Method for assisting in batch transmission of business forms

Abstract

To provide a method for reducing the burden of document dispatching work in the medical and nursing care field.SOLUTION: In a method for assisting in batch transmission of business forms to a patient of a medical and nursing care provider and each of the patient's associates, a control unit of a server terminal accepts input to select a patient from a medical and nursing care provider terminal of the medical and nursing care provider, accepts input to select the transmission content of a business form to be sent to the patient's terminal and / or the patient's associates, creates a business form based on the input to select the transmission content, accepts input to select a transmission destination corresponding to the patient and / or the patient's associates in order to send the created business form, accepts input to select transmission means for sending the business form, and sends the business form to the selected transmission destination by the selected transmission means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for supporting the bulk transmission of forms, and more particularly to a method for supporting the bulk transmission of forms for medical and nursing care providers. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, in routine operations in the medical and nursing care field, documents such as forms have been sent to a wide variety of people, including users of the services provided by medical and nursing care providers, including patients, their families, the hospitals they visit, visiting physicians who visit patients, and nurses. The content of the documents sent ranges from scheduling, requests, reports, and invoices, and the means of sending them range from mail, email, SMS, and fax. This has resulted in medical and nursing care providers having to spend time and effort communicating information with each party involved, placing a burden on them.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for supporting the batch transmission of a predetermined document to a plurality of destinations. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3875963 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 enables bulk transmission using the same transmission method (email), and it is difficult to bulk transmit various documents using different transmission methods, particularly in industries such as the medical and nursing care field, where there is still a mixture of recipients and transmission methods.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the burden of document delivery work in the medical and nursing care field. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for assisting a medical care provider in sending documents in bulk to a patient and each of the patient's associates, wherein a control unit of a server terminal accepts input from the medical care provider terminal of the medical care provider to select a patient, and sends the document to the patient's terminal and / or the patient's associates; accepts input to select the content of the document to be sent, and creates the document based on the input to select the content to be sent, and sends the created document; accepts input to select a destination corresponding to the patient and / or the patient's associates, and sends the document; accepts input to select a sending means, and sends the document to the selected destination by the selected sending means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the burden of document delivery work in the medical and nursing care field. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a form data transmission support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the server terminal 100 of FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a functional block diagram showing a medical care provider terminal 200 of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of user data stored in the server 100. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of form data stored in the server 100. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of a data transmission assistance method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the process of the data transmission support method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8]3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface screen displayed on a medical care provider terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a user interface screen displayed on the medical care provider terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example of a user interface screen displayed on the medical care provider terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example of a user interface screen displayed on the medical care provider terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating yet another example of a user interface screen displayed on the medical care provider terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments described below do not unduly limit the content of the present invention described in the claims. Furthermore, not all of the components shown in the embodiments are necessarily essential components of the present invention.

[0011] <Configuration> FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data entry support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This system 1 includes a server terminal 100, which supports the creation of forms based on input from a medical care provider and the transmission of the created forms via a destination and transmission means specified by the medical care provider. It also includes a medical care provider terminal 200, which provides services to patients, a patient terminal 300 for the patient, a family terminal 400 for the patient's family, a hospital terminal 500 for the patient's outpatient visits, a visiting clinician terminal 600 for the visiting clinician who visits the patient, and a care manager terminal 700 for the patient's care manager. For ease of explanation, each terminal is described as a single or a specific number, but the number of each is not limited. In this embodiment, the patient's relatives include the patient's family, hospital, visiting clinician, and care manager. However, this is not limited to these, and other relatives, such as visiting nurses, may also be included.

[0012] The server terminal 100, medical care provider terminal 200, patient terminal 300, family terminal 400, hospital terminal 500, visiting clinician terminal 600, and care manager terminal 700 are all connected via a network NW1. The network NW is composed of the Internet, an intranet, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a telephone line, etc. At least any of the patient terminal 300 to the care manager terminal 700 does not necessarily have to be connected to the server terminal 100 via the network NW, and it is sufficient that the patient, the patient's family, the hospital, the visiting clinician, or the care manager can receive the form sent by the medical care provider by any of the following transmission means: mail, email, SMS (Short Message Service), and FAX (Facsimile). At that time, the server terminal 100 can be connected via a network NW to a postal carrier terminal (not shown) of a postal carrier that sends mail, an internet provider terminal (not shown) of an internet provider that mediates the sending of e-mail, and a telecommunications carrier terminal (not shown) of a telecommunications carrier that sends SMS and FAX.

[0013] The server terminal 100 may be, for example, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0014] The medical care provider terminal 200, patient terminal 300, family terminal 400, hospital terminal 500, visiting clinician terminal 600, and care manager terminal 700 are, for example, information processing devices such as personal computers or tablet terminals, but may also be configured as smartphones, mobile phones, PDAs, etc. The medical care provider terminal 200 can also be connected to a scanner that scans prescribed forms such as invoices via a network such as the Internet or short-range wireless communication.

[0015] In this embodiment, the system 1 is described as comprising a server terminal 100, a medical care provider terminal 200, a patient terminal 300, a family terminal 400, a hospital terminal 500, a visiting clinician terminal 600 and a care manager terminal 700, and a configuration in which users of each terminal use their respective terminals to operate the server terminal 100; however, the server terminal 100 may also be configured as a stand-alone system, with the server terminal itself having the function for each user to operate it directly.

[0016] Fig. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of the server terminal 100 of Fig. 1. The server terminal 100 includes a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a control unit .

[0017] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for communicating with the medical care provider terminal 200 and other terminals via the network NW1, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).

[0018] The storage unit 120 stores input data and other information for executing various control processes and functions within the control unit 130, and is composed of RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), and other components. The storage unit 120 also includes a user data storage unit 121 for storing various data related to users (hereinafter, simply referred to as "users" unless otherwise specified) such as medical and nursing care providers, and a form data storage unit 122 for storing template data for form data created for users. A database (not shown) storing various data may be constructed outside the storage unit 120 or the server terminal 100. The term "form" as used herein refers to all documents exchanged between a medical and nursing care provider and its users, such as patients or related parties of the patients, in the course of business, including schedule adjustments, requests, reports, and invoices.

[0019] The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the server terminal 100 by executing programs stored in the storage unit 120, and is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc. Functions of the control unit 130 include an information receiving unit 131 that receives information from various terminals, an image processing unit 132 that performs image processing such as OCR on image data related to forms, and a form data processing unit 133 that performs processing such as creating forms based on user input. The information receiving unit 131, image processing unit 132, and form data processing unit 133 are activated by programs stored in the storage unit 120 and executed by the server terminal 100, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

[0020] The information receiving unit 131 receives information from, for example, the medical care provider terminal 200 via the communication unit 110. For example, the information receiving unit 131 receives a selection input specifying the content to be transmitted from the medical care provider terminal 200 in order to create a form. Alternatively, the information receiving unit 131 receives image data related to a form generated by photographing a form such as an invoice from the medical care provider terminal 200.

[0021] The image processing unit 132 performs image processing such as OCR on image data relating to a form received from the medical care provider terminal 200, for example, and performs character recognition.

[0022] The form data processing unit 133 performs processing to create forms and support the transmission of forms, for example, based on input received from the medical care provider terminal 200.

[0023] The control unit 130 may also have a screen generation unit (not shown) that generates screen information to be displayed via the user interface of the medical care provider terminal 200 upon request. For example, the control unit 130 generates a user interface by using image and text data (not shown) stored in the storage unit 120 as material and arranging various images and text in predetermined areas of the user interface based on predetermined layout rules. Processing related to the image generation unit may also be executed by a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0024] Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the medical care provider terminal 200 of Fig. 1. The medical care provider terminal 200 includes a communication unit 210, a display operation unit 220, a storage unit 230, a control unit 240, and a camera 250.

[0025] The communication unit 210 is a communication interface for communicating with the server terminal 100 via the network NW, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP / IP.

[0026] The display operation unit 220 is a user interface used for the user to input instructions and to display text, images, etc. in accordance with input data from the control unit 240, and is composed of a display, keyboard, and mouse when the medical care provider terminal 200 is configured as a personal computer, and is composed of a touch panel, etc. when the medical care provider terminal 200 is configured as a smartphone or tablet terminal. This display operation unit 220 is started up by a control program stored in the storage unit 230 and executed by the medical care provider terminal 200, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

[0027] The storage unit 230 stores input data, programs for executing various control processes and functions in the control unit 240, and is composed of RAM, ROM, etc. The storage unit 230 also temporarily stores the contents of communication with the server terminal 100.

[0028] The control unit 240 controls the overall operation of the medical care provider terminal 200 by executing the programs stored in the storage unit 230, and is composed of a CPU, a GPU, and the like.

[0029] The camera 250 photographs a document such as an invoice, and the control unit 240 stores the photographed document as image data in the storage unit 230 and / or transmits the image data to the server terminal 100 via the communication unit 210. The medical care provider terminal 200 can also be connected to a scanner (not shown) as an external device via the communication unit 210, and the scanner can scan a document such as an invoice, and the scanned image data can be received by the medical care provider terminal 200, which can then transmit the image data to the server terminal 100.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user data stored in the server terminal 100. As shown in FIG.

[0031] The user data 1000 shown in Fig. 4 stores various data related to a user. For ease of explanation, Fig. 4 shows an example of one user (a user identified by user ID "10001"), but information on multiple users can be stored. The various data related to a user can include, but are not limited to, basic information about the user (e.g., company name, address, name of person in charge, department name, contact information, etc.), basic information about the user's customer (e.g., patient name, name of related person (of the patient), contact information, etc.), and form data for the user and related persons (structured input data including form ID, transmission content, transmission destination, transmission means, image data generated by image processing the form, and each input item and input value included in the form).

[0032] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the form data stored in the server terminal 100. As shown in FIG.

[0033] The form data 2000 stores various data related to forms created for users and related parties. For ease of explanation, FIG. 5 shows an example of one form (identified by form ID "20001"), but information related to multiple forms can be stored. The various data related to forms can include, but are not limited to, forms created based on user selection or direct input, image data generated by photographing the original form held by the user, forms generated by character recognition using image processing such as OCR, and structured input data including input fields and input values ​​included in the form. Furthermore, in order to create form data, the form data 2000 can also store template data including standard text and formats, linked to categories such as "sharing care observations," "request for change in care content," "inquiry (request) for updating the short-term goal period of the care plan," "written delivery of care content change," "delivery of visiting nursing instructions," "schedule adjustment," "delivery of inquiry," and "invoice," depending on the content of the transmission. In addition, as the report data 2000, a learning model generated by learning the position coordinates and character recognition results of input items and input values ​​contained in each report data based on the report stored as report data can also be stored.

[0034] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in a form data transmission support method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] First, as a pre-processing of step S101, a user of a medical and nursing care provider logs in by performing a predetermined login operation, such as inputting an ID and a password, to an application for supporting document transmission displayed on the medical and nursing care provider terminal. Furthermore, as a preliminary process, the user can register information about the patient who is a user of medical and nursing care services (e.g., the patient's name), information about the patient's relatives (e.g., the patient's family (the patient's father's name), the hospital (the name of the hospital the patient visits), the visiting physician (the hospital name, the doctor's name), the visiting nurse (the nursing provider name, the nurse's name), the care manager (the care manager's name)), and destination information (e.g., an address, an email address, a telephone number, etc.) on the application in advance. The document data processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 stores the registration information input by the user as user data 1000 in the user information storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120. Furthermore, when the user logs in, a portal screen of the application is displayed on the medical and nursing care provider terminal 200, as shown in FIG. 8. Before sending a form, the user first selects a patient to create the form.

[0036] In the processing of step S101, the user selects the target patient via the user interface screen displayed on the medical care provider terminal 200, and the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives the patient selection input from the medical care provider terminal 200 via the network.

[0037] For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when creating a form, the user can select a target patient, that is, a patient named "Collaboration Hanako," from the patient list.

[0038] Next, in the process of step S102, the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives input of the content of the form to be sent from the medical care provider terminal 200 via the network. To input the content to be sent, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the user can select template data (e.g., "Schedule Adjustment") related to the content they want to send this time from a list of template data (transmission templates). Here, for example, if they want to follow up again or create a new form by reusing a past form, they can also select a specific form from the transmission history of forms sent in the past.

[0039] Based on the selection input of the received template data, the form data processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 references the template data stored in the form data storage unit 122 of the memory unit 120 and creates form data for the user. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the form data processing unit 133 references the template data related to "schedule adjustment" stored in the form data storage unit 122 of the memory unit 120 and creates the text of the form data based on the text related to the schedule adjustment. It can also reference the user data 1000 in the user data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120 and reflect data related to the patient whose selection input has been received by the user (e.g., the patient name "Collaboration Hanako") in the text. The user can also update the text of the form data displayed on the medical care provider terminal 200 based on the template data by directly inputting information.

[0040] Next, in step S103, the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives input of a destination of the form from the medical care provider terminal 200 via the network. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the user can select a destination of the created form from a list of destinations to which the user can send the form (e.g., "Kabutomushi Home Nursing Station" or "Rakuda Clinic"). In this embodiment, destination information is managed in association with a classification corresponding to the attributes of the parties involved (e.g., "patient," "family," "visiting medical care," "visiting nursing," etc.). The user is shown the individual name (name, title) of the destination along with the classification, so the user can visually identify various destinations while sorting out their relationships with the patient.

[0041] Next, in the process of step S104, the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives input of the means of transmitting the form from the medical care provider terminal 200 via the network. As the input of the means of transmission, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the user can select the means of transmission (for example, "Send by email" and "Send by fax" for "Send by Kabutomushi Home Nursing Station" and "Send by fax" only for "Send by Camel Clinic") for each of the selected destinations (for example, "Send by mail" and "Send by fax" for "Send by Kabutomushi Home Nursing Station") as well as the information about the related parties, and thus can skip this step.

[0042] Next, in step S105, the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives a request to send the form from the medical care provider terminal 200 via the network, and the form data processing unit 133 executes a process to support sending the created form. Here, the content of the transmission support process differs depending on the sending means. For example, if "email" is specified as the sending means, the form data processing unit 133 executes a process to send the created form data to the specified e-mail address. On the other hand, if "mail" is specified as the sending means, the form data processing unit 133 sends (uploads) the form data and destination information (name, address, etc.) to a server operating "Web Mail" to mail the form via "Web Mail," as shown in FIG. 11. Based on the transmitted data, the postal service will mail the form to the specified destination.

[0043] As described above, according to this embodiment, a medical care provider can collectively transmit forms to various recipients, such as patients and related parties, regardless of the transmission means. Furthermore, the form data processing unit 133 stores the form transmission history, along with the form transmission content and status information (e.g., "in progress" or "completed") for each transmission means, in association with the user data 1000 in the storage unit 120. This allows the user to easily check the status of the transmitted forms in a list, as shown in FIG. 12.

[0044] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing of a data transmission support method related to the first embodiment of the present invention, and particularly relates to a support method that can be applied when a user wants to send the same type of report data to different destinations in bulk.

[0045] In the process of step S201, the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives bulk transmission data from the medical care provider terminal 200 via the network. As the bulk transmission data, the user creates integrated PDF data including multiple pieces of similar form data (e.g., invoices), transmits (uploads) the data to the server terminal 100 via an application displayed on the medical care provider terminal 200, and selects a transmission request button (in this example, "mail request"). Here, the user can transmit destination information for each of the multiple form data (in a format such as CSV) to the server terminal 100, or can set the destination information in advance.

[0046] Next, in step S202, the form data processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 downloads the received bulk transmission data and destination information, divides each form data included in the bulk transmission data, and inserts the destination (e.g., patient name) corresponding to each form data included in the received destination information into each divided form data, thereby creating form data to be transmitted. The image processing unit 132 of the control unit 130 can also determine, through image processing, an area where destination information (address information) should be inserted for each of the received form data using techniques such as character recognition and / or position recognition. If the destination information is insufficient or unclear, the server terminal 100 can also send an inquiry message to the medical care provider terminal 200. The form data processing unit 132 compresses each of the created form data to be transmitted to create a compressed file (e.g., a ZIP file).

[0047] Next, in step S203, the form data processing unit 133 transmits the created transmission form data (compressed file) to a postal service server (not shown) linked via an API or the like, and sends a mailing instruction for the form data to the postal service server. When the form data processing unit 133 executes the mailing instruction, it can update the status of the form data stored in the user data storage unit 121 to "mailed" and store the data. The mailing instruction can also be issued by the user accessing the postal service server via the medical care provider terminal 200. In this case, the form data processing unit 133 updates the status to "created" when creating the transmission data and notifies the user of this, allowing the user to execute the mailing instruction for the created data. This example reduces the burden on the user of creating and transmitting transmission files when sending the same type of transmission files in bulk.

[0048] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, they can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made. These embodiments, modifications, and omissions, substitutions, and modifications are included in the technical scope of the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1 System 100 Server terminal, 110 Communication unit, 120 Memory unit, 130 Control unit, 200 Medical care provider terminal, 300 Patient terminal, 400 Patient family terminal, 500 Hospital terminal, 600 Visiting clinician terminal, 700 Care manager terminal, NW1 Network

Claims

1. A method for supporting a medical care provider in sending documents in bulk to a patient and each related party of the patient, The control unit of the server terminal receiving an input to select a patient from the medical care provider terminal of the medical care provider; Accepting an input to select the content of the form to be sent to the terminal of the patient and / or a person related to the patient; creating the form based on the input selecting the content to be sent; Accept an input to select a destination corresponding to the patient and / or a person related to the patient to which the created form is to be sent; Accept an input to select a transmission means for transmitting the form; The method includes transmitting the form to the selected destination by the selected transmission means.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interested party belongs to one of the following categories: the patient's family, the patient's hospital, the patient's visiting physician, and the patient's care manager.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the content to be sent includes selecting a template for the form.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the destination is any one of an address, an email address, a telephone number, and a fax number of the patient and / or a related person of the patient.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sending means is one of postal mail, email, SMS, and fax.

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