Superintendent Liggins Agrees to a 10% Pay Cut ...

 

He announced this to the paper, days after firing close to 300 employees over budget issues, rather than before -  leading us all to believe he didn't make this decision until after all the backlash, or he would've told us that before all the firings (or should have).

The school reported to the LHL today that is base pay with benefits is $381,000, but prior articles with the LH, and elsewhere, have been more. 

He says it's a cut to his base pay rather than benefits, but I'm curious about that - because last I heard from a credible source, he initially refused to cut his pay at all, then agreed to 1 concession - giving up his "life-coach" benefit worth around $25K+.

But let's say it's his base pay, which the article says is about $275K. That's still only about $25,000 dollars off his base salary  - and we're still in the hole by a couple million now? 

Come on, now, Dr. Liggins -  you know you could still do very well here in Lexington on even $150K per year.

However - that figure told to me of a concession of $25K+ for a life coach is grossly in the in the ballpark of 10% - so is that concessation on top of the 10% base pay cut or it IS the cut, just not from base pay?

For more info on the history here, read a few posts below.

Once again, we initially supported Dr. Liggins and wanted to believe all the backlash was simply racism and bigotry - until we were confronted with absolute proof he'd overspent on travel and personal luxury items.

Essentially, he's the black LGBTQ version of Trump - which makes it triply disappointing.

Meaning using social media for perception control, refusal to take personal responsibility/blaming everyone else, and hiring/refusing to fire unqualified crony hires - often MAGA people in leadership.

Essentially, it doesn't matter if you're truly qualified for a leadership position, he will hire/keep anyone willing to look the other way  ro him and/or help him hide the bodies - and course, the type of people with a proven track record of willingness to do that for personal gain are mostly Trump people in leadership, clearly.  😂

(No -  not really, about the bury bodies part - just a figure of speech. 😂)

Esentially 

PS - My Personal Bob Baffert Story. And It's Not a Good One.

 

Making this easier for some, because I can see people searching for that story, after I said below you can find it in previous posts - but I realized later the original story, right after it happened, had been reparked in draft - sorry about that!

So I've reposted it, as well as copy/pasted it again below.

I can see that I tried to be nice about it and focus on the positive of that day, but here's what actually happened with Bob.

First, all of the stuff about what Doug O'Neill did for the kids - letting them sit on Derby winner Nyquist pre-Derby, feed him, pet him,. etc. - 1000% true. Doug is a very kind, generous man, and he's also hilarious, great sense of humor!

(I don't have any pictures of the kids on Nyquist, just Lava Man,  the visit with Nyquist was brief as he had a vet inspection to get to.)

So I mentioned Bob Baffert yelling "No, HELL no" - but I didn't go into the full story.

So Mark being in IT for the schools in 2015, when the Breeder's Cup was held here, he ran IT at The Stables, which is a FCPS school, but it's at the Kentucky Horse Park, and it's for special needs kids. 

Being that my husband knows horse Trainer, Doug O'Neill - whose horses "I'll Have Another" and "Nyquist" have won the Kentucky Derby - he asked Doug if the kids from Central Kentucky Riding for Hope could come see his horses.

Doug O'Neill and Mark 

Central Kentucky Riding for Hope is a foundation that provides horse activities for disabled and/or terminally ill kids or kids undergoing cancer treatment. (They've since added adults to the program.)

So Doug is SO nice that he actually gave us all stable passes to the Breeder's Cup, which is an honor - it's like being back stage at the Oscars, only for horses. 

(Maybe more like the Golden Globes, but yes.)

Doug's also really funny, by the way, but this story about his kindness and generosity, especially towards children. 

Anyway, the rest of that great story about Doug and the kids is below from the original post.

Here's the part I didn't go into detail on.

When we discovered that Bob Baffert's stable was right next door and that triple-crown winner, "American Pharoah" was in the stable, I walked over and asked the security guard if the kids could just have a peek at him - not touch him, just look, explaining the kids situation.

He spoke to the (Delaware) racing commissioner who happened to be standing there, and he said he'd ask Bob, Bob was just coming in now.

 (I'd forgotten it was him that asked rather than the security guard until I reread the story.)

Bob, and his wife Jill, pull up just then and get out of a fancy schmancy SUV.

The racing commissioner walks over to him and asks him. 

Bob literally yells "NO! HELL, no, no one gets near my horse!"

So loud the kids heard it.

I look at Jill - who is now wide-eyed, looks at me, then looks down. 

Now, I can't hear everything the RC is saying, just bits and pieces, but he says "Bob - some of these kids are terminally ill, one of them just came from chemo treatment. They're legit, it's on their passes. They will stay 5 feet away from the doors, I'll watch them, no touching."

Again, Bob yells "I said NO, I don't care, nobody near that horse!"

(This despite the fact that he literally demands that he inspect his competitors horses and touch them before races.)

So paranoid - a bit like a thief imagining everyone else is stealing from him, I thought.

At this point, I just keep staring Jill down until she finally looks up at me, looking sheepish.  She's clearly embarrassed. Then I just shake my head at her - hehehe.

Ain't I a stinker? 😂

Because who does that - to terminally ill kids?

Fine, nobody near your horses, despite YOU demanding to go near everybody else's - but you don't have to shout so the kids can hear you, waiting on an answer!

And that's the difference between Bob Baffert and ... everybody else in training horses.

He's a complete douche bag.

There were rumors for years about how many horses died in his care, as well as dirty he was - trying to get other trainers in trouble for stuff he did himself, how many horses died under his care, and n one did anything, how he demanded whipping the horses when others had moved on to whipping their own boot or just waving it in the air. How much of an A-hole he was in general interpersonally.

FINALLY - you may have read in the other posts while searching for this story about how he was banned from Churchill Downs for a few years because somebody FINALLY was brave enough to challenge him.

For starters, Triple Crown Winner Justify tested positive for scopolamine.

(Scopolamine is illegal for horses because it can be toxic in larger amounts and over time.)

Then 2021 Derby winner Medina Spirit died suddenly as well - amidst legal dispute, as Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone - a steroid which masks pain and can result in fractures going unnoticed.

Betamethasone is not illegal for horses in general, but during racing it is - because it masks pain and covers up pending/current fractures - forcing the horse to run despite danger.

WaPo reported that at least 32 proven horses have died in Baffert's care since 2000 - with a cluster of 9 dying within a few months of each other. 

The above article is from the Washington Post in 2021, and PETA actually reports the figures as being a total of 83.

At this point, the NY racing commission suspended him for a year, and here, Churchill Downs banned him from the derby for a few years - but now he's back. 

Sigh. 

And with that, I repost the original post, focusing on the positive of that day - because how great was Doug O'Neill to do that for the kids?

They otherwise had a ball 😊

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On Saturday, Keeneland Racetrack, which is here in Lexington, Kentucky, will be holding the what is essentially the gold cup of world-class thoroughbred racing, The Breeder's Cup - for the very first time!

With very heightened security (the Kentucky National Guard is actually there as security detail), at the very last minute, legendary horse trainer, Doug O'Neill, called Mark personally to give us the green light that he had gotten approval for a few of the kids from the Central Kentucky Riding for Hope to come meet the newest 2015 Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame Inductee and Champion - "(Coach) Lava Man!"

Look at the look on precious C's face, aw - is there anything more wonderful in life than to see joy on a child's face? :)

C is one brave little girl, ladies and gentlemen - she just survived a brain tumor,  completing her treatment just a couple of weeks ago - and she adores horses and riding with CKRH :)

Lava Man, much like California Chrome (whom we met just a few weeks ago), loves attention and posing for the camera (note when you pull the camera up, he stands still and puts his ears forward)!

...but he's much calmer.  In fact, you would not believe how calm and gentle he was with the children, he was so patient. He wins the prize, by far, for the sweetest champion horse we've met yet :)

These days, he's a "stable pony" or "coach" - meaning he accompanies the up-and-comers during their travel and accompanies them up to the starting gate.  On Saturday, he will be walking up-and-comer "Nyquist"  :)

And he was so curious, about everyone and everything.  He especially like my hair, I'm not sure why, perhaps it was my new shampoo?  (I don't have a picture of him nuzzling in my hair, I was the one working the camera today.)

And these two twin sisters, S and S, had a great time -  the twin in white, on the right is blind - and it's like Lava could sense it and was especially gentle with her :)

The proud mamas and their babies from CKRH with Lava Man :)

Mark even got to lead him around a bit, he was in 7th heaven! :)

Look how happy he looks in this photo, he looks like a kid again!

I didn't lighten this photo, btw, it just came out like that, and it was the only one of us because I was behind the camera the whole time, except for the two seconds a Kentucky National Guardsman was kind enough to offer to get one shot in of both of us with Lava Man before the kids arrived.

 (Great photo of Mark, terrible of me - I haven't figured out how to do my new longer "wob" haircut properly/like she did at at the salon yet! Maybe that's why Lava Man was nuzzling in it, he was trying to fix it for me lol;)

Doug O'Neill had a meeting he had to attend at that time, but was so gracious in calling us several times to make sure the kids could meeting, I cannot thank and commend him enough - what a wonderful, down to earth man!

The above photo (not mine) is the man himself (a saint, as far as I'm concerned, after today) that made all of this possible today - Doug O'Neil - legendary trainer of "Lava Man" and "I'll Have Another"  

But he made sure Sabas took very good care of us:)

Sabas is Lava Man's groom and morning exercise rider - what a wonderful, patient man, he was, and so proud of his baby :)

I asked what it was like to ride him versus other horses and he said, "You know how riding in different cars can be different, right?  Lava's like riding in a lamborghini!"

Again, we cannot thank you enough, Doug O'Neill, Sabas and Sharla for arranging this for us with such heightened security (you would think it was Fort Knox at Keeneland right now)

The girls were absolutely THRILLED!!! :)

On the way out, we discovered that triple-crown winner, American Pharaoh, was only 2 stables over - so I thought:  "What the heck? I'm gonna walk myself right over and ask that important-looking man with the walkie talkie if we can snap a quick photo with him - the the worst they could say is 'no', right?"

Well, that important-looking man happened to be none other than John Wayne, Executive Director of State of Delaware Horse Racing commission, who was helping the Baffert team with security detail :)

John Wayne, Executive Director for the State of Delaware Horse Racing Commision (not my photo)


What a nice man, he was, he said he'd ask for us - but just at that moment, American Pharaoh's trainer, Bob Baffert, walked up to the stable with his wife, Jill. and son, Bode!

Unfortunately, Bob's answer was "NO ... HELL, no" -  apparently because they were in a big hurry as Am Phar had an evaluation and other prep things to do before the race just then.

But thank you so much to Mr. Wayne for asking for us!

Mr. Baffert seemed so busy and serious, at that moment, I figured I'd best toddle off rather than even ask to get a picture him, but he was standing 20 yards from me (that white hair is unmistakable) !!!!

Bob Baffert, legendary trainer of American Pharaoh,  Bodemeister, War Emblem and Real Quiet (not my photo)

As we were leaving, we turned around in our car just in time to see Breeder's Cup contender (coming in 4th in the Kentucky Derby and third at the Belmont) - "Frosted".

I don't know what it is, but I'm a sucker for a gray, I LOVE Frosted! :)

I am so glad the girls got to go and see all the hustle and bustle excitement - again, all thanks to Doug O'Neill Racing!

My Picks for the Kentucky Derby (UPDATED)

(Updated 5/1/2026: This post was written before I discovered Renegade was a "closer" - meaning he's trained to be on the outside and ramp up speed at the end. Thus, for him, being in the #1 post position may not be a good thing. It's a shorter run, but like I said, you can get boxed in very easily - especially horses trained to close from the outside, but we shall see.)

_________________________________________

Happy Almost Derby Day!

We haven't followed as much, this year, but here are my picks anyway? 

First keep in mind, I don't have the intuition I used to have on these - that went away with menopause? 😂

So this is just based on trainers, jockeys, sire/dam, winning record- and in the case of Doug O'Neill, Mark's friend and a great guy - even if a long shot, we always bet on a Doug O'Neill horse. 

Also keep in mind, we NEVER bet on Bob Baffert horses.

Yeah, he's allowed back now, after being barred from Churchill Downs for a few years for illegally drugging horses (and also over 20 horses have died under his training in the last decade). 🙁

Yes, he wins a lot -  but over 20 horses have died under his care in the last decade, he cheats by  illegally and dangerously medicating the horses (thus his suspension), instructs his jockeys to race dirty/injure, and we met him and I can confirm he's a HUGE A-hole.

So ... if I bet, I would do "Renegade" in an Across The Board bet.

This means Renegade can come in in any order (Win, Place, or Show or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd).

You won't win a lot of money that way, because he's the favorite with 4-1 odds, but barring some disaster out of the gate or during the race - you will win.

He's the favorite - for good reason - and it's NOT just because it's a cool name (though it is).

It's because you could not have engineered a more perfect horse or perfect situation. 

Todd Pletcher is the trainer, Irad Ortiz is the jockey, his sire and dam (parents) are proven winners, he won the Arkansas Derby - and best of all, he drew the #1 post position, which many say is the best possible position you can be in, because it means closest to the fence and thus the shortest run.

HOWEVER, it CAN result in the horse being "boxed in" by the other horses, and the other jockeys will try, but Ortiz and Pletcher have already planned for that, rest assured.

Also, he looks hand-sculpted specifically for racing  - this is one elegant horse!

Sleek front, but big, powerful hindquarters - this horse is perfectly "built" for speed.

(His delicate legs DO worry me a bit, especially his cannons, for easy fracture, especially his front cannons - but so far, so good.)

On paper, this horse should win - but as we know, things can happen, so we shall see!

I would also place a Trifecta Box - meaning the top 3 horses, but in any order (versus a straight Trifecta  alone, which is exact order).

Those 3 horses I would pick for my Trifecta Box (top 3, but in any order), are the following:

1. Renegade - Todd Pletcher,trainer; Irad Ortiz, jockey; Into Mischief, sire; Spice Is Nice (Curlin mare), dam, #1 post position - 4-1 odds.

 

2. So Happy - Mark Glatt, trainer (newcomer), Mike Smith, jockey (jockey legend, most winning jockey in the last 25 years); Run Happy, sire; So Cunning, mare - 15-1 odds. 

 

3. Pavlovian - Doug O'Neill, trainer (and Mark's friend); Edwin Maldonado, jockey; Pavel, sire; Mandy's Grace, dam  - 30-1 odds.

Now, common sense would tell me to place a bet on a Brad Cox horse or a Bob Baffert horse as well, of course, and if I really want to win over ethics, I would.

However, I've already told you why I don't support Bob Baffert.

So why these 3, you ask?

So I've already touted the wonders of Renegade.

So Happy - partially because of his sire, Run Happy -  but MOSTLY because you NEVER bet against Mike Smith, the winningest jockey in the last 25 years.

Also, Mike Smith avoids whipping the horses, he whips his boot instead or waves his whip in the air. 

(I used to say he "never" whipped his horses, but Bob Baffert insisted he whip Justify. Further proof as to what kind of person Bob Baffert is - AND note that Mike Smith doesn't ride for him anymore.)

Pavlovian - besides being a cool name, Doug O'Neill is a friend of Mark's and he really is a great guy (see prior stories on this blog about that, as well as a personal story about the A-hole that is Bob Baffert). Doug O'Neill also tries to instruct his jockeys to not whip the horse, whip the boot instead or wave in the air.

Despite being a long shot, we always bet on a Doug O'Neill horse regardless.

Plus it's not like he doesn't have a winning track record as well - Doug has won the Derby previously with "I'll Have Another" in 2012 and "Nyquist" in 2016.

(If you're interested, one of Nyquist's sons is also racing, but it's a Bob Baffert horse, so not going to give him any accolade - you can look that up yourself. 😂)

Happy Run for the Roses!

 

PS - I Stand Corrected 😉(UPDATED)

 

As of midday today, in addition to the people below, 6 departments and over 200 people were fired from Central Office thus far have been eliminated - mostly low-paying, menial areas, and those close to retirement (who don't have a deal like my husband made, see below post).

And our superintendent making $600K a year - who tried to bail to another state when all of this started coming out -  did make a sacrifice after all -  he selflessly  sacrificed his $25,000 life coach benefit! 😂

Let's all take a moment of silence for the loss of our school superintendent's beloved life coach being removed from the school's budget, as he was clearly doing a great job anyway! 😂

*sarcasm* 

So now what, now it's your life coach's fault the budget is so screwed up and you spent too much on luxury items for yourself and travel?

____________________________________

PS - the LHL newspaper just sent an alert that the schools are are saving $1.9 million with staff cuts, but the schools refuse to say who and what was cut.

Oops, I just told you - here and in the post below, without giving specifics 😂

Sorry not sorry - because the lack of transparency with this sh*t is disgusting.

Also, $1.9 is not enough to cover the deficit, and had you cut some of the salaries and Hays-grade raises that you give to your "directors" - of which you already have too many - we'd be good!

One thing you definitely will not hear about in the paper, though, is the life-coaching benefit loss, but it's common knowledge at Central Office right now.

Life-coaching benefit 😂

Sigh, if you don't laugh, you'll cry ... 

___________________________

PS - I used to support this superintendent when he first got here. I actually teared up, SO proud that Lexington hired a black LGBTQ male as our superintendent.

In fact, at first, I believed the backlash was racist, homophobic nonsense - until I could no longer deny it wasn't, the concerns are legit and there is proof. 

The backlash is legitimate over his luxury spending, cronyism (mostly MAGA people, white and black, believe it or not), his lack of transparency, his blaming others for all of it, and his efforts at perception control.

Essentially, he's like the black LGBTQ version of Trump.

FCPS Update: The Firings Began Today - And We're Now at National News Level

 

Not sure you all have seen it yet, but this budget situation at Fayette County Public Schools has now reached national  news level from MSN, AOL, and others. Not major broadcasting, no, but other national news, as well as national educational newsletters. 

In fact, Mark's friends in education in Michigan have texted him about it. 

So the good news is, my husband's job is safe - and he better be, because he stepped down/transferred departments as a compromise for NOT suing them over proven retaliation/ignorance of AMA accommodations.

In other words, my husband proved it and took a transfer rather than a lawsuit, because he didn't want to take money away from the kids, especially during a budget crisis - because that's the type of person of integrity my husband is and I'm proud of him for it. 

(However, it's less money and they still can't get his paycheck right - and worse, the guy is still there, though he had no qualifications whatsoever to do that job.)

Speaking of the budget crisis, the firings began today and it's extraordinarily sad. 

Worse, they all got emails rather than anyone telling them to their face. 

Mark's boss, though her job is safe, is literally crying at the people let go - she's a great lady.

I don't know the types of people fired overall, because the mass firings just began this morning, but of the ones I know, so far they are low level at Central Office, like mail room, custodial staff, dock staff -  and other people close to retirement, which is just  ... shitty.

One person has been the mailroom guy for 28 years and was going to retire next year was let go. He actually helped us move here in December, super nice guy. 

Also, no one less than 4 years and a day was safe.

Meanwhile, the superintendent - whom the LHL reported tried to run to a Missouri job when all of this started coming out -  is making $600K a year and has some special luxury perks people don't even know about yet, and if/when they do find out, people are going to lose their minds. 

Anyway, brief history of the situation and how we got here ...

Last fall, the superintendent begged the school board and the state for more money, saying we were in emergency status.

The school board was ready to approve it - the school board chair previously being a prima donna that threw tantrums when he didn't get his way, but had curiously become silent and started approving everything that THIS superintendent wanted.

 (Some credible sources say it's because they are in a relationship, but I don't know - but I DO know that the Chairman of the School Board is now in hot water, too.)

A few days later, a bombshell article hit the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper from the Budget Director and her lawyer, claiming she was put on leave for trying to warn the superintendent AND the Chairman of the School Board that the budget was in trouble last July.

She even provided the emails where she had done so.

Thus, she's suing for retaliation and the Whistleblower Act. 

So the state auditor started an audit.

The auditor found extravagant travel expenses and other purchases from our current superintendent.

The superintendent claimed no one below him told him of these problems.

At that point, the superintendent did NOT get the school board to approve his new plan OR his tax hike from the city, so he started threatening to cut teachers and paraeducators, and there was a huge uproar.

Then the LHL local newspaper published the story about our superintendent tried to run and get a job in Missouri and almost got it, until Missouri caught wind of the trouble here and grilled him over it.

A financial consultant - who has stepped in before with budget issues - came in 2 weeks ago and curiously blamed the CFO who had been here for over 20 years, for things she claimed happened in 2008 affecting current budget.

This, despite the fact that the audit already announced the current superintendent's travel and luxury expenses were a problem AND that this financial consultant herself has been here on and off consulting many times since and should've noticed that, then?

So, the CFO was escorted off the property this week, apparently placed on leave, after the superintendent and school consultant  successfully blamed him for something in 2008 - long before this superintendent's luxury trips and spending -  guess they needed a new fall guy to blame?

Then yesterday, there was a big school board meeting where they announced their plan - that teachers and paraeducators were safe, but they would let lower level employees go from central office and others.

None of these others has been anyone in management so far, despite the fact that due to Hays-grade raises, they all get guaranteed $40,000 raises per year.

It just sucks ... stomach turning.

And the lack of transparency about it is the worst. 

Super sad that these people were let go, just to continue to try to cover up the corruption and cronyism of our current superintendent, our School Board Chairman, and their cronies. 

_______________________________________

PS - Our school slogan is "It's About the Kids."

Is it, tho?

My husband asked for transfer, rather than sue - over his AMA precautions being repeatedly ignored and retaliation - and proving it with recordings - because he didn't want to take money away from the kids over it, especially while already in a budget crisis.

Because that's the sort of person my husband is, he has integrity and made it about the kids instead of himself and greed.

All y'all down there in leadership at Central Office should take a page from that, and the first thing you should've done is cut your own salaries or gotten rid of some directors, because you already have too many.(whom you give Hays grade raises to at $40K a year.)

 

PS - Final PowerPoint Presentation Projects

 

So here were the 2 PP presentations of the 5 projects due this past week.

Keep in mind, the modules don't open until the beginning of the week and were due by Friday and Saturday respectively (along with all other projects, assignments, and tests assigned this week.

Thus, no time to do all the bells and whistles I would've liked, but I got good grades on them somehow, nonetheless? 😂

The first one was for my Human Disease Class, it's a super long one, so don't expect everyone to watch the full thing, but Ziggy makes an appearance at the beginning to keep you interested? 😂

(Update: Though I didn't have time to add all the visuals I would've liked, my professor added in her feedback comment that I knocked it out of the park! She was SO kind and supportive.) 

Or you may just be interested on the latest info on Coronary Artery Disease?

Just an FYI, CAD is no longer a disease of the old and deaths by heart attack have decreased with new innovations - BUT - the rate has jumped up in people under 40 by 2% per year since 2011. 

Also, we have only recently discovered that men and women  largely experience heart attacks differently, so that may be of interest as well.

The good news is we have also learned more about prevention - specifically how a Mediterranean diet has decreased cardiac events - how to manage CAD better, as well as we have either fine-tuned our interventions or implemented new ones with greater success. 

Whew, feels good to have it all done! The second was for my Healthcare Applications class on the benefits of using patient portals, as if I was a health information technologist for a health insurance company.

Ladies and Gentleman, I got an A in Both Classes After All!

 

With it being a shorter week, the modules opening on Sunday - 5 projects due including a PowerPoint Presentation in 1 class due in 6 days, and a bigger PowerPoint Presentation plus my usual work in another class due in 5 days -  I got about 15 hours of sleep this entire week.

I may have stumbled very nongracefully over that finish line - but I somehow pulled off an A in both accelerated courses - whew!

via GIPHY

Now, pardon me while I sleep lol.

These next 2 weeks are the longest break we'll have all year except at Christmas, so taking advantage of it!

Kentucky Just Passed HB 312 Into Law, Lowering Conceal-and-Carry Age to 18 (Previously 21).

Governor Beshear vetoed the law, but it was passed into law anyway with 2/3 vote on April 15.

The licenses are provisional versus standard (not sure what that means), but regardless, it means that some high school seniors who turn 18 during the school year can potentially conceal and carry.

With all of the school shootings we have already, I am freaking out.

I understand the argument that some kids want them to protect themselves from school shootings, I do.

And yet they're not what worries me - it's the ones carrying them for other reasons that do. 

This worries me not only for the children and staff at schools, but for my husband, who helps check bags and wands students in the mornings for security.

If anyone could handle that, he could, and yet still, a new school policy has yet to be drawn up and they only have until July 1st. 

The current policy is "No guns at school" regardless, but what if somebody - and their parents - pushes that and says "Hey, you're a state-funded state institution, you have to let me conceal and carry."

Well, then we're in a pickle. 

I spoke to a classmate who lives in Wisconsin, whose husband is very conservative, asking for thoughts, and even he thought that was nuts. 

(In Wisconsin, the legal age is 21 and there are mandatory background checks when purchasing weapons from gun shops, but not with private sales).

Here in Kentucky, there are no background checks required at all.

Also, our training is less than other states.

For those who don't know, training, license, background, and mental health checks are controlled by the state - only things like types of guns allowed in the U.S. is controlled by the Federal Government; thus, gun laws vary from state to state. 

So I said "Good, then I'm not being THAT much of a "liberal snowflake" that this concerns me, right? 😂"

They laughed. 🙂

They said they could see the perspective where it could potentially save lives, but it's the not knowing their rationale for carrying a gun to school that is the issue. 

We don't normally discuss politics - we know what they are, and she doesn't push hers and me and I don't on her, and we like it that way, and we otherwise have much in common. 

I can deal with Trump supporters who don't push their stuff on me and call me names and tell me I'm unAmerican or unChristian for not supporting him - it's just that's rare here in Kentucky.

Here in Kentucky, they bring it up everywhere, walking your dogs, the grocery, the gas station, the line waiting to vote, you name it - and it makes me very uncomfortable.

We don't talk about politics. We know where everyone stands, so we just don't talk about it. 

Instead, our little group laughs and carries on about everything from what toys we played with as kids (Barbie is universal, regardless of age, race, political preference, or region of the country😂) -  to what celebrities everyone thinks are hot but we don't get (Timothee Chalamet?) and who we think is - to our kids, pets, work, class frustrations. 

However, on this one, I just asked for their thoughts on that, before I said my opinion, curious to hear other perspectives, to see if I was the nutty one for thinking this was rife with potential issues -  and I was glad to find out I wasn't! 😂

Also, immediately after this was announced at a security meeting at the schools, Mark said some kid came to school that day with a black trench coat on, though it was 75 degrees, perhaps attempting to look like Neo from The Matrix, but instead ended up looking Columbine-ish!

I mean, whatever your intent, you just don't do that since Columbine, especially not in 72-degree weather, which went up to 83 degrees by noon!

My husband signaled to his coworker to have him wanded.

Nothing was found, but somebody definitely needs to keep on eye on that kid.

Scared for a multitude of reasons - do you blame me?

Current Classic Playlist ...

 

This is what I play when I'm faced with what seems like insurmountable challenges. (Or family toxicity. They're also really good breakup songs, btw, but those 2 don't apply today.) 😊

Right now, it's about 6 projects, 2 of them PP presentations, all just opened up to work on over the weekend, all due before the last day of class on Saturday - with a special shout out to some classmates, doing all that plus kids and/or family or work drama, so special dedication for them.

These classic anthem songs, in this order - and of course, 3 of them are Tom Petty! 😂

You Gotta Be - Des'ree

Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead, release your fears
Stand up and be counted
Don't be ashamed to cry

You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Herald what your mother said
Read the books your father read
Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time
Some may have more cash than you
Others take a different view
My, oh, my, eh, eh, eh

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Time asks no questions, it goes on without you
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace
The world keeps on spinning
Can't stop it if you tried to
The best part is danger staring you in the face ....ohhh

Remember, listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
My, oh, my, eh, eh, eh

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Won't Back Down - Tom Petty

Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
No I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down
Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey I will stand my ground
(I won't back down)
And I won't back down

Free Fallin' - Tom Petty 

She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She's a good girl, who's crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

And it's a long day, livin' in Reseda
There's a freeway, runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart

And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

All the vampires, walkin' through the valley
Move west down Ventura Boulevard
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
And the good girls are home with broken hearts

And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'

Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I'm gonna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for a while

Now I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a)
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a)

(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin', I'm-a)
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
Oh!

Learning to Fly - Tom Petty 

Well, I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up, the world got still

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well, the good old days may not return
And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn

I'm learning to fly (Learning to fly)
But I ain't got wings (Learning to fly)
Coming down (Learning to fly)
Is the hardest thing (Learning to fly)

Well, some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I've started out for God knows where
I guess I'll know when I get there

I'm learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up (Learning to fly)
Must come down

I'm learning to fly (Learning to fly)
But I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing
I'm learning to fly (Learning to fly)
Around the clouds
But what goes up (Learning to fly)
Must come down
I'm learning to fly (Learning to fly, learning to fly)
I'm learning to fly (Learning to fly, learning to fly)
(Learning to fly, learning to fly)

I recommend when you get to Tom petty's "Free Fallin'," sing-screaming this part along with Tom, "I'M FREEEEE ... FREEFALLIN" super loud, it's therapeutic - dang the neighbors!

I miss Tom Petty!

But he left us some great stuff. 😊

In fact, let's let Tom Petty be our therapist, this week 😂

Good luck everyone! 

My Baller Brother-In-Law, Courtside At the Lakers VS. Rockets, Game 1 of the Playoffs ...

 

So my financial genius of a brother-in-law in LA (senior financial advisor for a major broadcasting/movie production company) took his son to the LA Lakers game, last night, to see Lebron James in the playoffs against the Houston Rockets.

First, we received this video of Lebron James warming up, up close and personal ...

Courtside seats, 1 row behind the players, baby!

Then, he sent a picture of himself with Imagine Dragons lead singer, Dan Reynolds, sitting near him ... 

(That's my BIL beside Dan, just blurred his face for privacy since he's a big-wig exec and all.)

His son, my nephew, said to Dan "I didn't recognize you with your shirt on." 😆

I asked if Dan's girlfriend, actress Minka Kelly was with him, and he said "I think so," but he wasn't sure he knew who she was? lol.

Plus she isn't in the photo and I don't see any paparazzi photos with her in them, so not sure if Minka was with him?

(BTW, in coincidence, Minka Kelly is Trevor Noah's ex-girlfriend from the post below.)

Those seats go for a minimum of $15,000 a piece during regular season, going all the way up to $100K a piece during playoffs and depending on the game/how are along they are in the playoffs!

Must be nice! 

Dang, M - rubbing elbows with the LA elite like a baller! 

Trevor Noah: Joy in the Trenches

 

So I came out of being buried under no less than 5 projects for school (2 of which are Powerpoint presentations) long enough to watch Trevor Noah's new Netflix special, "Joy In the Trenches" - and all I can say is ... OMG, I laughed about every 30 seconds!

AND .... I really needed that!

For those unaware, Trevor Noah made the following joke at the Grammy awards in February:

"That is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense, I mean, because Epstein's island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton."

😂😂😂 

Then Trump, likely sitting on his golden toilet throne eating his 3rd Big Mac, posted the following on Truth Social, threatening to sue Trevor ...

Now, at first, Trevor says he didn't even know about it because he was flying back to the East Coast, and when he got off the plane, white people were like "You fight, Trevor, fight!" and black people were like "Man, I don't know," shaking their heads like he was in for it now.

He was like "What is even going on, right now?" 

Well, he knows now - and he IS fighting back, with this special.

I won't spoil it all for you, but he starts by tearing this tweet apart, particularly the last line of Trump post:

"Get ready, Noah, I'm going to have some fun with you!"

To which Noah replies "Now, if you're trying NOT to sound like a sexual deviant .... then I wouldn't recommend this as a final sentence." 😂 

Aw, we love miss you, Noah!!!

(And by that, I mean on the Daily Show, not as some sort of premonitionatory warning of what will happen to you now! 😂)

I doubt Trump will anyway, since he's trying so hard to move on from it/distract us from it. 😉

Class Discussion on AI in Healthcare

This week in class were several projects on the benefits and risks of using AI, and I thought what I found in researching this subject might be of interest.

As HIM students in one way or another, none of us are too keen on AI, watching it already take over jobs. Thus far, though, in my major and others, it's just being used as a tool, not replacement.

Part of our grade is a discussion on the subject, and I'm not going to share what others said, just my own stuff. 

First will be my main post, then my reply to a friend who commented (but not her reply).

First, I just want to say this - IMO, there are 2 areas in healthcare where I think AI, in its present state, can be of the most benefit, which are imaging diagnostic accuracy and new drug discovery by creating new molecules - and yet they do make mistakes and still need human evaluation behind them.

The discussion for the original post asked us to "pretend" we were health technologists evaluating the security, reliability, and authenticity of AI.

I can't promise this is the best thing I've ever written, my brain is pretty fried, at this point, as this class is upping the ante with 3 projects this week, and 4 next week, our last week - I barely have time to pee between both classes, this week, but am taking more breaks today! 😂

_________________________________________________________

Hello Everyone!

    In my role as a Health Information Technologist, I have been tasked with taking a more in-depth look at the role of AI in healthcare, specifically with regards to security, reliability, and authenticity (see AI Risks section). 

    As exciting and promising as new technological innovations may be, there are considerations that will need to be evaluated before AI is implemented.

    The decision regarding use of AI, and for what purpose, can be likened to the launch of a new potentially disease-modifying drug, which always promise revolutionary outcomes in terms of clinical and financial value, upon which their manufacturers use in attempt to substantiate their exorbitant cost.

    However, just like in the pharmaceutical industry, there is a difference between what happens in controlled clinical trials versus real-world application, as well as there are differences of opinion regarding what constitutes overall clinical and financial value.

    So as not to solely bear bad news regarding AI, I have compiled a quick overview of risk vs. benefits comparison regarding use of AI in healthcare from an overarching perspective.

THE BENEFITS OF AI IMPLEMENTATION IN HEALTHCARE:

Clinical Value:  

1. Greater diagnostic accuracy with imaging diagnostics, leading to earlier diagnoses and treatment (HITRUST, 2023).
2. Greater surgical precision. (Chustecki, 2024)
3. Faster data management, data mining, and data analysis, assisting both provider and patient in decision-making when it comes to risk factors, diagnoses, and treatment (HITRUST, 2023).
4. Predictive analysis based on risk-factor, disease, and treatment information aggregation, to include personal patient history, lab values, and biomarkers, combined with data regarding known disease biomarkers, treatments, and outcomes (HITRUST, 2023. Chustecki, 2024).
5. Real-time symptom, lab value, and imaging aggregation to suggest diagnoses and treatments not previously considered, as well as cross-referencing possible contraindications and drug interactions more quickly. (HITRUST, 2024).
6. More efficient clinical-trial data analysis (HITRUST, 2023).
7. Assistance with the mapping combination of biochemical molecules to produce new molecular structures in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. (HITRUST, 2023. Chustecki, 2024).
8. Faster and more accurate methods of disease prevention, monitoring, and control in epidemiology. (Chustecki, 2024).
9. Virtual assistance and real-time monitoring devices in conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and sleep apnea so that adjustments in treatment can be made sooner. (HITRUST, 2023).

Financial Benefits:

1. Reduced labor costs and streamlined workflows (Chustecki, 2024).
2. Reduced post-treatment costs by earlier disease detection, providing data on the treatment plans with the most effective outcomes, to include which patients most likely return for hospitalization with one treatment versus another (Chustecki, 2024).
3. Predictive total-cost-of-care analysis regarding outcomes of treatment and need for further treatment and/or complications with treatment (HITRUST, 2023. Chustecki, 2024).

Administrative Benefits:

1. Streamlined, efficient workflow, scheduling, and real-time room/bed-number analysis (HITRUST, 2023).
2. Templates can be automated for memos, letters, meeting minutes, newsletters, and even legal documents. (HITECH, 2023).
3. Predictive modeling projection based on prior historical input with adjustments based on “what-if” scenarios. (HITECH, 2023. Chustecki, 2024).

 

THE RISKS OF AI IMPLEMENTATION IN HEALTHCARE:

    Unfortunately, the three topics I was tasked with investigating - security, reliability, and authenticity – are also the biggest known risks with implementing AI in healthcare at present, and all 3 can have far-reaching implications in all subcategories of clinical, financial, and administrative risks.

Reliability:

AI “hallucinations” or “misinformation:”

    Essentially, this means that AI makes up what it doesn’t know. This can happen in all areas of clinical data, but is particularly concerning on imaging (Chen et al., 2026).

Real-World Examples: 

1. A false-positive PET scan versus low-dose and high-dose nuclear medicine administration. As you can see, the AI-enhanced version of a SPECT scan whole-body image suggested radioisotope uptake in regions of the body where there was no uptake/cancer was not present (Xia et al., 2026).

 

Image Credit: Xia et al., 2026.

2.  A recent collaboration pilot study by the University of Massachusetts and Mendel asked 2 large-language models (LLMs), GPT-4o and Llama-3, to create 500-word summaries of based on 50 medical notes including patient histories and lab values; GPT-40o had 21/50 with incorrect information, and Llama-3 summarized 19/50 incorrectly (Clinical Trials Arena (Deswal, 2024). 

Data Poisoning:

    This refers to either intentional sabotage during development or inputting AI training/machine learning, internal data hack/tampering, or cyberattacks altering clinical data for nefarious purposes (Chen & Esmaeilzadeh, 2024).

Real-World Example:

    Though no large-scale data poisoning attacks have been reported, recent academic-healthcare testing revealed that 100 to 500 poisoned data samples were able to gain back-door entry via AI (Abtahi et al., 2026).

    It is important to also note that AI hacks can refer to either using AI to hack into applications and systems or hacks can be made into AI-using applications and systems, both ways.

Inaccurate AI-training material:

    Speaking of training AI, AI is only as accurate as the historical information that is put into it; thus, if the information is incomplete, inaccurate, or biased in any way, either scientifically or socioeconomically in demographics, it will not yield accurate, reliable results (Chen & Esmaeilzadeh, 2024).

Real-World Examples:

1. Current skin-sensing blood oximeters are known to have difficulty reading accurate blood oxygen levels on darker skin. As a result, AI analysis “undershot” hypoxemia in black patients, leading to black patients experiencing hypoxemia 3 times more than white patients (Norori et al., 2021).
2. An AI algorithm that used healthcare costs and expenditures concluded that black patients are healthier and have less healthcare needs than white people, because insurance companies spent less money was on them (Norori et al., 2021)

(That analysis, of course, is absurd. If anything, it actually provides more evidence of  racial bias and disparity in healthcare access and coverage between people of color and white people, with white people receiving more.)

 

Authenticity:

Lack of legal regulation and governance:

    At present, no formal legal precedent has been set specifically governing AI. Also, there appears to be some confusion regarding whether HIPAA covers AI data; some references said it did, others said it did not, or at least fully.  Thus, until U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS and OCR) clarify,  we can assume the same HIPAA rules apply, and for any other governance issues, it is imperative that we, as an organization, set specific AI policies regarding accountability, data integrity, and ethical considerations, as well as privacy and security. (Morley et al., 2024).

    The HHS does have, however, a task force on the situation, and has published guidelines for governance (Grindle, 2024).

Lack of accountability:

    At present, there are few, if any, track-and-trace features regarding AI-training input, as well as who is responsibility for which data. Additionally, the consequences based on mistakes or violations have not been set (Habli et al., 2020).

Authentication features can be easily hacked or faked including deepfake identify impersonation, resulting in manipulation of data, sending out false information from, to, or regarding individuals or groups:

    The American Hospital Association issued a warning regarding all of the above in December 2025 (AHA, 2025).

Privacy and Security:

Large-language model AI training involves using existing PHI on patients for machine learning:

    This, of course, means current patient data must be used to training, and no legal consent framework yet exists (Chen & Esmaeilzadeh, 2024).

Large-language models are easily hacked, manipulated, and lack alert/response protocols for hacks.

    Again, as previously mentioned, a recent testing of an AI healthcare system revealed 100 to 300 back-door hacks were easily able to gain entry to large language model (LLM) data within AI.(Abtahi et al., 2026),

    Perhaps because of lack of adoption of AI or partial adoption, I was unable to find any specific real-world instances of AI-generative data yet within the hospital itself being attacked, only AI being used as an external tool by hackers such as malware, deep fakes, "shadowing" and advanced phishing including the 2024 cyberattack on Change Healthcare, and the 2026 attack on Stryker, a medical device manufacturer (Arctic Wolf, 2024).

    And again, as mentioned above, the American Hospital Association issued a warning in December 2025 regarding “deep fake” impersonations of staff. (AHA, 2025).

    This illustration (Liu, Q. et al., 2018) provides us with a good overarching visual on where the vulnerabilities lie in AI-generative systems and at what phase of access, processing, and retrieval. It also gives examples of general defensive techniques that can be used.

Image Credit: Liu et al., 2018.

Conclusion:

    In conclusion, in addition to the very high-view-level risk/benefit analysis I provided, another consideration is the very high cost of implementation of AI, as well as any add-ons that may be required such as upgrading from a LAN to a VLAN and blockchain. Though labor costs might be saved by lack of need for clerical staff, more IT staff and greater salaries for real-time monitor and review might need to be considered. Thus, our actuaries might want to consider a total cost analysis to see if there are any cost offsets.

    Additionally, we must be careful not to become over-reliant on AI-generative devices due to the issues mentioned above. Thus, an evaluation of the results generated by AI should be part of the governance policies that we create. 

    In the end, the question is this: Is current-state AI ready to accommodate our needs, and is it worth the risk?

Thank you for your time!

 

References:

Abtahi, F., Seoane, F., Pau, I., & Vega-Barbas, M. (2026, January 23). Data poisoning vulnerabilities across health care artificial intelligence architectures: analytical security framework and defense strategies. Journal of medical Internet research, 28, e87969. https://doi.org/10.2196/87969

AHA.org, (2025, December 3). Resources available to help detect malicious AI schemes. American Hospital Association. doi: https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2025-12-03-resources-available-help-detect-malicious-ai-schemes

Arctic Wolf Cybersecurity, (2024, April 10). The top 18 healthcare industry cyber attacks of the past decade. Arctic Wolf. doi: https://arcticwolf.com/resources/blog/top-healthcare-industry-cyberattacks/#:~:text=1.,Neil%20in%20this%202022%20hack

Chen, Y., & Esmaeilzadeh, P. (2024, March 8). Generative AI in Medical Practice: In-Depth Exploration of Privacy and Security Challenges. Journal of medical Internet research, 26, e53008. https://doi.org/10.2196/53008

Chustecki, M, (2024, November 18). Benefits and risks of AI in health care: narrative review. Interactive journal of medical research, 13, e53616. https://doi.org/10.2196/53616. 

Deswal, P. (2024, August 7). Hallucinations in AI-generated medical summaries remain a grave concern. Clinical Trials Arena. doi: https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/hallucinations-in-ai-generated-medical-summaries-remain-a-grave-concern/

Grindle, D. (2024, July 10). Do you know the risk?: the urgent need for data security in healthcare AI. HHS Cyber, 403d Cyber Task Force. doi: https://405d.hhs.gov/post/detail/3900fcc7-08dd-4747-a1bb-2eb001dae582#:~:text=Issues%20concerning%20data%20security%20and,confidential%20data%20and%20patient%20safety.  

Habli, I., Lawton, T., & Porter, Z. (2020, January 7). Artificial intelligence in health care: accountability and safety. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 98(4), 251–256. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.19.237487

HITRUST Blog, (2023, November 23). The pros and cons of ai in healthcare. HITRUST. https://hitrustalliance.net/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-ai-in-healthcare

Liu, Q.,  Pan, L., Zhao, W., Yu, S., & Leung, M., (2018, March 18). A survey on security threats and defensive techniques of machine learning: a data driven view.  IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 12103-12117. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2805680, https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8290925  

Morley, J., Murphy, L., Mishra, A., Joshi, I., & Karpathakis, K. (2022, January 31). Governing Data and Artificial Intelligence for Health Care: Developing an International Understanding. JMIR formative research, 6(1), e31623. https://doi.org/10.2196/31623

Norori, N., Hu, Q., Aellen, F. M., Faraci, F. D., & Tzovara, A. (2021, October 8). Addressing bias in big data and AI for health care: A call for open science. Patterns (New York, N.Y.), 2(10), 100347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100347

Xia, M., Bayerlein, R., Chemli, Y., Liu, X., Ouyang, J., Lin, M., El Fakhri, G., Badawi, R. D., Li, Q., & Liu, C. (2026, February 2). On hallucinations in artificial intelligence-generated content for nuclear medicine imaging (the DREAM report). Journal of nuclear medicine: official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 67(2), 166–174. doi: https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.125.270653o an external site.
ernal site.

Links to an external site.  

My reply to a friend who commented - we are also expected and grades on replies.

____________________________________________

Hi @XXXX

Thank you! So glad you could sift through my wordiness for the point, you nailed it!

The racial disparities really jumped out, right? The assumptions AI made were absurd. This is why you still need human evaluation - and empathy! 

That's another issue with AI, in my opinion - it's math-based and thus gives one finite answer, when things can be multifactorial, and it doesn't know what to do with nuance or how to critically think through things that might need further study - so it definitely has no business assessing socioeconomic data. It can aggregate the data quickly, sure, but let the humans handle that one, ones with empathy. And it can use empathetic language, but it doesn't really "get it."

As for the "excitement" piece - yep, in my previous life, I transcribed the interviews between big pharma, insurance companies and PBMs and key-opinion-leader clinicians both nationally and internationally before new products launch, for an independent pharmaceutical research company (only to watch AI slowly take over my job to where there was little left but spillover every few months).

During that time, there was a trend; doctors became very excited about the newest, shiniest object, only to find out it was just another high-priced "me-too" drug doing exactly the same thing, which insurance people often had to point out to them the details in the clinical trials.

(FYI, the reason the price doesn't come down despite flooding to the market has to do with contracting and rebates, our system is very messed up here in the U.S. In fact, we pay more for pharmaceuticals than anyone else in the world, we're keeping these pharma companies fat and greedy, but that's another post).

Pharma often tries to justify the price by saying "Oh, but it's oral instead of self-injection" or "It's a new mechanism of action."

Insurance is like "Cool - but the results aren't any different; in fact, the results in clinical trial are either noninferior or even slightly inferior to the injectables administration, but you want to charge a premium for it? Denied. We'll approve it, but they'll have to step through 4 other drugs in this category first if you charge this test price."

The other thing pharma tries to put a premium on is a new indication for a drug, like "Oh, we can use this in a new disease state now."

Insurance is like "Great, so you have more populations who will be taking your product, so you'll be making more money that way and don't need the upcharge. Denied at that test price. It'll be stepped behind the other ones if you do."



The same is true with AI - "new" doesn't mean better. "Faster" doesn't mean better, either.



In fact, while researching for our our AI intelligence in healthcare project, I was unable to find a single large-scale study on the accuracy of of AI with clinical documentation (which is what's taking over my job), only that it was faster and led to less doctor cognitive load, workload, and burnout. (Hudson, et. al, 2025; Albrecht, et al., 2025; Stultz et al., 2025)

Hooray - but you know what also saves doctors time on clinical documentation?

Transcriptionists.

It was only when y'all went to cheap offshore transcription you had to edit yourself, or self-editing voice recognition, that you all put that much work back on yourselves.



Making me feel better about this taking over my prior job was an article by University of Colorado Health, in which the doctor was happy he had less workload, but it still made errors like thinking the doctor said "nitroglycerin" instead of "nitrofurantoin" for a patient with a UTI. (Neff, UCHealth, 2025).

Um ... one is a cardiac drug and the other is an antibiotic almost exclusively used for urinary tract infections.

So much for "context learning" software!

Transcriptionists are trained to know the difference, and if the doctor genuinely does misspeak, you flag it. Most often, this happens when a doctor dictates a drug is an allergy, but then later prescribes it. AI is supposed to be trained to catch that based on context, but clearly, it does not.

Transcriptionists can, though, because we go "Wait a minute, didn't he just say the patient was allergic to that under allergies? Let me check." And then you flag it.

So that's great it's faster - but what about accuracy?!?

I can tell you from 27 years of personal experience, only about 50% of doctors actually even read their own notes, or respond to flags before they sign them, so there's already an overreliance on other humans AND technology by physicians, so how much worse will that become?

As far as cheaper labor, Abridge, the clinical documentation AI being adopted by all the reputable healthcare systems, isn't cheap. The big upfront price isn't transparent, and then it's $2,500 per month, per physician. (Reeves, 2026).

So let's say you had 50 physicians and 3 transcriptionists. That's about $120,000 on salary, less for contractors, plus no benefits.

If you had 50 physicians and Abridge, it's $125,000 per year, so about equal - BUT that's NOT including the big upfront fee.

And your patients might get nitroglycerin instead of nitrofurantoin to treat a UTI, if a doctor doesn't read their notes, as per usual.

Also, there's actually a civil lawsuit just filed by 3 people who were not told about the ambient software "listening" and auto transcribing their private conversation with their doctor, and that information being stored in a cloud - so there's privacy and security issues as well. (Alder, 2026).

Transcriptionists never, ever hear the patient - ever. We just transcribe what the doctor said later.

I could go on and on, like I usually do, but that's enough to get the gist. :)

We are far from "Captain's Log, star date 2450" or handheld whole-body scans that can diagnose what's wrong with you in seconds, like on Star Trek, as much as we wish we could.

Thanks for replying!

References:

Abridge. (2026). Clinician Platform. https://www.abridge.com/platform/clinicians 

Albrecht, M., Shanks, D., Shah, T., Hudson, T., Thompson, J., Filardi, T., Wright, K., Ator, G. A., & Smith, T. R. (2025). Enhancing clinical documentation with ambient artificial intelligence: a quality improvement survey assessing clinician perspectives on work burden, burnout, and job satisfaction. JAMIA open, 8(1), ooaf013. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooaf013 

Alder, S. (2026, April 14). Lawsuit alleges ai platform illegally recorded patient-clinician conversations. HIPPA Journal. doi: https://www.hipaajournal.com/lawsuit-ai-platform-illegally-recorded-patient-clinician-conversations/

Hudson, T. J., Albrecht, M., Smith, T. R., Ator, G. A., Thompson, J. A., Shah, T., & Shanks, D. (2025). Impact of Ambient Artificial Intelligence Documentation on Cognitive Load. Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health, 3(1), 100193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcpdig.2024.100193

Neff, J. (2026, January 13). How an AI note‑taking tool helps doctors focus fully on their patients. UC Health Today. University of Colorado. doi: https://www.uchealth.org/today/ai-note-taking-tool-helps-doctors-focus-fully-on-patients/#:~:text=With%20Abridge%2C%20providers%20can%20look,UCHealth's%20secure%20medical%20record%20system. 

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