work, this is 01C1.
  
• Note that there are multiple functional task codes for many databases or datasets, depending on what type of use is being permitted. For example, the functional task codes for VHA Medical SAS Datasets and the Decision Support System National Data Extracts are different for users needing access to real Social Security Numbers versus users needing access only to scrambled Social Security Numbers.
  
• There are different functional tasks codes, too, for whether the data are local, VISN-level or national. Consult your Point of Contact and fellow VA data users for the codes you need.
  
• In Section 4, "Signatures," the "Requesting Official" is your supervisor. Some Functional Task Codes require concurring signatures. The ACRS Point of Contact will tell you what concurring signatures, if any, are needed.

Submit the ACRS Time Sharing Request Form

• When you have all the signatures you need, give the form to your ACRS POC.
  
• If you are a new ACRS customer, you will receive a letter from the CFD (formerly: AAC) via regular mail with your user ID and password, plus instructions for signing on to the CFD (formerly: AAC) system and changing your password.
  
• If you have questions about your access privileges or your time sharing account, contact your ACRS Point of Contact.

2. Non-VA Employees

Access to VA data by individuals who are not VA employees is provided in accordance with multiple regulations. In compliance with HIPAA privacy rules, the VA does not approve access to identifiable data, including scrambled Social Security Number.

As a first step in requesting access to VA data, non-VA employees should contact a VHA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer for directions pertinent to a specific request.

3. Special Note on Access to Real SSN

As noted in the VIReC Research User Guides for the VHA Medical SAS Datasets (for inpatient and outpatient data), the VHA creates a unique patient identifier in those data sets and calls this unique identifier the "Scrambled Social Security Number" (SCRSSN). 

Local Facility Level

Contact your local facility's ACRS Point of Contact if you need access to real SSNs for patients treated in your local facility.

VISN Level

If you need access to real SSNs for patients treated at the VISN level, your local facility's ACRS Point of Contact (POC) can no longer grant access. National Data Systems (NDS), with the VHA Privacy Office, are now the final point of authorization for Real SSN data access. Follow instructions under "National Level."

National Level

The preliminary instructions are the same for Scrambled and Real SSN access. However, the approval process has now changed. The ACRS POC and local Information Security Officers (ISO) can no longer grant access to Real SSN data. Also, additional documentation may be required depending on the business need and justification for access, especially requests involving research. Instructions for requesting VISN or National level SSN numbers are at the National Data Systems Web site. The VHA Privacy Office Intranet Web site has additional information and guidelines.

Once authorization is received, all Form 9957's are forwarded to the Security Office, located at the Austin CFD, that is authorized to establish account access. NDS will retain a copy of all 9957 forms.

All existing users will have to submit a new request to access National and/or VISN-level Real SSN data; otherwise, access at this level will be removed/terminated.

This protocol for access to unscrambled or real SSNs is used ONLY by VA employees.

Access To VA Data Not At CFD (formerly: AAC)