System for issuing patient registration card or medical examination reception ticket

Abstract

To provide means for enabling prompt issuance of patient registration cards or medical examination reception tickets to patients.SOLUTION: A system 1 recognizes credential information from a patient's health insurance card using a scanner 18. A credential information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the credential information recognized by the scanner 18 to a credential information providing server R, and receives the credential information to be transmitted from the credential information providing server R as a response. The system 1, without waiting for reception of the credential information from the credential information providing server R, issues a patient registration card Q by a card issuing machine 19 and issues a medical examination reception ticket P by a medical examination reception ticket issuing machine 24 by using the credential information recognized by the scanner 18. Thereafter, a management server 11 collates the credential information received from the credential information providing server R with the credential information recognized by the scanner 18. In a case where the collation fails, when the patient touches the health insurance card Q to a touch terminal 17, the touch terminal 17 displays a message urging the patient to go to a reception desk to have the health insurance card verified.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for supporting the issuance of patient registration cards for first-time patients and reception tickets for first-time and returning patients at medical institutions. [Background technology]

[0002] The amount of medical expenses (costs) paid by a patient for medical services received from a medical institution varies depending on whether or not the patient is covered by a public medical expense system established by national law, a prefecture or municipal medical expense subsidy system, etc., in addition to the primary insurance provided by the health insurance plan to which the patient is enrolled.

[0003] Information such as the percentage of medical expenses covered by the health insurance plan to which the patient is enrolled and information such as the percentage of medical expenses covered by the public medical care system or the like issued to the patient are referred to as qualification information.

[0004] When providing medical services to patients, medical institutions cannot bill the patient for the correct medical expenses unless they know the correct qualification information. Therefore, medical institutions must check the qualification information printed on the health insurance card and medical voucher issued to patients covered by the public medical care system when they visit the hospital.

[0005] In order to streamline the process of verifying the above-mentioned eligibility information, the Japanese government has already begun operating a system called "online eligibility verification" (hereinafter referred to as the "online eligibility verification system") that allows the use of the My Number card as a health insurance card. In addition, the Japanese government plans to use the online eligibility verification system in the future to allow the use of the My Number card as a medical certificate, which is a recipient certificate issued to patients covered by the public medical care system, for specific systems such as the infant medical care cost assistance system (Marunyu).

[0006] Patent Document 1 is an example of a patent document that includes a description of an online qualification confirmation system. Patent Document 1 describes a system that supports the confirmation of qualification information in both cases where a patient brings a health insurance card and a medical certificate when visiting a hospital, and where the patient brings a My Number card. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7226875 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] At the time of filing this application, there is a problem that the response speed of the online qualification confirmation system is slow. Specifically, after a medical institution reads the My Number from a My Number card or inputs the code number written on a health insurance card, it may take several tens of seconds to several minutes for the medical institution to obtain the qualification information corresponding to that information. As a result, there is a problem that it takes time to issue a patient's appointment card or a consultation reception ticket to a patient who visits the hospital.

[0009] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a means for enabling prompt issuance of a patient registration card or consultation reception ticket to a patient. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a health insurance card comprising an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of a health insurance card, a character recognition unit that recognizes a character group from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit, a reading unit that reads the My Number from a My Number card, a transmission unit that transmits a symbol number included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit or the My Number read by the reading unit to an external system that transmits qualification information corresponding to the symbol number or My Number on the health insurance card to a sender of the symbol number or My Number, a reception unit that receives the qualification information transmitted from the external system in response to the transmission of the symbol number or My Number by the transmission unit, an issuing unit that issues a patient appointment card or a medical examination reception ticket, and a timing control unit that controls the reception of the qualification information from the external system by the reception unit when a predetermined condition is satisfied. and a notification processing unit which performs processing to notify a user if the matching by the matching unit is unsuccessful, wherein if the receiving unit has not completed reception of the credential information from the external system at the time the specified condition is satisfied, the issuing unit issues an appointment card or a medical examination reception ticket in accordance with the credential information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit, and if the receiving unit has completed reception of the credential information from the external system at the time the specified condition is satisfied and the matching by the matching unit is successful, the issuing unit issues an appointment card or a medical examination reception ticket in accordance with the credential information successfully matched by the matching unit. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, a patient's appointment card or consultation reception ticket is promptly issued to the patient. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] [Embodiment] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Each of the components of the system 1 shown in Fig. 1 will be described below.

[0014] The management server 11 (an example of a matching unit) is a server that serves as the core of the system 1, and performs tasks such as determining whether or not to issue a patient registration card and a medical examination reception ticket, determining whether there is an inconsistency in the qualification information, and processing to send predetermined notifications to the medical institution staff (an example of a user) and the patient (an example of a user) if it is determined that there is an inconsistency in the qualification information.

[0015] The management server 11 may be configured as one device, or may be configured as a plurality of devices that operate in cooperation with each other.

[0016] The medical affairs management server 12 is an information processing device that manages information related to the medical affairs management work of the medical institution X. The electronic medical record management server 13 is an information processing device that manages information related to the electronic medical records of the medical institution X.

[0017] The reception terminal 14 is an information processing device that is placed at the reception desk of the medical institution X and used by the reception staff.

[0018] The medical treatment application reception terminal 15 is an information processing device that is placed at the reception desk of the medical institution X, displays a medical treatment application form to a patient, and receives information input by the patient into the form.

[0019] The medical department terminal 16 is an information processing device that is placed in the facilities of the medical department of the medical institution X and is used by the staff of the medical department. Therefore, there are a plurality of medical department terminals 16 according to the number of medical departments of the medical institution X. Also, one medical department may have a plurality of medical department terminals 16, such as a medical department terminal 16 used by a doctor and a medical department terminal 16 used by a nurse.

[0020] Each of the reception terminal 14, the medical treatment application reception terminal 15, and the medical department terminal 16 includes a display device that displays information to the user, and an input device (such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel built into a touch screen) that accepts information input by the user. The display device and input device of these devices may be built into the main body, or may be connected to the main body by wire or wirelessly.

[0021] Touch terminal 17 is a device that, when a patient brings a patient appointment card Q having the function of a contactless IC card close to it (hereinafter, touches it), reads the patient appointment card number from the patient appointment card Q and transmits it to management server 11, writes patient information, which is information about the patient transmitted from management server 11 in response, onto the patient appointment card Q, and displays the patient information. Therefore, touch terminal 17 has a reader that reads information from the touched patient appointment card Q in accordance with a short-range wireless communication standard, a writer that writes information onto the touched patient appointment card Q in accordance with a short-range wireless communication standard, and a display device that displays information in response to touching the patient appointment card Q. The reader, writer, and display device included in touch terminal 17 may be built into the main body, or may be connected to the main body via a wire or wirelessly.

[0022] The touch terminals 17 are arranged in various locations within the facilities of the medical institution X where patients can freely go. That is, the number of touch terminals 17 is usually more than one. The touch terminals 17 are identified by reader identification information that identifies a reader possessed by the touch terminal 17. The management server 11 stores touch terminal information, which is information related to the touch terminal 17 identified by the reader identification information, in association with the reader identification information. The touch terminal information includes, for example, the name of the department in which the touch terminal 17 is arranged, the position where the touch terminal 17 is arranged, and the like.

[0023] There are touch terminals 17 placed in specific locations, such as near the reception desk of a medical department or X-ray room, and touch terminals 17 placed in arbitrary locations, such as beside a corridor. Touch terminals 17 placed in specific locations differ from touch terminals 17 placed in arbitrary locations in that they play a role in notifying staff that a patient who touches patient card Q has arrived at that location.

[0024] Scanner 18 (an example of an image acquisition unit and a character recognition unit) is a device that optically reads the health insurance card and medical care card brought by the patient. More specifically, scanner 18 optically captures an image of the health insurance card or medical care card, performs character recognition on the captured image, and outputs the captured image and the recognized character information.

[0025] A medical certificate is a medical voucher issued to patients covered by the public medical care system. The medical certificate lists the public payer number, beneficiary number, validity period, etc. In this embodiment, as an example, the following medical certificates according to the public medical care system can be read by the scanner 18, but the types of medical certificates that the scanner 18 can read are not limited to the following.

[0026] Infant Medical Expense Subsidy System (Marunyu) Compulsory Education School Children Medical Expense Subsidy System (Maruko) Medical Expense Subsidy System for Single-Parent Families (Maru-Oya) Medical Expense Subsidy System for the Mentally and Physically Disabled (Marushou)

[0027] The card issuing machine 19 is a device that issues patient cards Q to patients visiting for the first time.

[0028] The qualification information management server 20 is a database server that stores image data representing images of health insurance cards and medical cards read by the scanner 18 and text information recognized from those images (insurance card qualification information and medical card qualification information), in correspondence with the patient card number that identifies the patient who is the holder of that health insurance card or medical card.

[0029] The face authentication function-equipped reader 21 (an example of a reading unit) is a device that reads the My Number from a My Number card brought by a patient. The face authentication function-equipped reader 21 has a camera, and if a facial image is stored in the My Number card, it photographs the patient's face and collates the photographed facial image with the facial image read from the My Number card to verify the identity of the holder of the My Number card. The face authentication function-equipped reader 21 also has a touch screen, and if a facial image is not stored in the My Number card, it prompts the patient to input a personal identification number, and collates the input personal identification number with the personal identification number read from the My Number card to verify the identity of the holder of the My Number card. The face authentication function-equipped reader 21 transmits the My Number read from the My Number card to a qualification information providing server R (an example of an external system) described later via the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 only if it has succeeded in verifying the identity of the holder of the My Number card.

[0030] The qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the My Number read by the face authentication function-equipped reader 21 to the qualification information provision server R. For this reason, the face authentication function-equipped reader 21 and the qualification information acquisition terminal 22, and the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 and the qualification information provision server R are connected by wire or wirelessly. In order to prevent personal information such as the My Number from being leaked to the outside, data communication between the face authentication function-equipped reader 21 and the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 and data communication between the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 and the qualification information provision server R are encrypted with an encryption key that is not known even to the staff of the medical institution X.

[0031] The patient appointment card reader 23 is a device that reads the patient appointment card number from the patient appointment card Q brought by the patient in accordance with a short-range wireless communication standard.

[0032] The medical reception ticket issuing machine 24 (an example of an issuing unit) is a device that issues medical reception tickets to patients. In this embodiment, as an example, the medical reception ticket is a piece of paper on which information is printed. The information written on the medical reception ticket includes at least the following: Reception number Patient name ·Clinical department name

[0033] In addition, the medical examination reception ticket may also be called an outpatient examination ticket, a medical examination reception ticket, a reception number ticket, etc.

[0034] The scanner 18, the card issuing machine 19, and the medical examination reception ticket issuing machine 24 are connected to the reception terminal 14 by wire or wirelessly.

[0035] Each of the medical management server 12, electronic medical record management server 13, reception terminal 14, medical treatment application reception terminal 15, department terminal 16, touch terminal 17, qualification information management server 20, and qualification information acquisition terminal 22 communicates with the management server 11 via wired or wireless communication.

[0036] The reception terminal 14, medical treatment application reception terminal 15, scanner 18, card issuing machine 19, reader 21 with face recognition function, and medical reception ticket issuing machine 24 are located at the reception desk of medical institution X.

[0037] The above is a description of the components of the system 1.

[0038] The qualification information acquisition terminal 22 (an example of a transmission unit and a reception unit) communicates with the qualification information provision server R, which is an external device of the system 1, as described above.

[0039] When the credential information providing server R receives credential information related to a patient's health insurance card (patient's name, symbol number, medical expense burden rate, etc.) (hereinafter referred to as "insurance card credential information") or credential information related to a patient's medical card (patient's name, payer number, beneficiary number, medical expense burden rate, etc.) (hereinafter referred to as "medical card credential information." Note that the patient's name, payer number, and beneficiary number contained in the medical card credential information are examples of recipient identification information) from the credential information acquisition terminal 22, it checks the validity of the received credential information, and if it is valid, it sends the credential information to the credential information acquisition terminal 22, or if it is invalid, it sends the patient's currently valid credential information to the credential information acquisition terminal 22.

[0040] Furthermore, when the qualification information providing server R receives the patient's My Number from the qualification information acquiring terminal 22, it transmits the qualification information corresponding to the received My Number to the qualification information acquiring terminal 22.

[0041] The qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits to the qualification information providing server R the health insurance card qualification information read from the health insurance card by the scanner 18, the medical card qualification information read from the medical card by the scanner 18, or the My Number read from the My Number card by the face recognition function-equipped reader 21. The qualification information providing server R transmits qualification information corresponding to the information transmitted from the management server 11 to the qualification information acquisition terminal 22. The qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the qualification information thus acquired to the management server 11.

[0042] The following describes the operation of the system 1. A patient (hereinafter, Patient A) visiting Medical Institution X for the first time goes to the reception desk of Medical Institution X and, for example, is prompted by the reception staff to have the health insurance card read by the scanner 18 or to touch the My Number card to the reader 21 with face recognition function.

[0043] When patient A has his health insurance card read by scanner 18, scanner 18 passes the image data of the health insurance card and the health insurance card qualification information recognized from the image data to reception terminal 14. Reception terminal 14 displays the image represented by the image data of the health insurance card received from scanner 18 and the health insurance card qualification information recognized from that image to the reception staff. The reception staff visually compares the information contained in the image displayed on reception terminal 14 with the health insurance card qualification information, and if there is an error in the health insurance card qualification information due to misrecognition, they operate reception terminal 14 to correct the error. Thereafter, following the specified operation by the reception staff, reception terminal 14 transmits the image data received from scanner 18 and the health insurance card qualification information corrected as necessary to management server 11.

[0044] Management server 11 transmits the health insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14 to qualification information acquisition terminal 22. Qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the health insurance card qualification information received from management server 11 to qualification information provision server R, and receives the health insurance card qualification information transmitted in response from qualification information provision server R. Qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the health insurance card qualification information received from qualification information provision server R to management server 11.

[0045] The above-mentioned processing from when management server 11 transmits health insurance card qualification information to qualification information acquisition terminal 22 via qualification information acquisition terminal 22 to when it receives the health insurance card qualification information transmitted in response from qualification information providing server R via qualification information acquisition terminal 22 is hereinafter referred to as the "qualification information acquisition processing."

[0046] In parallel with the qualification information acquisition process, management server 11 transmits the image data of the health insurance card and the health insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14 to qualification information management server 20. When qualification information management server 20 (an example of a storage unit or search unit) receives the image data of the health insurance card and the health insurance card qualification information from management server 11, it searches a database stored in the device for health insurance card qualification information of the same patient as the health insurance card qualification information received from management server 11. Here, the same patient means a patient whose patient identification information identifying the patient included in the health insurance card qualification information matches. Moreover, the patient identification information included in the health insurance card qualification information is, for example, a combination of the patient's name, date of birth, and gender.

[0047] In this case, since patient A is a first-time patient at medical institution X, the credential information management server 20 fails the above search. In response to this search failure, the credential information management server 20 transmits a notification to the management server 11 that the patient in the health insurance card credential information received from the management server 11 is a first-time patient (hereinafter referred to as a "first-time patient notification"). The management server 11 receives the first-time patient notification from the credential information management server 20 as a response to the transmission of the health insurance card image data and the health insurance card credential information to the credential information management server 20.

[0048] At the time when the management server 11 receives a first-time patient notification from the qualification information management server 20 (an example of the timing when a specified condition is satisfied), the qualification information acquisition process may or may not have been completed.

[0049] If the qualification information acquisition process has been completed at the time when the new patient notification is received, management server 11 compares the health insurance card qualification information received from qualification information acquisition terminal 22 in the qualification information acquisition process with the health insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14. This comparison process is hereinafter referred to as the "qualification information comparison process."

[0050] If matching is successful in the qualification information matching process, management server 11 transmits the successfully matched health insurance card qualification information to medical treatment application reception terminal 15 (an example of a reception unit). Medical treatment application reception terminal 15 generates a medical treatment application form for patient A using the health insurance card qualification information received from management server 11, and displays the generated medical treatment application form.

[0051] The medical treatment application form displayed by the medical treatment application reception terminal 15 has already been entered with Patient A's name, sex, age, etc. (hereinafter referred to as patient basic information). For example, when prompted by the reception staff, Patient A enters missing information (contact telephone number, name of the medical department to be examined, etc.; hereinafter referred to as patient additional information) into the medical treatment application form displayed on the medical treatment application reception terminal 15. The medical treatment application reception terminal 15 transmits the patient basic information and the patient additional information entered by Patient A to the management server 11 as medical treatment application information. The management server 11 transmits the medical treatment application information received from the medical treatment application reception terminal 15 to the medical management server 12.

[0052] The above-mentioned process from when management server 11 transmits the health insurance card qualification information to medical application reception terminal 15 to when it transmits the medical application information to medical management server 12 is hereinafter referred to as the "medical application form reception process."

[0053] When the medical management server 12 receives the medical treatment application information from the management server 11, it generates a new unique patient card number and adds a new data record corresponding to the new patient card number to its own database. The medical management server 12 then stores the basic patient information and additional patient information included in the medical treatment application information in the data record. Hereinafter, the basic patient information and additional patient information stored in association with the patient card number will be referred to as "patient information."

[0054] Next, the medical management server 12 transmits the newly generated patient appointment card number to the management server 11. The management server 11 receives the patient appointment card number from the medical management server 12 as a response to the transmission of the medical treatment application information to the medical management server 12.

[0055] When management server 11 receives the appointment card number from medical management server 12, it transmits the image data of the health insurance card and the insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14, and the appointment card number received from medical management server 12, to the qualification information management server 20. The qualification information management server 20 adds a new data record corresponding to the appointment card number received from management server 11 to its own database, and stores the image data and health insurance card qualification information received from management server 11, as well as time data indicating the current time, in the added data record.

[0056] Furthermore, when management server 11 receives the patient appointment card number from medical management server 12, it transmits to reception terminal 14 the patient appointment card number received from medical management server 12 and the patient's name included in the health insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14. Reception terminal 14 instructs card issuing machine 19 to issue a patient appointment card Q that stores the patient appointment card number and the patient's name received from management server 11. In response to this instruction, card issuing machine 19 issues patient appointment card Q. Patient A receives the patient appointment card Q issued by card issuing machine 19.

[0057] The above-mentioned process from when management server 11 transmits the patient appointment card number to reception terminal 14 until card issuing machine 19 issues patient appointment card Q will hereinafter be referred to as the "patient appointment card issuing process."

[0058] Furthermore, when management server 11 receives the patient registration card number from the medical management server 12, it generates a new unique reception number and transmits to reception terminal 14 the generated reception number, the patient name contained in the health insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14, and the medical department name contained in the medical treatment application information received from medical treatment application reception terminal 15. Reception terminal 14 instructs reception ticket issuing machine 24 to issue a medical examination reception ticket P on which the reception number, patient name, and medical department name received from management server 11 are printed. In response to this instruction, reception ticket issuing machine 24 issues the medical examination reception ticket P. Patient A receives the medical examination reception ticket P issued from reception ticket issuing machine 24.

[0059] The above-mentioned process from when the management server 11 generates the reception number to when the reception ticket issuing machine 24 issues the reception ticket P will be referred to as the "reception ticket issuing process".

[0060] If matching fails in the credential information matching process, management server 11 (an example of a notification processing unit) sends a notification of the failure to match the health insurance card qualification information to reception terminal 14 (hereinafter referred to as a "credential information matching failure notification"). The credential information matching failure notification contains the two pieces of health insurance card qualification information that failed to match. When reception terminal 14 receives the credential information matching failure notification from management server 11, it displays an error notification indicating that matching of the health insurance card qualification information failed, and the two pieces of health insurance card qualification information included in the credential information matching failure notification. In response to the error notification displayed on reception terminal 14, the reception staff identifies which of the health insurance card qualification information is correct by interviewing patient A or by making a phone inquiry to the issuer of the health insurance card, and performs an operation on reception terminal 14 to select the correct one of the two displayed health insurance card qualification information.

[0061] Reception terminal 14 transmits the correct health insurance card qualification information selected by the reception staff to management server 11. Management server 11 transmits the health insurance card qualification information received from reception terminal 14 to qualification information management server 20.

[0062] The credential information management server 20 adds the health insurance card credential information and time data indicating the current time received from the management server 11 to the corresponding data record in the database. In this way, when registering newly received information in the database, the credential information management server 20 maintains past information as log data. In the event of an inconsistency in the credential information, the log data stored in the database in this way is used by the staff of medical institution X to identify the cause, etc.

[0063] The above-mentioned process from when management server 11 sends a credential information matching failure notice to reception terminal 14 until when credential information management server 20 adds correct health insurance card credential information to the database is hereinafter referred to as "credential information confirmation process."

[0064] When the eligibility information verification process is complete, system 1 uses the correct health insurance card eligibility information to execute the medical treatment application form acceptance process, patient appointment card issuance process, and consultation reception ticket issuance process described above.

[0065] If the credential information acquisition process is not complete when the management server 11 receives the first-time patient notification from the credential information management server 20, the system 1 executes the above-mentioned medical treatment application form reception process, patient appointment card issuance process, and consultation reception ticket issuance process, using the health insurance card credential information that the management server 11 received from the reception terminal 14. Thereafter, when the credential information acquisition process is complete, the system 1 executes the above-mentioned credential information matching process.

[0066] In this case, if the health insurance card qualification information is successfully verified in the qualification information verification process, there is no problem, but if the verification fails, the system 1 must execute the qualification information confirmation process described above. However, at that point, patient A has already received the patient card Q and the consultation reception ticket P, and left the reception desk. Therefore, the system 1 notifies patient A via the touch terminal 17, requesting him to go to the reception desk. The method by which the system 1 notifies patient A via the touch terminal 17 will be described later. When patient A, who has received the notification from the touch terminal 17, arrives at the reception desk, the system 1 executes the qualification information verification process. As a result, the correct qualification information is added to the database of the qualification information management server 20, and the qualification information in the database of the medical management server 12 is updated with the correct qualification information.

[0067] If patient A has a medical card, patient A, for example at the urging of the reception staff, has scanner 18 read the medical card in addition to his / her health insurance card. Scanner 18 passes image data of the medical card and medical card qualification information recognized from the image data to reception terminal 14. Reception terminal 14 transmits the image data of the medical card and the medical card qualification information received from scanner 18 to management server 11.

[0068] Next, the system 1 executes, for the medical card, the same processes as the qualification information acquisition process and the qualification information matching process described above for the health insurance card. At that time, the medical card qualification information is used instead of the health insurance card qualification information. Then, if the matching of the qualification information fails in the qualification information matching process for the medical card, the system 1 executes, for the medical card, the same processes as the qualification information confirmation process described above for the health insurance card.

[0069] When patient A touches his / her My Number card to the face authentication reader 21 at reception instead of having the scanner 18 read his / her health insurance card, the face authentication reader 21 performs identity verification processing and then passes the My Number read from the My Number card to the qualification information acquisition terminal 22. The qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the My Number to the qualification information providing server R and receives the qualification information transmitted from the qualification information providing server R in response.

[0070] If patient A does not have a medical card, the credential information sent from credential information providing server R includes only health insurance card credential information. On the other hand, if patient A has a medical card, the credential information sent from credential information providing server R includes health insurance card credential information and medical card credential information.

[0071] The system 1 uses the qualification information received from the qualification information providing server R to execute the above-mentioned medical treatment application form reception process, patient registration card issuing process, and consultation reception ticket issuing process.

[0072] With this, the first consultation reception for Patient A is completed.

[0073] When the reception of the first visit of Patient A is completed, the management server 11 stores information such as "Reception number 230: Internal medicine (before reception)" as the status information of Patient A.

[0074] After completing the initial consultation reception, patient A, for example, asks a reception staff member about the location of the medical department he or she will visit, goes to that location, and touches patient card Q to touch terminal 17 near the reception desk of that medical department. Touch terminal 17 reads the patient card number from patient card Q and transmits the read patient card number and its own device's reader identification information to management server 11. Based on the patient card number and reader identification information received from touch terminal 17, management server 11 updates the stored status information of patient A to, for example, "Reception number 230: Internal medicine (reception completed)". In this way, patient A can complete the reception at the medical department by touching patient card Q to touch terminal 17 near the reception desk of that medical department.

[0075] Furthermore, the management server 11 generates information to be provided to patient A based on the patient card number and reader identification information received from the touch terminal 17, and transmits the generated information to the touch terminal 17. In this case, the information to be provided to patient A is, for example, information such as "Internal medicine: reception completed, number of people waiting: 5, estimated waiting time: 1 hour and 15 minutes." The touch terminal 17 displays the information received from the management server 11. By looking at the information displayed on the touch terminal 17, patient A can, for example, use the waiting time effectively.

[0076] Furthermore, if the matching of the credentials fails and the credential information confirmation process has not yet been performed, the touch terminal 17 displays a message to patient A, such as "We need to confirm the information on your health insurance card. Please come to the reception desk," in response to touching the patient's appointment card Q. When patient A goes to the reception desk in response to the message notified by the touch terminal 17, the system 1 executes the credential information confirmation process.

[0077] Even if patient A touches his / her patient card Q to a touch terminal 17 other than the touch terminal 17 near the reception desk of the medical department he / she will visit (for example, a touch terminal 17 placed on the side of an aisle), that touch terminal 17 displays information that should be provided to patient A at that time (the number of people waiting, the estimated waiting time, a message requesting the patient to go to the reception desk, etc.). In this case, the touch terminal 17 may display a map showing the location of the medical department that patient A will visit, directions to that location, etc.

[0078] The department terminal 16 continuously receives information such as the names of patients waiting for examination in the department in which the device is located from the management server 11, and displays the waiting list. The staff of the department refer to the waiting list and call patients when it is their turn to be examined.

[0079] When it is Patient A's turn to be examined, the staff of the medical department calls Patient A, and Patient A responds to the call and enters the examination room. At that time, the staff operates the medical department terminal 16 to input the start of the examination for Patient A. In response to this input, the management server 11 updates the status information of Patient A to, for example, "Reception number 230: Internal medicine (currently consulting)."

[0080] After that, when the examination of patient A is finished, the doctor operates the medical department terminal 16 to input information such as the contents of the examination. The information input by the doctor is transmitted to the management server 11 together with the patient A's medical card number. When the management server 11 receives the information input by the doctor from the medical department terminal 16, it updates the status information of patient A, for example, to "reception number 230: accounting in progress". In addition, the management server 11 transmits the medical record information among the information input by the doctor to the electronic medical record management server 13 together with the patient A's medical card number. The electronic medical record management server 13 stores the medical record information received from the management server 11 in a database in association with the patient A's medical card number. In addition, the management server 11 transmits the administrative information, such as the medical fee points, among the information input by the doctor, together with the patient A's medical card number to the medical management server 12. The medical management server 12 stores the administrative information received from the management server 11 in a database in association with the patient A's medical card number.

[0081] After finishing his / her consultation, patient A touches his / her appointment card Q on the touch terminal 17 near the accounting counter. If the accounting process is not yet complete, the touch terminal 17 displays a message such as "Accounting process in progress. Estimated waiting time is 15 minutes." On the other hand, if the accounting process is complete, the touch terminal 17 displays a message such as "Please come to the accounting counter. Today's fee is 3,150 yen." Note that in order to display such information on the touch terminal 17, the management server 11 obtains the necessary information from the medical management server 12.

[0082] After that, Patient A pays the fee at the accounting counter and goes home.

[0083] When Patient A visits Medical Institution X as a returning patient, Patient A goes to the reception desk and, for example, is prompted by the reception staff to touch his / her appointment card Q to the appointment card reader 23, and then has his / her health insurance card (and medical certificate) read by the scanner 18, or touches his / her My Number card to the reader 21 with facial recognition function.

[0084] If patient A is a returning patient, the patient card Q has already been issued, so the patient card issuing process is not performed, and instead the qualification information acquisition process, qualification information verification process, qualification information confirmation process, and consultation reception ticket issuing process are performed. However, if any of these processes are unnecessary, they do not need to be executed.

[0085] Furthermore, if patient A is a returning patient, the qualification information of patient A has already been stored in the database of the qualification information management server 20. Therefore, instead of the qualification information matching process that is executed when patient A is a first-time patient, the system 1 executes a qualification information matching process that uses the latest qualification information of patient A stored in the qualification information management server 20. The qualification information matching process is described below.

[0086] When patient A has his / her health insurance card read by scanner 18, management server 11 compares the health insurance card qualification information read by scanner 18 with the latest health insurance card qualification information of patient A stored in qualification information management server 20. If the comparison fails, system 1 executes qualification information confirmation processing for the two pieces of health insurance card qualification information that failed to compare.

[0087] If the health insurance card qualification information read by the scanner 18 is successfully matched with the latest health insurance card qualification information of patient A stored in the qualification information management server 20, the system 1 executes the consultation reception ticket issuance process without waiting for the health insurance card qualification information sent from the qualification information providing server R to be received by the qualification information acquisition terminal 22.

[0088] Thereafter, when management server 11 receives the health insurance card qualification information from qualification information providing server R via qualification information acquisition terminal 22, management server 11 compares the health insurance card qualification information received from qualification information acquisition terminal 22 with the latest health insurance card qualification information of patient A stored in qualification information management server 20. If the comparison fails, system 1 executes qualification information confirmation processing for the two pieces of health insurance card qualification information that failed to compare.

[0089] When patient A has his / her medical certificate read by scanner 18, management server 11 compares the medical certificate qualification information read by scanner 18 with the latest medical certificate qualification information of patient A stored in qualification information management server 20. If the comparison fails, system 1 executes qualification information confirmation processing for the two pieces of medical certificate qualification information that failed to be compared.

[0090] If the medical certificate eligibility information read by the scanner 18 is successfully matched with the latest medical certificate eligibility information of patient A stored in the eligibility information management server 20, the system 1 executes the medical examination reception ticket issuance process without waiting for the medical certificate eligibility information sent from the eligibility information providing server R to be received by the eligibility information acquisition terminal 22.

[0091] Thereafter, when the management server 11 receives the medical certificate qualification information from the qualification information providing server R via the qualification information acquisition terminal 22, the management server 11 compares the medical certificate qualification information received from the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 with the latest medical certificate qualification information of patient A stored in the qualification information management server 20. If the comparison fails, the system 1 executes a qualification information confirmation process for the two medical certificate qualification information that failed to be compared.

[0092] When patient A has his / her My Number card read by the face authentication reader 21, the management server 11 compares the credential information sent from the credential information providing server R based on the My Number read by the face authentication reader 21 from the My Number card with the latest credential information of patient A stored in the credential information management server 20. If the comparison fails, the system 1 executes a credential information confirmation process for the two pieces of credential information that failed to be compared.

[0093] For example, if the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 has not received the qualification information from the qualification information providing server R after a predetermined time (e.g., 5 seconds) has elapsed since the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmitted the My Number to the qualification information providing server R, the system 1 executes the consultation reception ticket issuance process using the latest qualification information of patient A stored in the qualification information management server 20 without waiting for the receipt of the qualification information.

[0094] The above is a description of the system 1. According to the above-mentioned system 1, even if it takes time for the qualification information providing server R to transmit the qualification information in response after the qualification information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the health insurance card qualification information, medical card qualification information, or My Number from the qualification information acquisition terminal 22, at the time of reception for a first visit, the patient's appointment card Q and the consultation reception ticket P are issued using the qualification information read by the scanner 18 and corrected by the reception staff as necessary, and at the time of reception for a return visit, the consultation reception ticket P is issued using the latest qualification information stored in the qualification information management server 20. As a result, the patient can be quickly admitted compared to the case where the patient's appointment card Q or the consultation reception ticket P is issued after waiting for the qualification information to be acquired from the qualification information provision server R.

[0095] [Variations] The above-described embodiment is a specific example of the present invention, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention. Examples of such modifications are shown below. Note that two or more of the modifications shown below may be combined as appropriate.

[0096] (1) In the above-described embodiment, the medical examination reception ticket P is a piece of paper on which the reception number and the like are printed, but the form of the medical examination reception ticket P is not limited to this. For example, the medical examination reception ticket P may be issued electronically to a terminal device carried by patient A. For example, if patient A carries a smartphone equipped with an NFC (Near Field Communication) function and has installed and executed an application program (hereinafter referred to as an "app") corresponding to system 1 on the smartphone, when patient A touches the smartphone to the patient card reader 23 with a writer function, data indicating the medical examination reception ticket P may be written to the smartphone, and the medical examination reception ticket P may be displayed on the screen of the app.

[0097] (2) In the above embodiment, the management server 11 is configured as a device independent of other devices, but the management server 11 may be integrated with other devices. For example, the medical affairs management server 12, the electronic medical record management server 13, or the qualification information management server 20 may also serve as the management server 11.

[0098] (3) In the above embodiment, recognition of health insurance card qualification information from the health insurance card and recognition of medical card qualification information from the medical care card are performed by scanner 18, but these character recognitions may be performed by a device other than scanner 18. For example, reception terminal 14 or qualification information management server 20 may recognize character information from an image optically captured by scanner 18.

[0099] (4) In the above-described embodiment, if the credential information acquisition process is completed when the management server 11 receives a first-time patient notification from the credential information management server 20, the system 1 compares the credential information recognized by the scanner 18 from the health insurance card with the credential information acquired by the credential information acquisition terminal 22 from the credential information providing server R. On the other hand, if the credential information acquisition process is not completed when the management server 11 receives a first-time patient notification from the credential information management server 20, the system 1 performs medical application form acceptance process, appointment card issuance process, and consultation reception ticket issuance process in accordance with the credential information recognized by the scanner 18 from the health insurance card.

[0100] The timing at which the system 1 determines which of the different processes described above to execute is not limited to the time when the management server 11 receives the first-patient notification from the credential information management server 20, so long as a predetermined condition is satisfied. For example, the system 1 may vary the subsequent process depending on whether the credential information acquisition process is completed when a predetermined time has elapsed after the credential information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the My Number or health insurance card qualification information to the credential information providing server R. In this case, the predetermined condition is that "a predetermined time has elapsed after the credential information acquisition terminal 22 transmits the My Number or health insurance card qualification information to the credential information providing server R."

[0101] (5) In the above-described embodiment, when patient A visits medical institution X as a returning patient, the system 1 compares the credential information read by the scanner 18 with the latest credential information of patient A stored in the credential information management server 20. If the comparison fails, the system 1 executes a credential information confirmation process for the two pieces of credential information that failed to be compared, and does not execute the medical treatment application form acceptance process, the medical appointment card issuance process, and the consultation reception ticket issuance process.

[0102] Alternatively, when the system 1 successfully matches the credential information read by the scanner 18 with the credential information sent from the credential information providing server R in response to the transmission of the credential information and received by the credential information acquisition terminal 22, regardless of whether the match between the credential information read by the scanner 18 and the latest credential information of patient A stored in the credential information management server 20 is successful or unsuccessful, the system 1 may execute the medical application form acceptance process, the appointment card issuance process, and the consultation reception ticket issuance process in accordance with the credential information that has been successfully matched. [Explanation of symbols]

[0103] 1...system, 11...management server, 12...medical management server, 13...electronic medical record management server, 14...reception terminal, 15...treatment application reception terminal, 16...department terminal, 17...touch terminal, 18...scanner, 19...card issuing machine, 20...credentials management server, 21...reader with facial recognition function, 22...credentials acquisition terminal, 23...patient card reader, 24...appointment reception ticket issuing machine.

Claims

1. an image acquisition unit for acquiring an image of a health insurance card; a character recognition unit that recognizes a character group from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit; A reading unit that reads the My Number from the My Number card; a transmission unit that transmits the symbol number included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit or the My Number read by the reading unit to an external system that transmits qualification information corresponding to the symbol number or My Number of the health insurance card to a sender of the symbol number or My Number of the health insurance card; A receiving unit that receives qualification information transmitted from the external system in response to the transmission of the symbol number or the My Number by the transmitting unit; An issuing department that issues patient registration cards or medical examination reception tickets; a verification unit that, when the reception of the qualification information from the external system by the receiving unit is completed at a timing when a predetermined condition is satisfied, verifies the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit against the qualification information received by the receiving unit from the external system; a notification processing unit that performs processing for notifying a user when the matching by the matching unit fails; Equipped with When the reception of the qualification information from the external system by the receiving unit is not completed at the time when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the issuing unit issues a patient appointment card or a medical examination reception ticket according to the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit; When the reception of the qualification information from the external system by the receiving unit is completed at the timing when the predetermined condition is satisfied, and the matching by the matching unit is successful, the issuing unit issues a patient appointment card or a consultation reception ticket according to the qualification information successfully matched by the matching unit. system.

2. a storage unit that stores the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit and the qualification information received from the external system by the receiving unit; a search unit that searches the qualification information stored in the storage unit for qualification information of a patient that is identical to the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit; Equipped with If the search by the search unit is successful, the collation unit compares the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit with the qualification information searched by the search unit from the qualification information stored in the storage unit, and if the comparison is successful, the issue unit issues a medical examination reception ticket according to the qualification information successfully compared by the collation unit, and if the comparison is unsuccessful, the issue unit does not issue a patient appointment card or medical examination reception ticket, and the notification processing unit performs processing for notifying the user. The system of claim 1 .

3. When the collation unit successfully collates the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit with the qualification information received by the receiving unit from the external system, regardless of whether the collation unit successfully collates the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit with the qualification information searched for by the searching unit from the qualification information stored in the storage unit, the issuing unit issues an examination reception ticket according to the qualification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit or the qualification information received by the receiving unit from the external system. The system of claim 2.

4. a reception unit that displays a medical treatment application form on which information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit or information included in the qualification information received by the reception unit from the external system is input, and receives information input by a patient into the medical treatment application form; The system of claim 1 .

5. The external system transmits, to a source of recipient identification information that identifies a recipient of a medical certificate, qualification information corresponding to the recipient identification information, The image acquisition unit acquires an image of a medical certificate, The character recognition unit recognizes a group of characters from the image of the medical certificate acquired by the image acquisition unit, The transmission unit transmits the recipient identification information included in the character group recognized by the character recognition unit to the external system, The receiving unit receives qualification information transmitted from the external system in response to the transmission of the recipient identification information by the transmitting unit, The collation unit compares the qualification information included in the character group recognized from the image of the medical certificate by the character recognition unit with the qualification information transmitted from the external system in response to the transmission of the recipient identification information by the transmission unit and received by the reception unit. The system of claim 1 .

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