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Speaker 1: The content of this podcast is provided for general informational

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purposes only and is not intended as nor should it

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be considered, a substitute for professional medical advice. Hello, this

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is Karen Nicol, family nurse practitioner, and you are listening

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to Itchy and Bitchy, a podcast that provides answers to

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your many unanswered health questions. I want to first thank

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those of you who have left reviews of the podcast.

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I really appreciate it. Diana wrote, love Karen's content. Her

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information always feels thoughtful, informative, and delivered in a straightforward way.

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Thank you for sharing so much great info about health,

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healing and triumph. Thank you for taking the time, Diana

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to share those very kind words. I told my husband

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that I was thinking about talking to all of you

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about digital health, and he asked, what's that? And that

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response confirmed for me that others may not know what

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that means either. Many of you are already using digital health,

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but may not be aware that your Apple Watch or

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your Samsung Health on your Android device fall under the

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classification of digital health. There are more and more apps

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that track your heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, heart rhythm, exercise,

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and more. For instance, Apple watch. Health monitoring features include

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continuous heart rate tracking with high, low and irregular rhythm alerts,

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an ECG app and what we call an echocardiogram to

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detect atrial fibrillation, blood oxygen monitoring, advanced sleep tracking that

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includes sleep stages and appnea detection, risk temperature sensing for

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cycle track to estimate when ovulation occurs, and an app

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to check overnight measurements of heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate,

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and blood oxygen levels. That is a lot. It's a

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ton of information about how the body is functioning, all

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from something you wear on your wrist. Digital health refers

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to the use of information and communication technologies in medicine,

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and that includes smartphone apps, wearable devices with sensors like

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I just described in addition to telehealth programs. They are

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all designed to help prevent illness, deliver treatment, and promote wellness,

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all good things. With the advancements in medical technologies, digital

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health has the potential to make health care delivery more

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efficient and precise. Digital health combines mobile health devices with

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wireless technology that can communicate health information to your personal

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health records. Directly to your records, it can provide information

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to caregivers and healthcare professionals. The merger of technology and

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medicine is a growing trend. The digital health market value

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is expected to reach two one hundred and fifty eight

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billion dollars by twenty twenty nine. There is definitely an

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upside to the advancement of digital health. Many hospitals and

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health care facilities are undergoing a digital transformation because these

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technologies improve patient outcomes and streamline operations. The positive impact

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of these technologies can be profound for a health care facility.

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Digital health can improve workflows in a hospital or health

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care facility, help provide precision medicine by gathering and integrating

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patient data, and give optimal care for people when they

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are discharged from the hospital to home so that the

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patient can continue to hear. Also, robotics used in healthcare

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show benefits in surgical assistance, lab automation, and patient rehabilitation. Unfortunately,

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with those benefits come concerns with the type of technology.

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And after this break, I'll share ways digital health can

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be vulnerable. Welcome back, So where are the vulnerabilities of

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this technology? Well, with thousands of free or inexpensive health

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apps out there, tracking your health status is as easy

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as ordering a ride or a food delivery. But with

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each click, you may be unknowingly and unwittingly handing over

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your health data to a third party. Because health apps

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have gained popularity, experts and medical organizations have begun warning

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consumers of the hidden dangers. In May, the American Medical

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Association challenged lawmakers and the healthcare industry to create regulations

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to protect all types of patient privacy in the digital age.

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Until that happens, health app users are largely unprotected from

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having their data passed along to tech giants and marketing

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companies that might target them with ads. A recent study

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examined thirty five diabetes mobile apps and found that all

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of them gave data to a third party. And here's

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the kicker. They did so even when the app's privacy

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policies said it wouldn't. Yep. The research is considered preliminary

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until it is published in a peer reviewed journal. The

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truth is there are no limitations or guidelines on what

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companies can do with your data, no limitations or guidelines.

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Having checks and balances put into place is now so

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important since technology and healthcare are becoming more and more intertwined,

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and companies spend billions of dollars on these healthcare related apps.

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You should know that the data on health apps is

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not safeguarded by HIPPA, the nineteen ninety six law that

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protects health information gathered by providers and health systems. We

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are in the wild wild West stage with these health apps.

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You have absolutely no protection period. Many Americans are unaware

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that once their health data is collected, it's available online forever.

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In other words, your digital health info is immortal. Frightening

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eh Well, each time you interact with your health app,

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you are leaving behind a digital footprint, never to be

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swept away. These apps have you agree to a very

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long and complicated privacy agreement, and the majority of people

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don't want to take the time to carefully read this

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before clicking on agree. Who wants to do that? Well

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no one, but experts urge people to read the agreements

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to learn what might happen to their data after they

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have clicked agree. Once again, like most health care decisions,

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you have to weigh the risks and benefits. The apps

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definitely have many benefits, but is it worth it to

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use the apps if you know that your data is

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likely to be shared? If you want to know if

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your info is likely to be shared. One big clue

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is the presence of ads on the app. If you

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see ads, your info is definitely definitely being shared with

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a third party. Remember, if it's free to you, the

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app income is being generated by ads or selling your

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info to third parties one plus one is two. One

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thing you can do is check the app's automatic settings

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and make changes that will protect privacy, like turning off

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your location. However, if you turn off privacy settings, the

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app is generally harder to use, so a catch twenty two.

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As people become more aware of the lack of privacy,

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they may become increasingly uncomfortable with being tracked so carefully

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and completely, and as a result, the consumers of this

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technology may demand more regulation. In addition to your information

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being sold to third parties and advertisers, your information can

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also be stolen. Why would someone steal your health info

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because your private medical information can be worth a lot

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of money, which is one of the reasons why cyber

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threats are increasing in the healthcare industry. For example, criminals

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can steal prominent people's medical records and sell them to

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the media. Additionally, criminals can use stolen medical records to

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purchase medication with your info or make false medical claims

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under your name. This can directly or indirectly affect the

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patient's health or personal life. Incredible, isn't it. If you

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opt to use a personal medical device, you should know

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that the off the shelf devices that monitor things like

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vital signs are not necessarily medical grade, and most people

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don't know how to interpret the information that is provided. However,

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I do believe that providers should embrace the fact that

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there are patients who are keen to manage their own

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chronic conditions, and I think providers should support people in

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doing so. Providers who view themselves as part of the

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patient's team with the goal of achieving optimal health is

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the best medical model if we want a healthy patient

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and a healthy community. In terms of other risks, you

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may recall a twenty twelve episode of the US television

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drama Homeland in which terrorists hacked a fictional vice president's

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pacemaker and killed him. Unfortunately, there is concern that implantable

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devices such as insulin pumps, cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, neurostimulators,

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and cochlear implants could be hacked. Potentially, anyone with an

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implantable device like a pacemaker could have the device hacked

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in order to receive a ransom or to kill someone.

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More care regarding device security needs to be taken by

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medical device manufacturers. They should be building into their device

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as ways to protect patients from unwarranted attacks on them.

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When large healthcare organizations or providers are purchasing devices like pacemakers,

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they should be questioning the supplier about whether or not

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there are security measures built into the devices. So far,

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there hasn't been any documented direct attack on a medical device,

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but the fact that it's possible is very concerning and

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everyone should educate themselves and manufacturers should take extra steps

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to secure devices against cyber threats. Ransomware attacks on hospitals

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is another serious concern. It is definitely awful for a

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hospital when this happens, and it may cost them a

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lot of money, But remember whose data is being stolen

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in this situation, the patients. Unfortunately, as a patient, the

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data security the hospital has in place is beyond your control,

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but you can ask what methods they use to secure.

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To find out how a hospital secures your data, you

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can contact the hospital's privacy officer or chief Information Security officer.

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They are responsible for securing patient information through methods like

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encryption and access controls. You can also request something called

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the notice of privacy practices, which outlines how the hospital uses,

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shares and protects your health information. Someone in the hospital

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administration or health information management department can provide this for you.

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If you think your health data has already been breached,

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you can contact the risk management department at the hospital.

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They handle the facility's policy regarding data breaches and patient confidentiality.

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On a personal note, I have received a notice from

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a healthcare facility that my healthcare information may have been breached,

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which probably means that it has us and at least

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they offered one year of a free theft protection plan

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from a national company. I did accept this offer, but

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I'm not entirely sure how much protection I will receive.

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In the next episode, I'm going to tell you about

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another aspect of how technology is being used in the

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world of medicine, and that is something we have all

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been hearing about on a nearly daily basis, and that

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is AI artificial intelligence. Quickly, before I sign off, I

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just want to note that I realize I said both

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data and data in this episode, and I hope it

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didn't drive anybody crazy. And I don't know why I

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use both pronunciations, So there it is. Many thanks to

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all of you for listening. Wherever you listen to this podcast,

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please leave a review and rate the podcast. Your reviews

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and ratings really do matter. Also make sure you follow

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the show so so that it will be automatically downloaded.

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That also matters. I encourage you to visit our Facebook

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page imb Podcasts, where you can give us a like

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and leave comments or questions for me. Our website is

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Itchy and bitchy dot com, where there are blogs with

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some of our subjects available for you to read. I

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mentioned in the last episode that I would share some

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picks of our sweet lovebirdsake, and I have done that

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both on the Facebook page and the website. Thank you

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to Forrestwinsl, my son, our producer and composer of our

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theme music, and the person who does all the behind

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the scenes work to make this podcast possible. Thank you.

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Forest Forest continues to thrive at Peabody Music Conservatory and

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has started his final semester of the Master's program. If

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you want to listen to what he's creating. You can

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go to his website, Forestwinsole dot com. Remember that your

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health and your data is in your hands us