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! 😂

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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. 

Reeves, J. (2026, March 28). Abridge AI scribe review 2026: pricing, accuracy, and limitations. VeroScribe. https://www.veroscribe.com/blog/abridge-review-2026 

The Numerous Absurdities in The AI-Generated Trump as Jesus "Painting" ...

 

Erm - I mean - Trump as a "doctor" dressed as Jesus, he said. (Though he isn't a doctor, either).

So there's a lot of other oddities in this photo, one of which I noticed yesterday and wondered about, but it wasn't until the NYT jokingly said the "patient" looked like Jon Stewart that I came back for a second look at it all -  and again noticed the weird detail again. Pretty creepy!

(Hahaha! The "patient" really does kinda look like Jon Stewart! 😂)

So the thing I noticed yesterday and zoomed in on today ...

What the heck is that spiky-headed/horned, winged being, floating just above Trump's head!?!

I mean, I get those are soldiers on the left and right floating above him, but ... what is that is that scary-looking, spiky/horn-headed, winged thing in the middle???

An AI robot soldier drone like The Terminator?

An alien?

Optimus Prime? 

A spiky-headed angel?

A horned demon?

Satan himself?  😂

Whatever that is, it's creepy AF!

And what's with this nurse's hat? 

Did she time travel and teleport in from the 1970s? 

Is she Mennonite?

Because nurses haven't worn hats like that since the 1980s!

Even surgical nurses don't wear caps like that, they wear paper "shower caps" that cover all hair. 

And what's with the bigger light in his left hand versus the right?

So ... the healing power is only in his left hand, so he has to transfer it to the right hand first?

Does he have to work it up in both hands like putty first or something?  😂

Oh, I know! 

Maybe the healing power is in his right hand, but the nuclear power in his left hand?  😂

Regardless, as skilled and miraculous as doctors can be, pretty sure they don't heal just by laying their hands on someone.

So in addition to the strange biblical-robe look, not sure how much your "doctor's" excuse is gonna fly, there, Trumpito.

And then of course there's this ... 

Some little girl literally praying to Trump to heal whoever that is  - but no, he's a doctor here, he said!!!

Dohkay.

And who is this and what's his story?

Did Rob Reiner come back from the dead just to look grievously at him one last time? 😂

(By the way, I'm not sure what that building is behind him or if it really exists, forgive my ignorance. But it has a cross on top, so I'm guessing it's a church somewhere with Doric Greek columns on the second floor?).

And none of these things go together, they don't make any sense together.

Very, very strange, and further proof that sometimes AI creeps me out!

(As if I needed any more proof.)

In fact, the only thing AI got right, here is that not a single person of color is anywhere in sight in Trump's universe!  😂

PS - Trump Just Removed the Image of Himself as Jesus ...

Again, here is the AI-generated image of Trump that Trump posted on his Truth Social account, which drew ire from Christians on both sides of the political fence. 

Trump has admittedly removed the image a couple of hours ago after the backlash.

Just after removing it, Trump said this ... 

“Supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better.”

Hahahahahahaha!  😂😂😂

Oh, wait - he was serious - and really thinks his followers will buy that?

(Well, he's right, they usually do.)

And to them I say ... 

Um ... I don't know of any doctor that dresses in biblical robes, do you?

And for the sake of argument, let's say that's true - that the image could even be remotely construed as a Trump as a doctor rather than Jesus laying hands on the sick -- erm - you're not a doctor, either, El Narcissisto!

And you're definitely not healing anyone or anything and making things better!

In fact, you're picking on small countries and starting dumpster fires everywhere, just because you can, like a psychopath!

Oh, the Messiah-complexed narcissism on this guy, right?

Not a well man - never has been, at any age. 

This is just what happens when narcissists are enabled for far too long!

I'm Team Pope Leo: "Blessed Are the Peacemakers"

My first thought after hearing Trump was trying to twist Pope Leo's  Easter message - which called for laying down of weapons - into support for Iran and nuclear weapons (see Pope Leo's actual message below), what immediately popped in my head was the verse "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall see God" - and then Pope Leo quoted that verse himself, this morning. 

Now - having said that, do I think either Trump OR the Pope has been "ordained by God?"

No, I do not - sorry - I think they're human-chosen and both internal and external politics are always involved, for better or worse.

However, though not Catholic I do revere the Pope as a man who at least tries, every day, to live by the words of Christ by his interpretation and as he sees fit as his actual job - whereas Trump does not.

Trump does what Trump does for Trump's own glory - period. 

Also, Trump fans the flames of human fear, greed, and selfishness to manipulate his followers into voting for him and doing his bidding - which is something Christ would never condone. 

Now, I've been struggling in my faith for some time now, like never before, so I make no claims about what's Christian and what isn't based on church doctrine, I'm not qualified. I also do not have the insight or authority to judge anyone's actual soul.

However, Jesus said we could judge them by the fruits of their labor - and Trump's fruits stink to high heaven.

Also, Jesus said that his true sheep will always recognize the Good Shepherd, their master's true voice, and be led by it.

On that note, let's compare Easter Sunday messages - which one sounds more like the Good Shepherd that is Christ?

Trump on Easter Sunday ... 

Profanity-laden, name-calling demands and threats?

- OR - 

Pope Leo on Easter Sunday ...

 ... asking people to lay down their weapons and choose peace over the desire to dominate.

This should be an easy choice, self-proclaimed Christians!

But if you still can't tell, then perhaps it's time to take off your golden-calf Trump idolatry glasses first, as well as removing your political earplugs - so you can see and hear better?

And Pope Leo is "soft and crime" and "too liberal?"

Yeah?

I hate to break it to you, there, Noisy Trumpet -  but so was Jesus 😂

We're talking about the same Jesus who healed the ear of the man who arrested him after Peter cut it off with his sword, and then uttered "Those who live by the sword will die by it."

Still can't tell?

What about THIS?

Trump then posted this picture of himself as Jesus healing the sick, which he has in no way ever done, has no intention of doing, and will never do?

Still can't hear/see properly? 

Hmm, that's concerning about who and what you're actually worshipping then, because that's dang near blasphemous. 

Though I've been struggling in my faith, that one literally made me sick at my stomach. 

I wonder where J.D. Vance stands on this, as he is devout Catholic?

Or Trump's wife, Melania?

Pope Leo has responded that he does not fear Trump or his administration.

Regardless, though not Catholic, I'm Team Leo on this one ... "Go Pope Leo!"  😊

Somebody Turned 3 Today!

 

Nope, not spoiled or anything! 😆

Ziggy's a big boy, now - time flies!

Just a look back at we got him (June 2023) ... 

Look at how tiny he was!

Melania's Speech ...

 

So ... the question on everyone's minds is, "Why?"

Because her husband, the President of the United States, has been very clear about wanting to move on from Epstein.

The DOJ and others have refused to even talk to the victims. 

In fact, some people - including Iranians - have speculated that the whole Iran thing was nothing more than a distraction from it.

Then suddenly Melania turns our attention BACK on it, actually giving a speech on what she did and did not know about Epstein and calls for the victims to be heard?

Hmm, very strange.

She mentions lies about her circulating, but I really haven't seen any about her, other than pictures at parties. Oh, and the "first time she and Donald had sex was on Epstein's plane" thing.

But those rumors have been out for a while -  so I disagree with the social media theory that she just got tired of the rumors about herself or "suddenly saw them." 

That wouldn't be enough to draw our attention back to this, despite her husband's wishes, would it?

Now, her husband has been that impulsive when viewing things about himself, but I don't believe she ever has?

Actually MY first thought was "Okay, what bombshell is about to drop that she's launching a pre-emptive  PR strike?"

Maybe not, but this IS very clearly distancing herself from her husband and his current stance on the whole Epstein thing.

In fact, whether what she's saying is 100% true or not, dare I say it's almost like she's showing her husband how to do this, like "Look, if you're truly not guilty, then this is how you do this -  you address it head on and call for the victims to be heard - so why aren't you?" - which if that's really the case, then I applaud her.

In fact, you can't help but admire the way she did that - especially when apparently, Trump had no idea.

However, I can't help but wonder the motivation, because she's never done this before despite rumors for years - so until we know that, I'll hold my applause. 😉

Also, an angle no one else has mentioned, (at least that I've seen) is, I know that Melania takes her Catholic faith very seriously, it was just Easter, and Pope Leo has made some very pointed statements about the war - especially regarding Trump's threat about "an entire civilization will die tonight" genocidal maniac speech. 

So did the Pope's rebuke of Trump that have anything to do with this?

Eh, it's more likely what I said earlier, a pre-emptive strike before a bombshell comes out, but it in fact could be multifactorial.

We shall see ... 

If I Ever Need A Reminder ...

 

... of why I'm going to school at my age, this is it ... 

$5 to $12 day for an experienced medical transcriptionist?!? 

Sign me up!

*sarcasm*

That's adding insult to injury, a slap in  the face.

Dang, I could literally go mow somebody's lawn and make more.

Okay, now look - I get that most everyone went to outsourcing, check-the-box EHRs, and now AI - but medical transcription is an actual skill.

In fact, it's a slap in the face even to basic data entry people!

And they pay you peanuts like that, with no benefits, and then still scream at you in capital letters or in chat or over the phone for any mistakes! 

I'm talking screamed at and our jobs threatened in mass emails over stupid stuff like leaving an extra space before a period, stuff that doesn't affect patient care or billing and I doubt anyone else even notices, and for damn sure is NOT the reason for outsourcing or AI - they're going to AI because it's cheaper - period. 

In fact, I didn't used to be a perfectionist (ask my family) - I've been conditioned to be one (which is also why I come back here and edit stuff 1,000 times later, when I have more time).  

Who in their right mind would sign up for that?

I'll tell you who - people like me -  who stayed in this field for entirely too long because she didn't think she deserved any better, that's who - people who feel so broken and lucky to even have a job.

And the transcription company owners and supervisors know that, too, that's what they want, they're sweatshops. 

NOT ALL - my current contract boss I've been with for 6 years is the best boss I've ever had, it's just there's no work anymore.

And any jobs that are left in the field, you'll most likely work with at least one real winner, too -  OCD mean girls who like to feel superior to everyone else and/or people who have worked at home even before COVID because they know for dang sure their sh*t wouldn't fly anywhere else.

Like I said, not all - but I have never seen the like of genuinely unhealthy people in this field - and I was in show business many years ago!

Honest to God, tho, that never really happened in the workplace until the latter years of transcription, never in any other job (except a little bit in the last recession in another field when jobs were scarce).

Because it didn't used to be like this in transcription, actually, until the late 2000s when outsourcing started and EHRs and jobs became scarce. 

I think that's when all the normal people who already knew they could do more, left, thus leaving mostly truly unhealthy people in charge as the only ones left,  as well as people like me, who felt like they couldn't do anything else, beneath them.

But my God, now that I'm in school and doing so well, I could kick myself for not having done this sooner!

In fact, I wish I could shake myself about 15 years ago and go "You DO deserve better, go back to school, you can do it!" - but back then, I felt I was lucky to have anything, I was so broken. 

Now that I'm in school, making kind friends who aren't competitive, doing well, and  I'm having (mostly) a ball in general, I can't even believe I did that for so long.

Why?

In addition to what I just said, I realized that actually comes from somewhere first - a home life led by unhealthy, even bullying people who catastrophized everything others did to make themselves feel superior - it was familiar to me. 

I knew there were better jobs and people out there, I just thought I didn't deserve them?

I know, people will tell you it's everywhere nowadays, toxic workplaces in recent years, so that was another reason, I didn't want to be picky and ungrateful.

I did finally start speaking up about it starting a few years ago -  first for other people being bullied - and that got me nowhere but becoming the new target of bullying myself. 

Then for myself, just because I was new and lowest person on the totem pole and that's just the way they treated new people.

The final straw wasn't because I was just new, or because I spoke up for anyone else being bullied - it was because I was actually doing so well, which unfortunately my managers made the mistake of broadcasting to everyone - whups!

One coworker imagined I was "trying to make her look bad" and get ahead of her and literally went psycho on me via my personal cell phone, daring me to try to tell anyone because I had no proof.

Did it matter that I wasn't trying to make her or anyone look bad, just be grateful and work hard -  or that no one was going to move up anywhere? 

Nope - only in her psycho fantasy mind.

I loved that job, still miss it, everyone else was great - but she made it clear she was gunning for me and I'm too old for that shit.

And still, at the end of the day, I always blamed myself anyway for being the common denominator, going over and over what I could've done differently, beating myself up  - until that incident, that was the final straw.

I said "All right, that's it, I'm done. Enough. This isn't normal. This is BS and there's a reason why people started leaving in droves years ago.  There has to be better than this. I'm going to find out if I can do better."

Essentially, it was the same thing I said to myself when I walked away from my abusive exhusband, as well as the originators, my  own abusive family.

In fact, it wasn't until I started to believe I deserved better that I met Mark - our 10-year anniversary is coming up, and I couldn't be happier!

So now, we're finding out if the same is true with career, albeit at 57 years old.

It will not be easy, just as it wasn't when I left other unhealthy people/situations. It will be a struggle. And though I am getting a bit tired of struggle, it's so worth the peace on the other side. 

The good news is, I am so surprised with the kind, encouraging, genuine, noncompetitive NORMAL people, both classmates and professors, I could cry - in a good way. 

I remember this from years ago, before transcription, this is NORMAL.

Is every day perfect and everyone perfect?

No, but neither am I. 

Are there some kinks that still need to be worked out with the program, mostly due to the online-only communication - like the instructions could be a bit clearer sometimes and grading is a little arbitrary?

Yes. 

BUT - I realized today to quit my bitching - compared to where I've been, this is nothing.

In fact, I know that even though I've likely driven my professors slowly insane with my conditioned perfectionism due to my previous line of work, then cowering waiting for a rundown of how much I sucked overall if I asked a question or made a mistake - NONE of that came my way!

Nothing but asking how they can help.

Thank you, both UC staff and friends I've made over the past few months, I truly appreciate you 🫶

 

Hilarious Dream ...

 

I have no idea why I had this dream, probably because I watched the news just before bed last night?

It was one of those dreams that was so real, I could see every expression on his face.

So I'm at Kroger, waiting on Mark to pick me up. 

There's no bench, but I notice an abandoned wheelchair. I wait a while to see if anyone claims it, then I realize it belongs to the store to help people out, so I sit down a second, sure Mark will be along any second.

All of the sudden, Donald Trump walks by and stands near me, waiting for someone too. (?)

I just stare at him for a second and then quietly say "Hello."

He looks down at me, lifts his chin, sniffs, and then says "And?"

As if he was waiting for me to haul off on him or something.

Instead, I extended my hand for him to shake it, which he does reluctantly.

Then I say, "Do better ... okay?"

He softens, realizing that's all I'm gonna say, drops his eyes, and says "I will."

😂

I have no idea why I had that dream, what Donald Trump would be doing at Kroger waiting on the curb for someone to pick him up like everyone else, or what was with the wheelchair thing, but that's a dream for you. 😂

(Edited - after scratching my head about the wheelchair thing for some time, this morning, I think I figured it out - it represents powerlessness, right?)

And if I did see him, I would hopefully have a lot more to say than that ... but then again, maybe that's exactly what I would do if in that situation - just extend a hand in peace and just gently ask him to do better.

Who knows, but I think I'll wear a crucifix to bed tonight! 😂

Nah, that doesn't work, I've tried with nightmares with PTSD. At least this one wasn't!

_________________________________

PS - It's weird because I have never before had a dream with Donald Trump in it in my life, right?

So I told my classmates about it in Teams chat, just now, and one of them said "OMG, that's so weird, because I had a dream about him too! Only he was in my bedroom announcing to the world he was switching political parties."  😂😂😂

But she was just like "You're too old, man. Too old." 😂

Then I said "Well, if Donald Trump, or anyone, showed up in my actual bedroom, I doubt I'd be as nice."  😂

Then we started talking about there being no good reason you can't choose your dreams.

I'm like "Why can't dreams be like ordering your food, like "I'm in a Jason Momoa mood tonight, with a side of Benedict Cumberbatch. Oh, and we're in Fiji, and Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Pine" feed me delicious treats while fanning me."

But no. 

Instead, you get wheelchairs in Kroger parking lots with Trump. 😂

Big Presentation Project Completed!

  

I had my biggest class project yet, this week -  and just got it scored - and I got 100%! 

I'm kinda proud of myself.

Is it the best thing ever?

No -  but it took some time, especially for me, who'd never created a PowerPoint slide deck before. 

We had to use PowerPoint for the slides, but record it in Kaltura, which was a task because there's no edit features, so it was one long recording - like 9 times to make sure I got everything in (so forgive any stumbles, this was one long sweep recording without edits).

We had to pretend like we were an HIM Director explaining to our staff what an MPI is.

Just a reminder, this is my own creative content, nothing proprietary from the school was shared.

I'm putting it here as I go along to keep me motivated!

I'm getting A's in both classes so far, but they're accelerated classes, so motivation is a good thing!

It's 15 minutes long, so I don't expect anyone to watch the whole thing, this is mostly just for me.

Ziggy does make an appearance, though, just to make things less boring! 😂

 

PS - Yes - I Had Permission to Post The Screen Shot

 

In fact, the person that sent us the screen shot - and my family member - wanted me to post about it, since I am not employed at FCPS.

We are also not on FB, so you can be sure it's not just us or just my family member with these sentiments.

In fact, I rarely speak up for myself, and when I do, it's usually because I'm walking away from someone or something entirely.

However, if the issue is bigger than me or affects others who don't have a voice - I will not hesitate.

This one fits that bill.

Our schools are in literal budget crisis and all we see is more of the same unqualified cronyism and corruption that got us into this mess in the first place. 

Dear Dr. Demetrius Liggins, Superintendent for Fayette County Public Schools ...

(Yes - I had permission from the person who texted me the FB page to post this  - in fact, that person - and my family member -  wanted me to, since I'm not employed there.) 

Someone sent me this Facebook post of his, right after the Lexington Herald Leader reported he "wasn't taking" the superintendent job for a school system in Missouri after all -  a job he applied for after he got in hot water over the budget.

Is he "not taking" the Missouri job or did that final interview (which apparently was more of an interrogation on the goings on here) not go well? 

Who knows - but he just posted this ... 

Now - understand that I haven't actually written this to him, but also, knowing that he pings out for mentions of himself online, I'm hoping he will read this. If not, then I just feel better. 😂

Dear Dr. Liggins,

When you first arrived, we were your biggest cheerleaders. We wanted you to succeed here, not only because you were a well-educated, intelligent, seemingly kind person with great ideas, but because you were an LGBTQ black male in a Southern district who could move us forward and improve things for children from impoverished and/or marginalized groups.   

We were a bit concerned about the racism and bigotry that might come your way, but we were ready to support you through any backlash.  

Unfortunately, you disappointed us - and the backlash is legitimate concern - because you have legitimately made strange and extravagant budget and staffing decisions.

At first, I, myself, wanted to believe the backlash was racism and bigotry - but a time came when I could no longer deny it wasn't.   

I'm not going to get into details of what I know for a fact, but it would appear that you care more about controlling your appearance instead of actually being that person.  

You accomplish this by allegedly "anonymously" commenting on any press or social media post written about you (everyone knows is you because of the details you slip), surrounding yourself with unqualified, dishonest cronies (most of them being MAGA people, mostly white), and campaigning for yourself for various superintendent awards from organizations very far removed from here, using skewed data.

Like it or not, you represent other people of color and LGBTQ who want to succeed - and you're giving them a bad name - especially in the eyes of the type of people who already expect bad behavior from people of color, LGBTQ, and Democrats.

And what do you mean by you only accept positivity?  

Does that explain why the Budget Director was put on unexplained leave last summer, when she tried to tell you the budget was in trouble?   

You blamed your staff for not telling you these things publicly in the paper - but she tried - and her attorney published those emails in the paper to prove it.  

There's a difference between "negativity" and refusing to listen to a team member trying to tell you "we're in trouble."   

You CANNOT just shoot messengers who give you bad news and keep unqualified "yes" men and women around you - that is exactly what created this mess.  

Also, what then separates you from narcissistic leaders like Trump?   

And as for lies - what lies?  Tell us what they are versus truth then, publicly and nonanonymously, and address them? 

And are we all just supposed to pretend you didn't just try to run off to Missouri and leave us in this mess that YOU created, after all of this came out publicly? 

But now suddenly, immediately after the Missouri job interrogated you on final interview yesterday,  you alert the press and school district that you're "committed," and in it to win it?

Come on, man - you can do better than this. 

Not all Kentuckians are dumb, gullible hillbillies. 

It's pretty clear that you feared not getting the job, now, and don't have another choice.

You don't have to play the corrupt white straight male game to win, in your position - so why DO you?   

Don't you know that racists and bigots are waiting for this? 

They ignore cronyism, cheating, and corruption when white men do it, but they are always looking for it in men like you?   

By the way, there's a reason why the people supporting you at central office are mostly-white MAGA people - and it's not a good one.   

(Here's a hint, Uncle Tom - it may have to do with your corrupt/cronyism MAGA-style actions benefitting them personally, but make no mistake - they'll never fully accept you or anyone from your demographic nor vote your way overall in politics. At most, they will consider you an "exception to the rule" and use you, so long as you protect THEM.)   

DO BETTER ... please?  

Our kids deserve better!

Unfortunately, many people of color and LGBTQ who don't work for Central Office believe this is a racism and bigotry thing.

It isn't - and people of color and LGBTQ working at Central Office will be the first ones to tell you that.

In fact, they say things like "He's giving us a bad name, when we don't need any more bad names."

Sad situation.

___________________________________

PS - Should you also want to shoot my family member still working there over my message here, you may want to consider the following: 

In the unlikely event that happens, we can always revisit the issue of how medical accommodations for stroke were repeatedly ignored   😉

Plus it's not just us. In fact, we're not even on FB.

Which means someone else sent this to us, touting your arrogance and absolute denial - and by the way, it was a person of color.

Also, though I am admittedly growing tired of giving the same benefit of the doubt for others I would like for myself - especially people who never do the same or have already proven they don't deserve it repeatedly -  I will not stop doing so overall. 

(I'll just do it sooner when proof is staring at me right in the face.)

I will also never stop supporting anti-racism and anti-bigotry, despite the antics of people like you. 

Because bad apples like you exist in every demographic - they don't spoil the group overall - and there are some GREAT apples in your demographic, the best people I know.

It's just a shame most of the ones who make it into any sort of power ARE the bad apples who abuse their power, black, white, purple, gay or straight, Christian or not.

Which only proves, I guess, that those most deserving of the golden ring and who can be trusted with it rarely get it.

Regardless, I refuse to believe you are a bad apple overall - so remember or find the integrity within yourself to turn this ship around before we go under - please?