Stolen laptop contains personal info for 8,000 patients; Cirdan Ultra acquires GE's Centricity Laboratory Division;

News From Around the Web

> A laptop stolen from an employee of Hope Family Health of Westmoreland, Tenn., contained personal information for roughly 8,000 patients, The Tennessean recently reported. The laptop, which was password protected but unencrypted, was stolen during a burglary of the employee's home in early August. It contained Social Security numbers and dates of birth, among other information, according to Joey Forman, Hope's chief compliance officer. Article

> U.K.-based Cirdan Imaging Limited, a specialist in medical imaging technology, last week acquired GE's Centricity Laboratory Division. With the acquisition, Cirdan takes on responsibility for support of customers using the current versions of the Centricity Laboratory Information System (LIS) products across North America, Asia Pacific and the U.K. Announcement

Health Insurance News

> Doctors are pushing back against UnitedHealth for dropping about 19 percent of doctors from its Medicare Advantage network in Connecticut. The Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) said the decision, which would affect roughly 58,000 Medicare Advantage members just before open enrollment, could disrupt long-term relationships these patients have with their physicians, potentially leading to inconsistent care and poor health outcomes. Article

Provider News

> New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has awarded $200 million to more than 450 Empire State healthcare and human service providers to help repair and rebuild facilities damaged by Hurricane Sandy, according to a statement from the governor's office. The grants include $65 million for repair, rebuilding and renovation, $52 million for unreimbursed operating costs, $72 million for ongoing costs, and $11 million for "other eligible" costs. Article

> Giving healthcare workers their own hand gel and keeping hand sanitizer dispensers clean can significantly improve operating room cleanliness, according to two new studies from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Regularly cleaning sanitizer gel dispensers reduces their contamination by 75 percent, while healthcare workers who carried personal bottles of sanitizer were nearly 30 percent more likely to use it, according to the ASA. Article

And Finally... Don't try this at home, folks. Article