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I'm always a bit disappointed when scrolling through Q drops and finding how many I never understood (yet?)
The last Q drop referenced 'protect your DNA', which may be referring to the 'vax' or the testing swabs, which some allege collect DNA samples. Actually I've seen an article saying they are sent to Chinese researchers, so I dunno. And it ended with the word, Ascension. Looking today, I find a hospital system named Ascenion pairing with Google, as are many hospitals, and that proposed systems to predict (problems with) human health would include a DNA 'bank'. I dunno - maybe both Google and the vax are a threat to our DNA.
Business profile:
Ascension Health General Information
From Ascension.org's website, I found a rather defensive 'clarification' of Ascension's work with Google:
Technology that improves patients’ lives, caregivers’ experience
11/14/2019
By Eduardo Conrado
Executive Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, Ascension
(ransomnote: EXCERPTED. I put 'safe, effective' in bold type below because that phrase hasn't aged well)
Many news outlets recently published stories about Ascension’s collaboration with Google to create innovative systems to better serve the evolving needs of consumers, patients and caregivers. We want to clear up some inaccuracies in the reporting to set the record straight.
Anything but secret: Ascension’s work with Google has been anything but secret. In fact, Google first announced its work with us in July, on its Q2 earnings call. Acute care administrative and clinical leaders across Ascension have been informed of the work, enterprise-wide webinars have been held, and the clinical leaders of our employed physician group have been informed in detail about the project. In our deployment sites, front-line nurses and clinicians have not only been informed but have actively participated in the project.
SNIP
About the data: Ascension’s clinical data, hosted in the Google Cloud Platform, is housed within an Ascension-owned virtual private space. Google is not permitted to use the data for marketing or research purposes. Hospitals and clinical software vendors across the country have converted or are in the process of converting to electronic health records stored in the cloud and soon the entire industry will be adopting this approach.
And it’s secure: All of Google’s work with Ascension is in compliance with applicable regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and is covered by a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) that governs Protected Health Information (PHI). Any exchange of PHI in connection with this work is for the purpose of helping our providers support patient care. This is standard practice in healthcare, as patient data is frequently managed in electronic systems that nurses and doctors widely use to deliver patient care. Our data will always be separate from Google’s consumer data, and it will never be used by Google for purposes such as targeting consumers for advertising.
SNIP
How we get there: Ascension is working with Google to address the interoperability challenges that currently exist with patient medical records to allow for easy, accurate and secure exchange of patient health information. The goal is to be able to pull clinical information from many different systems and sites of care into a consolidated view so caregivers are able to make the best decision for patients. The work we’re doing includes developing new technologies that enable our clinicians to find important clinical information easier so patients can be assured their caregivers have access to the right information to provide safe, effective care.
The promise of AI: Artificial intelligence holds promise to help physicians more effectively and efficiently treat patients. Our products in development will help improve care delivery and address well-documented interoperability pain points within the healthcare system. Artificial intelligence/machine learning will help provide insights, with a licensed clinician always making the final treatment decisions.
SNIP
ransomnote: when I searched for Ascension hospitals DNA, I found the following article, which only uses 'DNA' in the diagram of the data system - essentially there would be a DNA databank to support the AI's 'predictive algorithms' for treating patients. That's my opinion based on reading the cautiously written article and comparing it with the diagram - they don't seem to want to say anything in text about the DNA usage. It doesn't sound good to me.
Ethics and Artificial Intelligence in Health Care: The Pivot Point
Here's the first paragraph - the first sentence of which set my teeth on edge (hubris, worded like biblical reference to Nephalim):
"In November 2019, Google and Ascension reminded the public that giants walk the Earth when they clarified the nature of their business agreement, which was first announced in July 2019. To wit, Google and Ascension revealed that the health care data of up to 50 million Americans would be transferred from Ascension to Google’s Healthcare Cloud, where artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can use the data to develop predictive algorithms."
ransomnote: Here's another quote, actually a question, from the article. I suggest you put the word "DNA" in place of the word 'data' to get an idea of the capabilities of this technology:
"What rights do individuals have to withhold or withdraw consent regarding the use of their data in massively aggregated data sets for developing AI predictors of health outcomes?"
Google has it's own page on the collaboration with Ascension. Here's an excerpt:
Q: Do Google employees have access to Protected Health Information (PHI)? If so, why?
A: A limited number of Google employees have been approved by Ascension to potentially handle PHI, in order to provide the services to Ascension.
ransomnote: During the height of the plandemic, I read that the hospital's EPIC software system (AI) was directing care of patients. Ascension uses EPIC as part of its system:
https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2021/12/16/ascension-wisconsin-converting-hospitals-to-epic.html
ransomote: All the reporting on AI in relation to Ascension's hospital systems is indirect. I saw early patents for Ascension hospital staff to voice activate or access the AI system (reminds me of the HAL 2000).