,The Surgery Risk Assessment (SRA) database is part of the VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP). This database contains assessments of selected surgical operations performed at Veteran Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs). Addition to the SRA database requires that the surgery is Major (as defined by the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes assigned to the surgery), it must not be cardiac related, and it may not be concurrent with another surgery. Frequently performed other types of surgeries may also be excluded. Nurse reviewers at VAMCs gather the information from surgical data located in the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) environment. Information is also collected from pre-and post-operative charts and from interviews with patients. This information is entered into VistA and transmitted daily by a batch process to the Hines Office of Information & Technology (OI&T) Field Office. While the database has been in operation since 1995, the system only contains data for the current fiscal year. The data from previous fiscal years is archived if later retrieval is needed. Valid transmissions are sent to the VASQIP office at Denver for analysis. Information from non-assessed surgeries is transmitted from the VAMCs to the Hines OI Field Office monthly. This is also passed along to VASQIP at Denver. The users of this database include the VASQIP Executive Board.,

,The Report of VA Medical Training Programs Database is used to track medical center health services trainees and VA physicians serving as faculty. The database also tracks the number of U.S. and international medical residents on-duty at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). Information in the database comes from all VAMCs that have residency programs. The Office of Academic Affiliations distributes worksheets and memos to participating VAMCs annually. VAMC personnel enter the information electronically into the database located at the Academic Information Management Center (AIMC) in St. Louis, Missouri. The main user of this database is the Office of Academic Affiliations which uses the reports from the system to assist in its decision making.,

,The Department of Veterans Affairs is providing a Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC) for veterans to use at VA medical facilities. The VIC will be issued only to veterans who are eligible for VA medical benefits and only for the purpose of identification and check-in for VA medical appointments. The new card protects personal privacy by not showing Social Security Numbers or dates of birth on the front of the cards,

,The Associated Health Allocation Database is used to determine the allocation of positions and funds for VA Associated Health programs offered by Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC).,

The purpose of this matching program is to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), both the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) and Veterans Health Administration (VHA), with data from income tax return information disclosed to SSA to verify eligibility for VA health benefit programs. The SSA data is used to verify earnings information. VHA will also use SSA's records of wage and self-employment income to verify the veterans' employment status. Health insurance information (obtained from veteran, spouse and/or employer during employment verification) and/or income data (verification of which changes eligibility for medical care) may be forwarded to VHA medical center facilities for eligibility category changes and potential billing activities. VA also submits a weekly file through this exchange to support the VA/SSA/IRS White House Data Sharing initiative to reduce the VA backlog.

The purpose of this agreement is for SSA to verify SSNs and other identifying information for the Department of Veterans Affairs, VHA. DVA will use the information SSA provides to ensure the accuracy of its recordkeeping systems.

,The mission of the VA Clinical Assessment Reporting and Tracking (CART) Program for cardiac catheterization laboratories (CART-CL) is to support a national VA reporting system, data repository, and quality improvement program for procedures performed in VA cardiac catheterization laboratories. CART-CL is intended to improve clinical care/communication, support local and national quality improvement, monitor patient safety, capture workload of cardiac catheterization lab procedures, and inform VA system evaluation to maximize operational efficiency and patient outcomes. CART-CL is a collaborative effort between the VA Patient Care Services, Office of Information and Analytics, Ischemic Heart Disease Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (IHD-QUERI), and Office of Information and Technology (OI&T).,

,Report to the Appropriations Committee of the United States House of Representatives in Response to Conference Committee Report to PL 110-186. In an effort to provide a snapshot of the quality of care provided at VA health care facilities, this report includes information about waiting times, staffing level, infection rates, surgical volumes, quality measures, patient satisfaction, service availability and complexity, accreditation status, and patient safety. The data in this report have been drawn from multiple sources across VHA. This dataset defines the scope of services provided at a facility.,