Information processing system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

The present invention makes it possible to freely set a work schedule of a doctor.　An information processing system according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a doctor schedule input unit that receives input, from a plurality of doctors, of consultation availability schedule information; a doctor schedule storage unit that stores schedule information in association with doctor identification information which identifies a doctor; a desired consultation date input unit that receives input, from a patient, of a desired date and time of a consultation; a matching unit that identifies, with reference to the doctor schedule storage unit, a doctor who can provide a consultation at the date and time; and a reservation information storage unit that stores reservation information in which the reservation date and time, the patient, and the doctor who can provide the consultation are associated with each other.

Description

Information processing system, information processing method and program

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program.

[0002] Patent Document 1 proposes a system for managing appointments at medical institutions.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-064270

[0004] Conventional medical institution reservation management assumed that doctors would be stationed at the institution, and doctors were not able to freely set their working hours.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and aims to provide a technology that allows doctors to freely set their work schedules.

[0006] The main invention of the present invention for solving the above problem is an information processing system comprising: a doctor schedule input unit that accepts input of schedule information for available doctors from multiple doctors; a doctor schedule memory unit that stores the schedule information in association with doctor identification information that identifies the doctor; a desired examination date input unit that accepts input of the date and time at which the patient wishes to be examined; a matching unit that refers to the doctor schedule memory unit to identify the doctor who is available to examine the patient on the date and time; and an appointment information memory unit that stores appointment information that associates the appointment date and time, the patient, and the doctor who is available to examine the patient.

[0007] Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the section on preferred embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

[0008] According to the present invention, doctors' work schedules can be freely set.

[0009] It is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system according to the present embodiment. It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a management server 2. It is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of a management server 2. It is a diagram explaining the operation of a management server 2.

[0010] <Summary of the Invention> The details of embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described below. The present invention, for example, has the following configuration: [Item 1] An information processing system comprising: a doctor schedule input unit that accepts input of schedule information for doctors who are available for consultation; a doctor schedule storage unit that stores the schedule information in association with doctor identification information that identifies the doctors; a desired consultation date input unit that accepts input of a date and time from a patient for a desired consultation; a matching unit that references the doctor schedule storage unit to identify doctors who are available for consultation on the date and time; and an appointment information storage unit that stores appointment information that associates an appointment date and time with the patient and the available doctors. [Item 2] The information processing system according to Item 1, wherein the matching unit references the doctor schedule storage unit and the appointment information storage unit to identify doctors who are available for consultation on the date and time and for which no appointment information corresponding to the date and time has been registered. [Item 3] The information processing system according to Item 2, further comprising: an examination time prediction unit that predicts an examination time, wherein the matching unit refers to the doctor schedule storage unit and the appointment information storage unit to identify the doctor who is available for an examination on the date and time and for which no appointment information is registered, the date and time falling between the appointment date and time and after the examination time. [Item 4] The information processing system according to Item 1, further comprising: a doctor information storage unit that stores departments in which the doctor is available to treat patients, in association with the doctor identification information that identifies the doctor, wherein the desired examination date input unit accepts specification of the department in which the patient wishes to be examined, and the matching unit refers to the doctor schedule storage unit and the doctor information storage unit to identify the doctor who corresponds to the specified department from among the doctors who are available for an examination on the date and time. [Item 5] The information processing system according to Item 4, comprising: a question storage unit that stores questions related to medical examinations; a medical interview processing unit that transmits the questions to the patient and receives answers to the questions; and a medical department identification unit that identifies the medical department according to the answers.[Item 6] An information processing system comprising: a desired consultation date input unit that accepts input of a desired date and time for a consultation from a patient; a message sending unit that sends a message including the date and time to multiple doctors requesting doctors who are available to see the patient on the date and time; an application information receiving unit that receives application information corresponding to the message from the doctors; and an appointment information storage unit that stores the doctor who sent the application information, the patient, and the date and time in association with each other.

[0011] First Embodiment An information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The information processing system of this embodiment is designed to allow doctors to register their available consultation schedules and match them with patients' desired consultation dates and times, particularly for online medical consultations, so that doctors at home can work part-time.

[0012] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system according to this embodiment. The information processing system according to this embodiment includes a management server 2. The management server 2 is communicably connected to each of a patient terminal 1 and a doctor terminal 3 via a communication network. The communication network is, for example, the Internet, and is constructed using a public telephone network, a mobile phone network, a wireless communication path, Ethernet (registered trademark), or the like.

[0013] The patient terminal 1 is a computer operated by a patient, and may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer.

[0014] The doctor terminal 3 is a computer operated by a doctor. The doctor terminal 3 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer.

[0015] The management server 2 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0016] <Management Server> FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 2. Note that the illustrated configuration is an example, and other configurations may also be used. The management server 2 includes a CPU 201, memory 202, storage device 203, communication interface 204, input device 205, and output device 206. The storage device 203 stores various data and programs, and is, for example, a hard disk drive, solid state drive, or flash memory. The communication interface 204 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 3, and is, for example, an adapter for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark), a modem for connecting to a public telephone network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector, or an RS232C connector for serial communication. The input device 205 is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, button, microphone, or the like for inputting data. The output device 206 is, for example, a display, printer, speaker, or the like for outputting data. Each functional unit of the management server device 2 described below is realized by the CPU 201 reading a program stored in the storage device 203 into the memory 202 and executing it, and each storage unit of the management server 2 is realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 202 and the storage device 203.

[0017] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the software configuration of the management server 2. The management server 2 includes a doctor schedule storage unit 231, an appointment information storage unit 232, a doctor information storage unit 233, a question storage unit 234, an answer storage unit 235, a doctor schedule input unit 211, a desired consultation date input unit 212, a matching unit 213, a consultation time prediction unit 214, a medical interview processing unit 215, and a medical department identification unit 216.

[0018] <Storage Unit> The doctor schedule storage unit 231 stores doctor schedule information. The schedule information includes a range of dates and times when a doctor is available for consultation (available consultation date and time range), associated with doctor identification information (doctor ID in this embodiment) that identifies the doctor. The available consultation date and time range can be specified, for example, by a specific date and a start time and end time that specify the time when the doctor is available for consultation. The available consultation date and time range can also be specified, for example, by a repeatable date, such as a specific day of the month and year, or a specific day of the week every week, and a start time and end time. The available consultation date and time range may be set to multiple, spaced-apart time ranges on the same day.

[0019] The appointment information storage unit 232 stores information related to appointments for medical examinations (appointment information). The appointment information may include the appointment date and time, patient identification information for identifying the patient (in this embodiment, this is a patient ID; however, it may also be identified by name, date of birth, etc.), and information for identifying the doctor who will be examining the patient (doctor ID).

[0020] The doctor information storage unit 233 stores information about doctors (doctor information). The doctor information may include a doctor ID that identifies the doctor, the doctor's name, and the medical departments that the doctor can examine. Multiple medical departments may be set. It may also be possible to set a medical department that the doctor is good at and a medical department that the doctor can examine even if it is not his / her specialty.

[0021] The question storage unit 234 stores questions for medical interviews (questions related to medical examinations). The question storage unit 234 can store questions in association with information identifying the questions (question IDs). Questions can be expressed, for example, by text data or image data. The question storage unit 234 can store multiple questions. For example, the question storage unit 234 may store a question ID identifying a previous question in association with a condition regarding the answer to the previous question, so that the next question can be determined depending on the answer to a certain question. This allows for dynamic medical interviews.

[0022] The answer storage unit 235 stores answers to the medical interview. The answer storage unit 235 can store a patient ID that identifies the patient who answered the medical interview, the date and time of the answer, a question ID that indicates the question, and the answer in association with each other.

[0023] The doctor schedule input unit 211 receives input of schedule information from multiple doctors indicating when each doctor can see a patient. For example, the doctor schedule input unit 211 can send a form screen for inputting schedule information to the doctor terminal 3 and receive the schedule information input to the form screen on the doctor terminal 3 from the doctor terminal 3.

[0024] The desired examination date input unit 212 accepts input of the date and time when the patient wishes to be examined. The desired examination date input unit 212 can also accept designation of the clinical department at which the patient wishes to be examined.

[0025] The matching unit 213 refers to the doctor schedule storage unit 231 to identify a doctor who is available to see the patient on the date and time the patient desires. The matching unit 213 can also refer to the doctor schedule storage unit 231 and the appointment information storage unit 232 to identify a doctor who is available to see the patient on the date and time the patient desires, but for which appointment information corresponding to the patient's desired date and time is not registered in the appointment information storage unit 232. The matching unit 213 may further refer to the doctor schedule storage unit 231 and the appointment information storage unit 232 to identify a doctor who is available to see the patient on the date and time the patient desires, but for which appointment information corresponding to the patient's desired date and time is not registered in the appointment information storage unit 232 between the appointment date and time and the predicted consultation time. The matching unit 213 may also refer to doctor information corresponding to a doctor ID included in the schedule information from the doctor information storage unit 233 to identify a doctor who corresponds to a specified medical department from among doctors who are available to see the patient on the date and time the patient desires. The matching unit 213 can register reservation information including a patient ID indicating the patient and a doctor ID indicating the matched doctor in the reservation information storage unit 232, using the date and time specified by the patient as the reservation date and time.

[0026] The consultation time prediction unit 214 can predict consultation times. The consultation time prediction unit 214 can output, for example, an average consultation time for each medical department. The management server 2 may store actual consultation times (such as doctor ID, patient ID, date, day of the week, time slot, medical department, medical interview results, diagnosis, and consultation time), and the consultation time prediction unit 214 may analyze the actual values ​​to predict consultation times. A learning model may be prepared that uses machine learning to learn doctor attributes, patient attributes, month, day of the week, time slot, and medical department, as well as actual consultation times, and the consultation time prediction unit 214 may use this learning model to predict consultation times. Furthermore, machine learning may use the doctor attributes, patient attributes, month, day of the week, time slot, and medical department, or in place of any or several of these, to learn the relationship between the doctor attributes, patient attributes, month, day of the week, time slot, and medical department and actual consultation times.

[0027] The medical interview processing unit 215 conducts a medical interview. The medical interview processing unit 215 can send questions to the patient and receive answers to the questions. The medical interview processing unit 215 can register the received answers in the answer storage unit 235 in association with a question ID indicating the question, a patient ID indicating the patient who answered, and a date and time.

[0028] The examination time prediction unit 214 may use a learning model that is machine-learned by adding features to the answers to the medical interview.

[0029] The medical department identification unit 216 can identify the medical department the patient wishes to see based on the answer to the medical interview. For example, when a specific answer is given to a specific question, the medical department identification unit 216 can add points to the corresponding medical department and identify the medical department with the highest points as the medical department the patient wishes to see. For example, the medical department identification unit 216 can prepare a learning model trained by machine learning using the answers to the medical interview and the medical department as training data, and input the answers to the medical interview into this learning model to infer the medical department. Note that the medical department desired may be specified by the patient. In this case, the medical department identification unit 216 can identify the medical department specified by the patient as the medical department the patient wishes to see.

[0030] <Operation> FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the management server 2.

[0031] The management server 2 receives schedule information from the doctor's terminal 3 (S301) and registers the received schedule information (S302). The management server 2 receives the patient's desired consultation date and time (and medical department) from the patient terminal 1 (S303), searches for schedule information corresponding to the received desired consultation date and time (and medical department), and searches for a doctor who is available to examine the patient on the date and time desired (S304). If there is a doctor who is available to examine the patient (S305: YES), appointment information associating the patient, the date and time, and the doctor is registered (S306).

[0032] As described above, the information processing system of this embodiment can match part-time doctors with patients.

[0033] Second Embodiment An information processing system according to the second embodiment will now be described. In the second embodiment, a desired consultation date and time is received from a patient, and then the patient is inquired of whether or not the doctor is available for consultation.

[0034] The management server 2 according to the second embodiment can omit the doctor schedule input unit 211 and the doctor schedule storage unit 231 .

[0035] The matching unit 213 (message sending unit) sends a message to the doctor terminals 3 of multiple doctors, soliciting doctors who can see the patient on the date and time the patient desires. The matching unit 213 can send the message after the desired examination date input unit 212 accepts input of the patient's desired examination date and time.

[0036] The matching unit 213 (application information receiving unit) receives application information corresponding to the message from the doctor's doctor terminal 3. The application information can include a consultation request ID that identifies the information (referred to as consultation request information) received by the consultation request date input unit 212, and a doctor ID that indicates the doctor.

[0037] When the matching unit 213 receives application information in response to the message (first come, first served), it can register in the appointment information storage unit 232 appointment information including the doctor ID included in the application information, the patient ID identifying the patient who entered the appointment request information identified by the appointment request ID included in the application information, and the date and time included in the appointment request information.

[0038] In this way, the information processing system according to the second embodiment can search for a doctor who can see the patient on the date and time desired, based on input from the patient, even if the doctor has not registered a schedule in advance.

[0039] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the above embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit thereof, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

[0040] 1 Patient terminal 2 Management server 3 Doctor terminal

Claims

1. An information processing system comprising: a doctor schedule input unit that accepts input of schedule information for available doctors; a doctor schedule storage unit that stores the schedule information in association with doctor identification information that identifies the doctor; a desired examination date input unit that accepts input of the date and time a patient wishes to be examined; a matching unit that references the doctor schedule storage unit to identify the doctor who is available to examine the patient on the date and time; and an appointment information storage unit that stores appointment information that associates the appointment date and time, the patient, and the available doctor.

2. An information processing system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the matching unit refers to the doctor schedule storage unit and the appointment information storage unit to identify the doctor who is available for consultation on the date and time and for whom the appointment information corresponding to the date and time is not registered.

3. An information processing system according to claim 2, comprising an examination time prediction unit that predicts examination time, wherein the matching unit refers to the doctor schedule storage unit and the appointment information storage unit to identify the doctor who is available for examination on the date and time, and for whom no appointment information has been registered that includes the date and time between the appointment date and time and after the examination time.

4. An information processing system as described in claim 1, comprising a doctor information storage unit that stores the medical departments in which the doctor is available to provide medical care, in association with the doctor identification information that identifies the doctor; the desired consultation date input unit accepts the patient's specification of the medical department in which the patient wishes to be examined; and the matching unit refers to the doctor schedule storage unit and the doctor information storage unit to identify the doctor corresponding to the specified medical department from among the doctors available to provide medical care on the date and time.

5. An information processing system according to claim 4, comprising: a question storage unit that stores questions related to medical examinations; a medical interview processing unit that transmits the questions to the patient and receives answers to the questions; and a medical department identification unit that identifies the medical department in accordance with the answers.

6. An information processing system comprising: a desired consultation date input unit that accepts input of a desired date and time for a consultation from a patient; a message sending unit that sends a message including the date and time to multiple doctors requesting doctors who are available to see the patient on the date and time; an application information receiving unit that receives application information corresponding to the message from the doctors; and an appointment information storage unit that stores the doctor who sent the application information, the patient, and the date and time in association with each other.

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