Medical Support Systems (MSS)

Title 49 U.S.C. Section 44703 requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to medically certify all airmen initially and periodically thereafter to ensure that they are healthy enough to operate safely in the national airspace system. FAA Order 3930.3C requires that FAA workforce members with safety-related duties, such as Air Traffic Control Specialists (ATCSs) and applicants for ATCS positions receive medical clearance before and while performing their duties. The FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine (AAM), located within the Office of Aviation Safety (AVS), owns and operates Medical Support Systems (MSS). The MSS consists of a suite of subsystems that enable AVS to meet its statutory obligation to certify the health of both airmen, ATCS and ATCS applicants, referred to collectively as “applicants”. In addition, MSS manages the medical examination of those applicants performed by FAA Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) and FAA Flight Surgeons. “Medical certification” of airmen results in a certification of their medical readiness to operate safely in the national airspace. “Medical clearance” results in a designation of medical readiness to perform FAA safety duties.  
MSS consists of the following subsystems:
•    MedXPress – a web-based system supporting applications for medical certification and clearances;
•    Aerospace Medical Certification Subsystem (AMCS) – a system supporting the medical examinations of applicants and medical certification/clearance decisions made by the AME’s and FAA Flight Surgeons; 
•    Covered Position Decision Support Subsystem (CPDSS) – a system supporting the medical clearance decisions for ATCSs and applicants for ATCS positions; 
•    Document Imaging Workflow System (DIWS) – an electronic archive containing documents and files supporting the medical decision-making process for each applicant; 
•    Clinic Health Awareness Program Subsystem  (CHAPS) – a system supporting occupational health visits made by FAA employees, FAA contractors, and visitors to the FAA; and 
•    Decision Support Subsystem (DSS) – a historical archive of medical examinations and decisions (with personally identifiable information (PII) removed) which supports medical research over time.     
The FAA previously published the MedXPress Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) on January 22, 2007 . The FAA is developing this PIA for the MSS in accordance with the E-Government Act of 2002, since MSS collects PII from members of the public and FAA personnel as part of the medical certification and medical clearance process. This PIA covers MedXPress, AMCS, CPDSS and DIWS subsystems because they are used to process applications for medical certifications and medical clearances. CHAPS will be covered by a separate PIA. No PIA is necessary for the DSS as it does not contain no PII.