Server device, computer program, and medication instruction supporting method

Abstract

To enable objective evaluation of how a patient's condition has changed due to medication instructions and information provided to the patient.SOLUTION: A server device 12 is capable of communicating with a client device 11 to which information is provided. A processor 122 transmits intervention information IV to the client device 11 for confirming a patient's condition including medication status after the provision of the information. A communication interface 121 receives response information RP indicating the patient's condition from the client device 11 as a response to the intervention information IV. The processor 122 generates index information ID that quantitatively indicates the patient's condition based on the response information RP.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a server device capable of communicating with a client device that provides information. The present disclosure also relates to a computer program executable by a processor installed in the server device. The present disclosure also relates to a medication instruction support method executed by the client device and the server device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for supporting medication instruction given by a pharmacist to a patient who receives prescribed medication. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6381088 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There is a need to make it possible to objectively evaluate how a patient's condition has changed as a result of receiving medication instructions and information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect provided by the present disclosure is a server device capable of communicating with a client device to which information is provided, the server device comprising: a processor that transmits intervention information to the client device to confirm the patient's status, including the patient's medication status, after the information is provided; an interface that receives response information indicating the situation from the client device as a response to the intervention information; It is equipped with The processor generates index information that quantitatively indicates the condition of the patient based on the response information.

[0006] One aspect provided by the present disclosure is a computer program executable by a processor installed in a server device capable of communicating with a client device that provides information, the computer program comprising: When executed, the server device Transmitting intervention information to the client device to confirm the patient's status, including the medication status, after the information is provided; receiving, from the client device, response information indicating a condition of the patient as a response to the intervention information; Based on the response information, index information quantitatively indicating the condition of the patient is generated.

[0007] One aspect provided by the present disclosure is a method for supporting medication instruction that is executed by a client device that provides information and a server device that is installed in a location remote from the client device, the method comprising: Transmitting intervention information for confirming the patient's condition, including the medication status after the provision of the information, from the server device to the client device; transmitting response information indicating a condition of the patient from the client device to the server device in response to the intervention information; The server device generates index information quantitatively indicating the condition of the patient based on the response information.

[0008] According to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, the server device actively intervenes to check the patient's condition, including the medication status, and the client device receives a response to the intervention, thereby quantitatively indexing the patient's condition. In other words, it is possible to clarify the causal relationship between how the patient's condition changed based on the information provided to the patient and how the patient's condition changed as a result. This makes it possible to objectively evaluate how the patient's condition changed as a result of medication instructions and information provided to the patient. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates the configuration of a medication instruction system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of the client device and the server device of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 2 illustrates an example of a flow of processing executed by the medication instruction system of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Examples of embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings referred to in the following description, the scale of each illustrated element is changed as necessary to make it recognizable.

[0011] 1 illustrates the configuration of a medication instruction support system 10 according to an embodiment. The medication instruction support system 10 includes a client device 11 and a server device 12.

[0012] The client device 11 is used by a medical institution that provides medication instruction or a patient that receives the medication instruction. Therefore, there may be multiple client devices 11. The client device 11 may be a stationary device that is installed in a specific location, or may be a portable device that can be carried by a user.

[0013] The server device 12 is installed at a location remote from the client device 11. The client device 11 and the server device 12 are configured to be able to perform two-way data communication via a communication network 20.

[0014] The term "medical institution" used in this specification refers to an institution where medical professionals provide explanations about pharmaceuticals to patients. Examples of medical institutions include hospitals, doctors' offices, clinics, medical offices, dispensing pharmacies, drug stores, drug stores, and nursing homes. Therefore, the term "medical professionals" used in this specification is used to include not only pharmacists but also doctors and nurses.

[0015] 2, the client device 11 includes a communication interface 111. On the other hand, the server device 12 includes a communication interface 121. Each of the communication interface 111 and the communication interface 121 is a hardware interface configured to enable the above-described two-way data communication.

[0016] The client device 11 includes a user interface 112 and a processor 113. The user interface 112 is a hardware interface that mediates the exchange of information between a user and the processor 113. The user interface 112 and the processor 113 may be mounted in a common housing, or may be provided in a distributed manner in independent housings.

[0017] The user interface 112 is configured to accept input of patient information PT by a user. The patient information PT can be input via a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel input device, a voice input device, or the like. The user may be a medical professional or the patient himself / herself. The patient information PT does not need to be input all at once from the same client device 11. In other words, each element of the patient information PT listed below may be input by a different user from a different client device 11.

[0018] The patient information PT includes at least basic information about the patient. Basic information is information that is collected regardless of the patient's illness or background. Examples of such information include name, gender, age, height, and weight. The basic information only needs to include at least one of these pieces of information.

[0019] The patient information PT may include information indicating a chief complaint. A chief complaint refers to the most important medical condition or state (symptom, symptom, etc.) that a patient is complaining about or experiencing.

[0020] The patient information PT may include information indicating the history of the present illness. The history of the present illness is detailed information related to the chief complaint, including at least one of the date of onset, severity, duration of onset, course, treatment history, and impact on daily life.

[0021] The patient information PT may include information indicating a medical history. The medical history refers to the history of illnesses and treatments the patient has received up to now. The medical history may include at least one of a serious illness, a history of surgery, and a history of trauma.

[0022] The patient information PT may include information indicating family history, which refers to the illnesses currently being treated and past medical history of the patient's family or relatives.

[0023] The patient information PT may include information indicating a social history. The social history may include information about the patient's social status and environmental factors that contribute to the development of the disease. Examples of social information include marital status, occupation, eating and exercise habits, and whether and how much they smoke or drink.

[0024] The patient information PT may include information indicating a medication history. The medication history may include prescription medications used by the patient, as well as over-the-counter (OTC) medications, supplements, alternative medicines, etc. The medication history may include drug usage, dosage, route of administration, dosage form, duration of treatment, etc.

[0025] The patient information PT may include information indicating a history of allergies to drugs, foods, pets, and environmental factors (dust, pollen, etc.), as well as a history of adverse reactions to drugs.

[0026] The patient information PT may include information indicating physical findings. Physical findings are the results of a physical examination by a medical professional, and may include vital signs as well as findings indicating the state of organs, nerves, and skin.

[0027] The patient information PT may include information indicating test results, which are the results of various tests, and may include at least one of specimen tests such as blood and urine tests, physiological tests such as electrocardiograms, and imaging tests such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRI scans.

[0028] The patient information PT may include prescription drug information, which indicates newly prescribed medications that are not included in the medication history or that are scheduled to be newly prescribed.

[0029] The processor 113 is configured to transmit the patient information PT received by the user interface 112 from the communication interface 111 to the server device 12.

[0030] The server device 12 includes a processor 122 and a storage 123. The storage 123 is a storage device realized by a semiconductor memory, a hard disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, or the like. The processor 122 is configured to store the patient information PT received by the communication interface 121 in the storage 123. The processor 122 and the storage 123 may be mounted in a common housing, or may be provided in a distributed manner in multiple independent housings.

[0031] 3 illustrates an example of the flow of a method for supporting medication instruction executed by the client device 11 and the server device 12. The term "medication instruction" used in this specification means the act of providing guidance information to ensure the appropriate use of a prescribed drug when (or before) the drug is handed over to a patient. In other words, medication instruction is an example of providing information. The guidance information may include an explanation of the drug's usage, dosage, precautions for use, and possible side effects associated with use.

[0032] As described above, patient information PT is input through the user interface 112 of the client device 11 (STEP 11). The patient information PT may be input when filling out a medical questionnaire following a first visit to a medical institution or when a drug is prescribed, or may be input prior to the first visit. When the patient information PT is input when a drug is prescribed, the patient information PT includes the above-mentioned prescribed drug information.

[0033] Next, the processor 113 of the client device 11 transmits the patient information PT to the server device 12 through the communication interface 111 (STEP 12).

[0034] The processor 122 of the server device 12 stores the patient information PT received through the communication interface 121 in the storage 123 (STEP 21).

[0035] Alternatively, the patient information PT stored in the server device 12 may be transmitted to the client device 11 based on a call instruction, and the patient information PT updated in the client device 11 may then be transmitted to the server device 12.

[0036] Next, the processor 122 generates intervention information IV (STEP 22). The intervention information IV is information for confirming the patient's condition, including the medication status after prescription. In addition to the medication status, changes in symptoms related to the patient's chief complaint, the presence or absence of side effects, etc. may be subject to confirmation. The intervention information IV may take the form of a questionnaire.

[0037] Next, the processor 122 transmits the generated intervention information IV to the client device 11 via the communication interface 121 (STEP 23). Note that the first transmission of the intervention information IV is preferably transmitted to the client device 11 used by the patient. In this case, response information, which will be described later, can be obtained as a confirmation result before the patient revisits the medical institution.

[0038] As illustrated in Fig. 2, the user interface 112 of the client device 11 is configured to also accept input of response information RP by the user (STEP 13 in Fig. 3). The response information RP includes at least information indicating the medication status of the prescribed medication as a response to the inquiry included in the intervention information IV. The response information RP may include the user's answer regarding changes in symptoms related to the main complaint, the presence or absence of side effects, etc., depending on the content of the inquiry included in the intervention information IV.

[0039] The response information RP may also be input via a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel input device, a voice input device, etc. If an application that records the patient's medication behavior is operable on the client device 11, information recorded by the application may be acquired as at least a part of the response information RP.

[0040] The processor 113 is configured to transmit the response information RP received by the user interface 112 from the communication interface 111 to the server device 12 (STEP 14 in FIG. 3).

[0041] The processor 122 of the server device 12 is configured to generate index information ID quantitatively indicating the condition of the patient based on the response information RP received by the communication interface 121 (STEP 24 in FIG. 3).

[0042] For example, the index information ID may be based on the patient's medication status, such as the medication rate (the ratio of the amount of medication taken to the amount prescribed), the remaining amount (the difference between the amount of medication prescribed and the amount taken), the cost of medication consumed, the time of day or day of the week when medication is most likely to be forgotten, etc.

[0043] As another example, the index information ID may represent a change in symptoms related to the chief complaint. Examples of such index information IDs may include a value representing improvement, a value representing the same status quo, and a value representing worsening.

[0044] As another example, the index information ID may represent the occurrence of a side effect or a symptom other than the primary complaint. An example of such an index information ID may be one that represents the presence, absence, number, frequency, etc. of at least one specific side effect or symptom that has been determined in advance. A patient reported outcome (PRO) with a value may also be an example of the index information ID.

[0045] The processor 122 stores the generated index information ID in the storage 123 in association with the patient information PT corresponding to the patient.

[0046] 2, the user interface 112 of the client device 11 is configured to be able to receive an instruction IS requesting acquisition of an index indicating the effect of a drug prescription for a specific patient. The processor 113 is configured to transmit an index acquisition request RQ to the server device 12 through the communication interface 111 based on the instruction IS. The index acquisition request RQ includes information identifying the patient.

[0047] It should be noted that the client device 11 that transmits the index acquisition request RQ does not necessarily have to match the client device 11 that transmitted the response information RP used to generate the requested index information ID.

[0048] The processor 122 of the server device 12 is configured to read, from the storage, an index information ID associated with the patient information PT corresponding to the patient identified by the index acquisition request RQ received by the communication interface 121. The processor 122 transmits the read index information ID from the communication interface 121 to the client device 11 that sent the index acquisition request RQ.

[0049] The processor 113 of the client device 11 is configured to output the index information ID received by the communication interface 121 from the user interface 112. The index information ID can be output via a display device, a printer, or the like.

[0050] According to the configuration of this embodiment described above, the server device 12 actively intervenes to check the patient's condition, including the medication status, and receives a response to the intervention from the client device 11, thereby quantitatively indexing the patient's condition. That is, it is possible to clarify the causal relationship between how the patient's condition changed based on the information provided to the patient and how the patient's condition changed as a result. This makes it possible to objectively evaluate how the patient's condition has changed as a result of medication instructions and information provided to the patient.

[0051] In particular, when the destination of the intervention information IV is the client device 11 used by the patient who received the information, acquisition of information related to the patient's condition can be started before the patient revisits the medical institution. In other words, even if the patient does not revisit the medical institution after all, information for quantitatively evaluating the effect of the information provision can be secured.

[0052] 3, the processor 122 of the server device 12 can repeatedly generate and transmit the intervention information IV (STEP 22, STEP 23). This process may be performed periodically regardless of whether the patient revisits the medical institution, or may be triggered by receiving new prescription drug information from the client device 11. By performing intervention multiple times, the index information ID generated based on the response information RP can have statistical characteristics.

[0053] For example, an index information ID indicating the occurrence of a side effect or a symptom other than the main complaint may include an incidence rate, which may be calculated by dividing the number of occurrences by the number of times the drug was prescribed or the duration of medication.

[0054] In addition to or instead of this, the indicator information ID may include the rate of revisits to medical institutions, the rate of continued medication, the rate at which specified usage and dosage are adhered to, and MPR (Medication Possession Ratio; the value obtained by dividing the actual number of remaining medications by the theoretical number of remaining medications).

[0055] In addition, the first statistical value obtained by multiplying the medication continuation rate by the number of patients, the second statistical value obtained by multiplying the first statistical value by the number of medical institutions (e.g., the number of pharmacies), and the third statistical value obtained by multiplying the second statistical value by the service provision rate can also be indicator information IDs.

[0056] By continuing to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of the information provided, it will be possible to adjust the type and amount of medication prescribed. For example, if it is determined that symptoms are improving despite a large amount of a particular medication remaining, the amount of that medication prescribed can be reduced. This will enable appropriate medication selection and a reduction in unused medication, potentially enabling the efficient management of medical expenses.

[0057] The intervention information IV sent to the client device 11 used by the patient may include information to improve the patient's adherence to prescribed medications, such as audiovisual reminders to take medication, prompts to record medication intake, etc.

[0058] Such a configuration makes it easier to obtain the patient's understanding and cooperation regarding medication behavior, thereby improving the accuracy of quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of information provision.

[0059] As illustrated in Figure 3, the processor 122 of the server device 12 can be configured to generate guidance information GD to be provided at the time of subsequent drug prescription based on the generated index information ID and transmit it to the client device 11 (STEP 25).

[0060] For example, if the index information ID indicates that the compliance rate for a particular drug is low, guidance information GD is generated to prompt medical professionals to hear from the patient about the reason and to provide advice on how to increase the compliance rate.

[0061] 2, the processor 113 of the client device 11 is configured to output the guidance information GD received by the communication interface 121 from the user interface 112 (STEP 15 in FIG. 3). In other words, the user interface 112 is configured to provide the guidance information GD to the user. The guidance information GD can be output via a display device, a printer, or the like.

[0062] Since the guidance information GD is intended to be provided at the time of medication instruction, the destination of the guidance information GD must include at least the client device 11 used by the medical staff. However, the guidance information GD may also be transmitted to the client device 11 used by the patient to check the content of medication instruction, for example.

[0063] With this configuration, the quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of medication instruction can be reflected in the content of medication instruction when prescribing future drugs. In other words, medication instruction can be provided when prescribing future drugs by adding information such as points to note based on the evaluation, in addition to information regarding the dosage and administration described in the package insert of the specific drug to be prescribed. Therefore, the medication instruction provided to each patient can be more personalized.

[0064] The processor 113 of the client device 11 and the processor 122 of the server device 12, each having the various functions described above, may be realized by a general-purpose microprocessor operating in cooperation with a general-purpose memory. Examples of the general-purpose microprocessor include a CPU, an MPU, and a GPU. Examples of the general-purpose memory include a ROM and a RAM. In this case, the ROM may store a computer program that executes the above-described processes. The ROM is an example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium on which a computer program is stored. The general-purpose microprocessor specifies at least a portion of the program stored in the ROM, expands it on the RAM, and executes the above-described processes in cooperation with the RAM. The computer program may be pre-installed in the general-purpose memory, or may be downloaded from an external server device via a communication network and then installed in the general-purpose memory. In this case, the external server device is an example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium on which a computer program is stored.

[0065] Each of the processors 113 and 122 may be realized by a dedicated integrated circuit capable of executing the computer program, such as a microcontroller, an ASIC, or an FPGA. In this case, the computer program is pre-installed in a memory element included in the dedicated integrated circuit. The memory element is an example of a computer-readable medium on which a computer program is stored. Each of the processors 113 and 122 may also be realized by a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor and a dedicated integrated circuit.

[0066] The configurations described above are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the present disclosure. Each configuration example may be appropriately modified or combined with other configuration examples without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0067] In the above embodiment, the intervention information IV is transmitted to the client device 11 used by the patient who has received the information, and the response information RP is acquired directly from the patient through the client device 11. However, intervention for the patient may be performed through the client device 11 used by the medical institution that provided the information. The response information RP transmitted from the client device 11 used by the patient may also be transmitted to the server device 12 through the client device 11 used by the medical institution. In this case, the response information RP can be shared between the patient and the medical institution. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 11: Client device, 12: Server device, 121: Communication interface, 122: Processor, ID: Index information, IV: Intervention information, GD: Guidance information, RP: Response information

Claims

1. A server device capable of communicating with a client device to which information is provided, a processor that transmits intervention information to the client device to confirm the patient's condition, including the medication status after the information is provided; an interface that receives response information indicating a condition of the patient from the client device as a response to the intervention information; It is equipped with the processor generates index information quantitatively indicating a state of the patient based on the response information. Server device.

2. the client device is a device used by the patient; The server device according to claim 1 .

3. the intervention information includes information for improving the patient's adherence to prescribed medications. The server device according to claim 2 .

4. the processor generates guidance information to be provided in the future based on the index information and transmits the guidance information to the client device; The server device according to claim 1 .

5. A computer program executable by a processor installed in a server device capable of communicating with a client device that provides information, When executed, the server device Transmitting intervention information to the client device to confirm the patient's condition, including the medication status after the information is provided; receiving, from the client device, response information indicating a condition of the patient as a response to the intervention information; generating index information quantitatively indicating the state of the patient based on the response information; Computer program.

6. A method for supporting medication instruction that is executed by a client device that provides information and a server device that is installed in a location remote from the client device, comprising: Transmitting intervention information for confirming the patient's condition, including the medication status after the provision of the information, from the server device to the client device; transmitting response information indicating a condition of the patient from the client device to the server device in response to the intervention information; generating, in the server device, index information quantitatively indicating the condition of the patient based on the response information; How to support medication instructions.

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