The Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) performs a biannual SPARCS Security Access Verification of all submitting facilities. At the start of each assessment, facility coordinators and backup coordinators receive an email with an attached list of the contact information SPARCS currently has on record for the facility. The coordinators are asked to review this list and make any necessary updates in the spreadsheet.
If your facility does not respond to the security verification process in a timely manner by updating and returning the attached spreadsheet, your submitter(s) may lose access to the SPARCS data submission portal.
In addition to current contact information, the assessment asks facilities to report:
- The name of the electronic medical records (EMR) system used by your facility
- The HCS ID for the primary and backup contacts so the SPARCS program can send secure communications to your facility when needed.
Each facility must provide a primary coordinator, a back-up coordinator, and the contact details for the facility’s CEO (as an emergency contact). Each facility must also designate which contacts will have access to the SPARCS submissions portal by marking them as a submitter in the attached spreadsheet. Facilities may provide additional contacts as needed.
At a minimum, the following details must be confirmed for each person who is a SPARCS contact: first and last name, contact phone number, email address, OneHealthCare ID (for anyone who is a submitter), and HCS ID (for coordinators, backup coordinators, and anyone else who would like to be able to receive secure communications from SPARCS via the HCS SFTP system). Please also include the name of the electronic medical records system used by the facility if known.
If you change or add any information in the attachment, include an “x” in the “Contact Updated” column.
If a contact is no longer working with SPARCS for your facility, do not remove them from the spreadsheet. Include an “x” in the “Remove this Contact” column so we can deprovision them from our systems.
If new staff need access to submit data to SPARCS, they must go through the standard provisioning process. Submit a provisioning ticket for any newly added SPARCS contacts:
NOTE: With the constant threat of data breaches, it is vital that all required security measures be followed. SPARCS users MUST NOT share HCS IDs or OneHealth IDs with ANYONE under any circumstances, including other members of the same organization. Every account must be unique to a single individual. Remember that allowing anyone else to log into the SPARCS submission portal or any other system that holds personal health information under your account is illegal.