Other speakers spoke more specifically to processing topics, work flow, or business issues in the use of information systems in medicine, but the emphasis here is on some long perceived, but often overlooked problems in the semantics of communication. The overriding reason to seek better electronic records and record processing in healthcare is to acquire the ability to use clinical information in ways that will compensate for and move us beyond the cumulative deficiencies of present practice. By contrast, the potential offered by advanced computing is that we are now in a position to move forward to the much newer concept of mass customization, where information processing provides new means of cost-effective attention to individual needs. This capability is not for everyone, but it is markedly reduced wherever examinations are minimized and routines become mindless repetitions. This problem is not new, nor is it only a problem of healthcare.
Most documentation is centered around language, even where images or sound tracks are included.
In the latter cases, language is used to interpret them. Language and meaning is a much studied subject outside of medicine with a fruitful history. The novelty is what the speaker is trying to point out or to express. For this purpose he will use any word that serves him. The quote is well taken.