There is increasing recognition of the importance of the electronic patient record as the central unit of information systems, and of the importance of the human interface of IT systems. There is also increasing recognition of the importance of developing record components and unambiguous nomenclature to record the human aspects of healthcare delivery requirements. However, though this fine detail of the human dimension is vital, there is now a danger of focusing solely upon this fine granularity at the expense of standing back to view the total grand plan. At the macro level it is equally important to see the human facets as the determinants (and principal components) of the units which build up the total healthcare delivery system, of the mechanisms for its management, and of the information which fuels the whole dynamic.