Medical support system

Abstract

To smoothly provide medical treatment for reducing the anxiety of a user in on-line medical examination.SOLUTION: A reception part 66 receives reservation information including a desired consultation place and a symptom transmitted from a user terminal operated by a user who desires consultation. Based on each piece of information stored in the storage and the reservation information received by the reception unit 66, the selection unit 70 selects, as the candidate appointment date and time, a date and time on which a doctor in a medical department corresponding to the symptom of the user who desires to receive medical care can perform an online medical examination, a date and time on which a nurse in the medical department corresponding to the symptom of the user who desires to receive medical care can be dispatched to the appointment location, and a date and time on which a driver can be dispatched to the appointment location. Then, a transmission part 72 transmits the medical examination candidate date selected by the selection part 70 to the user terminal, and transmits reservation completion to the user terminal when the medical examination candidate date is selected as a medical examination desired date by the user terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a medical support system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a medical support system equipped with a server device that stores and records operating information for home medical equipment, patient compliance information, patient biometric information, and treatment information from each medical institution, and makes the information accessible from both the core hospital terminal of the core hospital and the regional medical institution terminal of the regional medical institution. This medical support system enables the sharing of information related to home treatment (online medical care) and speeds up and simplifies the communication of information between medical professionals. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-308389 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Outpatient medical care, where users go to a medical institution to receive a doctor's examination, poses problems, particularly when users live in remote areas, such as limited transportation options making it difficult to travel to and from the medical institution, and long travel times and waiting times at the medical institution making it difficult to schedule appointments.Online medical care, where users receive a doctor's examination online from the comfort of their own home, solves the above problems, but users may have concerns such as difficulty in communicating their symptoms online and feeling lonely when they are not seeing the doctor face-to-face.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above facts, and aims to provide a medical support system that can ensure the smooth provision of medical care while reducing users' anxiety about online medical consultations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The medical support system of the first aspect includes a receiving unit that receives appointment information including a desired location for examination and symptoms, transmitted from a user terminal operated by a user wishing to receive medical treatment; a selection unit that selects, based on the appointment information received by the receiving unit and the information stored in a memory unit that stores medical professional information including the medical departments and work schedules of multiple doctors, the medical departments and work schedules of multiple nurses, and the work schedules of multiple vehicle drivers, medical equipment information including the planned use of multiple types of medical equipment, and personal medical information including information on medical treatments received by the user wishing to receive medical treatment in the past, a date and time when a doctor from the medical department corresponding to the symptoms can conduct an online examination, a date and time when a nurse from the medical department corresponding to the symptoms can be dispatched to the desired location for examination, a date and time when a driver can be dispatched to the desired location for examination, and a date and time when medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms can be used at the desired location for examination; and a transmission unit that transmits the candidate appointment date and time selected by the selection unit to the user terminal, and, if the candidate appointment date and time is selected on the user terminal as the desired appointment date and time, sends a reservation completion to the user terminal.

[0007] In medical care provided by the medical support system according to the first aspect, a doctor examines the user online, while a nurse (and a driver) is dispatched to a location designated by the user (for example, the user's home or the nearest meeting place from the user's home). By having a nurse present at the site where the user receives an online examination, users' anxieties about online medical care, such as "it's difficult to communicate my symptoms online" or "I feel lonely when I'm alone because I'm not face-to-face," can be alleviated.

[0008] In a first aspect, the receiving unit receives appointment information including a desired location and symptoms of the patient, transmitted from a user terminal operated by the patient. The storage unit stores medical professional information including the medical departments and work schedules of multiple doctors, the medical departments and work schedules of multiple nurses, and the work schedules of multiple vehicle drivers, medical equipment information including the planned use of multiple types of medical equipment, and personal medical information including information on medical treatments the patient has received in the past. Based on the information stored in the storage unit and the appointment information received by the receiving unit, the selecting unit selects, as a candidate appointment date and time, a date and time when a doctor from a department corresponding to the patient's symptoms is available to provide an online consultation, a date and time when a nurse from a department corresponding to the patient's symptoms can be dispatched to the desired location, a date and time when a driver can be dispatched to the desired location, and a date and time when medical equipment corresponding to the patient's symptoms is available at the desired location. The transmitting unit then transmits the candidate appointment date and time selected by the selecting unit to the user terminal, and, when the user terminal selects the candidate appointment date and time, transmits a reservation completion notice to the user terminal. This allows users to smoothly book medical care, which reduces their anxiety about online medical care, and enables the medical care to be provided smoothly.

[0009] In the second aspect, in the first aspect, the memory unit stores personal medical information for each of multiple users, including information about medical treatments the user has received in the past, such as symptoms, medical departments, and medical equipment used when the user received treatment in the past, and further includes a determination unit that, when symptoms identical or similar to symptoms included in the appointment information received from the user terminal are included in the personal medical information of the user wishing to receive treatment, determines the medical department and medical equipment associated with the identical or similar symptoms as the medical department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms.

[0010] In a second aspect, the storage unit stores personal medical information for each of multiple users, including information about the medical care the user has received in the past, including the symptoms, medical departments, and medical equipment used when the user received the medical care in the past. If the personal medical information of the user requesting a medical examination contains symptoms that are identical or similar to symptoms contained in the appointment information received from the user terminal, i.e., in the case of a return visit, the medical department and medical equipment associated with the identical or similar symptoms are determined to be the medical department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms. This makes it possible to automatically determine the medical department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms entered by the user requesting a medical examination in the case of a return visit.

[0011] In the third aspect, in the second aspect, when the personal medical information of the user wishing to receive medical treatment does not include symptoms identical or similar to those included in the appointment information received from the user terminal, the judgment unit judges the medical department and medical equipment associated with the identical or similar symptoms in the personal medical information of a user other than the user wishing to receive medical treatment to be the medical department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms.

[0012] In the third aspect, if the personal medical information of the user wishing to be examined does not contain symptoms identical or similar to those contained in the appointment information received from the user terminal, i.e., if it is the user's first visit, the department and medical equipment associated with the same or similar symptoms in the personal medical information of a user other than the user wishing to be examined are determined to be the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms. This makes it possible to automatically determine the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms entered by the user wishing to be examined, even in the case of the user's first visit.

[0013] In a fourth aspect, in the first aspect, the memory unit stores information on multiple doctors included in the medical professional information, including information indicating whether the doctor is a resident, a supervising doctor, or other information, and information indicating the supervising doctor who is supervising the doctor if the doctor is a resident, and if the doctor who is available to provide an online consultation on a certain date and time is a resident, the selection unit selects as the candidate consultation date and time a date and time when the supervising doctor who is supervising the resident is also available to provide online guidance.

[0014] In a fourth aspect, when a doctor who is available to conduct an online consultation on a certain date and time is a resident, a date and time when the supervising doctor who supervises the resident can also provide online guidance is selected as the candidate consultation date and time. In this way, in medical care provided by the medical support system according to the fourth aspect, when a resident doctor conducts an online consultation, the supervising doctor also provides online guidance, so the quality of medical care provided can be guaranteed.

[0015] In the fifth aspect, in the first aspect, when the doctor who is currently examining the patient at the desired date and time inputs information instructing a re-examination by a doctor in a department different from that of the doctor who is currently examining the patient, the selection unit selects a doctor who is able to immediately examine the patient online in the department specified in the input information and notifies the selected doctor.

[0016] In the fifth aspect, when a doctor who is examining a user at the desired date and time inputs information instructing a re-examination by a doctor with a different medical department from the doctor who is currently examining the user, a process is performed to immediately select a doctor who can perform an online examination in the medical department specified in the input information and notify the selected doctor. As a result, when the doctor currently examining the user determines that a re-examination by a doctor with a different medical department is necessary, an online examination by a doctor with a different medical department can be immediately performed. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] The present disclosure has the effect of realizing the smooth provision of medical care that reduces users' anxiety about online medical care. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a medical support system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the medical support system. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart showing a medical appointment reservation process. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing a medical department etc. determination process. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a department change process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] An example of an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows a medical support system 10 according to this embodiment. The medical support system 10 includes a server computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a server) 12, a user terminal 46 operated by a user of the medical support system 10, a doctor terminal 48 operated by a doctor, a nurse terminal 50 operated by a nurse, a driver terminal 52 operated by a vehicle driver, a medical equipment manager terminal 54 operated by a medical equipment manager, a vehicle manager terminal 56 operated by a vehicle manager, and a pharmaceutical manager terminal 58 operated by a pharmaceutical manager, all of which are capable of communicating with each other via a communication network 60.

[0020] The server 12 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 14, memory 16 such as ROM (Read Only Memory) or RAM (Random Access Memory), storage 18 such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), and a communication I / F (Interface) 20, all of which are interconnected via a bus 22. The storage 18 stores various DBs (Databases), including a PHR DB 24, an EHR DB 26, an EMR DB 28, a doctor DB 30, a nurse DB 32, a driver DB 34, a medical equipment DB 36, a vehicle DB 38, and a pharmaceutical DB 40.

[0021] The PHR (Personal Health Record) DB24 is a database that centrally manages user information related to health, medical care, and nursing care. The EHR (Electronic Health Record) DB26 is a database that electronically records an individual's medical information throughout their lifetime, allowing the information to be shared and utilized across different medical institutions. The EMR (Electronic Medical Record) DB28 is a database in which electronic medical records (electronic charts) are registered. The PHR DB24, EHR DB26, and EMR DB28 are examples of personal medical information in this disclosure. The PHR DB24, EHR DB26, and EMR DB28 store medical information at the time of consultation for each of multiple users, including information about the user's past medical visits, such as the user's symptoms (chief complaint), medical department, treatment details, medical equipment used, and prescribed medications.

[0022] The doctor DB 30 is a DB that stores, for each of a plurality of doctors, information such as the doctor's medical department, information indicating whether the doctor is a resident, instructor, or other, information indicating the instructor who is supervising the doctor if the doctor is a resident, and information indicating the doctor's work schedule. The nurse DB 32 is a DB that stores, for each of a plurality of nurses, information such as the nurse's medical department, the area the nurse is responsible for, and information indicating the nurse's work schedule. The driver DB 34 is a DB that stores, for each of a plurality of drivers, information such as the area the vehicle driver is responsible for, and information indicating the driver's work schedule. The doctor DB 30, nurse DB 32, and driver DB 34 are examples of medical professional information in the present disclosure.

[0023] The medical equipment DB 36 is a DB that stores information indicating the planned use of various medical equipment. The vehicle DB 38 is a DB that stores information indicating the planned use of vehicles that can be used to dispatch nurses, etc., which will be described later. The pharmaceutical product DB 40 is a DB that stores information on pharmaceutical products (prescription candidate pharmaceutical products) that should be loaded into vehicles when dispatching nurses, etc., which will be described later. The storage 18 that stores the above-mentioned DBs is an example of a storage unit in the present disclosure.

[0024] A medical support program 42 is also stored in the storage 18. The medical support program 42 is read from the storage 18 and loaded into the memory 16, and the medical support program 42 loaded into the memory 16 is executed by the CPU 14, whereby the server 12 functions as the medical information management system 74, the medical staff management system 76, the medical equipment management system 78, the vehicle management system 80, the medicine management system 82, and the online medical consultation support system 64 shown in FIG.

[0025] The medical information management system 74 is a system that manages the PHR DB24, the EHR DB26, and the EMR DB28. For example, when a doctor examines a user and inputs medical record information via the doctor terminal 48, the medical information management system 74 performs processing to update the information registered in the PHR DB24, the EHR DB26, and the EMR DB28 based on the input medical record information.

[0026] The medical staff management system 76 is a system that manages the work of doctors, nurses, and drivers based on the work schedules registered in the doctor DB 30, nurse DB 32, and driver DB 34. Based on the doctor's work schedule stored in the doctor DB 30, the medical staff management system 76 notifies the doctor via the doctor terminal 48 whenever it is time for the doctor to provide online medical care.

[0027] Furthermore, based on the nurse's work schedule stored in the nurse DB 32, the medical staff management system 76 notifies the relevant nurse via the nurse terminal 50 each time it is time for the nurse to get in the vehicle and go to the user's desired location for medical treatment. Furthermore, based on the driver's work schedule stored in the driver DB 34, the medical staff management system 76 notifies the relevant driver via the driver terminal 52 each time it is time for the driver to drive the vehicle and go to the user's desired location for medical treatment.

[0028] The medical equipment management system 78 is a system that manages the use of medical equipment based on the medical equipment usage schedule stored in the medical equipment DB 36. Based on the medical equipment usage schedule stored in the medical equipment DB 36, the medical equipment management system 78 notifies the medical equipment manager via the medical equipment manager terminal 54 every time it is time to load the medical equipment onto the vehicle going to the user's desired medical examination location.

[0029] The vehicle management system 80 is a system that manages the use of vehicles based on the vehicle use schedule stored in the vehicle DB 38. Based on the vehicle use schedule stored in the vehicle DB 38, the vehicle management system 80 notifies the vehicle manager via the vehicle manager terminal 56 each time the time comes to use a vehicle to go to the location where the user wishes to receive medical treatment.

[0030] The drug management system 82 is a system that manages the use of drugs based on the drug use schedule stored in the drug DB 40. Based on the information stored in the drug DB 40, the drug management system 82 notifies the drug manager of information such as prescription candidate drugs via the drug manager terminal 58 every time it is time to load drugs (prescription candidate drugs) into a vehicle heading to the user's desired medical examination location.

[0031] In addition, the online medical support system 64 includes a receiving unit 66, a determining unit 68, a selecting unit 70, and a transmitting unit 72, and the CPU 14 of the server 12 functioning as the online medical support system 64 specifically functions as each of the above functional units.

[0032] The receiving unit 66 receives reservation information including the desired location for examination and symptoms, transmitted from the user terminal 46 operated by the user who wishes to be examined.

[0033] When the personal medical information of a user wishing to receive medical treatment contains symptoms that are identical or similar to the symptoms contained in the appointment information, the determination unit 68 determines that the medical department and medical equipment associated with the identical or similar symptoms are the medical department and medical equipment that correspond to the symptoms contained in the appointment information.

[0034] Based on the information stored in storage 18 and the appointment information received by receiving unit 66, selection unit 70 selects as potential appointment dates and times a date and time when a doctor from the department corresponding to the symptoms included in the appointment information can conduct an online examination, a date and time when a nurse from the department corresponding to the symptoms included in the appointment information can be dispatched to the desired appointment location, a date and time when a driver can be dispatched to the desired appointment location, and a date and time when medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms included in the appointment information can be used at the desired appointment location.

[0035] Then, the transmitting unit 72 transmits the candidate examination date and time selected by the selecting unit 70 to the user terminal 46, and when the candidate examination date and time is selected as the desired examination date and time on the user terminal 46, a reservation completion is transmitted to the user terminal 46.

[0036] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The medical support system 10 according to this embodiment is a system that provides medical care (hereinafter referred to as "quasi-online medical care" for convenience) in which a doctor provides medical care online while a nurse or other person is dispatched to the site where the user receives medical care (desired location for medical treatment), and the dispatched nurse supports the medical care. In quasi-online medical care, the location where medical care is received (desired location for medical treatment) is designated as the user's home or the nearest meeting place from the user's home.

[0037] When a user of the medical support system 10 wishes to receive the above-mentioned quasi-online medical care, the user inputs the desired location for examination and their own symptoms (for example, "I have severe back pain and it is difficult to even stand") via the user terminal 46 and instructs the transmission of appointment information. The appointment information transmitted from the user terminal 46 includes the desired location for examination and symptoms input by the user wishing to receive treatment, and when this appointment information is received by the receiving unit 66, the online medical care support system 64 realized by the server 12 executes the medical appointment processing shown in Figure 3.

[0038] In step 100 of the medical appointment reservation process, the receiving unit 66 acquires the desired location of examination and symptoms from the appointment information received from the user terminal 46. In the next step 102, the determining unit 68 performs a medical department etc. determination process based on the symptoms acquired by the receiving unit 66. This medical department etc. determination process will be described below with reference to FIG. 4.

[0039] In step 130 of the medical department etc. determination process, the determination unit 68 searches for symptoms that are identical or similar to the symptoms obtained from the appointment information (for example, symptoms that include the keyword "lower back pain") from the medical information at the time of the visit of the user wishing to be examined, which is stored in any of the PHR DB 24, EHR DB 26, and EMR DB 28. Then, in the next step 132, the determination unit 68 determines whether or not the corresponding symptoms have been extracted in the search of step 130. In these steps 130 and 132, it is determined whether the user wishing to be examined has previously visited a clinic with the same or similar symptoms (i.e., a repeat visit) or whether the user wishing to be examined has not previously visited a clinic with the same or similar symptoms (i.e., a first visit).

[0040] If the determination in step 132 is positive, the process proceeds to step 138. Then, in step 138, the determination unit 68 determines that the current department, medical equipment to be used, and candidate medicine for prescription are the previous departments, medical equipment used, and medicines prescribed for the user wishing to receive treatment that are stored in association with symptoms that are the same as or similar to the symptoms obtained from the appointment information, and terminates the department etc. determination process.

[0041] On the other hand, if the determination in step 132 is negative, the process proceeds to step 134. In step 134, the determination unit 68 searches for symptoms that are the same as or similar to the symptoms obtained from the appointment information (for example, symptoms that include the keyword "lower back pain") from the medical information at the time of consultation of users other than the user wishing to be examined, which is stored in any one of the PHR DB 24, EHR DB 26, and EMR DB 28.

[0042] In step 136, the determination unit 68 determines the current medical department, medical equipment to be used, and candidate medicine for this prescription by majority vote or the like based on the previous medical departments, medical equipment used, and prescribed medicines that are associated with the same or similar symptoms as those obtained from the appointment information in the medical information at the time of consultation of other users, and terminates the medical department etc. determination process. For example, while "orthopedics" or "internal medicine" may be extracted as medical departments corresponding to symptoms containing the keyword "lower back pain," in this case, by majority vote or the like, the medical department that more users have visited with the symptom of "lower back pain" (for example, "orthopedics") is determined to be the current medical department.

[0043] When the above-described medical department etc. determination process is completed, the process proceeds to step 104 of the medical appointment reservation process (FIG. 3). In step 104, the selection unit 70 refers to the work schedule of the doctor of the current medical department stored in the doctor DB 30, selects a first date and time group at which the doctor of the current medical department can conduct an online consultation, and stores the selected first date and time group in memory 16. In addition, in step 106, the selection unit 70 refers to the doctor DB 30 and determines whether the first date and time group selected in step 104 includes a date and time at which the doctor is a resident. If the determination in step 106 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 108.

[0044] In step 108, the selection unit 70 refers to the work schedule of the corresponding supervising physician stored in the physician DB 30 for the date and time in the first date and time group when the doctor is a resident, and determines whether the corresponding supervising physician is available to provide online instruction. The selection unit 70 then excludes from the first date and time group the date and time when the supervising physician is unavailable to provide online instruction among the date and time when the doctor is a resident. Furthermore, the selection unit 70 adds information indicating that the supervising physician is available to provide online instruction to the information stored in memory 16 for the date and time when the doctor is a resident and the supervising physician is available to provide online instruction. Note that if the determination in step 106 is negative, step 108 is skipped and the process proceeds to step 110.

[0045] In step 110, the selection unit 70 determines, for each date and time in the first date and time group stored in memory 16, whether a nurse from the current medical department whose desired examination location is within the area of ​​responsibility can be dispatched, based on the information stored in the nurse DB 32. Then, from each date and time in the first date and time group, a second date and time group to which a nurse can be dispatched is selected, and the selected second date and time group is stored in memory 16.

[0046] In step 112, the selection unit 70 determines, for each date and time in the second date and time group stored in memory 16, whether a driver whose desired medical examination location is within the coverage area can be dispatched, based on the information stored in the driver DB 34. Then, from each date and time in the second date and time group, a third date and time group for which a driver can be dispatched is selected, and the selected third date and time group is stored in memory 16.

[0047] In step 114, the selection unit 70 determines whether the medical device to be used this time can be used for each date and time of the third date and time group stored in memory 16, based on the information stored in the medical device DB 36. Then, from each date and time of the third date and time group, a fourth date and time group for which the medical device to be used this time can be used is selected, and the selected fourth date and time group is stored in memory 16.

[0048] In step 116, the selection unit 70 determines whether or not the vehicle is available for use for each date and time in the fourth date and time group stored in memory 16, based on the information stored in the vehicle DB 38. Then, from each date and time in the fourth date and time group, a fifth date and time group for which the vehicle is available is selected, and the selected fifth date and time group is stored in memory 16.

[0049] In step 118, the transmitting unit 72 transmits the fifth date and time group selected by the selecting unit 70 to the user terminal 46 as a group of candidate examination dates and times. As a result, the group of candidate examination dates and times is displayed on the user terminal 46 that transmitted the appointment information. In step 120, the transmitting unit 72 determines whether the desired examination date and time has been selected on the user terminal 46 that transmitted the appointment information. If the determination in step 120 is negative, step 120 is repeated until the determination is positive.

[0050] When the user wishing to have a consultation selects a date and time that suits them from the displayed group of candidate consultation dates and times on the user terminal 46 that sent the appointment information, information indicating the selected date and time is sent from the user terminal 46 to the server 12 and received by the receiving unit 66. As a result, the determination in step 120 is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step 122. In step 122, the transmitting unit 72 sends information indicating that the consultation appointment has been confirmed to the user terminal 46. As a result, information indicating that the appointment has been confirmed is displayed on the user terminal 46 that sent the appointment information.

[0051] In step 124, the transmission unit 72 completes the medical appointment process by registering the confirmed appointment in each of the doctor DB 30, nurse DB 32, driver DB 34, medical equipment DB 36, vehicle DB 38, and drug DB 40. The appointment may be registered in each DB directly by the online medical support system 64 (transmission unit 72), or by requesting the corresponding system (medical staff management system 76, medical equipment management system 78, vehicle management system 80, and drug management system 82).

[0052] When the time arrives to use a vehicle to go to the user's desired medical examination location through the above-described medical appointment reservation process, the vehicle management system 80 notifies the vehicle manager via the vehicle manager terminal 56, and a vehicle is prepared to go to the user's desired medical examination location. Furthermore, the medical equipment management system 78 notifies the medical equipment manager via the medical equipment manager terminal 54, and the medical equipment to be used this time is loaded into the prepared vehicle. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical management system 82 notifies the pharmaceutical manager via the pharmaceutical manager terminal 58, and the pharmaceutical candidates for this prescription are also loaded into the prepared vehicle.

[0053] The medical staff management system 76 also notifies the driver via the driver's terminal 52, and the driver, upon receiving the notification, drives the prepared vehicle to the desired medical examination location. The medical staff management system 76 also notifies the nurse via the nurse terminal 50, and the nurse, upon receiving the notification, gets in the vehicle heading to the desired medical examination location and supports medical treatment at the desired medical examination location. Furthermore, when the time arrives for the doctor to provide medical treatment online, the medical staff management system 76 notifies the doctor via the doctor terminal 48, and the doctor, upon receiving the notification, provides medical treatment online.

[0054] This realizes quasi-online medical care that alleviates users' anxieties about online medical care, such as "it's difficult to communicate my symptoms online" or "I feel lonely when I'm alone because I'm not face-to-face." If the doctor providing the medical care is a trainee, the medical staff management system 76 also notifies the supervising doctor via the doctor's terminal 48, and the supervising doctor who receives the notification provides online guidance. This ensures the quality of medical care even when the doctor providing the medical care is a trainee.

[0055] However, there are cases where a doctor providing online consultations determines, during the consultation, that a patient needs to be re-examined by a doctor in a different medical specialty than the doctor in question. For example, a patient's symptoms may be "severe lower back pain that makes it difficult to even stand," and so the doctor initially determines that the patient should be examined by an "orthopedics" doctor. However, after the orthopedics doctor's examination, the doctor determines that the lower back pain may be caused by an internal organ, and that the patient needs to be re-examined by an "internal medicine" doctor.

[0056] In this embodiment, in the above case, the doctor in charge of the patient inputs information instructing a re-examination by a doctor of a specific medical department via the doctor terminal 48. The information input via the doctor terminal 48 is then received by the receiving unit 66 of the online medical support system 64, and the medical department change process shown in Figure 5 is executed by the online medical support system 64.

[0057] In step 150 of the medical department change processing, the receiving unit 66 acquires the medical department instructed by the current doctor to perform a follow-up examination from the information received from the doctor terminal 48. In step 152, the selecting unit 70 references the doctor's work schedules stored in the doctor DB 30 and selects a doctor who can immediately conduct an online examination in the medical department acquired in step 150. Then, in step 154, the transmitting unit 72 transmits information requesting an online examination to the doctor terminal 48 of the doctor selected in step 152, and terminates the medical department change processing. This allows the doctor of the specified medical department to immediately conduct an online follow-up examination.

[0058] As described above, in this embodiment, the receiving unit 66 receives appointment information including the desired location for examination and symptoms, which is transmitted from the user terminal 46 operated by the user wishing to receive treatment. The storage 18 also stores medical staff information (doctor DB 30, nurse DB 32, and driver DB 34) including the medical departments and work schedules of multiple doctors, the medical departments and work schedules of multiple nurses, and the work schedules of multiple vehicle drivers, medical equipment information (medical equipment DB 36) including the use schedules of multiple types of medical equipment, and personal medical information (PHR DB 24, EHR DB 26, and EMR DB 28) including information on medical treatments that the user wishing to receive treatment has received in the past. Based on the information stored in the storage 18 and the reservation information received by the receiving unit 66, the selecting unit 70 selects, as a candidate consultation date and time, a date and time when a doctor from a department corresponding to the symptoms of the user wishing to be examined can conduct an online examination, a date and time when a nurse from a department corresponding to the symptoms of the user wishing to be examined can be dispatched to the desired consultation location, a date and time when a driver can be dispatched to the desired consultation location, and a date and time when medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms of the user wishing to be examined is available at the desired consultation location. The transmitting unit 72 then transmits the candidate consultation date and time selected by the selecting unit 70 to the user terminal 46, and transmits a reservation completion to the user terminal 46 when the user terminal 46 selects the candidate consultation date and time as the desired consultation date and time. This makes it possible to realize smooth medical care that reduces the user's anxiety about online medical care.

[0059] In this embodiment, the storage 18 stores personal medical information for each of multiple users, including information about the medical care the user has received in the past, including the symptoms, medical departments, and medical equipment used when the user received the medical care in the past. When the personal medical information of the user requesting medical treatment contains symptoms that are identical or similar to symptoms contained in the appointment information received from the user terminal 46, the determination unit 68 determines that the medical department and medical equipment associated with the identical or similar symptoms are the medical department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms of the user requesting medical treatment. This makes it possible to automatically determine the medical department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms entered by the user requesting medical treatment in the case of a follow-up visit.

[0060] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the personal medical information of the user wishing to be examined does not contain symptoms identical or similar to those contained in the appointment information received from the user terminal 46, the determination unit 68 determines the department and medical equipment associated with the same or similar symptoms in the personal medical information of a user other than the user wishing to be examined as the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms of the user wishing to be examined. This makes it possible to automatically determine the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms entered by the user wishing to be examined, even in the case of an initial consultation.

[0061] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the storage 18 stores information on multiple doctors included in the medical professional information, including information indicating whether the doctor is a resident, a supervising doctor, or other information, and, if the doctor is a resident, information indicating the supervising doctor who supervises the doctor. If the doctor who is available to provide an online consultation on a certain date and time is a resident, the selection unit 70 selects, as a candidate consultation date and time, a date and time when the supervising doctor who supervises the resident is also available to provide online guidance. This ensures the quality of medical care provided on a certain date and time, even if the doctor who is available to provide an online consultation on that date and time is a resident.

[0062] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the doctor currently examining the user at the desired date and time inputs information instructing a re-examination by a doctor with a different medical department from the doctor currently examining the user, the selection unit 70 selects a doctor who can immediately perform an online examination in the medical department specified in the input information and notifies the selected doctor. As a result, when the doctor currently examining the user determines that a re-examination by a doctor with a different medical department is necessary, an online examination by the doctor with the different medical department can be immediately performed.

[0063] In the above embodiment, the online medical support system 64 (determination unit 68) determines the medical department, but the present disclosure is not limited to this and can also be applied to a situation in which the user wishing to receive treatment specifies the medical department themselves.

[0064] In the above embodiment, a single server 12 functions as the medical information management system 74, the medical staff management system 76, the medical equipment management system 78, the vehicle management system 80, the medicine management system 82, and the online medical consultation support system 64. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this, and each of the above systems may be realized by a different computer.

[0065] In addition, in the above embodiment, the medical support program 42 is described as being pre-stored (installed) in the storage 18, but the medical support program 42 can also be provided in a form recorded on a non-temporary recording medium such as an HDD, SSD, or DVD. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 10 Medical Support System 12 Servers 18. Storage 46 User terminal 64 Online medical support system 66 Receiving unit 68 Judgment section 70 Selection Department 72 Transmitter

Claims

1. a receiving unit that receives reservation information including the desired location and symptoms of the patient, the reservation information being transmitted from a user terminal operated by the user who wishes to receive the treatment; a selection unit that selects, based on the reservation information received by the receiving unit and the information stored in a storage unit that stores medical professional information including the medical departments and work schedules of multiple doctors, the medical departments and work schedules of multiple nurses, and the work schedules of multiple vehicle drivers, medical equipment information including the use schedules of multiple types of medical equipment, and personal medical information including information on medical treatments the user has received in the past, a date and time when a doctor of the medical department corresponding to the symptoms can conduct an online examination, a date and time when a nurse of the medical department corresponding to the symptoms can be dispatched to the desired location for examination, a date and time when a driver can be dispatched to the desired location for examination, and a date and time when medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms can be used at the desired location for examination, as a candidate date and time for examination; a transmitting unit that transmits the candidate examination date and time selected by the selecting unit to the user terminal, and transmits a reservation completion to the user terminal when the candidate examination date and time is selected as a desired examination date and time on the user terminal; Medical support system including.

2. The storage unit stores, for each of a plurality of users, personal medical information including information on the symptoms, medical departments, and medical equipment used when the user received medical treatment in the past, as information on medical treatment the user received in the past; 2. The medical support system of claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that, when the personal medical information of the user wishing to receive medical treatment contains symptoms that are identical or similar to symptoms contained in the appointment information received from the user terminal, determines that the department and medical equipment associated with the identical or similar symptoms are the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms.

3. 3. The medical support system of claim 2, wherein, when the personal medical information of the user wishing to receive medical treatment does not include symptoms identical or similar to those included in the appointment information received from the user terminal, the determination unit determines that the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms are the department and medical equipment corresponding to the symptoms in the personal medical information of a user other than the user wishing to receive medical treatment.

4. The storage unit stores information including, as information on a plurality of doctors included in the medical staff information, information indicating whether the doctor is a resident, a supervising doctor, or other, and, if the doctor is a resident, information indicating the supervising doctor who supervises the doctor; The medical support system of claim 1, wherein the selection unit, when a doctor who is able to conduct an online consultation on a certain date and time is a resident, selects as the candidate consultation date and time a date and time when a supervising doctor who is instructing the resident can also provide online guidance.

5. The medical support system of claim 1, wherein when a doctor who is currently examining the patient on the desired date and time inputs information instructing a re-examination by a doctor in a department different from that of the doctor who is currently examining the patient, the selection unit selects a doctor who can immediately perform an online examination in the department specified in the input information and notifies the selected doctor.

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