Medical information processing apparatus, medical information processing program and medical information processing method

Abstract

To provide a medical information processing apparatus that determines whether processing using a medical examination support application is necessary.SOLUTION: A medical information processing apparatus according to an embodiment comprises: an acquisition unit that acquires medical examinee information including a symptom of a medical examinee; a decision unit that, on the basis of the medical examinee information, performs decision processing of deciding a medical examination support application for supporting a medical examination as a recommended application; a control unit that performs control to present the recommended application decided by the decision unit on a display; and a determination unit that determines whether to perform the decision processing by the decision unit on the basis of the medical examinee information. When the determination unit determines to perform the decision processing, the decision unit performs the decision processing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The embodiments disclosed in this specification and the drawings relate to a medical information processing device, a medical information processing program, and a medical information processing method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, medical information processing devices identify a clinical decision support application (hereinafter also referred to as a CDS application) that performs analysis processing according to pre-set rules, for example, when triggered by the reception of a medical image. A technique is known in which the analysis processing of the identified CDS application is automatically executed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-132632 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] One of the problems to be solved by the embodiments disclosed in this specification and the drawings is to determine whether a medical image processing device needs to perform processing using a CDS application. However, the problems to be solved by the embodiments disclosed in this specification and the drawings are not limited to the above problem. Problems corresponding to the effects of each configuration shown in the embodiments described below can also be positioned as other problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A medical information processing device according to an embodiment includes an acquisition unit, a determination unit, a decision unit, and a control unit. The acquisition unit acquires patient information including symptoms of the patient. The determination unit determines whether or not to perform the decision process by the decision unit based on the patient information. The decision unit determines CDS applications for supporting medical care as recommended applications based on the patient information. The control unit prompts a user, such as a doctor, to decide whether or not to perform analysis processing for the recommended applications. The control unit also displays the results of the analysis processing for the recommended applications. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a medical image processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network diagram of a medical information processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of determining a decision pattern for a CDS application in the medical image processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of checking a decision criterion for a CDS application in the medical image processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a recommended application determination table 15 according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of determining whether or not to execute analysis processing of recommended applications in the medical image processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of indicating whether or not an additional examination is required and issuing an instruction to execute analysis processing of a recommended application in the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of whether or not to display the execution result of the analysis process of the recommended applications of the medical image processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow for preventing overlooking of a disease in the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] 10 shows a display example of proposing an additional examination in the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a display example proposing whether or not to display the execution results of the analysis process of the recommended application in the medical image processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a display example that suggests whether or not to display the execution results of the analysis process of the recommended application so as to transfer to another appropriate medical department in the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of determining whether or not to present the execution result of the analysis process of the recommended application when the symptoms of the examinee have not improved in the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of determining whether or not to present the execution result of the analysis process of a recommended application so as to transfer to another appropriate medical department in the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Hereinafter, a medical information processing apparatus, a medical information processing method, and a medical information processing program according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0008] The medical information processing device according to the present application is not limited to the following embodiments. In the present disclosure, in the case where software-based information processing is specifically realized using hardware resources, the software executes analysis processing by a program, and can be implemented by the program itself or a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing the program. Furthermore, among the various data in this specification and drawings, data mainly used by the information processing device is typically digital data.

[0009] (First embodiment) The overall configuration of a medical information processing device 1 according to an embodiment will be described. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the functions of the medical information processing device 1 according to an embodiment. The medical information processing device 1 is composed of, for example, a processing circuit 3, a memory 5, an input interface 7, a display 9, and a communication interface 11. The communication interface 11 includes, for example, a communication interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card).

[0010] The memory 5 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory element such as RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, a hard disk, or an optical disk. These non-transitory storage media may also be realized by other storage devices connected via a communication network NW, such as a NAS (Network Attached Storage) or an external storage server device. The memory 5 may also include other non-transitory storage media such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a register. The memory 5 stores, for example, part of the recommended application determination table 15, a CDS application, and patient information acquired by the acquisition unit. The memory 5 stores programs, parameter data, and other data used by the processing circuit 3.

[0011] The input interface 7 accepts various input operations from the operator of the medical information processing device 1, converts the accepted input operations into electrical signals, and outputs the electrical signals to the processing circuitry 3. For example, the input interface 7 includes a mouse, keyboard, trackball, switch, button, joystick, touch panel, etc. The input interface 7 may also be, for example, a user interface for a doctor or the like that accepts voice input from a microphone or the like.

[0012] In this specification, the input interface 7 is not limited to an interface having physical operation parts such as a mouse, keyboard, etc. For example, an example of the input interface 7 also includes an electrical signal processing circuit 3 that receives an electrical signal corresponding to an input operation from an external input device provided separately from the device and outputs this electrical signal to a control circuit.

[0013] The medical information processing device 1 provides a function for executing analysis processing of CDS applications. CDS applications perform various analytical processes according to the purpose, for example, on medical images to be analyzed. CDS applications include, for example, clinical applications for detecting lesions in patients, applications for performing body part segmentation, applications for identifying tumors, applications for assessing the progression of lesions, applications for detecting the location of specific lesions such as cerebral infarction, and applications for developing treatment plans. The internal processing of a CDS application may be, for example, a rule-based system that outputs results by processing based on set rules, a machine learning model generated by learning processing using machine learning techniques such as deep learning, or a combination of a rule-based system and a machine learning model. The internal processing algorithm of a CDS application is not limited to these. The analysis target of a CDS application is not limited to medical images. For example, non-image medical information such as blood test results may also be used.

[0014] The processing circuit 3 includes, for example, as hardware resources, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), as well as a ROM, a RAM, etc. The processing circuit 3 may also be realized by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), another complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a simple programmable logic device (SPLD), or the like.

[0015] The processing circuit 3 includes, for example, an acquisition function 31, a determination function 32, a decision function 33, and a control function 34. The processing circuit 3 realizes these functions by, for example, a hardware processor (computer) executing an analysis process of a program stored in a memory 5.

[0016] The processing circuit 3 is a circuit that controls the overall operation, and corresponds to a processor that reads programs from the memory 5 and executes analysis processing to realize the functions corresponding to each program. In other words, the processing circuit 3 in a state where each program has been read has the function corresponding to the read program. Note that each function does not necessarily have to be realized by a single processing circuit. The processing circuit 3 may be configured by combining multiple independent processors, and each processor may execute program analysis processing to realize each function.

[0017] The acquisition function 31 acquires patient information from the patient information database 17 via the communication network NW, and also acquires CDS application information from the recommended application determination table 15. The acquisition function 31 is an example of an "acquisition unit."

[0018] The communication network NW refers to all information and communication networks that utilize telecommunications technology. It includes wireless / wired LANs such as hospital backbone LANs (Local Area Networks), the Internet, telephone communication networks, optical fiber communication networks, cable communication networks, and satellite communication networks.

[0019] 2 is a diagram showing a network of the medical information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The medical information processing apparatus 1 is connected to a recommended application determination table 15, a terminal device 13, and a patient information database 17.

[0020] For example, the determination function 32 receives input of medical images taken by CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), ultrasound diagnostic equipment, etc., specimen test results, endoscopic examination, etc. for a patient suffering from a disease, and detects a certain disease using a CDS application, program, software, etc. If information on the disease does not exist in the patient's electronic medical record, etc., the determination function 32 determines that the doctor, etc. has overlooked the disease in the patient. The determination function 32 may also determine to perform a decision process when it is estimated that a disease other than a disease that has already been diagnosed exists. The determination function 32 is an example of a "determination unit."

[0021] The determination function 32 may determine that it is necessary to determine a CDS application with priority if the examination or test involves a CDS application. When determining whether or not a CDS application should be determined for a similar examination or test in the past, the determination function 32 may utilize the past record.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing how the determination function 32 of the medical image processing device 1 determines the determination pattern of the CDS application.

[0023] [Processing flow] (Step S101) After the examination of the target patient is completed, the determination function 32 of the medical information processing device 1 starts the main determination.

[0024] (Step S103) The acquisition function 31 collects various test results from an electronic medical record system or the like.

[0025] (Step S105) The acquisition function 31 collects the medical examination and treatment history of the target patient from an electronic medical record system or the like.

[0026] (Step S107) The judgment function 32 checks the decision pattern of the CDS application based on various test results and the examination and treatment history of the target patient.

[0027] (Step S109) If a decision is required as a result of checking the decision pattern, the process moves to the CDS application decision criteria.

[0028] (Step S111) This process ends.

[0029] The decision function 33 decides a CDS application based on the recommended application decision table 15. The decision function 33 is an example of a "decision unit."

[0030] The decision function 33 sets limits on the number of executions and on viewing results for CDS applications that the hospital does not have the right to use, for example, because they have not been purchased by the hospital, and lists them as candidates for the execution of analysis processing. The decision function 33 refers to the presence or absence of usage rights at the hospital in the recommended application decision table 15 shown in Figure 5, for example, and lists and decides on CDS applications for which the hospital does not have the right to use as candidates for recommended applications, just like CDS applications for which the hospital has the right to use.

[0031] As shown in the table of Figure 5, for CDS applications that do not have a usage right at the hospital, i.e., have not been purchased by the hospital, a trial number is set, for example, and a limit is placed on the number of times that analysis processing can be performed. CDS applications that do not have a usage right can perform analysis processing with limitations, and the control function 34 presents the results of the analysis processing to users such as doctors. Furthermore, when the hospital pays the usage fee for the tuberculosis detection app in Figure 5, the table of Figure 5 is updated to indicate that the hospital has a usage right for the tuberculosis detection app, and the limit on the number of trial uses of the tuberculosis detection app is lifted.

[0032] The decision function 33 also takes into consideration the accuracy of the analysis processing of the CDS application and the resources required for the analysis processing when an emergency occurs during a medical examination or test.

[0033] The decision function 33 may take into account the execution of analysis processes of other CDS applications and may make settings to plan when to execute analysis processes of the CDS application.

[0034] The decision function 33 may prioritize scheduling of CDS applications when the patient's disease or condition is not good or when treatment is not effective.

[0035] The decision function 33 may apply the results of feedback from a user, such as a physician, to the decision criteria of the CDS application.

[0036] The control function 34 may have a means for notifying a user, such as a doctor, based on the patient's disease or condition without waiting for the next consultation, for example, if the execution results of the analysis processing of the CDS application discover a disease or if there is a high urgency.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing how the determination function 33 of the medical image processing apparatus 1 determines a CDS application after it is determined that a CDS application needs to be determined.

[0038] [Processing flow] (Step S201) The CDS application must be determined by the determination function 32, and after the patterns are assigned, the determination function 33 starts the main process.

[0039] (Step S203) The decision function 33 identifies the data required to perform the analysis process of the target CDS application.

[0040] (Step S205) The decision function 33 checks the software license of the target CDS application.

[0041] (Step S207) The decision function 33 checks the overall scheduling and the computer performance and resources required to execute the analysis process of the target CDS application.

[0042] (Step S211) The decision function 33 decides the execution priority of the analysis process of the target CDS application.

[0043] (Step S213) This process ends.

[0044] The control function 34 controls the terminal device 13 to present the recommended application determined by the determination function 33 to a user such as a doctor. The control function 34 also controls the terminal device 13 to present the results of the CDS application that has executed the analysis process to a user such as a doctor. The control function 34 is an example of a "control unit."

[0045] The recommended application determination table 15 has a data configuration, for example, as shown in Fig. 5. The recommended application determination table 15 includes disease names, information on CDS applications that have already been executed, candidate CDS applications that are recommended for use by users such as doctors, input data required to execute the CDS applications, computer resources required to execute the analysis processing of the CDS applications, the license status of the CDS applications, the usage history of the CDS applications at other hospitals, and the usage history within the hospital to which the users such as doctors belong.

[0046] The recommended application decision table 15 is updated as needed. For example, when an updated version of a CDS application that is listed as a decision candidate in the recommended application decision table 15 is released, the decision candidate for the CDS application is updated. Also, when another medical institution rates a CDS application, the rating of the CDS application that is a decision candidate in the recommended application decision table 15 is updated.

[0047] CDS applications that are capable of executing analysis processing are registered as decision candidates in the recommended application determination table 15. However, even CDS applications that the hospital does not have the right to use may be registered in the recommended application determination table 15. The state in which analysis processing is capable of executing may be, for example, a state in which analysis processing of a CDS application can be executed on an information processing device within the hospital, or a state in which analysis processing of a CDS application can be executed on a cloud outside the hospital.

[0048] After determining that a CDS application needs to be selected, the medical information processing device 1 determines which CDS application (hereinafter also referred to as a recommended application) to select from candidate CDS applications based on a recommended application determination table 15 shown in Fig. 5. For example, if the determination function 32 of the medical information processing device 1 determines that there is uncertainty about the diagnostic result and that the patient should be referred to a specialized facility within the group, and if the CDS application has a high evaluation of its usage record at other hospitals and the required data of bacterial culture and drug sensitivity of the patient are available, then the bronchitis detection APP2 that detects bacterial bronchitis is determined.

[0049] The terminal device 13 is a device for using the CDS application provided by the medical information processing device 1. The terminal device 13 is, for example, a personal computer, a tablet, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, etc. The terminal device 13 is operated by, for example, a doctor, a technician, etc. A dedicated application program or a browser is started on the terminal device 13, and various information provided by the medical information processing device 1 is provided to users such as doctors.

[0050] The medical information processing device 1 is installed in a medical institution such as a hospital. The medical information processing device 1 may be, for example, a workstation, a server, etc. The medical information processing device 1 is connected to at least one terminal device 13, at least one recommended application determination table 15, a patient information database 17, etc. via, for example, a communication network NW so as to be able to transmit and receive data.

[0051] The patient information includes the patient's chief complaint, the patient's age, the patient's sex, the patient's medical history, the patient's social history, the patient's vaccination history, and whether the patient has any allergies. The patient information also includes the doctor's medication instructions for the patient and the doctor's computer search history used during consultations, etc.

[0052] The patient information includes medical information of patients stored in other hospitals. The acquisition function 31 may acquire the medical information of patients from other hospitals using a personal identification number such as My Number as a key, or may acquire the medical information of patients from other hospitals via a regional medical information network.

[0053] The display 9 is a display device that displays various types of information. For example, the display 9 displays images generated by the processing circuit 3, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for receiving various input operations from an operator, etc. For example, the display 9 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, etc.

[0054] The medical information processing device 1 determines recommended applications based on a table such as that shown in FIG. 5 and presents them to a user such as a doctor via the terminal device 13. The user such as a doctor looks at the recommended CDS applications and inputs whether or not to execute the analysis process. The medical information processing device 1 acquires patient information necessary to execute the analysis process of the recommended CDS application from the patient information database 17. The medical information processing device 1 also executes the analysis process of the CDS application selected by the user such as a doctor or selected by the medical information processing device 1, and displays the execution results of the analysis process of the CDS application on the terminal device 13.

[0055] It is not necessary to uniquely determine a CDS application using the recommended application determination table 15. Furthermore, the medical information processing device 1 may determine multiple recommended applications from among candidate CDS applications. Furthermore, the medical information processing device 1 is not limited to the configurations shown in Figures 1 and 2. Furthermore, when the name of an already diagnosed disease differs from the name of a disease output from a CDS application, that CDS application may be determined as the recommended application.

[0056] [Processing flow] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow for presenting whether or not to execute analysis processing of a CDS application in the medical information processing device 1.

[0057] (Step S301) First, in response to a processing request from the terminal device 13, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical information of a patient to be analyzed by the CDS application from the patient information database 17. The acquisition function 31 acquires medical images from the patient information database 17, for example, based on the patient ID included in the processing request.

[0058] (Step S303) Next, the decision function 32 determines whether or not to perform a CDS application decision process.

[0059] (Step S305) Next, the determination function 33 determines a CDS application based on the patient information data acquired by the acquisition function 31 .

[0060] (Step S307) Next, the control function 34 confirms with the user, such as a doctor, whether or not to execute the analysis process of the CDS application determined by the determination function 33.

[0061] (Step S309) If a user such as a doctor selects to execute the analysis process, the analysis process of the CDS application is executed. If a user such as a doctor selects not to execute the analysis process, the analysis process of the CDS application is not executed and this process ends. Next, if a user such as a doctor selects to execute the analysis process of the CDS application in S307, the analysis process of the CDS application determined in S305 is executed. If a user such as a doctor selects not to execute the analysis process of the CDS application in S307, this process ends.

[0062] (Step S311) Next, when the analysis process of the CDS application is executed in S309, the control function 34 presents the results of the analysis process of the CDS application to a user such as a doctor, and the process proceeds to S313, where it ends.

[0063] (Step S313) This process ends.

[0064] Through this process, the medical information processing device 1 can determine whether a medical support application is necessary and present it to users such as doctors. Users such as doctors can avoid the trouble of selecting a medical support application themselves and can use an appropriate medical support application tailored to the patient they are seeing. In addition, the medical information processing device 1 can perform a trial analysis process on a CDS application that the hospital has not purchased, thereby providing users such as doctors with the results of the analysis process for the appropriate medical support application.

[0065] [Processing flow] (It is determined that additional inspection is required to perform the analysis process for the recommended application.)

[0066] 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow for notifying a user such as a doctor that additional tests or the like are required to execute the analysis process of a CDS application in the medical information processing device 1. The process of determining whether to notify a user such as a doctor that additional tests or the like are required, as shown in FIG. 7, is executed, for example, when there is insufficient patient information required to execute the analysis process of a recommended application.

[0067] The control function 34 may prompt a user, such as a doctor, to recommend additional interviews or examinations in order to obtain patient information necessary to execute the analysis process of the recommended application. After the additional interviews or examinations are completed, the acquisition function 31 acquires the patient information necessary to execute the analysis process of the recommended application.

[0068] (Step S401) First, in response to a processing request from the terminal device 13, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical information of a patient to be analyzed by the CDS application from the patient information database 17. The acquisition function 31 acquires medical images of the patient from the patient information database 17, for example, based on the patient ID included in the processing request.

[0069] (Step S403) Next, the decision function 32 determines whether or not to perform a CDS application decision process.

[0070] (Step S405) Next, the decision function 32 determines whether to present the user, such as a doctor, with additional tests required to perform the analysis process of the recommended application.

[0071] (Step S407) Next, the control function 34 asks the user, such as a doctor, whether or not to perform any additional tests required to perform the analysis process of the recommended application.

[0072] (Step S409) When a user such as a doctor selects to perform an additional examination, the acquisition function 31 acquires the examination information of the patient added by the additional examination. When a user such as a doctor selects not to perform an additional examination, this process ends.

[0073] (Step S411) Next, the decision function 33 decides on a CDS application as a recommended application based on the patient's medical information acquired by the acquisition function 31 .

[0074] (Step S413) Next, the analysis process of the recommended application determined in S411 is executed.

[0075] (Step S415) Next, the control function 34 presents the results of the recommended application analyzed in step S413 to a user such as a doctor.

[0076] (Step S417) This process ends.

[0077] This process enables the medical information processing device 1 to show users such as doctors the medical information of the patient that is insufficient for executing the analysis process of the medical support application. Users such as doctors can avoid the trouble of selecting a CDS application themselves, and can use an appropriate medical support application tailored to the patient they are seeing, and can perform better medical treatment by using additional patient medical information obtained through additional tests.

[0078] [Processing flow] (The recommended application is automatically analyzed without the input of the doctor or other user.)

[0079] 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow for determining a CDS application in the medical information processing device 1 as a recommended application, executing an analysis process for the determined recommended application regardless of whether or not there is an input from a user such as a doctor, and presenting the execution result of the analysis process for the recommended application to a user such as a doctor. Determining the CDS application shown in FIG. 8 as a recommended application and executing the analysis process for the determined recommended application regardless of whether or not there is an input from a user such as a doctor is performed, for example, during breaks of users such as doctors when there are spare computing resources in the hospital, when the hospital is closed, when consultations are not being held, etc.

[0080] (Step S501) First, in response to a processing request from the terminal device 13, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical information of a patient to be analyzed by the CDS application from the patient information database 17. The acquisition function 31 acquires medical images from the patient information database 17, for example, based on the patient ID included in the processing request.

[0081] (Step S503) Next, the decision function 32 determines whether or not to perform a CDS application decision process.

[0082] (Step S505) Next, the decision function 33 decides on a recommended application based on the patient's medical information acquired by the acquisition function 31 .

[0083] (Step S507) Next, the control function 34 controls the execution of the analysis process of the CDS application determined by the determination function 33 .

[0084] (Step S509) If a user such as a doctor selects to execute the analysis process, the analysis process of the CDS application is executed. If a user such as a doctor selects not to execute the analysis process, the CDS application ends without executing the analysis process. Next, if a user such as a doctor selects to execute the analysis process of the CDS application in S507, the analysis process of the CDS application determined in S505 is executed. If a user such as a doctor selects not to execute the analysis process of the CDS application in S507, this process ends.

[0085] (Step S511) If the user such as a doctor selects to display, the control function 34 displays the results of the analysis processing of the CDS application in S509. If the user such as a doctor selects not to display the results of the analysis processing of the CDS application in S509, this processing ends.

[0086] (Step S513) This process ends.

[0087] This process enables the medical information processing device 1 to automatically execute analysis processing without asking users such as doctors to confirm their use of the CDS application. This saves users such as doctors the trouble of selecting a CDS application themselves and issuing instructions to execute analysis processing. In addition, users such as doctors can immediately check the results of the analysis processing without waiting for the time it takes for the analysis processing of the CDS application to be executed.

[0088] [Processing flow] (Determine whether a disease other than the one already diagnosed is suspected to exist)

[0089] 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow for presenting a user, such as a doctor, with a choice of whether to execute analysis processing of a CDS application corresponding to a disease other than the disease already diagnosed, for example, when a disease other than the disease already diagnosed is present in a medical image. In FIG. 6, the user, such as a doctor, is asked whether to execute analysis processing of a recommended application, but the user, such as a doctor, may also be asked whether to automatically execute analysis processing of the recommended application and display the results. The disease already diagnosed may be the result of execution of analysis processing of a CDS application, or may be a diagnosis by the doctor, etc.

[0090] (Step S601) First, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical information of a patient to be analyzed by the CDS application from the patient information database 17 in response to a processing request from the terminal device 13. The acquisition function 31 acquires medical images from the patient information database 17, for example, based on the patient ID included in the processing request.

[0091] (Step S603) Next, the determination function 32 infers that a disease other than the already diagnosed disease is present based on the recommended application determination table 15 stored in the memory 5, and determines whether or not to execute analysis processing of the CDS application.

[0092] (Step S605) Next, the decision function 33 decides on a CDS application based on the patient's medical information acquired by the acquisition function 31 .

[0093] (Step S607) Next, the control function 34 confirms with the user, such as a doctor, whether or not to execute the analysis process of the CDS application determined by the determination function 33.

[0094] (Step S609) If a user such as a doctor selects to execute the analysis process, the analysis process of the CDS application is executed. If a user such as a doctor selects not to execute the analysis process, the analysis process of the CDS application is terminated without being executed. Next, if a user such as a doctor selects in S607 to execute the analysis process of the CDS application, the analysis process of the CDS application determined in S605 is executed. If a user such as a doctor selects in S607 not to execute the analysis process of the CDS application, this process is terminated.

[0095] (Step S611) Next, when the analysis process of the CDS application is executed in S609, the control function 34 presents the results of the analysis process of the CDS application to a user such as a doctor, and the process proceeds to S613, where it ends.

[0096] (Step S613) This process ends.

[0097] When a doctor or other medical professional diagnoses a patient with a disease, the medical information processing device 1 detects any diseases that the doctor or other professional has overlooked and presents the results of the CDS application to the user, such as the doctor.The user, such as the doctor, can then look at the analysis results of the CDS application presented to them, realize that they have overlooked the disease, and make a re-diagnosis.

[0098] Figure 10 shows an example of a display that prompts a user such as a doctor to input whether or not to execute analysis processing of a CDS application to detect COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) for a certain patient. In addition, the display indicates to the user such as a doctor that a sputum test, which is an additional test, is required to execute analysis processing of a CDS application to detect tuberculosis, and prompts the user such as a doctor to decide whether or not to order the sputum test.

[0099] Figure 11 shows an example in which a CDS application to perform the analysis process is determined, the analysis process is performed without notifying the user, such as a doctor, and whether or not the results of the CDS application that performed the analysis process should be presented to the user, such as a doctor, is displayed.

[0100] Figure 12 shows an example of a display in which, when a patient requests a second opinion and a user such as a doctor wishes to perform reanalysis using a CDS application, the medical information processing device 1 determines a CDS application and prompts the user such as a doctor whether or not to perform the analysis processing of the determined CDS application.

[0101] The timing of the analysis process of the CDS application is adjusted depending on the patient's illness and condition, and the results are presented to users such as doctors early if necessary.

[0102] After the analysis process of the CDS application is performed, feedback from users such as doctors may be provided to the developer of the application.

[0103] The analysis process of CDS applications that are highly relevant to diseases that users such as doctors are considering or want to exclude may be performed automatically overnight, using surplus computing resources. Also, the analysis results of the CDS applications may be displayed the next time a user such as a doctor starts up the electronic medical record.

[0104] If the execution results of the analysis process of the CDS application require further action by a user such as a doctor, the user such as a doctor may be notified immediately without waiting for the next patient visit.

[0105] A proposal of test items required for executing the analysis process of the recommended application may be displayed when a user such as a doctor starts the electronic medical record.

[0106] If similar CDS applications are candidates for analysis processing, the results of the analysis processing of multiple applications may be displayed in parallel, allowing users such as doctors to select a CDS application that best suits their preferences. Also, the criteria for determining CDS applications may be weighted.

[0107] If a treatment plan has been issued, the plan can be compared with subsequent treatment actions to determine whether the judgment of the CDS application was compatible with the patient's condition at the time the analysis process was performed, and the priority of the execution of subsequent analysis processes of the CDS application can be adjusted.

[0108] The execution result of the analysis process of a CDS application may be used as input for the next CDS application to be executed. Alternatively, a human may select the next CDS application. The medical image processing device 1 also includes a process for determining the analysis process when there are multiple candidate CDS applications.

[0109] In addition to the recommended application determination table 15, a human may intervene in the determination of a CDS application.

[0110] (Second embodiment) For example, if the numerical results of a specimen test have not changed before and after the start of treatment, the determination function 32 determines that the patient's symptoms have not improved or have not changed. Also, for example, if a tumor in a patient's medical image has enlarged after the start of treatment, the determination function 32 estimates that the patient's symptoms have worsened. Furthermore, the determination function 32 may determine to perform a decision process when it estimates that the patient's symptoms have not improved, have not changed, or have worsened. The determination function 32 is an example of a "determination unit."

[0111] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of whether or not to display the execution result of the analysis process of the recommended application when the patient's symptoms have not improved.

[0112] (Determine whether the patient's symptoms are improving) [Processing flow]

[0113] (Step S701) First, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical information of a patient to be analyzed by the CDS application from the patient information database 17 in response to a processing request from the terminal device 13. For example, the acquisition function 31 acquires the results of a specimen test from the patient information database 17 based on the patient ID included in the processing request.

[0114] (Step S703) Next, the determination function 32 estimates whether the patient's symptoms have improved, whether the symptoms have not changed, or whether the symptoms have worsened, based on the recommended application determination table 15 stored in the memory 5, and determines whether to execute analysis processing of the CDS application.

[0115] (Step S705) Next, the decision function 33 decides a recommended application from among the CDS applications based on the patient's medical information acquired by the acquisition function 31 and the recommended application decision table 15 .

[0116] (Step S707) Next, the control function 34 executes an analysis process of the recommended applications determined in S705.

[0117] (Step S709) Next, in S707, the results of the recommended applications analyzed are presented to the user, such as a doctor, as to whether or not to display them. If the user, such as a doctor, selects not to display them, the process proceeds to S713, where the process ends. If the user, such as a doctor, selects to display them, the process proceeds to S711.

[0118] (Step S711) Next, when analysis processing of the recommended application is executed in S709, the control function 34 presents the results of the execution of analysis processing of the CDS application to the user such as a doctor, and this processing proceeds to S713 and ends.

[0119] (Step S713) This process ends.

[0120] The determination of the recommended application by the determination function 33 is not necessarily based on the recommended application determination table 15. For example, it may be a lookup table, a one-to-many variable array relationship, or may be determined by a user such as a doctor. Furthermore, a CDS application relating to the same disease as a CDS application that has already executed analysis processing may be determined as the recommended application, or a CDS application relating to a different disease may be determined as the recommended application.

[0121] When treatment has already begun for a patient with an illness, there are cases where the symptoms do not show any signs of improvement even after continuing treatment. In such cases, the treatment plan may be incorrect, or the disease name diagnosed may be incorrect in the first place. If the patient's symptoms have not improved, changed, or worsened before and after such treatment, the medical information processing device 1 can notify the doctor or other medical professional that the treatment plan or diagnosis is incorrect, allowing the doctor or other medical professional to correct the treatment plan or diagnosis.

[0122] (Third embodiment) The determination function 32 checks documents stored and managed within the hospital indicating that the patient wishes to be examined by another doctor, and whether or not the patient's doctor has sent an email with a referral letter to another doctor, to determine whether the patient is seeking a second opinion. The determination function 32 may also determine to perform a decision process when it is estimated that the patient is seeking a second opinion. The determination function 32 is an example of a "determination unit."

[0123] 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of whether or not to display the execution result of the analysis process of the recommendation application to encourage a patient to visit the correct other medical institution when the patient is considering transferring to another medical department. Note that the suggestion to visit another medical institution may not only be for transferring to another medical department within the same hospital, but also for transferring to another specialized medical institution.

[0124] (Determine whether to request a consultation from a doctor other than the doctor who has already made the diagnosis) [Processing flow]

[0125] (Step S801) First, in response to a processing request from the terminal device 13, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical information of a patient to be analyzed by the CDS application from the patient information database 17. For example, the acquisition function 31 acquires medical images from the patient information database 17 based on the patient ID included in the processing request.

[0126] (Step S803) Next, the decision function 32 estimates whether to request a consultation from a doctor other than the doctor who has already made the diagnosis, and also determines whether to execute the analysis process of the CDS application.

[0127] (Step S805) Next, the determination function 33 determines a CDS application based on the patient's medical information acquired by the acquisition function 31, and determines this as a recommended application. The CDS application may also be determined based on medical information of patients at other hospitals linked to the regional medical information network. In this case, the patient's medical information acquired may be the history of CDS applications used at the hospital.

[0128] (Step S807) Next, the control function 34 confirms with the user, such as a doctor, whether or not to execute the analysis process of the recommended application determined by the determination function 33. If the user, such as a doctor, selects not to execute the analysis process of the recommended application, the process proceeds to S813 and ends.

[0129] (Step S809) When a user such as a doctor selects to execute the analysis process of the recommended applications, the analysis process of the recommended applications is executed.

[0130] (Step S811) When the analysis process of the recommended application is executed in S809, the control function 34 presents the result of the execution of the analysis process of the CDS application to the user such as a doctor, and this process proceeds to S813 and ends.

[0131] (Step S813) This process ends.

[0132] The patient's medical information may be, for example, a document indicating the patient's desire to be examined by a doctor other than their primary doctor, or an email from the primary doctor sending a referral letter to another doctor.

[0133] The medical information processing device 1 can reduce the number of times a patient who wishes to be examined at another medical institution is referred to a medical institution that the patient should not actually visit.

[0134] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, it is possible to determine whether analysis processing of a CDS application is necessary.

[0135] Although several embodiments have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, modifications, and combinations of embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as within the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0136] 1 Medical information processing device 3 Processing circuit 5. Memory 7 Input Interface 9. Display 11 Communication Interface 13 Terminal Equipment 15 Recommended Application Decision Table 17 Patient Information Database NW communication network 31 Acquisition Function 32 Judgment function 33 Decision Function 34 Control Functions

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires patient information including symptoms of the patient; a determination unit that performs a determination process to determine a medical assistance application for assisting medical treatment as a recommended application based on the patient information; a control unit that controls the display device to present the recommended applications determined by the determination unit; a determination unit that determines whether or not to perform the determination process by the determination unit based on the examinee information, The decision unit performs the decision process when the determination unit determines that the decision process should be performed.

2. the patient information includes information on diseases that the patient has already been diagnosed with, The medical information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit refers to information corresponding to the already diagnosed disease, and determines to perform the determination process when it is estimated that a disease other than the already diagnosed disease is present.

3. The medical information processing device described in claim 2, wherein the judgment unit refers to information on diseases that are easily mistaken for the already diagnosed disease, and determines to perform the decision processing if it is estimated that a disease other than the already diagnosed disease exists.

4. The medical information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit refers to information on diseases that are likely to become complicated with the already diagnosed disease, and determines to perform the decision process when it is estimated that a disease other than the already diagnosed disease is present in the patient information.

5. the patient information includes medical information indicating the progress of the patient's symptoms; The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determining unit determines to perform the decision process when the symptoms of the examinee have not improved.

6. The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical assistance application relating to a disease different from a disease that has already been diagnosed.

7. The patient information includes information on a treatment plan for ongoing or already treated patients, the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical assistance application for formulating a treatment policy corresponding to the symptoms of the examinee based on the examinee information; The medical information processing device according to claim 5 , wherein the control unit executes an analysis process of the recommended application, and when an execution result of the analysis process differs from the treatment plan for the ongoing or already completed treatment, presents the execution result.

8. The patient information includes information requesting a doctor other than the doctor who has already made the diagnosis, The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determining unit determines to perform the decision process when a doctor other than the doctor who has already made the diagnosis is requested to perform the examination.

9. the patient information includes the name of the patient's disease, The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical assistance application that detects a disease different from the name of the disease that has already been diagnosed.

10. the patient information includes patient treatment information; the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical assistance application for formulating a treatment policy corresponding to the symptoms of the examinee; The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit executes an analysis process of the recommended application, and when an execution result of the analysis process differs from the information on the treatment, presents the execution result.

11. The medical information processing device according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical support application that is different from a medical support application that has already performed analysis processing on the patient and that is related to the same disease as the medical support application that has already performed analysis processing on the patient.

12. The medical information processing device according to claim 5 or 8, wherein the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical support application that is different from a medical support application that has already performed analysis processing on the patient and that is related to a disease different from the medical support application that has already performed analysis processing on the patient.

13. The medical information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the display device to display information related to recommended actions for acquiring additional information when the additional information required to execute the analysis process of the recommended application is not included in the patient information.

14. The additional information includes medical information of the patient obtained by an additional examination, The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the control unit controls the display device to display the recommendation for the additional examination for acquiring the additional information.

15. The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the acquisition unit acquires the additional information after the additional information has been added to the examinee information.

16. The medical information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein, when the patient information of the patient is available at another hospital that shares the patient's medical information, the acquiring unit acquires the patient information from the other hospital.

17. The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit prompts a user, such as a doctor, to input whether or not to present the results of the execution of the analysis process of the recommended application.

18. The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit prompts a user, such as a doctor, to input whether or not to execute analysis processing of the recommended application.

19. The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determining unit performs a process of determining a medical assistance application as a recommended application based on a history of medical assistance applications used in a hospital.

20. The medical information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit determines, as the recommended application, a medical assistance application that is capable of executing analysis processing and for which no license is available.

21. Obtain patient information, including the patient's symptoms; a determination process of determining, as a recommended application, a medical assistance application for assisting medical treatment based on the patient information; a control process of controlling a display device to present the recommended applications determined by the determination unit; a determination process for determining whether or not to perform the determination process by the determination unit based on the examinee information, The medical information processing program performs the decision process when it is determined in the judgment process that the decision process should be performed.

22. Obtain patient information, including the patient's symptoms; a determination process of determining, as a recommended application, a medical assistance application for assisting medical treatment based on the patient information; a control process of controlling a display device to present the recommended applications determined by the determination unit; a determination process for determining whether or not to perform the determination process by the determination unit based on the examinee information, The medical information processing method includes performing the decision process when it is determined in the judgment process that the decision process should be performed.

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