Clay LinkousCo-founder, Linkous Solutions · International Speaker, Executive Coach, and Facilitator / Champion of Physicians, Leadership, the Human Experience, SDOH, Vulnerable Populations, & Neurodiversity.

Is "Orthography" killing the joy of medicine?

21 Apr 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:35

In this YouTube monologue, the speaker introduces the term “orthography” – literally “correct writing” – and uses it as a metaphor for the rigid, code‑driven documentation requirements of modern electronic medical records (EMRs). He argues that physicians spend excessive time translating patient suffering into standardized codes, dropdown menus, and audit‑ready text, which diverts them from clinical judgment and erodes the patient’s personal biography. The speaker calls for simplifying EMR language and charting workflows so doctors can return to bedside care, urging viewers to share which charting tasks feel like busywork.

Chapters

Orthography. It's the word of the day, and at first glance, it feels like it belongs in a spelling bee, not a hospital. It literally means correct writing. But you know, if you're a physician in 2026, you know that correct writing is exactly what's standing between you and your patients. You spend countless hours every day navigating the rigid orthography of the EMR, You aren't just practicing medicine, you are translating human suffering into standardized codes and dropdown menus, and you're obsessed with the correct writing for the auditors, for the legal teams, you know, but when we focus that much on the orthography of the chart, we lose the biography of the patient. The aha moment for us as healthcare leaders needs to be this, that a physician's value isn't found in how well they navigate a software interface. It's found in their clinical judgment. So we need to continue simplifying the language of the system so we can get back to the language of the bedside. Let's stop making doctors act like data entry clerks, and let's continue fixing the system's orthography so we can focus on the patient's recovery. So what part of your daily charting feels the most like busywork? Let's talk about it in the comments.