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The laptop that was reported missing from Premier Healthcare on Jan. 4, has been returned via U.S. mail. According to a statement from the Bloomington, Indiana physician-led multispecialty healthcare provider, the laptop was returned on March 7. Premiere had reported the laptop stolen from the billing department in its locked and alarmed administrative office. [Also: Premier Healthcare faces possible data breach] Premier hired an information security consulting firm that specializes in digital forensics and incident response to conduct a comprehensive forensic analysis, which revealed the laptop had not been powered since it went missing, Premier officials said in a statement. Premier had feared a possible breach that could have affected nearly 206,000 patients. For 1,769 of those patients, social security numbers and financial information could also have been accessed. Premier continues to investigate the case. It has reported return of the laptop to the Bloomington Police Department for use in their continuing investigation. Twitter: @HealthITNews

Though more hospitals are reporting infection rates publicly, a new report from The Leapfrog Group shows that more than half of hospitals across the country still grapple with sometimes deadly healthcare-associated infections. "A record number of hospitals make their infection rates public, which shows commendable transparency and candor within the hospital industry,” Leapfrog President and CEO Leah Binder said in a statement. "The bad news is there are still too many infections." [Also: View all Leapfrog's 'F' hospitals] According to the Leapfrog report, the central line infection rate was too high at 75 percent of hospitals. Only 25 percent of hospitals met Leapfrog's standardized infection ratio of zero for CLABSI, or central line-associated bloodstream infection. Sixty-seven percent of hospitals had a infection rate between zero and 1.0, while 8 percent had a ratio above 1.0. Also, only 25 percent of hospitals met Leapfrog's urinary tract infection standard. CAUTI, or catheter-associated urinary tract infections are considered the most common type of healthcare-acquired infections, and Leapfrog's standard for this infection is close to zero. Infection rates also varied by state, choice of hospital and metropolitan area. On average, New Hampshire had the safest hospitals, with 67 percent reporting a CLABSI rate of zero. Rhode Island and Maryland are most in need of improvement, with no hospitals reporting a CLABSI rate of zero. What's more, hospital infection rates vary significantly within communities. For example, one West Coast city had CLABSI rates range from zero to more than five times the expected rate. Infection rates are declining, but more transparency and quality improvement are needed, the report stresses. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Public reporting through Leapfrog has helped reduce CLABSI rates, Binder said. For example, the percentage of hospitals reporting a CLABSI rate of zero has steadily increased from 18.8 percent in 2013 to 25 percent in 2015. Yet, three quarters of hospitals still do not meet Leapfrog's standards. The report on healthcare-acquired infections is the first in a series of five reports Leapfrog has planned to examine key quality and safety measures at hospitals nationwide. The reports are based on data from the 2015 Leapfrog Hospital Survey of more than 1,500 U.S. hospitals and analysis provided by Castlight Health. Twitter: @HealthITNews

Primary care doctors now lose more than an hour a day to sorting through approximately 77 electronic health record notifications, researchers at Baylor University found. “Information overload is of concern because new types of notifications and ‘FYI’ (for your information) messages can be easily created in the EHR (vs in a paper-based system),” the researchers wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association  Internal Medicine.      Making the workload harder to endure, reading and processing these messages is uncompensated in an environment of reduced reimbursements for office-based care, according to the study. [Also: Epic to develop Apple Watch app, 'Limerick,' a test results notifier] Physicians are receiving these increasing amounts of notifications in EHR-based inboxes such as Epic’s In-Basket and General Electric Centricity’s Documents. The messages include test results, responses to referrals, requests for medication refills, and messages from physicians and other healthcare professionals. The system is crying out for change the researchers wrote. “Strategies to help filter messages relevant to high-quality care, EHR designs that support team-based care, and staffing models that assist physicians in managing this influx of information are needed.” What’s more, optimistic predictions that EHRs would improve patient care through better doctor-patient communications have not ubiquitously materialized. “Unfortunately, we are far from this promise and now also grapple with the unintended consequences of EHRs,” Joseph Ross, MD wrote in an editorial accompanying the research.  In fact, electronic “paperwork” has burdened doctors and reduced the time for patient care. Ross advocated that inbox notification capabilities be periodically reviewed to be sure EHRs are working in the best interests of patient care and not creating an unnecessary burden on physicians. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] In addition, doctors should be reimbursed for time spent reviewing EHR notifications. “Although many of these notifications are in the service of patients,” Ross wrote, “we need to be sure that physicians’ reimbursement, particularly for primary care physicians, is taking into account the full time needed to manage patients’ care.”  Twitter: @HealthITNews

HIMSS16 provided countless hours of must-see video content for Healthcare IT News, from fascinating interviews with thought leaders and speakers at the conference to in-depth panel discussions and show floor highlights throughout the week. We have compiled the top 5 videos to date for you to watch in case you missed them.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday named a slate of healthcare professionals from top providers and tech firms to its Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 tasked HHS with the creation of the panel, which is expected to come up with recommendations for helping safeguard the industry. HHS, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Institute of Standards and Technology selected the task force members based on recommendations from a panel of subject matter experts. [Also: HHS seeks industry pros to join healthcare cybersecurity task force] "While all industries continue to face a growing threat of attacks on their information systems, the size and scope of attacks on healthcare information systems have accelerated particularly rapidly in the past two years," HHS officials said in a statement. The group will schedule four in-person meetings and through teleconferences until March 2017, when the task force will disband. It is expected to report its findings and recommendations before then. The members are: Theresa Meadows, RN, senior vice president and CIO, Cook Children's Health Care System. George DeCesare, a lawyer, and senior vice president and chief technology risk officer, Kaiser Permanente Health Plan Roy Mellinger, vice president of IT security, and chief information security officer Anthem Mark Jarrett, MD, senior vice president and chief quality officer, Northwell Health, and professor of medicine Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine Jacki Monson, a lawyer and chief privacy and information security officer, Sutter Health Ram Ramadoss, vice president, CRP privacy and information security and EHR compliance oversight, Catholic Health Initiatives Fred Trotter, data journalist, CareSet Systems David Ting, co-founder and chief technology officer, Imprivata Christine Sublett, CISO and head of compliance, Augmedix David Finn, health information technology officer, Symantec Michael McNeil, global product security and services officer, Philips Healthcare Terry Rice, vice president, IT risk management and CISO, Merck & Co. Joshua Corman, co-founder, I Am The Cavalry Alissa Johnson, CISO, Stryker Corp. Vito Sardanopoli, director of cyber security services and governance, Quest Diagnostics Dan McWhorter, vice president and chief intelligence strategist, FireEye Anura Fernando, principal engineer, medical and software systems interoperability at UL, LLC Emery Csulak, CISO, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Laura Laybourn, director of stakeholder engagement and cyber infrastructure resilience, Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, U.S. Department of Homeland Security The task force will also include a representative from NIST and one from the Federal Health IT Advisory Council, but they have not yet been named. Twitter: @HealthITNews

The app enables doctors to receive alerts via Apple Watch so if they are waiting on test results about one patient, that physician can know immediately.

The agency said it plans to add some 1,900 diagnosis codes and 3,651 hospital inpatient procedure codes to ICD-10.

CMS said it plans to add about 1,900 diagnosis codes and 3,651 hospital inpatient procedure codes to the coding system.

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Saying that smaller government equates to greater freedom, the Republican candidate vowed to abolish the IRS, cut welfare and follow Reagan's lead to bolster U.S. military in a speech taking aim at Donald Trump while also welcoming Marco Rubio backers.