Medical support system, medical support method, and medical support program
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- HIGASHI NIHON MEDICOM
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-27
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-20
AI Technical Summary
Existing medical support systems primarily rely on verbal explanations and guidance, which may not adequately deepen patients' understanding of medical procedures.
A medical support system that identifies patient attributes, selects tailored medical support information, and presents it using multimedia formats such as videos and audio, enhancing patient comprehension beyond verbal explanations.
The system improves the effectiveness of medical procedures by providing personalized and multimedia-based support information, allowing patients to better understand medication instructions and guidance.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
[Technical Field]
[0001] The present invention relates to a medical support system, a medical support method, and a medical support program. [Background technology]
[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, information processing techniques are known that support medical professionals, such as doctors and pharmacists, in providing explanations and guidance to patients. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for managing patient medication history data in a database. According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a pharmacist dispenses medication to a patient, the pharmacist can refer to the database and provide medication instructions based on the patient's medication history. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-064161 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0004] In a general technique such as that disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, information relating to explanations and guidance is presented to medical professionals, thereby supporting oral explanations and guidance by medical professionals. Furthermore, if explanations and guidance can be given to patients using means other than verbal explanations and guidance, patients' understanding can be deepened. In other words, it will be possible to more appropriately support medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals.
[0005] An object of the present invention is to more appropriately support medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals. [Means for solving the problem]
[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a medical support system according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: an identification means for identifying patient attributes; a selection means for selecting element information that is a component of medical support information and that is suitable for the patient, based on the attributes of the patient identified by the identification means; a generating means for generating medical support information suited to the patient based on the element information selected by the selecting means; a presentation means for presenting to the patient the medical support information suited to the patient generated by the generation means; The present invention is characterized by comprising: [Effects of the Invention]
[0007] According to the present invention, medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals can be more appropriately supported. [Brief explanation of the drawings]
[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of a medical support system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of support information presentation processing executed by the medical support system 1. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of an information processing device 800 that constitutes each device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the support terminal 10. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a medical support server 20. [Figure 6] 10 is a table showing specific examples of patient attributes stored in a patient attribute DB 271 and selection conditions stored in a selection condition DB 274. [Figure 7] 10 is a table showing specific examples of support information stored in a support information DB 276. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of support information presentation processing executed by the support terminal 10. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of support information presentation processing executed by the medical support server 20. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the system configuration of a medical support system 1a according to a first modification. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0010] [System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of a medical support system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The medical support system 1 in this embodiment is a system that more appropriately supports medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals. Hereinafter, as an example for the purpose of explanation, it is assumed that the medical professional to be supported is a pharmacist working at an insurance pharmacy. Also, as an example for the purpose of explanation, it is assumed that the medical procedure to be supported is medication guidance given at the time of dispensing. However, this is merely an example for the purpose of explanation and is not intended to limit the scope of application of this embodiment. In addition to this, this embodiment can also support various medical practices, such as medical or pharmaceutical explanations and guidance, performed by various medical professionals, such as pharmacists, doctors, nurses, and physical therapists, in various medical facilities, such as hospitals and clinics.
[0011] 1, the medical support system 1 includes a support terminal 10, a medical support server 20, a pharmacy computer, and an external server. These devices that make up the medical support system 1 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network N. This network N is realized, for example, by the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network) installed in an insurance pharmacy.
[0012] Although the diagram shows one of each device and one of each terminal, this is not limiting. For example, there may be multiple medical support servers 20 and pharmacy computers corresponding to multiple insurance pharmacies. Alternatively, there may be multiple support terminals 10 corresponding to the medical professionals who use them to provide medical guidance. Alternatively, there may be multiple external servers corresponding to various functions.
[0013] A pharmacy computer is an information processing device such as a server computer that performs processing related to the operations of an insurance pharmacy, and has the function of acting as a prescription computer that creates medical fee statements (receipt computer function) and the function of managing patients' medication histories (medication history management function).
[0014] The external server is an information processing device such as a server computer that works in conjunction with a pharmacy computer, and has the function of a server that stores various medical information related to electronic medicine notebooks, electronic prescriptions, MID-NET (Medical Information Database Network), etc. as a database, as well as the function of a server that realizes medical systems such as regional medical network systems.
[0015] The support terminal 10 is used by medical professionals (here, pharmacists) who provide various medical or pharmaceutical explanations and guidance, and is configured with an information processing device such as a tablet terminal or a PC (Personal Computer). When a pharmacist provides medication guidance to a patient, the support terminal 10 presents various information to support the medication guidance and accepts various information input by the pharmacist. For example, the support terminal 10 presents "support information" as information to support medication guidance in a support information presentation process described below. The support information is information tailored to the patient that is presented to the patient to support medical procedures such as medical explanations and guidance. For example, the support information is information such as a video to explain the medication to be prescribed. This support information is presented to the patient by being displayed or output as audio on the support terminal 10. By presenting support information in this manner, the medical support system 1 can provide medication instructions through multiple means, such as oral explanations by pharmacists and the presentation of videos and other information by the support terminal 10, as shown in the figure, thereby enabling patients to better understand the content of explanations and instructions that medical professionals should provide.
[0016] The medical support server 20 cooperates with the support terminal 10 to more appropriately support medical procedures, and is composed of an information processing device such as a server computer. To support medical procedures, the medical support server 20 receives various information managed by a pharmacy computer (or each pharmacy computer if there are multiple pharmacy computers) and an external server (or each external server if there are multiple external servers) connected via the network N. The medical support server 20 also manages the received various data in a group of databases (including a medication history database) similar to those of the pharmacy computer and the external server. In other words, the medical support server 20 acquires some or all of the various information managed by the pharmacy computer and the external server.
[0017] In this configuration, the support terminal 10 and the medical support server 20 execute a "support information presentation process." Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of this support information presentation process. The following describes the processing steps indicated as (1) to (3) in the figure.
[0018] (1) Select element information appropriate for the patient based on the patient's attributes The medical support server 20 first identifies the attributes (e.g., age, sex, etc.) of the patient to whom medication instruction is to be given. Then, based on the identified patient attributes, the medical support server 20 selects element information that is a component of medical support information and that is suitable for the patient. For example, if the support information is a video, the medical support server 20 selects element information that is suitable for the patient from image data, text data, and audio data that are the element information for generating this video.
[0019] (2) Generate support information tailored to the patient based on the selected element information The medical support server 20 generates medical support information suited to the patient based on the selected element information. For example, when the support information is a video as described above, the medical support server 20 generates video data by combining the selected image data, text data, and audio data according to the time series when the video is played.
[0020] (3) Present support information to patients The medical support server 20 presents the generated support information related to medical care suited to the patient to the patient. For example, when the support information is a video as described above, the medical support server 20 presents the support information by playing the generated video data on the support terminal 10. For example, a video explaining how to take the inhaled medicine prescribed this time may be presented as support information.
[0021] In this way, the medical support system 1 presents to the patient support information generated from various element information related to medical care (for example, visual information such as images and text, and auditory information such as voice). This allows explanations and guidance to be given to the patient using means other than oral explanations and guidance by medical professionals. Furthermore, the support information presented at this time is not uniformly generated, but is generated based on the patient's attributes and tailored to the patient, which allows the patient to better understand the content of explanations and guidance that medical professionals should provide. Therefore, the medical support system 1 can more appropriately support medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals.
[0022] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of each device and each terminal included in the medical support system 1 will be described. As described above, each device and each terminal included in the medical support system 1 is configured by an information processing device such as a PC, a server computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone, and each device and terminal has the same basic configuration.
[0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of an information processing device 800 that constitutes each device and each terminal. As shown in Figure 3, the information processing device 800 that constitutes each device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 811, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 812, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 813, a bus 814, an input unit 815, an output unit 816, a memory unit 817, a communication unit 818, and a drive 819.
[0024] The CPU 811 executes various processes according to a program recorded in the ROM 812 or a program loaded from the storage unit 817 into the RAM 813 . The RAM 813 also stores data and the like necessary for the CPU 811 to execute various processes.
[0025] The CPU 811, ROM 812, and RAM 813 are connected to one another via a bus 814. To the bus 814, an input unit 815, an output unit 816, a storage unit 817, a communication unit 818, a drive 819, and an imaging unit 820 are connected.
[0026] The input unit 815 is made up of various buttons and the like, and various information is input in response to instruction operations. The output unit 816 is composed of a display, a speaker, etc., and outputs images and sounds. The storage unit 817 is configured with a hard disk or a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), etc., and stores various data managed by each server. The communication unit 818 controls communication with other devices via the network N.
[0027] Removable media 831, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory, is appropriately loaded into the drive 819. A program read from the removable media 831 by the drive 819 is installed in the storage unit 817 as needed.
[0028] In addition, when the information processing device 800 is configured as, for example, a tablet terminal, the input unit 815 can be configured with a touch sensor and placed over the display of the output unit 816, thereby providing a configuration with a touch panel.
[0029] [Functional configuration] Next, the functional configuration of each device and each terminal in the medical support system 1 will be described.
[0030] [Functional Configuration of Support Terminal 10] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the support terminal 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, in the CPU 811 of the support terminal 10, a user interface display control unit (UI display control unit) 151, a support information acquisition unit 152, and a presentation unit 153 function.
[0031] As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 817 of the support terminal 10 includes a user interface information storage unit (UI information storage unit) 171 and a support information storage unit 172.
[0032] The UI display control unit 151 controls the display of various input / output screens (hereinafter referred to as "UI screens") in the support information presentation process, which will be described later, based on information for displaying a user interface screen (hereinafter referred to as "UI information"). For example, in the support information presentation process, the UI display control unit 151 outputs and displays, on a display included in the output unit 816, a screen including a display area for displaying various information such as a prescription and a patient's medication history, a display area for displaying icons for accepting various operations from a pharmacist, and a display area for support information. Furthermore, the UI display control unit 151 outputs audio from a speaker included in the output unit 816 together with these displays, as necessary.
[0033] To realize such a UI screen display, the UI display control unit 151 acquires UI information by receiving it from the medical support server 20. Furthermore, the support information acquisition unit 152 stores this acquired UI information in the UI information storage unit 171. Then, the UI display control unit 151 appropriately reads out the UI information stored in the UI information storage unit 171 to realize the display of the UI screen. That is, the UI information storage unit 171 functions as a storage unit that stores the UI information. Furthermore, the UI display control unit 151 outputs various information input by the pharmacist on the UI screen and the contents of the operation instructions input by the pharmacist to other functional blocks or transmits them to the medical support server 20.
[0034] The support information acquisition unit 152 acquires support information suited to the patient. To this end, the support information acquisition unit 152 transmits an acquisition request for support information, which includes information identifying the patient who is the subject of this medication instruction, to the medical support server 20. Note that this acquisition request may be transmitted with further patient attributes (for example, new patient attributes identified by interviewing the patient this time). Then, the support information acquisition unit 152 receives, in response to the request, support information suited to this patient, which has been generated based on the patient attributes, from the medical support server 20, thereby acquiring the support information. Furthermore, the support information acquisition unit 152 stores the acquired support information in the support information storage unit 172. That is, the support information storage unit 172 functions as a storage unit that acquires support information.
[0035] The presentation unit 153 presents the support information stored in the support information storage unit 172 to the patient. To do this, the presentation unit 153 reads out support information stored in the support information storage unit 172 that is suitable for the patient to whom medication instruction is currently being given. Then, the presentation unit 153 plays and displays the support information in a support information display area on the UI screen. In addition, the UI display control unit 151 outputs the audio included in the support information from a speaker included in the output unit 816 together with this display. In the following description, it is assumed that the support information is a video including audio, but this is merely an example. The support information may be, for example, composed of only still images or text, or composed of only audio.
[0036] [Functional configuration of medical support server 20] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the medical support server 20. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 811 of the medical support server 20 functions as a user interface information generation unit (UI information generation unit) 251, an attribute identification unit 252, an element information selection unit 253, a support information generation unit 254, a presentation unit 255, and a database management unit (DB management unit) 256.
[0037] Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the memory unit 817 of the medical support server 20 has formed therein a patient attribute database (patient attribute DB) 271, a prescription database (prescription DB) 272, a medication history database (medication history DB) 273, a selection condition database (selection condition DB) 274, an element information database (element information DB) 275, and a support information database (support information DB) 276.
[0038] The patient attribute DB 271 stores data on patient attributes, such as the patient's address, name, date of birth, age, sex, underlying medical conditions, commonly used medications (including quasi-drugs), language spoken, insurance card number, and emergency contact information, in association with information identifying each patient. These patient attributes are composed of information acquired by pharmacists through conversations with patients, information provided by patients in response to questionnaires, and doctor's findings, and include, for example, the patient's hobbies, occupation, family composition, and favorite foods. Other patient attributes include, for example, information on the patient's lifestyle, such as whether or not they consume alcoholic beverages, whether or not they drive, and whether or not they exercise regularly. Other patient attributes include, for example, test results for various items examined during health checkups and other tests, as well as fluctuations in test results (e.g., recent weight gain).
[0039] Prescription DB272 stores data on prescriptions issued to patients (such as the name of the insured medical institution and insured physician that prescribed the prescription, the prescription date, and prescription contents) in association with information identifying each patient and the date the prescription was brought in.
[0040] The medication history DB 273 stores data on the history (medication history) of drugs prescribed to patients (prescription history, information on medical history including complications, whether or not the patient has visited other departments, etc.) in association with information identifying each patient and information identifying each pharmacist who prescribed the drug. In addition, the medication history also stores data on the history of medication instructions given to patients by pharmacists (medication instruction statements, etc.).
[0041] The selection condition DB 274 stores selection conditions that serve as criteria for the element information selection unit 253 to select element information suited to a patient. The selection conditions define which element information is selected depending on the attributes of the patient when each drug is prescribed. Specific examples of the patient attributes stored in the patient attribute DB 271 and the selection conditions stored in the selection condition DB 274 will be described later with reference to FIG. 6.
[0042] Element information that is the constituent elements of the support information is stored in the element information DB 275. For example, if the support information is a video, various image data, text data, and audio data that are the constituent elements of this video are stored as element information.
[0043] The support information DB 276 stores support information suited to the patient, which is generated by the support information generating unit 254 based on the element information. For example, if the support information is a video, video data corresponding to this video is stored in a predetermined file format. Specific examples of the support information stored in the support information DB 276 will be described later with reference to FIG. 7.
[0044] The UI information generating unit 251 generates UI information for the support terminal 10 and the patient terminal 30 to display a UI screen, and transmits the generated UI information to the support terminal 10. For example, the UI information generating unit 251 generates a frame format for displaying the UI screen and substantial content to be inserted into the format as UI information. The substantial content to be inserted into the format includes, for example, various types of information such as prescriptions and patient medication history stored in each database in the support information presentation process. Furthermore, the UI information generating unit 251 receives various information and operation instructions transmitted from the support terminal 10 in response to input from the pharmacist on the UI screen generated in accordance with the UI information.
[0045] When receiving a request to acquire support information from the support terminal 10, the attribute identification unit 252 identifies the attributes of the patient who is to receive medication instruction this time. As described above, this acquisition request includes information that identifies the patient who is to receive medication instruction this time. Therefore, the attribute identification unit 252 searches the patient attribute DB 271 using the information that identifies this patient as a search key to identify the patient's attributes in the attribute items necessary for making a selection based on the selection conditions. For example, if the attribute item necessary for making a selection based on the selection conditions is "age," the attribute identification unit 252 identifies the patient's age (i.e., how old the patient is currently) as a patient attribute.
[0046] Furthermore, the attribute specification unit 252 specifies the medication currently prescribed for the patient along with the patient's attributes. To this end, the attribute specification unit 252 searches the prescription DB 272 using information identifying the patient as a search key to specify the medication currently prescribed for the patient. Then, the attribute specifying unit 252 outputs the specified attributes of this patient and the prescribed medicine to the element information selecting unit 253.
[0047] The element information selection unit 253 selects element information that is suitable for this patient based on the patient attributes and the prescribed medication input from the attribute specification unit 252. To this end, the element information selection unit 253 compares the selection conditions stored in the selection condition DB 274 with the input patient attributes and prescribed medication, and selects element information that matches (i.e., is suitable for) this patient. For example, if the attribute is "XX age" and the prescribed medication is "ZZ medication," the element information selection unit 253 selects element information that matches (i.e., is suitable for) a patient who is XX age and will be prescribed ZZ medication. Then, the element information selection unit 253 reads out the element information selected in this way from the element information DB 275 and outputs this element information to the support information generation unit 254.
[0048] The support information generation unit 254 generates support information suited to the patient based on the element information suited to the patient input from the element information selection unit 253. For example, when the input element information is image data, text data, and audio data, the support information generation unit 254 generates video data by combining these pieces of data according to the time series when playing back the video. Then, the support information generating unit 254 outputs the generated video data to the presenting unit 255 and stores it in the support information DB 276.
[0049] The presentation unit 255 transmits the video data input from the support information generation unit 254 to the support terminal 10 to present it to the patient. As a result, support information suited to the patient for whom medication instruction is to be given is returned as a response to the support information acquisition request received by the attribute identification unit 252. After that, the support terminal 10 that receives this support information (here, video data) plays this support information as a video and presents it to the patient.
[0050] In addition, if there are multiple drugs being prescribed this time, the attributes, etc. are identified by the attribute identification unit 252, element information is selected by the element information selection unit 253, and support information is generated by the support information generation unit 254 for each of the multiple drugs. Furthermore, depending on the patient's attributes and the prescribed medication, there may be cases where it is not necessary to generate support information. For example, this may be the case when the patient has been prescribed the medication multiple times in the past, or when a medication is prescribed that does not require a video explanation of how to take the medication. In such cases, the element information selection unit 253 does not select element information, and the support information generation unit 254 does not generate support information. Then, instead of support information, the presentation unit 255 transmits a message to the support terminal 10 indicating that presentation of support information is not necessary.
[0051] The DB management unit 256 manages the synchronization of data in various databases managed by the pharmacy computer or the external server with data in various databases provided in the medical support server 20. For example, the DB management unit 256 transmits updated data in the various databases managed by the medical support server 20 to the pharmacy computer or the external server at a preset time (for example, 3:00 AM, when the servers are not frequently used) or when the various databases are updated, and receives data in the various databases updated in the pharmacy computer or the external server from the pharmacy computer or the external server, thereby updating the various databases provided in the medical support server 20. As a result, the contents of the data in the various databases provided in the medical support server 20 are updated to the latest contents as appropriate. In addition to synchronizing with the pharmacy computer or the external server, the DB management unit 256 may also update the contents of various databases by other methods. For example, the contents of various databases (e.g., the selection condition DB 274) may be updated in response to an input operation by a pharmacist or a data manager to the medical support server 20. Alternatively, the contents of various databases (e.g., the element information DB 275) may be updated based on data acquired by communication or the like from a computer other than the pharmacy computer or the external server, or data read from the removable media 831.
[0052] Next, specific examples of support information generated by the functional blocks of the support terminal 10 and the medical support server 20 will be described with reference to Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. Fig. 6 is a table showing specific examples of patient attributes stored in the patient attribute DB 271 and selection conditions stored in the selection condition DB 274. Fig. 7 is a table showing specific examples of support information stored in the support information DB 276.
[0053] 6(a), in this table showing specific examples of patient attributes stored in the patient attribute DB 271, a column (row) is provided for each patient identifier, which is information for identifying each of multiple patients. Also, a record (column) is provided corresponding to each of multiple item names for the attributes. Then, the attributes of each patient are stored in each field (cell) where a column and a record intersect.
[0054] For example, multiple attribute items include "gender," "age," and "language used." For example, for the attribute item "gender," an attribute of each patient, such as "male" or "female," is stored in a field (cell) corresponding to each patient, and for the attribute item "age," an attribute of each patient, such as a "value indicating age," is stored in a field (cell) corresponding to each patient. Other attributes may also be stored, such as the patient's underlying disease, commonly used medications (including quasi-drugs), whether or not they consume alcoholic beverages, whether or not they drive, and other attributes related to medication instructions.
[0055] 6(b), in this table showing specific examples of selection conditions stored in the selection condition DB 274, a column (row) is provided for each combination of a drug prescribed to a patient and the patient's attributes. Also, a record (column) is provided corresponding to each of multiple types of element information. Then, in each field (cell) where a column and a record intersect, information on which element information should be selected is stored.
[0056] For example, medications prescribed to patients include "aerosol preparation," ..., "Ellipta preparation," etc. Patient attributes include "up to 15 years old (i.e., 15 years old or younger)," "16 to 30 years old (i.e., 16 to 30 years old)," ..., "66 years old or older (i.e., 66 years old or older)," etc. If the attribute of a patient to whom an aerosol preparation is prescribed is "16 to 30 years old," then, as element information, the first image data is selected for image data, the second text data is selected for text data, and the second image data is selected for voice data, and this information is stored in the corresponding fields (cells).
[0057] Here, it is assumed that the attribute item used in the selection conditions is "age," but this is not limiting. For example, other attribute items such as gender and language used may also be used as selection conditions.
[0058] Furthermore, a combination of attributes of multiple items may be used as a selection condition. For example, even if two patients have the same age, "up to 15 years old," a patient with the attribute combination of "up to 15 years old" and the language used is "Japanese" may be distinguished from a patient with the attribute combination of "up to 15 years old" and the language used is "English," and different text data or different audio data may be selected as element information for each patient. By using a combination of attributes of multiple items as a selection condition in this way, it is possible to set a so-called AND condition as a selection condition, such as "select element information C if the attribute of the first item is A and the attribute of the second item is B," or a so-called OR condition as a selection condition, such as "select element information C if the attribute of the first item is A or the attribute of the second item is B."
[0059] Furthermore, the element information may include both common element information that is selected for each patient even if the attributes are different when the medication prescribed to the patients is the same, and individual element information that is selected differently for each patient when the attributes of the patients are different. For example, here, image data is considered common element information, while text data and audio data are considered individual element information. By sharing the common element information regardless of its attributes, it is possible to reduce the overall data volume of the element information and simplify its management, and it is also possible to generate support information tailored to the patient using the individual element information. Here, by using image data, which has a larger data size than text data or audio data, as common element information, the effect of reducing the overall data volume of the element information is further enhanced.
[0060] FIG. 7 shows a specific example of support information generated from element information selected based on the selection conditions shown in FIG. 6 when an aerosol preparation is prescribed to a patient as an inhalant. FIG. 7(A) shows a specific example of support information generated when the age (i.e., attribute) of a patient to whom an aerosol formulation is to be prescribed is "up to 15 years old." In this case, first image data, first text data, and first audio data are selected as element information, and support information is generated from these element information. Here, the first image data is common image data corresponding to the aerosol formulation, and is common element information selected for each patient even if the attributes are different. On the other hand, the first text data and first audio data are individual element information selected corresponding to the attribute "up to 15 years old." Here, taking into consideration that the comprehension ability of patients "up to 15 years old" is poorer than that of adults, text written in hiragana using easy-to-understand, simple expressions in a normal font size is superimposed on the image, and audio data using easy-to-understand, simple expressions at a normal playback speed is output.
[0061] FIG. 7(B) shows a specific example of support information generated when the age (i.e., attribute) of the patient to whom the aerosol formulation is to be prescribed is "16 to 30 years old." In this case, first image data, second text data, and second audio data are selected as element information, and support information is generated from these element information. Here, the first image data is common image data corresponding to the aerosol formulation as described above. Meanwhile, the second text data and second audio data are selected corresponding to the attribute "16 to 30 years old." Here, taking into consideration that the patient's age of "16 to 30 years old" has sufficient comprehension ability, detailed text in a normal font size including kanji characters is displayed superimposed on the image, and detailed audio data is output at a normal playback speed.
[0062] FIG. 7(C) shows a specific example of support information generated when the age (i.e., attribute) of a patient to whom an aerosol formulation is to be prescribed is "66 years old or older." In this case, the first image data, the third text data, and the third voice data are selected as element information, and support information is generated from these element information. Here, the first image data is common image data corresponding to the aerosol formulation as described above. Meanwhile, the third text data and the third voice data are selected corresponding to the attribute "66 years old or older." In this case, taking into consideration that the patient's age of "66 years old or older" is sufficient for comprehension, but has declines in vision and hearing, text in a large font size that uses detailed expressions and includes kanji characters is displayed superimposed on the image, and voice data with detailed expressions is output at a slow playback speed. As shown in these examples, this embodiment presents support information suited to the patient's level of understanding, etc., based on the patient's attributes (here, age). This allows the patient to have a deeper understanding of the content that medical professionals should explain and provide guidance to. Therefore, the medical support system 1 makes it possible to more appropriately support medical procedures, such as explanations and guidance, provided by medical professionals.
[0063] Note that the display modes of the support information shown in FIG. 7 are merely examples, and support information may be generated in other modes. For example, among the precautions regarding drug usage and dosage, text that is particularly desired to be communicated to the patient may be displayed with a highlight using a marker or the like. Alternatively, the portion of the video corresponding to the content particularly desired to be communicated to the patient may be played repeatedly or in slow motion. Alternatively, if the patient is young, parts of the video may be added or deleted, such as adding a video of a pill cutter (medicine cutter) splitting a tablet in advance.
[0064] As described above, the attribute item used in the selection conditions is assumed to be age, but is not limited to this. For example, other attribute items such as gender, test results from a health check, commonly used medications (including quasi-drugs), medications prescribed in the past, underlying diseases, lifestyle habits, and language used may also be used as selection conditions. For example, if gender is used as a selection criterion, female patients are likely to have relatively weaker grip strength than male patients. Therefore, if the patient is female, it is recommended that a warning such as "Be careful not to spill the contents when opening the medicine container lid" be added to each patient and displayed in text or output as audio. Similarly, if age is used as a selection criterion, elderly patients and children (e.g., elementary school students) are likely to have relatively weaker grip strength than other age groups. Therefore, it is recommended that the same warning as for female patients be added to elderly patients and children and displayed in text or output as audio.
[0065] Additionally, elderly people and children may accidentally ingest the film or container used to package medication. For example, they may accidentally ingest the heat-sealed film or container without opening it and swallow it along with the medication. Therefore, when using age as a selection criterion, for elderly people and children, it is recommended to add a warning message for each patient, such as "Please open the medication package and take only the medication," and display it in text or output it as audio. Additionally, a video showing the sequence of actions "open the medication package and take only the medication" may be generated for each patient, and this additional video may be played as part of the support information. In this way, generating and playing additional videos of warnings and medication details can further promote patient understanding. Furthermore, although not limited to this example, when additional videos are generated individually for each patient, playing these additionally generated videos as part of the support information may result in a long overall playback time, which may be inappropriate. It may also be desirable to play the additionally generated videos at a different timing. Taking these cases into consideration, the additionally generated videos may be played when a pharmacist or patient issues a playback instruction for the additionally generated videos. This allows the additionally generated videos to be played at an appropriate timing, taking into account the playback time, the progress of medication instructions, and the like.
[0066] Furthermore, when additional videos are generated individually for each patient in this way, information for playing the additionally generated videos may be transmitted to the patient. For example, a uniform resource locator (URL) for playing the additionally generated videos may be converted into a two-dimensional code that conforms to the QR Code (registered trademark) standard. The converted two-dimensional code may then be displayed as part of the support information. The patient then photographs the two-dimensional code using their own smartphone or tablet device to obtain a URL for playing the additionally generated video. This allows the patient to play the additionally generated video at any time on their own smartphone, etc. In this case, a similar method may be used to enable playback on the patient's smartphone, etc., not only of the additionally generated video but also of the video generated as support information (i.e., a video common to all patients). This allows the patient to check the support information and additionally generated images and take their medication appropriately even after receiving medication instructions from the pharmacist. In other words, it becomes possible to support the medical practice of medication instructions even at the patient's home, etc.
[0067] In addition, for example, when using commonly used medications or medications prescribed in the past as selection criteria, if these medications have an inappropriate relationship with the medication being prescribed this time, or if they are contraindicated or require caution when used together, it is a good idea to add a warning such as "Never use this medication in combination with this medication" for each patient and display it in text or output it as audio. Additionally, for example, when test results from a health checkup or the like are used as selection criteria, for patients who are gaining weight (i.e., tending to become obese), it is advisable to add a warning to each patient, such as "Continue to exercise moderately and regularly," and display it in text or output it as audio. In particular, for patients who are still gaining weight despite having previously been presented with such warnings as support information, it is advisable to highlight the warning and display it in more emphasized text.
[0068] In addition, for example, if an underlying disease is used as a selection condition, it is advisable to add particularly important precautions related to these underlying diseases for patients with high blood pressure or diabetes, and display them in text or output them as audio. In addition, for example, when lifestyle habits are used as a selection condition, for patients who consume alcohol (i.e., drink alcohol) or who drive a vehicle, precautions regarding alcohol consumption, precautions regarding driving a vehicle, etc. may be added for each patient and displayed in text or output as audio.
[0069] In either case, these precautions may be not only displayed as text or output as audio, but also the portions of the video related to the precautions may be emphasized by, for example, playing them slowly or repeatedly. Alternatively, additional videos explaining these precautions may be added before or after the same videos for other patients. Alternatively, for example, if the language of use is used as a selection condition, text may be displayed or audio may be output in a language corresponding to the language of the patient.
[0070] [Operation] Next, the operation of each device and each terminal included in the medical support system 1 during support information presentation processing will be described.
[0071] [Operation of the support terminal 10] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the support information presentation process executed by the support terminal 10. The support information presentation process in the support terminal 10 is started in response to the support terminal 10 receiving, from the pharmacist, a transition instruction operation to a screen on which the support information presentation operation is performed.
[0072] In step S11, the UI display control unit 151 starts displaying a UI screen based on the UI information. The UI information for display may be acquired in advance from the medical support server 20 and stored in the UI information storage unit 171, or may be acquired in real time at the time of display.
[0073] In step S12, the support information acquisition unit 152 determines whether or not an acquisition instruction operation for support information has been received from the pharmacist. If an acquisition instruction operation has been received from the pharmacist, the determination in step S12 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if an acquisition instruction operation has not been received from the pharmacist, the determination in step S12 is No, and the process repeats the determination in step S12.
[0074] In step S13, the support information acquisition unit 152 transmits to the medical support server 20 an acquisition request for support information, the acquisition request including information for identifying the patient who is to receive medication instruction this time.
[0075] In step S14, the support information acquisition unit 152 receives and acquires support information suitable for this patient, which has been generated based on the attributes of this patient, from the medical support server 20 in response to the acquisition request.
[0076] In step S15, the support information acquisition unit 152 stores the acquired support information in the support information storage unit 172. In step S16, the presenting unit 153 presents the support information stored in the support information storage unit 172 to the patient.
[0077] In step S17, the presentation unit 153 determines whether to end the presentation of the support information. For example, when the presentation of the video, which is the support information, is completed or when the pharmacist instructs the presentation to be stopped, the presentation unit 153 determines to end the presentation of the support information. If the presentation of the support information is to be ended, the result of step S17 is Yes, and the process ends. On the other hand, if the presentation of the support information is not to be ended, the result of step S17 is No, and the process returns to step S16, and the presentation continues.
[0078] [Operation of medical support server 20] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the support information presentation process executed by the medical support server 20. The support information presentation process in the medical support server 20 starts when the medical support server 20 is powered on, and is repeated while the power is on.
[0079] In step S21, the attribute identification unit 252 determines whether or not a request to acquire support information has been received from the support terminal 10. If a request to acquire support information has been received, the result of the determination in step S21 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S22. On the other hand, if a request to acquire support information has not been received, the result of the determination in step S21 is No, and the process repeats step S21.
[0080] In step S22, the attribute specification unit 252 specifies the attributes of the patient to whom medication instruction is to be given this time, Identify the medications currently being prescribed for the patient.
[0081] In step S23, the support information generating unit 254 checks the selection conditions against the inputted attributes of the patient and the prescribed medicine, and selects element information that matches (that is, is suitable for) this patient.
[0082] In step S24, the support information generator 254 generates support information suited to the patient based on the element information suited to the patient.
[0083] In step S25, the presentation unit 255 transmits the support information to the support terminal 10 to present it to the patient.
[0084] In step S26, the presentation unit 255 stores the support information in the support information DB 276. This completes the process.
[0085] By performing the support information presentation process described above, the medical support system 1 presents to the patient support information generated from various element information related to medical care (for example, visual information such as images and text, and auditory information such as voice). This allows explanations and guidance to be given to the patient using means other than oral explanations and guidance by medical professionals. Furthermore, the support information presented at this time is not uniformly generated, but is generated based on the patient's attributes and tailored to the patient, which allows the patient to better understand the content of explanations and guidance that medical professionals should provide. Therefore, the medical support system 1 can more appropriately support medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals.
[0086] [Variations] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are merely illustrative and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. The present invention can take on various other embodiments and can undergo various modifications such as omissions and substitutions without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In such cases, these embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention described in this specification, etc., and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and their equivalents. As an example, the embodiment of the present invention described above may be modified as follows: In addition, the following modifications may be combined.
[0087] [Variation 1] In the above-described embodiment, support information is presented from the support terminal 10 when the pharmacist is providing medication guidance to the patient regarding the medication prescribed to the patient. In other words, real-time support for the medical practice of medication guidance is realized. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and support information may be presented at other times. For example, support information may be presented after the medication is administered to the patient, for example, when the patient takes the medication at home. 10 is a diagram showing the system configuration of a medical support system 1a according to this modification. This medical support system 1a is basically the same as the medical support system 1 in the above-described embodiment, but differs in that it further includes a patient terminal 30.
[0088] The patient terminal 30 is realized by the hardware configuration of the information processing device 800, similar to the support terminal 10. The functional configuration of the patient terminal 30 is the same as that of the support terminal 10. Therefore, a duplicated explanation of these points will be omitted. The patient terminal 30 is also capable of communicating with the medical support server 20, etc., via the network N. In this example, the patient terminal 30 presents support information at any timing in response to the patient's operation. For example, the support information is presented when the patient is about to take a medication at home. This allows the patient to check the support information and take the medication appropriately even after receiving medication instructions from the pharmacist. In other words, it is possible to support the medical practice of medication instructions even at the patient's home.
[0089] Furthermore, as described above, in addition to medication instructions, this embodiment (including this modified example) can support various medical procedures, such as medical or pharmaceutical explanations and instructions, performed by various medical professionals, such as pharmacists, doctors, nurses, and physical therapists, in various medical facilities, such as hospitals and clinics. Therefore, by using the patient terminal 30 of this modified example, it is possible to support online medical procedures such as online medical consultations by doctors and online medication instructions by pharmacists.
[0090] The patient terminals 30 are realized by different information processing devices owned by individual patients. For example, the patient terminal 30 of a first patient is realized by a smartphone, the patient terminal 30 of a second patient is realized by a smartphone of a different model from the patient terminal 30 of the first patient, and the patient terminal 30 of a third patient is realized by a personal computer. In addition to this, it is also conceivable that the patient terminals 30 may be realized by, for example, a television or the like having a communication function. Therefore, information identifying the type of information processing device owned by the patient to realize the patient terminal 30 (for example, the model number of the information processing device) is stored as one of the patient attributes in the patient attribute DB 271. When generating support information, the medical support server 20 identifies the type of information processing device owned by the patient and changes the mode of the support information to suit the identified information processing device. For example, support information may be generated in a size that matches the display size and aspect ratio of the information processing device. Alternatively, the placement of text data in the support information (e.g., the position and size of the text displayed on the video) may be varied. Alternatively, the resolution of the support information, the presence or absence of audio data, etc. may be varied. In this way, by generating support information that is suitable for the patient and also compatible with the information processing device owned by the patient, the support information can be presented smoothly to the patient, thereby enabling the patient to further deepen their understanding.
[0091] Furthermore, it is not necessarily the patient himself who refers to the support information on the patient terminal 30; it is also assumed that the patient's family, medical professionals who care for the patient, and the like may also refer to the support information. Therefore, information identifying the person who will be referring to the support information on the patient terminal 30 of the patient (for example, whether the person is the patient's parent or spouse) is further stored as one of the patient's attributes in the patient attribute DB 271. When generating support information, the medical support server 20 identifies the person who will be referring to the support information on the patient terminal 30 of the patient, and changes the form of the support information to suit this identified person. For example, if the identified person is the patient's parent or spouse, the support information is generated so that text in a communication sentence format is displayed, such as "Please tell the patient to do this" or "Please ask the patient to do this." In this case, all information may be in communication sentence format, but, for example, information that only the parent who is the guardian needs to understand may not be in communication sentence format, and only information that should be conveyed to the patient's child may be in communication sentence format. In this case, it is better to further consider the attributes (e.g., age) of the parent or spouse and generate support information that is easy for the parent or spouse to understand. In this way, by assuming that the person referencing the support information may be someone other than the patient and by using a communication sentence format, the person referencing the support information can remember to convey the necessary information to the patient, rather than simply understanding it themselves. This makes it possible to properly convey the contents of the support information to the patient, even in cases where the patient is unable to refer to the support information themselves.
[0092] [Variation 2] In the above-described embodiment, the support terminal 10 is used to present support information to patients. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the support terminal 10 may also be configured to present support information to medical professionals such as pharmacists. In this case, the medical support server 20 generates support information indicating the content of interviews and medical questions that the pharmacist should give to the patient and the content of medication instructions based on, for example, the medication to be prescribed and the patient's attributes.The support terminal 10 then presents this support information to the pharmacist.This allows the pharmacist to refer to the support information and provide appropriate interviews and medication instructions to the patient. According to this modification, medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals can be more appropriately supported from a different perspective than the above-described embodiment.
[0093] [Configuration example] As described above, the medical support system 1 according to this embodiment includes the attribute specification unit 252, the element information selection unit 253, the support information generation unit 254, and the presentation unit 255. The attribute specification unit 252 specifies the attributes of the patient. The element information selection unit 253 selects element information that is a component of medical support information and that is suitable for the patient, based on the patient's attributes identified by the attribute identification unit 252. The support information generating unit 254 generates medical support information suited to the patient based on the element information selected by the element information selecting unit 253 . The presentation unit 255 presents to the patient the support information related to medical care that is suited to the patient and that is generated by the support information generation unit 254. In this way, the medical support system 1 presents to the patient support information generated from various element information related to medical care (for example, visual information such as images and text, and auditory information such as voice). This allows explanations and guidance to be given to the patient using means other than oral explanations and guidance by medical professionals. Furthermore, the support information presented at this time is not uniformly generated, but is generated based on the patient's attributes and tailored to the patient, which allows the patient to better understand the content of explanations and guidance that medical professionals should provide. Therefore, the medical support system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can more appropriately support medical procedures such as explanations and guidance by medical professionals.
[0094] The element information is information that is a component of a moving image. The support information generating unit 254 generates support information consisting of moving images suited to the patient as support information relating to medical care suited to the patient. This allows patients to gain a deeper understanding of the content that medical professionals should explain and instruct, using video content rather than just still images and text.
[0095] The element information selection unit 253 selects element information based on the drug prescribed to the patient as well as the patient's attributes. The support information generating unit 254 generates support information corresponding to medication instructions for medicines prescribed to the patient as support information related to medical care suited to the patient. This makes it possible to support medication instructions regarding this drug when a pharmacist performs dispensing work for a patient.
[0096] The presentation unit 255 presents the information when a medical professional is providing a patient with medication instructions regarding the medicine prescribed to the patient. This allows real-time support during medication instruction.
[0097] The presentation unit 255 presents the prescribed medicine to the patient on the terminal used by the patient after the medicine is administered to the patient. This allows support to be provided after the prescribed medication has been administered to the patient, for example, at the timing when the patient takes the medication at home.
[0098] The element information includes both common element information that is selected by the element information selection unit 253 for each patient even if the attributes are different when the drugs prescribed to the patients are the same, and individual element information that is selected differently for each patient by the element information selection unit 253 when the attributes of the patients are different. This allows common element information to be shared regardless of its attributes, thereby reducing the overall data volume of element information and simplifying management, and also makes it possible to generate support information tailored to the patient using individual element information.
[0099] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and any modifications and improvements that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where medication instruction by a pharmacist is supported is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the objects to be supported in the present invention include various types of medical information.
[0100] The above-described series of processes can be executed by hardware or software. In other words, the functional configurations in the above-described embodiments are merely examples and are not particularly limited. That is, it is sufficient that any of the computers constituting the medical support system 1 has a function capable of executing the above-described series of processes as a whole, and the functional blocks used to realize this function are not particularly limited to the examples shown. Furthermore, one functional block may be configured as a single piece of hardware, a single piece of software, or a combination thereof.
[0101] Furthermore, the recording medium containing the program for executing the above-mentioned series of processes may be configured not only as a removable medium distributed separately from the device main body in order to provide the program to the user, but also as a recording medium provided to the user in a state where it is pre-installed in the device main body.
[0102] Furthermore, the effects described in the above-described embodiments are merely a list of the most favorable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the present embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]
[0103] 1, 1a medical support system, 10 support terminal, 20 medical support server, 30 patient terminal, N network, 151 user interface display control unit (UI display control unit), 152 support information acquisition unit, 153 presentation unit, 171 user interface display storage unit (UI information storage unit), 172 support information storage unit, 251 user interface information generation unit (UI information generation unit), 252 attribute identification unit, 253 element information selection unit, 254 support information generation unit, 255 presentation unit, 256 database management unit (DB management unit), 271 patient attribute database (patient attribute DB), 272 prescription database (prescription DB), 273 medication history database (medication history DB), 274 selection condition database (selection condition DB), 275 element information database (element information DB), 276 support information database (support information DB), 800 information processing device, 811 CPU, 812 ROM, 813 RAM, 814 bus, 815 input section, 816 output section, 817 storage section, 818 communication section, 819 drive, 831 removable media
Claims
1. A means for identifying the attributes of a patient and a drug prescribed to the patient based on the patient's identification information, Based on the patient's attributes identified by the identification means and the medication prescribed to the patient, an acquisition means acquires content as support information, which is a component of medical support information, in which multiple component pieces of information suitable for the patient are simultaneously played back. A presentation means for presenting the support information acquired by the acquisition means to the patient, A medical support system characterized by having the following features.
2. The identifying means further identifies drugs previously prescribed to the patient based on the patient's identification information, The acquisition means further acquires the support information based on medications previously prescribed to the patient identified by the identification means, The presentation means further presents to the patient the support information obtained by the acquisition means, which is based on medications previously prescribed to the patient. The medical support system according to feature 1.
3. The identifying means further identifies changes in the patient's attributes from the past based on the patient's identification information, The acquisition means further acquires the support information based on the changes in the patient's attributes from the past, which were identified by the identification means. The presentation means further presents to the patient the support information acquired by the acquisition means, which is based on changes in the patient's attributes from the past. The medical support system according to feature 1.
4. The acquisition means does not acquire the support information if it is not necessary to present the support information corresponding to the drug prescribed to the patient as identified by the identification means. If the presentation means does not require the presentation of the support information corresponding to the medication prescribed to the patient, it will instead present to the patient a message indicating that the presentation of the support information is unnecessary. A medical support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
5. The acquisition means and the presentation means are In at least one of the following cases, the presentation of the support information corresponding to the prescribed medication to the patient is deemed unnecessary: if the medication prescribed to the patient has been prescribed to the patient multiple times in the past, or if the medication prescribed to the patient is a medication for which the presentation of the support information is not required. The medical support system according to feature 4.
6. The element information constituting the support information includes both common element information that is selected for each patient even if the patient's attributes are different when the prescribed medication for the patient is the same, and individual element information that is selected differently for each patient if the patient's attributes are different. The acquisition means acquires the support information configured such that the data size of the common element information is larger than the data size of the individual element information. A medical support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
7. A medical support method performed by a medical support system, A selection step that identifies the patient's attributes and the medication prescribed to the patient based on the patient's identification information, Based on the patient's attributes identified in the aforementioned specific step and the medication prescribed to the patient, the acquisition step involves acquiring content as the support information, which is a component of medical support information, in which multiple component pieces of information suitable for the patient are simultaneously played back. A presentation step in which the support information obtained in the acquisition step is presented to the patient, A medical support method characterized by including [a certain element].
8. A specific function that identifies the attributes of the patient and the drug prescribed to the patient based on the patient's identification information, Based on the patient's attributes identified by the specified function and the medication prescribed to the patient, the acquisition function acquires content as support information in which multiple elements of information suitable for the patient are simultaneously played, which constitutes the elements of support information related to medical care. The aforementioned acquisition function provides support information to the patient, and A medical support program characterized by enabling computers to implement the following.