Document management system for elderly care

Abstract

This system aims to reduce the burden of paperwork and other related tasks at home care support service providers and similar organizations. [Solution] System 1 consists of a reading device 2, an electronic information terminal 3, and an application 4, and includes a user determination means 7 and an electronic document storage means 10, which are executed using the application 4. The user determination means 7 determines that the document to be determined belongs to a registered user if the name data recognized by the reading device 2 matches one or more sets of name data registered for each user on the system, and determines that there is no corresponding user if there is no match. The electronic document storage means 10 stores the document to be determined based on the determination of the user determination means 7, either in the individual folder for each corresponding user if a match is determined, or in the unknown folder if an unknown determination is made.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a document management system for care, which reduces the operational burden in document management in, for example, care support specialists or home care support business offices to which care support specialists belong.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the aging society has advanced, and care for care recipients by care facilities (such as visiting care and day services) has been widely carried out. The types of care provided in the care business include visiting care where a caregiver visits the home of the care recipient to provide care, day care where the care recipient goes to a care facility such as a day service center to receive care, and facility-based care where the care recipient enters a care facility such as a nursing home to receive care.

[0003] For example, day care has the characteristic that the care recipient can use various services on a day trip. Day care is a place where the care recipient, as a user, can receive essential services for daily life such as health checks, meals, excretion, and bathing, and at the same time can communicate with people other than family members and feel connected to society. In addition, it can reduce the burden on the family that usually provides care.

[0004] By the way, the management of the care service plan and implementation content of users receiving care services at care facilities is carried out by care support specialists. Care support specialists are responsible for consultations regarding overall care of users, liaison and coordination with various related institutions such as care facilities, medical institutions, and pharmacies, and are generally also called "care managers". Specific tasks of care support specialists include interviews with users, assessment of necessary care services, creation of individual support plans, and regular evaluations after the start of use, etc.

[0005] Care managers receive numerous care-related documents via fax and mail from various related organizations, containing confidential information such as users' personal and health information. These care managers are required to store these documents. These documents include various plans, performance reports, medical records, and more, some of which are handwritten by the heads and staff of each care facility, as well as doctors and pharmacists. The retention period for these documents is stipulated as a predetermined period (for example, two years) from the date the care manager's assignment ends. Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, care managers must continue to store these documents, and the volume of paperwork is constantly increasing.

[0006] Furthermore, care managers typically handle multiple clients at once. Therefore, they need to organize and store various documents for each client, resulting in a significant administrative burden. In addition, in home care support service providers with multiple care managers, the number of clients whose documents need to be stored is enormous, making securing storage space a common problem. Consequently, it's not uncommon to find documents scattered throughout the office.

[0007] Incidentally, in recent years, efforts have been made to promote the use of ICT in nursing care settings. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system that enables widespread information sharing among medical institutions and nursing care service providers, while also having strong resistance to the leakage of personal information.

[0008] Furthermore, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare began operating a care plan linkage system in April 2023, promoting the paperless use of care plans. This linkage system facilitates the data exchange of service provision forms (planned and actual) from care plans exchanged monthly between home care support service providers and care service providers, with the aim of reducing the burden of document creation for home care support service providers and care service providers.

[0009] However, the above system does not directly reduce the burden of paperwork and other related tasks at home care support service providers and similar organizations. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0010] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-16083 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0011] This invention was made in view of the above background, and aims to provide a system that can reduce the burden of organizing documents in home care support service offices and the like. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] The present invention relates to a caregiving document management system, which is a caregiving document data management system for digitizing and managing documents related to users receiving care services, comprising: a reader for digitizing documents relating to the user by optical character recognition; an electronic information terminal connected to the reader and operated by a system user; and an application running on the electronic information terminal or on a server, wherein the application is used to determine which user the document to be determined, digitized by the reader, belongs to, and the system also includes a user determination means that is executed using the application and determines which user the document to be determined belongs to, and an electronic document storage means for the document to be determined. The determination means is characterized in that, if the name data recognized by the reading device matches one or more name data sets registered for each user on the system, it determines that the document to be determined belongs to the registered user, and if the recognized name data does not match any of the name data sets, it determines that there is no corresponding user and therefore it is unknown. The electronic document storage means is characterized in that, based on the determination of the user determination means, it sorts and stores the document to be determined in the individual folder for each corresponding user if a match is determined, and in the unknown folder if it is determined to be unknown.

[0013] The above-described user determination means includes a sub-determination means that, in the case of the above-described unknown determination, determines, via the above-described system user, which user the document subject to determination belongs to, and the sub-determination means is a means that, with respect to the above-described unknown document subject to determination, receives a determination from the above-described system user as to which user registered on the system belongs, makes the above-described matching determination, and adds the above-described recognized name data to the above-described name data group of the user for whom the matching determination was made.

[0014] The system includes a care support specialist determination means that determines the care support specialist in charge of the user based on the name data recognized by the reading device, and the electronic document storage means is a means that, based on the determination of the care support specialist determination means, places the personal folder under the folder hierarchy of the care support specialist in charge of the user corresponding to the personal folder. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] The present invention relates to a caregiving document management system comprising a reader, an electronic information terminal, and an application, and includes a user determination means and an electronic document storage means executed using the application. The user determination means determines that the document in question belongs to a registered user if the name data recognized by the reader matches one or more name data groups registered for each user in the system, and determines that there is no corresponding user if the recognized name data does not match any of the name data groups. The electronic document storage means sorts and stores the document in question into the individual folder for the corresponding user if a match is determined, or into an unknown folder if an unknown determination is made. As a result, documents relating to users are digitized, and the digitized documents are automatically stored in the user's individual folder based on the name data recognized by the reader, thereby reducing the burden of organizing documents in home care support service offices and the like. Furthermore, by saving user-related documents as electronic documents, it is possible to reduce the storage space required for paper documents and the effort involved in storing them.

[0016] In optical character recognition, name data may be misrecognized as an incorrect name. However, the user determination means has a sub-determination means that, in the case of an unknown determination, determines which user the document belongs to via the system user, thereby correcting the misrecognition.

[0017] Furthermore, care facilities receive documents from various related organizations periodically to manage the planning and implementation details of care services. These documents may be handwritten by the staff of each related organization (such as staff at each care facility, doctors, and pharmacists), but the person filling out the documents is generally consistent. However, depending on the handwriting, habits (such as how the letters are written), and misunderstandings, the name data recognized by the reading device may be incorrectly identified as the actual name. From this perspective, the above sub-determination method performs the matching determination and adds the recognized name data to the name data group of users that have been determined to match. Therefore, when reading documents filled out by the same person in the future, even if they are incorrectly recognized as before, the added name data group can be referenced to make it easier to determine the match. By adding (updating) the user's name data group in this way, the probability of matching is improved, enabling smooth sorting of electronic documents and reducing the burden on system users involved in sub-determination.

[0018] The reading device recognizes name data and includes a care manager identification means for determining the care manager responsible for a user. The electronic document storage means, based on the determination by the care manager identification means, places individual folders under the folder hierarchy of the care manager responsible for the user corresponding to that individual folder. For example, in a home care support service provider with multiple care managers, electronic documents can be distributed to each care manager for each user, making it easier for each care manager to view and print documents related to the users they are responsible for. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0019] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the document management system for nursing care according to the present invention. [Figure 2] This is an example of a list of documents subject to evaluation. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the processing flow of the caregiving document management system of the present invention. [Figure 4] It is a diagram for explaining addition to the name data group by the sub-judgment means and the like.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] The care document management system of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the care document management system of the present invention. The system 1 of the present invention is a system used by a person or business operator who manages documents related to users (care recipients) who receive care services. For example, it is used by care support specialists or business offices (such as home care support business offices) to which care support specialists belong.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1 includes a reading device 2, an electronic information terminal 3 operated by a system user (such as a business office administrator or staff, or a care support specialist), and an application 4 (in the present invention, "application" is also simply referred to as "app") that operates on the electronic information terminal 3. Note that the app 4 may operate on a server that is mutually connected to the electronic information terminal 3 via a communication network.

[0022] The reading device 2 is a device (scanner) that converts a document related to a user (judgment target document 5) into electronic data by optical character recognition (OCR). As the device, a known device equipped with an optical character recognition function can be used. The reading device 2 recognizes name data from the digitized document. Note that as the name data, the name data of the user and the name data of the support specialist may be separately recognized from the document type, the description location in the document, adjacent terms, and the like.

[0023] Figure 2 shows an example of a list of documents related to a user. As shown in Figure 2, the types of documents are diverse, and the sources from which they are sent also vary. For example, if a user is using day care services, the day care service provider will periodically send documents such as "Performance Reports," "Care Needs Reports," and "Monitoring Reports." Medical institutions will also periodically send documents such as "Medical / Care Collaboration Sheets" and "Home Care Management Guidance Forms." In actual facilities, many still file and store documents on paper for each user, and analog management remains the norm.

[0024] Returning to Figure 1, the digitized documents and recognized name data, etc., converted into electronic data by the reader 2, are transmitted to the electronic information terminal 3. The reader 2 and the electronic information terminal 3 are connected via wired or wireless communication. The electronic information terminal 3 is not particularly limited and can include PCs, tablet terminals, dedicated terminals, etc., located in the business office, as well as portable smartphones, tablet terminals, mobile phones, notebook PCs, etc.

[0025] In Figure 1, the electronic information terminal 3 includes a user determination means 7 that determines which user the document 5, which has been digitized by the reading device 2, belongs to, and an electronic document storage means 10. The operations of these means are performed using the application 4.

[0026] The electronic document storage means 10 is a means for storing electronic documents, and these electronic documents are stored in folders. As shown in Figure 1, the electronic document storage means 10 has personal folders 11 where electronic documents for each user are stored, and unknown folders 12 where electronic documents of unknown users are temporarily stored. Multiple personal folders 11 are provided depending on the actual number of users. In addition, system 1 is equipped with one or more name data groups registered for each user, and each name data group is linked to each personal folder in a one-to-one correspondence (see Figure 4 below).

[0027] System 1 has a function to sort digitized documents based on name data recognized by the reader 2. Specifically, the user determination means 7 determines that the document belongs to a registered user if the name data recognized by the reader 2 matches any of the name data sets, and determines that there is no corresponding user if there is no match. The digitized document storage means 10 then sorts and stores the document based on the determination of the user determination means 7, either in the individual folder 11 for each corresponding user if a match is determined, or in the unknown folder 12 if an unknown determination is made.

[0028] This allows for the digital management of documents related to users and reduces the administrative burden of organizing documents for each user in offices and other locations.

[0029] In Figure 1, the user determination means 7 has a sub-determination means 8. This sub-determination means 8 is a means of determining, via the system user, which user the document belongs to when the user determination means 7 determines it is unknown. Optical character recognition is a highly versatile and simple method of character recognition, but its accuracy is not high. Furthermore, when reading handwritten documents, the accuracy and style of the handwriting of the person writing the document greatly affect whether the characters are correctly recognized. Therefore, by providing the sub-determination means 8, it is possible to correct misrecognitions manually, and the system learns from misrecognitions by adding newly recognized name data to the name data group.

[0030] In Figure 1, it is preferable that the electronic information terminal 3 further includes a care support specialist determination means 6 that determines the care support specialist in charge of the user from the name data recognized by the reading device 2. This operation is performed using the application 4.

[0031] In many care facilities, multiple care managers are employed, and the care manager identification means 6 allows for the distribution of digitized documents to individual user folders for each care manager. Specifically, based on the determination of the care manager identification means 6, the digitized document storage means 10 creates individual folders 11 under the folder hierarchy of the care manager responsible for the user corresponding to that individual folder 11. This allows each care manager to access their own folder when checking document data for the users they are responsible for, leading to increased work efficiency.

[0032] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1, the electronic information terminal 3 may have a document type determination means 9 for determining the type of the document to be judged 5, which has been converted into electronic data by the reading device 2. The type of document to be judged 5 is not particularly limited, but may be classified into broad categories such as [plan-related] or [performance-related], or it may be further classified by the name of each subdivided document (for example, the items in the document overview in Figure 2). Alternatively, the origin of the document (for example, [day care documents] or [medical institution documents]) may be used as a type. The document type determination means 9 can determine the type of document from factor data such as [title], [items], [contents], and [signature name] recognized from the electronically converted document to be judged 5.

[0033] Next, we will explain the processing flow using the system described above, using Figure 3. In Figure 3, folders are set up from the top layer to the bottom layer, with folders for each care support specialist, each user, and each document classified by type. Electronic documents are stored in these document folders. Note that the "Unknown" folder is shown at the same level as the user folders, but it is not limited to this.

[0034] Businesses and other facilities receive documents related to users via fax or mail. Office managers, staff, and care managers then operate reading device 2 to read these documents, which are then converted into electronic data using optical character recognition. From the digitized documents, user name data, care manager name data, and factor data for determining the document type are individually recognized. Along with the digitized documents, each of the recognized data is transmitted to an electronic information terminal.

[0035] On the electronic information terminal, the first step is to determine which care manager is responsible for the digitized document being assessed. Specifically, based on the recognized name data (specifically, the name data of the care manager), a care manager identification tool identifies a particular care manager, and the folder of the identified care manager is selected.

[0036] Next, it is determined which user the digitized document belongs to. Specifically, the user determination means determines whether the name data recognized by the reader matches one or more sets of name data registered for each user in the system.

[0037] Here, referring to the specific example in Figure 4, we will first explain the name data group. As shown in Figure 4, the system has one or more name data groups registered for each user. For example, user A-1 has name data group A-1, and user A-2 has name data group A-2. In Figure 4, the actual name of user A-1 is "Taro Tokken", and the actual name of user A-2 is "Hanako Kokusai".

[0038] Name data group A-1 contains the actual name "Tōrō Tokachi," as well as other names that differ from the actual name, such as "Tōrō Tokachi," "Inrō Tokachi," "Tōrō Tokachi," "Tōrō Tokachi," "Tōrō Mochimoto," and "Tarō Tokachi," for a total of seven name data entries. Similarly, name data group A-2 contains the actual name "Hanako Kokusai," as well as other names that differ from the actual name, such as "Hanako Kokusai," "Hanako Kosai," and "Hanako Kokusai," for a total of four name data entries. In Figure 4, each name data entry that differs from the actual name is a name data entry intended to be misrecognized, and the example shows some kanji characters being replaced with other kanji characters that have similar shapes, but this is not the only example. The number of name data entries registered in a name data group is not particularly limited and may be as few as one.

[0039] In Case 1 of Figure 4, the name data recognized by the reader is "Taro Tokata". The user determination means searches for a match between the name data "Taro Tokata" and any of the name data in the name data group. In this case, since "Taro Tokata" matches one of the name data registered in name data group A-1, the user determination means determines that the document being determined belongs to a user registered in the system. The electronic document storage means then stores the document being determined in the personal folder of the corresponding user A-1.

[0040] On the other hand, Case 2 in Figure 4 shows the case where the name data recognized by the reader is "Taro Mochimoto". The user determination means searches for a match with any of the name data in the name data group using the name data "Taro Mochimoto" as a search key. In this case, since "Taro Mochimoto" does not match any of the name data registered in name data group A-1 and name data group A-2, the user determination means determines that there is no corresponding user and determines it to be unknown. The electronic document storage means then stores the document to be determined in the unknown folder.

[0041] In this way, based on the user identification means's determination using the name data recognized by the reader, the documents subject to determination are sorted and stored.

[0042] Furthermore, for documents stored in the "Unknown" folder (documents determined to be unknown), a sub-determination means determines, via the system user, which user the document belongs to. Specifically, the system user refers to each name data group available on the system and determines that the document under the name "Taro Mochimoto" belongs to user A-1 "Taro Token," performs a predetermined action (such as linking) on ​​the system, and the sub-determination means accepts it. As a result, the sub-determination means determines that the document belongs to a specific user.

[0043] The above sub-determination means, upon receiving a determination from the system user regarding which user registered on the system the document identified as unknown belongs to, makes a match determination and adds the recognized name data to the name data group of the matched user. Specifically, as shown in Figure 4, the newly recognized name data "Taro Mochimoto" is added to the name data group A-1 of user A-1. As a result, the number of name data entries registered in the name data group A-1 increases to eight.

[0044] As a result, even if the name data recognized by the reader is "Taro Mochimoto" in subsequent instances, the document to be judged will be automatically sorted into user A-1's folder by the user judgment means. Consequently, sub-judgment by the system user is not required, reducing the workload of the system user.

[0045] In this way, by adding newly recognized name data to the name data group using the sub-determination method and updating the name data group, it is possible to create a name data group that covers all possible errors in writing and recognition that might occur with the actual names of users. Furthermore, since documents concerning users are sent regularly from the same related organizations, errors in writing and recognition by the person filling them out tend to become somewhat fixed. Therefore, by registering name data that has been incorrectly recognized due to such circumstances into the name data group, electronic documents can be sorted smoothly even if similar recognition occurs in the future.

[0046] Returning to Figure 3, the digitized documents stored in the user folder are further classified into separate document folders based on their type, determined by a document type determination means. For example, document A-1-1 could be placed in the plan-related folder, document A-1-2 in the performance report-related folder, and so on.

[0047] In this way, by storing documents related to each user as electronic documents in folders categorized hierarchically, it becomes possible to view and print documents smoothly, leading to increased work efficiency.

[0048] The system described above is based on optical character recognition, but compensates for any resulting misrecognitions with human judgment, thus being a relatively simple system that does not require advanced devices or systems such as AI learning. This makes it easy to introduce even in the nursing care field, where analog management is still prevalent.

[0049] The system of the present invention is not limited to the configuration described above, and can be modified as appropriate.

[0050] In the configuration described above, the user determination means determines whether it matches any of the name data sets based solely on the name data recognized by the reading device. However, for example, the determination may also be made by combining the recognized name data with other attribute information that further identifies the user. Examples of other attribute information include the user's name in kana, date of birth, postal code, address in kana, address in kanji, and telephone number.

[0051] Furthermore, in the determination by the care support specialist determination means, similar to the user determination means described above, the determination may be made using the recognized data and the group of care support specialist name data registered in the system. In this case, as with the sub-determination means described above, newly recognized name data may be added to the group of name data.

[0052] Furthermore, the system of the present invention can be used not only by care managers and the facilities to which they belong, but also in care facilities such as day care (day services, day rehabilitation), home care (helpers, home nursing, home rehabilitation), and short-term care (short stay), and can be used in the entire field of care. [Industrial applicability]

[0053] The present invention's document data management system for caregiving can reduce the burden of organizing documents in home care support service providers and other similar facilities. Furthermore, it eliminates the need to store documents in paper form, reducing the need for storage space and the effort required for storage. Therefore, it can be widely used in caregiving-related facilities such as home care support service providers. By reducing this administrative burden, the working time of caregivers can be reduced, while simultaneously increasing the time available for providing care services, ultimately contributing to an improvement in the quality of care services. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0054] 1. System (Document management system for nursing care) 2. Reading device 3. Electronic Information Terminals 4. Apps (Applications) 5. Documents subject to evaluation 6. Methods for determining eligibility as a care support specialist 7 User determination means 8 Sub-determination means 9. Document Type Determination Method 10. Electronic document storage means 11 Personal Folders 12 Unknown folders

Claims

1. A data management system for caregiving documents, which digitizes and manages documents related to users receiving caregiving services, The system consists of a reading device for digitizing documents relating to the aforementioned users using optical character recognition, an electronic information terminal connected to the reading device and operated by a system user belonging to the business establishment, and an application that runs on the electronic information terminal or on a server. The system includes a user determination means that determines which user a document to be determined belongs to, which is executed using the aforementioned application and digitized by the aforementioned reading device, and a means for storing the digitized document to be determined. The user determination means determines that the document to be determined belongs to the registered user if the name data recognized by the reading device matches one or more name data sets registered for each user in the system, and determines that there is no corresponding user if the recognized name data does not match any of the name data sets. The electronic document storage means is a means for sorting and storing the documents subject to determination based on the determination of the user determination means, into the individual folder for each corresponding user if a match is determined, and into the unknown folder if an unknown determination is made. A document management system for elderly care, characterized by the following features.

2. The user determination means, in the case of the determination being unclear, has a sub-determination means that determines, via the system user, which user the document subject to determination belongs to. The sub-determination means is a means that, with respect to the document that has been determined to be unknown, receives a determination from the system user as to which user registered on the system it belongs, makes a matching determination, and adds the recognized name data to the name data group of the user that has been determined to match. A caregiving document management system according to claim 1, characterized in that it is a caregiving document management system.

3. The system includes a care support specialist determination means that determines the care support specialist responsible for the user based on the name data recognized by the reading device, The care document management system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the electronic document storage means is a means for placing the personal folder under the folder hierarchy of the care support specialist in charge of the user corresponding to the personal folder, based on the determination of the care support specialist determination means.

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