Transportation fee payment system

Abstract

To solve the problem in which transportation users pay for their transportation fees using payment IC cards of a transportation company but they have to use a hospital-specific IC card when they went to a hospital for treatment.SOLUTION: A payment information storage medium, such as an IC card or a smartphone, stores not only personal information of a transportation user, but also personal information for remote medical treatment and personal information for remote medical treatment fee payment. Therefore, the transportation user can use this payment information storage medium both as a patient for the remote medical treatment and as a payer for the remote medical treatment fees, making it easy to manage IC cards or the like.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a transportation fare settlement system, and more particularly, to a transportation fare settlement system that can be used for both the settlement of transportation usage fares and the support management of medical care and the settlement of medical expenses.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a transportation fare settlement system, an automatic ticket gate system for unmanned settlement of transportation fares, such as railway fares, is known. In this automatic ticket gate system, a user records personal information for identifying himself / herself on an IC card, and uses this IC card to notify a fare settlement server of the prepayment amount that can be electronically settled for the transportation fare in advance. When using the railway, the IC card is brought close to the automatic ticket gate device when boarding and alighting, and the railway usage information is given to the automatic ticket gate, and this is sent to the fare settlement server to settle the transportation fare. (Patent Document 1).

[0003] On the other hand, in medical institutions, a medical appointment system is used, and the medical schedules of patients are managed by this medical appointment system. Specifically, a medical card is issued for each patient, and the medical date and time of the patient are reserved, changed, or canceled in a reservation server connected to a terminal. (Patent Document 2)

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In a conventional transportation fare settlement system, in order to automatically settle the fare for boarding, in addition to dedicated hardware and software executed on the hardware for the automatic ticket gate device and the fare settlement server respectively, an IC card for transportation fare settlement had to be prepared for each user. On the other hand, in a medical appointment system as well, in addition to dedicated terminals and reservation servers, a medical card was issued for each patient, the personal information of the patient was read from the medical card, and the date and time of the medical appointment were managed by the reservation server. Therefore, each person had to possess and manage different information storage media for each purpose of use.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] In the transportation fare settlement system of the present invention, in addition to the personal information necessary for a patient of a medical institution to receive telemedicine, the personal information necessary for the settlement of the telemedicine fee is further stored in the settlement information storage medium that stores the personal information of the transportation user, and the patient (user) can perform not only the settlement of the transportation fare but also the management of the telemedicine and the settlement of its fee with a single settlement information storage medium.

[0007] Instead of settling the fee for telemedicine with the above-mentioned fee settlement information processing device, the financial institution may be notified of the fee to be settled, including the necessary personal information, in the settlement system of the financial institution, and the fee for telemedicine may be settled by the financial institution.

[0008] The management may be a reservation for use within the telemedicine facility. The patient uses the telemedicine facility at the medical appointment time. That is, the patient receives medical treatment remotely rather than face-to-face using a communication system connecting the telemedicine facility and the manned medical facility where medical staff are present.

[0009] The usage fee for telemedicine that was not claimed in the original application is determined by the information processing device for the patient, and the information processing device for the patient sends management information representing the usage fee to the information processing device to prompt the patient to make a settlement. If the patient wishes, the usage fee for telemedicine may be settled by the information processing device for payment settlement, or may be settled by the payment settlement system of another financial institution. This feature is detailed in paragraphs (0023), (0025), (0026), (0035) to (0039) of the original application.

[0010] The information processing device for the patient may also be used in combination for reservation management of usage at facilities other than medical facilities.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] In the transportation fare settlement system according to claim 1, since the personal information of the patient and the personal information for telemedicine payment settlement are also stored in the payment settlement information storage medium, the conventional IC card, the conventional medical treatment card, and the cards of financial institutions can be integrated into the payment settlement information storage medium. As a result, a transportation user who is also a patient can easily manage the information storage medium.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Refer to FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the present invention is configured based on a railway network usage fee, that is, a fare settlement system. Reference numeral 1 indicates a management area of a railway company set in one of a plurality of stations of the railway network. An automatic ticket gate 11, an automatic ticket vending machine 12, and a remote medical booth 13 are installed in this management area 1. In this embodiment, the automatic ticket gate 11 functions as a user-side information processing terminal. Railway user 14 settles the fare using an IC card 15 or a smartphone 16 (hereinafter referred to as an IC card or the like). The IC card or the like 15, 16 is provided with an IC chip and an internal antenna. In the memory area of the IC chip, there is personal information for identifying the user 14, such as the name of the user 14, the user number assigned to the user, the mobile phone number, the email address, etc., and traffic usage information necessary for fare settlement, such as the amount prepaid for fare settlement, the boarding and alighting stations, and the usage date and time thereof. It has a storage area for storing, and an application program for automatic fare settlement is stored in another storage area. The information processing area of the IC card or the like 15, 16 controls the reading, changing, and writing of the information in the memory area, and further controls the communication between the internal antenna of the IC card or the like 15, 16 and the information reader of the automatic ticket gate 11. Note that the user 14 may use the IC card or the like 15, 16 to buy a boarding ticket at the automatic ticket vending machine 12, pass through the automatic ticket gate 11 at the boarding station with this boarding ticket, and have the boarding ticket collected at the automatic ticket gate 11 at the alighting station. In addition, the smartphone 16 can be used not only for the settlement of the railway fare but also for general wireless calls, sending and receiving emails, using credit companies, and other application purposes. If an application program for using a credit company is installed, the usage fee for the remote medical booth 13 may be settled via the credit company.

[0014] When user 14 uses the railway to settle the fare, they touch the IC card etc. 15, 16 to the automatic ticket gate to enter the platform. When they arrive at the destination by using the train 17, they touch the IC card etc. 15, 16 to the automatic ticket gate 11 of the arrived station to exit. The automatic ticket gate 11 is connected to the fare settlement server 3 via the information communication network 2. The personal information and transportation usage information of user 14 are transmitted to the fare settlement server 3 via the information communication network 2, and the fare is settled. The fare settlement server 3 has a central processing unit 31, peripheral processors 32, a program memory 33, a working memory 34, an input / output device 35, and a mass memory system 36. A storage area assigned to each user 14 is provided in the mass memory system 36. Since the hardware of the IC card etc. 15, 16, the automatic ticket gate 11, the automatic ticket vending machine 12, and the fare settlement server 3 used for such fare settlement and the fare settlement application program executed by these are known, further explanation is omitted.

[0015] The information communication network 2 includes an internal information communication network 21 dedicated to the railway company and an external information communication network 22 provided for public use. The internal information communication network 21 can be connected to the external information communication network 22. The external information communication network 22 also includes a base station 23 for wireless phones, and the smartphone 16 can also be connected to the external information communication network 22 via the base station 23. In addition to the automatic ticket gate 11, the automatic ticket vending machine 12, and the fare settlement server 3, in this embodiment, a remote medical treatment booth 13 is also connected to the internal information communication network 21.

[0016] A plurality of remote medical examination booths 13 are provided in the main management areas of the railway network. Inside the remote medical examination booth 13, there are provided a booth 130 that defines the internal space, a personal computer 131, a medical examination device 132, and a Wi-Fi communicator 133 that are stored in the internal space. The personal computer 131 transmits the image and voice of the user 5 to a manned medical facility 6, such as a clinic or a hospital, via the Wi-Fi communicator 133 and the information communication network 2. The image and voice of medical staff, such as doctors, inside the manned medical facility 6 are also transmitted via a personal computer (not shown) inside the manned medical facility 6 and the information communication network 2. The patient 5 receives medical treatment through conversations with medical staff via images and voices. During the medical treatment, the patient 5 can also use the medical examination device 32 according to the instructions of the medical staff and send the examination data to the personal computer on the medical staff side. The personal computer provided in a manned medical facility not shown in the figure functions as a first communication device, and the personal computer 131 and the Wi-Fi communicator 133 function as a second communication device. Since such a remote medical examination booth has already been the subject of a patent application by the applicant (patent application number: Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-192823), further detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0017] The fare settlement system of the present embodiment further includes a server 7 for patients, and the server 7 for patients can be mutually connected to an information processing device 8 via the information communication network 2. In the present embodiment, the automatic ticket vending machine 12, the smartphone 16, and the personal computer 72 with an information reader 71 function as the information processing device 8.

[0018] The server 7 for the patient has a program memory 73, a working memory 74, a peripheral processor 75, an input / output device 76, a mass storage system 77, and a central processing unit 78 that can be connected to each other by a bus system. The central processing unit 78 executes a patient application program described later, and based on the wishes regarding the remote medical booth 13 for the patient, such as the location of the desired remote medical booth 13, the desired reservation date and time, the desired manned medical institution 6, and the support information representing the desired medical treatment subject, manages information such as management information, for example, information identifying the determined remote medical booth 13 provided for the use of the patient 5, information regarding the acquisition, change, and cancellation of the determined use reservation date and time, and information required for calculating the determined manned medical institution 6, its medical department, and the usage fee.

[0019] In this embodiment, the server 7 for the patient is also used for reservations at facilities other than medical facilities, such as reservations for rental conference rooms 91, rental offices, hotels 92, restaurants 93, etc. However, it may be used only as the server 7 for the patient, or it may be combined with the server 3 for payment settlement in terms of hardware.

[0020] IC cards 15, 16, etc. store the personal information of the patient in their storage area, such as the name, phone number, email address of the patient 5, and the medical record number of the medical institution 6. Note that the name, phone number, email address, etc. of the patient 5 may be used in common with the corresponding information of the user 14.

[0021] In addition to the application program for automatic fare settlement, the automatic ticket vending machine 12 stores in its memory an application program for patients. The information processing system of the automatic ticket vending machine 12 branches to either the application program for automatic fare settlement or the application program for patients according to the selection of the user 14 and the patient 5. For example, when IC cards 15, 16, etc. are inserted into the slot of the automatic ticket vending machine 12 or brought into contact with the reading device, it is determined whether not only the personal information of the user 14 but also the personal information of the patient 5 is stored in the storage area. If only the personal information of the user 14 is present, the application program for automatic fare settlement is immediately executed to issue a boarding ticket. On the other hand, when the personal information of the patient 5 is stored, as depicted in FIG. 1, an icon is displayed on the image display of the automatic ticket vending machine 12, and the user and the patient 14, 5 are allowed to select whether they wish to proceed with procedures related to the support of the medical institution, such as the use of the telemedicine booth 13 (displayed as "reservation" in FIG. 1), or wish to obtain a boarding ticket (displayed as "ticket" in FIG. 1), and in response to the selection, the system branches to the application program corresponding to the selection.

[0022] Hereinafter, the application program for patients will be described on the assumption that the telemedicine booth 13 is reserved using the personal computer 72 and the usage fee is settled with the smartphone 16 after the telemedicine is performed. Reference numerals 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 are respectively assigned to the central processing unit, program memory, working memory, peripheral processor, and input / output device inside the personal computers 72, 131.

[0023] FIG. 2 depicts the information processing procedure executed by the central processing unit 81 of the personal computer 72 and the central processing unit 78 of the patient server 7 when making a reservation for using the telemedicine booth 13.

[0024] First, the patient 5 starts the personal computer 72 and selects the patient application program. The central processing unit 81 reads the personal information of the patient 5 from the IC card etc. 15, 16 on the information reader 71 and sends the personal information to the patient server 7 via the information communication network 2 S2. In the patient server 7, the personal information of the patient 5 is temporarily stored in the working memory 74, and the central processing unit 78 compares the personal information in the working memory 74 with the personal information in the storage area assigned to the patient 5 in the mass memory system 77 to permit or not permit information processing S3. In the case of non - permission, the patient server 7 sends information indicating non - permission to the personal computer 72 via the information communication network 2, and the central processing unit 81 displays "not permitted" on the image display to inform the patient.

[0025] On the other hand, when permission is granted, the patient server 7 sends a menu of support contents that can be selected for what kind of medical support is desired to the personal computer 72 via the information communication network 2, and the central processing unit 81 displays the menu of support contents on the image display S4. The menu includes reservation of the use of the unmanned medical booth 13, reservation of medical treatment at the manned medical facility 6, investigation of the availability of hospital wards in the manned medical institution 6, management of prescriptions, etc.

[0026] Here, assume that the patient 5 has selected to make a reservation for using the telemedicine booth 13. The patient 5 repeats questions and answers with the patient server 7 via the information communication network 2 and the personal computer 72 to make a reservation in S5 and S6. When selecting a reservation for the telemedicine booth 13, the questions and answers between the patient server 7 and the patient 5 proceed as follows, for example. "Which area's telemedicine booth do you want to use?", "Shibuya-ku, Tokyo", "There are telemedicine booths at **, **, and ** in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Please select one.", "I want to use the ** booth.", "Please select the date you want to use.", "It's ** month ** day, 2021.", "Please select the time slot you want to use.", "The slot from **:00 am to 15 minutes and the subsequent slot from **:15 am to 15 minutes.", "Do you have a medical department you want to receive?", "It's the ** department.", "Do you have a preference for a manned medical institution where telemedicine can be performed? If so, please enter the name of that medical institution. You can also select from the list of manned medical institutions where telemedicine can be received for the selected medical department.", "I select the ** department of ** hospital." In this embodiment, the answer sent from the patient 5 to the patient server 7 becomes support information. When the patient 5 cannot select a medical department, the first outpatient visit is selected as the default.

[0027] Next, the patient server 7 requests the patient 5 to confirm the content already selected in S7. For example, it sends the following message to the personal computer 72 via the information communication network 2: "To receive telemedicine in the ** department of the hospital, do you agree to reserve the telemedicine booth in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo from **:00 am to 30 minutes on ** month ** day, 2021?" The patient 5 sends a confirmation "Yes" or a change request "No" from the personal computer 72 to the patient server 7 in S8. When the patient server 7 receives the confirmation, it stores the confirmed reservation content together with the personal information in the storage area of the large-scale memory system 77 assigned to the patient 5 and notifies the personal computer 72 that the reservation is complete in S9. Also, the patient server 7 notifies the hospital of the reservation together with the reservation content. The hospital can also access the patient server 7 to confirm the reservation content.

[0028] On the other hand, when a change request is received, the personal computer 72 and the examinee server 7 return to step S5 and repeat steps S5 to S9 to confirm the reservation details. When the reservation details are confirmed, the examinee server 7 stores the confirmed reservation details in the large-scale memory system 77 in the same manner as described above and sends the confirmed reservation details to the personal computer 72 via the information communication network 2 (S10). The personal computer 72 displays the confirmed reservation details on the image display to inform the examinee 5 of the confirmed reservation details, and stores the confirmed reservation details in the internal storage area of the personal computer 72 and the storage area of the smartphone 16 (S11). The confirmed reservation details are management information. At the time of remote medical examination, the personal computer 131 reads the reservation details from the smartphone 16 or the examinee server 7 and automatically connects to the personal computer for remote medical examination of the selected hospital.

[0029] Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the procedure for settling the usage fee of the remote medical booth 13 by the payment server 3 will be described. When the remote medical examination is completed within the remote medical booth 13, the personal computer 131 and the medical staff of the manned medical facility 6 notify the examinee server 7 of the end of the remote medical examination and the treatment fee and usage fee of the remote medical booth 13 via the information communication network 2. When the examinee server 7 receives the above notification from the personal computer 131, etc. (S31), the central processing unit 78 sends a message asking the examinee 5 about the payment method for the usage fee to the information processing device 8, which is the smartphone 16 in this embodiment, and writes the completion of the usage to the storage area allocated to the examinee 5 in the large-scale memory system 77 (S32). The end of the remote medical examination and the usage fee of the remote medical booth 13 correspond to the facility usage information.

[0030] The information processing system of the smartphone 16 activates the application program for payment of usage fees, and the patient 5 notifies the server 7 for patients via the smartphone 16 and the information communication network 2 whether to make a payment with the payment server 3 or by another method, for example, with a credit company or a bank (S33). The server 7 for patients sends a message to the smartphone 16 asking for personal information necessary for payment of usage fees, such as the number assigned to the patient 5, password, etc. (S34). The patient 5 sends the requested personal information to the server 3 for patients (S35).

[0031] In this embodiment, since the patient has selected payment with the payment server 3, the server 7 for patients sends the personal information and facility usage information of the patient 5 to the payment server 3 to inquire whether payment is possible (S36).

[0032] If payment of usage fees is impossible, for example, if the prepaid amount is insufficient, the payment server 3 notifies the server 7 for patients that payment is impossible, and requests the patient to increase the prepayment or select another payment method (S37). The information processing system of the smartphone 16 returns to step S33, and the patient 5 selects to increase the prepayment or a payment method other than the rejected payment method. In this way, steps S33 to S37 are repeated to find an available payment method.

[0033] When the server 7 for patients receives notice from the payment institution, in this embodiment, the payment server 3, that payment is possible, the server 7 for patients requests the payment server 3 to pay the usage fee for the remote medical booth 13 (S38), writes information indicating that the payment has been made with the payment institution in the storage area assigned to the patient 5 in the large-scale memory system 77, and sends information indicating that the payment has been completed to the smartphone 16 via the information communication network 2 to inform the patient 5.

[0034] In addition to the embodiment described above, the transportation fare settlement system according to the present invention can be configured as follows. First, a medical institution's existing medical reservation server may be used instead of the server 7 for the examinee, and as already mentioned, the support information and management information may be used for medical reservations at manned medical institutions. The support information can also be used for managing hospital wards and prescribing medications for examinees. The support information and management information may be used to manage the health of users of IC cards, etc. 15, 16 through diet and exercise.

[0035] When a medical staff member determines that medication is necessary during a telemedicine session, the medical staff member may send the drug information representing the prescription to the personal computer 131 in the telemedicine booth 13 and print it using a printer (not shown) connected to the personal computer 131. The server 7 for the examinee may notify the examinee of the usage fee in advance, including the usage fee in the confirmed reservation details. Also, the examinee 5 can extend the telemedicine session on the condition that there are no other reservations in the time slot following the reserved time slot.

[0036] The transportation means is not limited to railways and may be a bus operation network, a regular shipping operation network, or an airplane operation network. The telemedicine booth may be provided in a public space outside the management area of the railway company.

Industrial Applicability

[0037] The present invention can be used in the field of information processing that combines computers and communication.

Explanation of Signs

[0038] 1 is the management area of the transportation means, 2 is the information communication network (information transmission path), 3 is the information processing device for fare settlement (server for fare settlement), 5 is the examinee, 6 is the hospital (manned medical institution), 7 is the server for the examinee (information processing device for the examinee), 8 is the information processing device, 13 is the telemedicine booth (telemedicine facility), 91 is a rental conference room, a rental office (facility other than a medical institution), 92 is a hotel (facility other than a medical institution), 93 is a restaurant (facility other than a medical institution).

Claims

[Claim 1] a user-side information processing terminal that receives personal information of a transportation user from a payment information storage medium on the transportation user's side and transmits the personal information to an information transmission path together with transportation usage information required for calculating the transportation usage fee of the transportation facility; a transportation fare payment information processing device connected to the information transmission path, determining the transportation fare of the transportation user from the transportation usage information, sending transportation fare payment information representing payment of the transportation usage fee to the user-side information processing terminal, notifying the transportation user of the transportation usage fee and settling the transportation usage fee, an online medical facility including a remote medical facility where no medical staff is present and a second communication device installed in the remote medical facility and connected to a first communication device in a manned medical facility where a medical staff is present via the information transmission path, wherein the medical staff in the manned medical facility remotely treats the patient in the remote medical facility via the first communication device, the information transmission path, and the second communication device; and a patient information processing device that manages the remote medical care based on personal information required for the patient to receive the remote medical care and causes the patient to pay the cost of the remote medical care to the payment information processing device at the patient's option. A transportation fare payment system characterized in that the personal information required for the patient to receive remote medical treatment and the personal information required for the patient to pay for the remote medical treatment are stored in the payment information storage medium.

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