Information processing device, control method, program, and support system

Abstract

To enable highly convenient image transfer. [Solution] The information processing device is an information processing device having a recording device on which images of multiple patients are recorded, and comprises a transmission means for transmitting images of multiple patients to an external device, a control means for controlling the transmission of images by the transmission means, and an acquisition means for acquiring patient information that uniquely identifies a patient, wherein the control means controls the transmission order of images of multiple patients so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of a first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method, a program, and a support system, and particularly relates to a technique for performing diagnostic support using a captured image.

Background Art

[0002] In the field of clinical medicine, diagnosis using a captured image is performed (Patent Document 1). In various medical treatment sites, not only imaging devices for specific uses such as endoscopes but also general-purpose imaging devices are used.

[0003] From the perspective of enabling use in various examinations and the perspective of handling of equipment, it is more convenient for the imaging device to be battery-driven. On the other hand, as in Patent Document 1, a method of sequentially and automatically uploading the images recorded by shooting is not sometimes adopted in a battery-driven imaging device because reasons such as the driveable time of the device becoming short. In such a mode, for example, when a doctor inputs information on a diagnosis result into an electronic medical record or adds an image to the electronic medical record, a process of acquiring an image from the imaging device becomes necessary.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] By the way, in outpatient medical treatment, the medical treatment schedule may be densely arranged, and the execution of the process of acquiring an image from the imaging device may be performed after a lapse of time from shooting, such as after all patients' medical treatments are completed. In this case, at the time of acquiring the image, there may be a possibility that images of a plurality of patients are accumulated in the imaging device. As a result, it takes time to acquire an image of a desired patient, and there are cases where a doctor cannot efficiently perform diagnosis or information input.

[0006] This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an imaging device, control method, program, and support system that realize highly convenient image transfer. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present invention provides an information processing device having a recording device on which images of multiple patients are recorded, comprising: a transmission means for transmitting images of multiple patients to an external device; a control means for controlling the transmission of images by the transmission means; and an acquisition means for acquiring patient information that uniquely identifies a patient, wherein the control means controls the transmission order of images of multiple patients so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of a first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] With this configuration, the present invention makes it possible to achieve highly convenient image transfer. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] A diagram illustrating the configuration of a support system according to embodiments and modified examples of the present invention. [Figure 2] Block diagram illustrating the configuration of the imaging device 101 according to embodiments and modified examples of the present invention. [Figure 3] Block diagram illustrating the configuration of an electronic medical record terminal 102 according to embodiments and modifications of the present invention. [Figure 4] A diagram illustrating various types of information managed by the medical record management device 103 according to embodiments and modifications of the present invention. [Figure 5] A diagram illustrating a pre-consultation scheduled medical information table according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 6] A diagram illustrating medical records that can be viewed and edited on an electronic medical record terminal 102 according to embodiments and modifications of the present invention. [Figure 7]A diagram illustrating an example of imaging of a diseased area according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 8] This figure illustrates a patient selection screen displayed in relation to patient selection in an imaging device 101 according to embodiments and modifications of the present invention. [Figure 9] A diagram illustrating a scheduled medical information table after the completion of medical treatment according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 10] A flowchart illustrating the transmission control process performed by the imaging device 101 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 11] Flowchart illustrating the reception process performed by the electronic medical record terminal 102 according to embodiments and modifications of the present invention. [Figure 12] A diagram illustrating a scheduled medical information table after the completion of medical treatment according to Modification 1 of the present invention. [Figure 13] A flowchart illustrating the transmission control process performed by the imaging device 101 according to Modification 1 of the present invention. [Figure 14] A flowchart illustrating the transmission control process performed by the imaging device 101 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. [Figure 15] A flowchart illustrating the transmission control process performed by the imaging device 101 according to Modification 2 of the present invention. [Figure 16] A flowchart illustrating the transmission process performed by the imaging device 101 according to Modification 2 of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] [Embodiment 1] The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention as defined in the claims. While the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any way. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, identical or similar configurations are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0011] The following embodiment is an example of an information processing apparatus, which is applied to an imaging device used for photographing a patient's affected part and capable of recording and storing the photographed image (affected part image) on a recording medium. However, the present invention is applicable to any device capable of transmitting a plurality of recorded affected part images to an external device or controlling the transmission of a plurality of affected part images recorded in an external device.

[0012] 《Configuration of Support System》 The system configuration of the support system according to this embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 1. The support system records an image (affected part image) of a patient's affected part and provides a function for supporting diagnosis based on the patient image to medical staff such as doctors.

[0013] As shown in the figure, the support system includes an imaging device 101 for photographing an affected part image, an electronic medical record terminal 102 used by a doctor to view and edit an electronic medical record, a medical record management device 103 for managing information related to the electronic medical record, and an image management device 104 for managing the affected part image. The medical record management device 103 and the image management device 104 are communicably connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via a network 105.

[0014] In this embodiment, the support system is described as being used for outpatient medical treatment in a hospital provided with a plurality of examination rooms, such as a general hospital or a university hospital. In the example of the figure, N examination rooms (examination rooms 1 to N) are provided, and each of them is equipped with an imaging device 101 and an electronic medical record terminal 102. In each examination room, for example, a doctor in charge of medical treatment for each time period is predetermined, and the doctor goes to the assigned examination room when the time period arrives to conduct medical treatment on the patient. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the medical treatment is on a reservation basis, and the information of the patient treated by the doctor in each examination room is configured to be acquirable.

[0015] By using the electronic medical record terminal 102 installed in the examination room, physicians can refer to and use various patient information as an electronic medical record while treating patients. Physicians can also use the imaging device 101 installed in the examination room as needed, and use the images of the affected area obtained through imaging to diagnose symptoms of the affected area and determine future treatment plans. To facilitate imaging of the affected area from the necessary position and direction, the imaging device 101 is battery-powered and is not normally connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102 by a wire to increase flexibility in handling. Therefore, images of the affected area taken using the imaging device 101 in the examination room are not automatically transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 each time an image is taken, but are basically recorded and stored on the recording device (recording medium) of the imaging device 101.

[0016] The electronic medical record terminal 102 is equipped with a display device and a user interface including buttons and a touch panel for various operations, allowing physicians to confirm necessary information during patient consultations and input the contents of medical interviews into the electronic medical record. Physicians can also edit the electronic medical record at any time by operating the electronic medical record terminal 102. As will be described in detail later, if a physician uses the imaging device 101 to photograph the patient's affected area during a consultation, they can then manually connect the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 (via wire) to transmit the images of the affected area to the electronic medical record terminal 102. This operation also allows the physician to input the images of the affected area into the electronic medical record.

[0017] In this embodiment, the imaging device 101 is described as being configured to transmit images recorded on the recording medium of the imaging device 101 by connecting to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via USB. However, the connection between the imaging device 101 and the electronic medical record terminal 102 is not limited to this, and wireless communication methods such as Wi-Fi® or Bluetooth® can also be used.

[0018] Various types of information related to electronic medical records are managed by the medical record management device 103. The medical record management device 103 has a database of various types of information related to medical treatment and provides the managed information to the electronic medical record terminal 102, etc., as needed. Details of the information managed by the medical record management device 103 will be described later, but it includes, for example, basic information about each patient (patient information), information about medical treatment performed (medical treatment information), and information about scheduled outpatient appointments (appointment information). The electronic medical record terminal 102 obtains this information or information composed of this information (sometimes collectively referred to as electronic medical record information) from the medical record management device 103 when providing medical treatment to patients. In addition, the medical record management device 103 also manages information about each physician providing medical treatment (physician information).

[0019] Furthermore, images of the affected area captured by the imaging device 101 are managed by the image management device 104. The affected area images may be configured to be managed in association with information such as information that uniquely identifies the patient, information that uniquely identifies the physician who treated the patient, and information on the diagnosis of the affected area. Once the affected area images are transmitted from the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102, they are uploaded to the image management device 104 via the electronic medical record terminal 102 and managed there. Therefore, when a physician subsequently checks the affected area images by viewing the electronic medical record, the corresponding affected area images obtained from the image management device 104 are displayed on the electronic medical record terminal 102.

[0020] Network 105 is an inter-device network for wireless and wired data transmission and various control functions. Network 105 can employ various communication protocols such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Local Area Network (LAN), Health Level Seven (HL7), and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM). The communication method of Network 105 can be any method that can transmit image data, text, control data, etc.

[0021] Configuration of the imaging device The configuration of the imaging device 101 according to this embodiment will be described below using the block diagram in Figure 2.

[0022] The CPU 201 controls the operation of each block in the imaging device 101. Specifically, the CPU 201 controls the operation of each block by reading the operation program for each block stored in the ROM 202, loading it into the Random Access Memory (RAM) 203, and executing it.

[0023] ROM202 is a non-volatile memory device. ROM202 stores not only the operating programs for each block of the imaging device 101, but also information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block. RAM203 functions as the main memory of the CPU 201. RAM203 includes volatile memory devices such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and non-volatile memory devices such as Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM). Various programs, including the operating programs for each block, are stored in the volatile memory devices of RAM203. The volatile memory devices of RAM203 also provide a work area for the CPU 201 when executing various processes. The non-volatile memory devices of RAM203 store data that should be retained after a power outage, such as the nickname set for the imaging device 101.

[0024] The input unit 204 is a user interface, such as buttons, for performing various operations. The input unit 204 includes, for example, a release button located on the top of the imaging device 101, and a directional pad and setting keys located on the back. In a configuration in which the display unit 205 is equipped with a touch panel, the input unit 204 also includes a touch panel sensor. When the input unit 204 detects user input to any of the user interfaces, it outputs a control signal corresponding to that input to the CPU 201.

[0025] The display unit 205 is a display device provided on the imaging device 101. The display unit 205 displays, for example, images captured by the imaging unit 208 in response to the operation of the shutter release button and the input of a shooting command, as well as various setting screens. The display unit 205 can also display image data stored in the RAM 203 and recording medium 207, and can also provide live view display by displaying images captured by the imaging unit 209 through the display.

[0026] The recording interface 206 is an interface for reading and writing data to an external recording device (recording medium) 207. The recording medium 207 may be a recording device such as a memory card or a USB memory stick.

[0027] The connection interface 208 is an interface for data communication between the imaging device 101 and external devices. In the support system of this embodiment, the imaging device 101 connects to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via the connection interface 208 to send and receive data.

[0028] The imaging unit 209 has a solid-state image sensor, such as a CCD or CMOS sensor, and generates image data of the subject (the affected area of ​​the patient). More specifically, the imaging unit 209 generates an analog image signal by photoelectric conversion of the optical image formed on the imaging surface of the solid-state image sensor using an imaging optical system (not shown), and generates image data of the affected area by performing analog-to-digital conversion on this signal.

[0029] The image processing unit 210 applies various image processing to the image data generated by the imaging unit 209. Such image processing includes a series of image processing steps to produce image data that matches the purpose of shooting, such as conversion processing to suit the characteristics of human vision.

[0030] The file generation unit 211 converts the image data to which the image processing unit 210 has been applied and generates an image file in a general-purpose still image format. The file generation unit 211 can also add or modify EXIF ​​information to the image data to which the image processing unit 210 has been applied and to the generated image file.

[0031] The CPU bus 212 includes an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The CPU bus 212 connects the various blocks of the imaging device 101.

[0032] Configuration of Electronic Medical Record Terminal 102 Next, the configuration of the electronic medical record terminal 102 according to this embodiment will be explained using the block diagram in Figure 3.

[0033] The CPU 301 controls the operation of each block in the electronic medical record terminal 102. Specifically, the CPU 301 controls the operation of each block by reading the operation program for each block stored in the ROM 302, loading it into the Random Access Memory (RAM) 303, and executing it.

[0034] ROM302 is a non-volatile memory device. ROM302 stores not only the deployment area for the operation programs of each block in the electronic medical record terminal 102, but also information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block. RAM303 functions as the main memory of the CPU301. RAM303 is a non-volatile memory device such as an EEPROM. RAM303 provides a work area for the CPU301 when executing various processes.

[0035] The input unit 304 is a user interface such as a keyboard or mouse (pointing device) for performing various operations. In a configuration where the display unit 305 is equipped with a touch panel, the input unit 304 also includes a touch panel sensor. When the input unit 304 detects user input to any of the user interfaces, it outputs a control signal corresponding to that input to the CPU 301.

[0036] The display unit 305 is a display device provided on the electronic medical record terminal 102. The display unit 305 displays the electronic medical record and a GUI related to editing and switching the electronic medical record.

[0037] The memory interface 306 is an interface for reading and writing data to an external storage device 307. The storage device 307 may be, for example, a USB memory device.

[0038] The Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 308 is a high-capacity storage device built into the electronic medical record terminal 102. The HDD 308 is a non-volatile storage device.

[0039] Network I / F 309 is an interface for communicating information with external devices on network 105. In the support system of this embodiment, the electronic medical record terminal 102 communicates with the medical record management device 103 and the image management device 104 on network 105 via network I / F 309 to send and receive data.

[0040] The connection interface 310 is an interface on the electronic medical record terminal 102 for data communication with external devices that are not on the network 105. In the support system of this embodiment, the electronic medical record terminal 102 connects to the imaging device 101 via the connection interface 310 and transmits and receives data.

[0041] The CPU bus 311 includes an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The CPU bus 311 connects the various blocks of the electronic medical record terminal 102.

[0042] Information managed by the medical record management system. The following describes the various types of information managed by the medical record management device 103 in the support system of this embodiment.

[0043] <Patient Information> The patient information managed by the medical record management device 103 includes basic information for each patient. In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 4(a), the patient information for one patient includes the patient's name 402, date of birth 403, age 404, and gender 405, associated with a patient ID 401 that uniquely identifies the patient.

[0044] The patient information shown in Figure 4(a) is presented in a table format, with each record corresponding to one piece of patient information. For example, patient ID 0001 is registered as having the name Hanako Shimomaruko, a date of birth of October 1, 1988, an age of 35, and a gender of female.

[0045] <Medical Information> The medical information managed by the medical record management device 103 is information that stores and records the patient's medical condition. In one embodiment, the medical information may consist of information about one or more medical treatments performed in the past for each patient. In this embodiment, the medical information for one patient includes the physician's ID, department, date of treatment, and medical condition information for each treatment related to that patient, associated with the patient's patient ID. The medical information may also include information such as diagnosis results and medical history. The medical information is registered and updated, for example, when new information such as diagnosis results is entered into the electronic medical record at the electronic medical record terminal 102 for treatments performed by a physician.

[0046] Based on the medical information, electronic medical record information can be generated on the electronic medical record terminal 102 for displaying the electronic medical record for a specified patient.

[0047] <Reservation Information> The appointment information managed by the medical record management device 103 includes information regarding appointments for medical consultations scheduled at the hospital. In one embodiment, the appointment information for a single medical consultation appointment includes, as shown in Figure 4(b), the examination room 411 where the consultation will take place, the type of outpatient consultation 412, the scheduled date and time 413, a physician ID 414 that uniquely identifies the physician in charge of the consultation, and a patient ID 415 of the patient being treated. In this embodiment, the type of outpatient consultation can be set to either a general outpatient consultation or a specialized outpatient consultation, and either "general" or "specialized" is entered in the type of outpatient consultation 412. Generally, for highly specialized illnesses (for example, nail diseases in dermatology), a specialist will treat the patient in a specialized outpatient consultation.

[0048] The reservation information shown in Figure 4(b) is presented in a table format, with each record corresponding to one reservation. For example, the first record shows a reservation for a general outpatient appointment on November 21, 2023 at 10:00, where physician ID 9001 will treat patient ID 0001 in examination room 1.

[0049] <Doctor Information> The physician information managed by the medical record management device 103 includes information about physicians who are in charge of medical treatment at the hospital. In one embodiment, the physician information for a single physician includes the physician's name 422, associated with a physician ID 421 that uniquely identifies the physician, as shown in Figure 4(c).

[0050] The physician information shown in Figure 4(c) is presented in a table format, with each record corresponding to one piece of physician information. For example, a patient with physician ID 9001 is registered as having the name Yokohama Ichiro.

[0051] 《How the support system is used》 The following describes the general outline of medical treatment on any given day in examination room 1 using the support system of this embodiment.

[0052] <Preparation> In this embodiment, before the first medical examination of the day is performed, information on patients scheduled for examination on that day is set in the imaging device 101 as a scheduled medical information table. The scheduled medical information table may be set in the imaging device 101 by, for example, the electronic medical record terminal 102. In order to enable the setting of the scheduled medical information table, the electronic medical record terminal 102 collects information on medical examinations to be performed on that day prior to the setting of the scheduled medical information table. The scheduled medical information table is a table that manages various information about medical examinations scheduled to be performed in the examination room (examination room 1 in this example), and an example of it is shown in Figure 5.

[0053] As shown in the figure, each record in the scheduled medical information table includes the examination room 501, the type of outpatient consultation 502, the scheduled date and time 503, the physician ID 504, the patient ID 505, the physician's name 506, the patient's name 507, the patient's date of birth 508, the patient's age 509, and the patient's gender 510. This information can be obtained, for example, from the medical record management device 103 when a request for information regarding scheduled medical appointments in the examination room 1 is sent from the electronic medical record terminal 102 installed in the examination room 1 to the medical record management device 103 as a response. This request is sent, for example, when a physician connects the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 and makes an operation input to the user interface related to setting the scheduled medical information table on the electronic medical record terminal 102.

[0054] When the medical record management device 103 receives an acquisition request, it first identifies the appointment information from its managed appointment information where the scheduled date and time 413 indicates the current day and the examination room 411 is examination room 1. Furthermore, based on the physician ID 414 of the identified appointment information, the medical record management device 103 identifies physician information from its managed physician information that has the same physician ID 421. Also, based on the patient ID 415 of the identified appointment information, the medical record management device 103 identifies patient information from its managed patient information that has the same patient ID 401. By merging the identified appointment information, physician information, and patient information in this way, the above information necessary for the scheduled medical treatment information can be obtained. When the CPU 301 of the electronic medical record terminal 102 receives this information, it stores it, for example, in the HDD 308 as information related to the medical treatment to be performed on that day. The CPU 301 also transmits the received information to the imaging device 101 and sets up the scheduled medical treatment information table in the imaging device 101. The scheduled medical treatment information table is stored, for example, in the ROM 202 of the imaging device 101. When the scheduled medical information table is set in the imaging device 101, for example, a message to that effect will be displayed on the display unit 205 of the imaging device 101, and the doctor can complete the necessary preparations by confirming this display and begin the day's medical consultation.

[0055] As shown in Figure 5, each scheduled medical information entry includes the start date and time of imaging 511, the image list 512, and the transmission status 513. This information is such that whether or not it is used depends on the content of the medical treatment (whether or not images of the affected area were taken using the imaging device 101) after the patient's treatment has actually begun. Therefore, at the time of setting the scheduled medical information table, the information may not be stored and the area may be reserved. In other words, the start date and time of imaging 511, the image list 512, and the transmission status 513 are configured with blank initial values ​​(values ​​at the time of setting the scheduled medical information table).

[0056] <Start of medical treatment> Once the necessary preparations are complete and the scheduled appointment time arrives, the doctor calls the patient into examination room 1 and begins the consultation. The doctor can display the electronic medical record for the patient being treated on the electronic medical record terminal 102, refer to the information, and input information obtained through interviews, physical examinations, etc.

[0057] (Electronic medical records) Here, an example of the electronic medical record displayed on the display unit 305 of the electronic medical record terminal 102 is shown in Figure 6. In the example in Figure 6, the electronic medical record 600 is composed of a patient information display 610, a physician information display 620, a medical treatment information display 630, and a status display 640.

[0058] The information displayed on each display of the electronic medical record 600 is based on the information obtained when setting up the scheduled treatment information table and (if applicable) the medical information managed in the medical record management device 103 in association with the patient ID of the patient receiving treatment. More specifically, the patient information display 610 displays the patient's received patient ID, name, date of birth, age, and gender. The physician information display 620 displays the physician's received physician ID and name information for the physician providing treatment.

[0059] The medical information display 630 is an interface for doctors to input various information about a patient's treatment and an area where previously entered information can be reviewed. The medical information display 630 displays the scheduled date and time and department of the treatment to be performed on the day. The medical information display 630 also includes a text box 631 for entering the doctor's findings regarding the patient's treatment and a text box 632 for entering the doctor's prescription. Furthermore, the medical information display 630 includes an area for displaying images of the affected area that have been selected to be included in the electronic medical record when imaging of the affected area was performed using the imaging device 101 during the patient's treatment.

[0060] Although not shown in the example in Figure 6, the medical information display 630 can also display information indicating past medical treatment results, etc., if medical information regarding past medical treatments for the patient is stored in the medical record management device 103. Therefore, when a doctor treats a patient, the medical record management device 103 receives a request to obtain medical information related to the patient's patient ID, and if the medical record management device 103 has the relevant information, it receives the medical information corresponding to the request. When the CPU 301 receives medical information for a patient whose electronic medical record 600 is being displayed, it can change the configuration of the medical information display 630 based on that information.

[0061] Status display 640 is an area that displays the status of the reception of affected area images when those images are included in the electronic medical record 600. As will be described in detail later, when a physician takes an image of an affected area using the imaging device 101 during a patient's examination, the physician needs to retrieve the recorded affected area image by connecting the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 afterward. Status display 640 is used to display various statuses regarding the acquisition (reception) of affected area images from the imaging device 101 when the imaging device 101 and the electronic medical record terminal 102 are connected. Such displays may include, for example, a notification that all affected area images for the patient related to the electronic medical record being displayed (edited) have been received, a notification that any affected area image is being received, or a notification that no affected area images exist for that patient.

[0062] (Photo of the affected area) If deemed necessary during the examination, the physician will use the imaging device 101 installed in the examination room 1 to take images of the affected area and record the images. The images of the affected area may be taken from various angles to record the shape and color of the affected area, as well as its location on the body, and more than 10 images of the affected area may be recorded for each patient.

[0063] In the example described in this overview, as shown in Figure 7, four patients are examined in examination room 1, and for three of these patients, imaging of the affected area is performed using the imaging device 101, recording 10 images of the affected area for each patient. The order of examinations shown in Figure 7 corresponds to the scheduled examination information table shown in Figure 5, with physician "Yokohama Ichiro" examining patients "Shimomaruko Hanako" and "Hirama Taro," and physician "Minato Mirai" examining patients "Kamata Jiro" and "Tamagawa Saburo."

[0064] When a physician uses the imaging device 101 to image an affected area, they must first select the patient's information. For this selection, the display unit 205 of the imaging device 101 displays a patient selection screen as shown in Figure 8. The patient selection screen is configured to allow page turning, and each time the page changes, patient information 801 is displayed in the order of the scheduled medical appointments. Patient information 801 is obtained from the patient ID 505, patient name 507, patient date of birth 508, patient age 509, and patient gender 510 of each scheduled medical appointment in the scheduled medical appointment information table. The physician can transition the imaging device 101 to the state for imaging the affected area of ​​the patient by performing an operation related to confirming the patient while the patient's information for the affected area to be imaged is displayed on the patient selection screen.

[0065] The patient selection screen may be displayed by selecting a menu item not shown, or it may be displayed each time an image of the affected area is taken. In the latter case, the patient selection screen is displayed on the display unit 205 each time an image of the affected area is taken, and the physician only needs to input an operation to cancel (new patient selection) if they wish to continue taking images of the same patient's affected area.

[0066] When an operation related to confirming a patient is entered on the patient selection screen, the CPU 201 stores the date and time of the operation in the shooting start date and time 511 of the scheduled medical information table, as shown in Figure 9. In addition, each time an image of the affected area is taken, an image of the affected area (image file) is recorded on the recording medium 207. In the imaging device 101 of this embodiment, when an image of the affected area is taken, the CPU 201 adds (registers) the information of the recorded image file (for example, the file name) to the image list 512 related to the patient in the scheduled medical information table. As a result, the information of the patient (patient ID) and the doctor (physician ID) who treated the patient, along with the image of the affected area recorded on the recording medium 207, are associated with the image of the affected area in the scheduled medical information table.

[0067] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a scheduled medical information table is used to manage the transmission status of each affected area image, and it is described that the affected area image is associated with the patient ID and physician ID in this table. However, the association of information with the affected area image is not limited to this. This information may also be associated with the affected area image by storing the patient ID, physician ID, and the date and time of image capture in the EXIF ​​information stored in the header of the affected area image. In this case, the scheduled medical information table does not need to store the date and time of image capture 511 and the image list 512.

[0068] Furthermore, when the information of the affected area image is registered in the image list 512, the CPU 201 stores "Not transmitted" information in the transmission status 513 of the corresponding scheduled medical treatment information. During medical treatment, the imaging device 101 is used without being connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, so the affected area image recorded in the display unit 205 is not transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Consequently, the transmission status 513 of the corresponding scheduled medical treatment information remains "Not transmitted" until the affected area image is transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102.

[0069] In the configuration shown in Figure 7, 10 images of the affected area were taken for each of the patients "Hirama Taro," "Kamata Jiro," and "Tamagawa Saburo." Therefore, in the scheduled medical information table in Figure 9, information regarding the start date and time of imaging 511, the image list 512, and the transmission status 513 for the scheduled medical information of these patients is stored.

[0070] <After the clinic closes> In the embodiment described in this model, the hospital concludes outpatient consultations after all patients have been treated, and then engages in other tasks such as consultations regarding the medical condition of inpatients or meetings among doctors regarding the medical condition of patients. After completing these tasks, the doctor returns to the examination room where the consultations were conducted and processes the acquisition of affected area images stored on the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101 in order to associate the affected area images with the electronic medical records of the patients treated that day.

[0071] The acquisition of affected area images is configured to begin when the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102. In the configuration shown in Figure 7, the recording medium 207 has 30 affected area images related to three patients stored on it. The CPU 201 sequentially reads these affected area images from the recording medium 207 and transmits them to the connection I / F 208, which then sends them to the electronic medical record terminal 102. As a result, the affected area image area 633 of the patient's electronic medical record displayed on the electronic medical record terminal 102 displays the affected area images taken for that patient.

[0072] Here, it is not necessary for all images of the affected area taken for each patient to be associated with the electronic medical record. Generally, during imaging of the affected area, the physician continues to take multiple images without worrying about the detail of the image, so the images may include undesirable conditions, such as when a part of the area necessary for diagnosing the affected area is not included in the imaging field of view, or when the affected area is out of focus. Therefore, after the images of the affected areas of the patients the physician has treated are imported into the electronic medical record terminal 102, the physician performs operations such as excluding undesirable images and selecting the images that need to be associated with the electronic medical record.

[0073] The physician then associates the desired image of the affected area with the electronic medical record, inputs information such as the diagnostic result related to the image, and edits the electronic medical record. As a result, information about the edited electronic medical record is transmitted to the medical record management device 103, and the medical information managed by the medical record management device 103 is updated.

[0074] Overview of Image Transmission Control Incidentally, as shown in Figure 7, a doctor may see multiple patients during a single day of outpatient consultations. Also, multiple doctors may see patients in the same examination room on the same day. As a result, for example, at the end of a day of outpatient consultations, the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101 may contain images of the affected areas of multiple patients seen by multiple doctors. For this reason, even if a doctor connects the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 and starts acquiring images of the affected area to add them to the electronic medical record, it may take some time for the desired images of the affected area to be acquired.

[0075] As an example, let's explain the case where Dr. Minato Mirai, who was in charge of the afternoon outpatient consultation in examination room 1 in the configuration shown in Figure 7, selects an image of the affected area to add to the electronic medical record of patient Tamagawa Saburo. When Dr. Minato Mirai connects the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in order to select the affected area image to be added, if the acquisition of affected area images related to the morning consultation starts in order, the doctor will not be able to perform the desired task. That is, if the affected area images are acquired in the order they were recorded on the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101 (by date and time of acquisition / ascending order of file name), Dr. Minato Mirai will have to wait for the acquisition of 20 affected area images of other patients before patient Tamagawa Saburo's image is acquired.

[0076] Thus, in a configuration where the imaging device 101 transmits images of multiple patients recorded on the recording medium 207 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in a fixed transmission order, triggered by connection to the electronic medical record terminal 102, the convenience of the support system may be reduced. Therefore, in the support system of this embodiment, the CPU 201 dynamically controls the transmission order of images transmitted from the imaging device 101 when connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, thereby improving convenience.

[0077] Specifically, when CPU 201 connects to electronic medical record terminal 102, it acquires information to identify the patient whose electronic medical record is being edited on electronic medical record terminal 102. That is, when CPU 201 detects a connection to electronic medical record terminal 102, it sends a request to electronic medical record terminal 102 to acquire the patient ID of the patient whose electronic medical record is currently being edited (displayed on display unit 305). CPU 301 responds by returning the patient ID of the patient whose electronic medical record is being edited. Hereafter, the patient whose electronic medical record is being edited on electronic medical record terminal 102 will be referred to as patient 1.

[0078] When CPU 201 obtains the patient ID for the first patient, it controls the transmission order of affected area images to prioritize the transmission of the affected area image associated with that patient ID. Specifically, CPU 201 determines the transmission order so that the affected area image of the first patient, identified by the obtained patient ID, is transmitted with priority over other affected area images from among the affected area images recorded on the recording medium 207. First, CPU 201 refers to the scheduled medical treatment information table and identifies the record in which patient ID 505 is the same as the obtained patient ID as the scheduled medical treatment information for the first patient. Then, CPU 201 determines the transmission order so that the affected area image registered in the image list 512 of that scheduled medical treatment information is transmitted with the highest priority.

[0079] In this way, when a doctor connects the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102, the images of the affected area of ​​the patient (first patient) whose electronic medical record is being edited are preferentially transmitted from the imaging device 101, thus reducing the waiting time for the doctor to receive the affected area images. Therefore, in the example where doctor "Minato Mirai" connects the imaging device 101 while displaying patient "Tamagawa Saburo"'s electronic medical record on the electronic medical record terminal 102, the image files IMG_0021.jpg to IMG_0030.jpg of "Tamagawa Saburo" will be transmitted preferentially.

[0080] Furthermore, it is assumed that a physician who has connected the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 will perform editing work, including adding images of affected areas, on the electronic medical records of other patients (hereinafter referred to as "second patients") that he has treated consecutively. For this reason, the CPU 201 identifies patients who have been treated by the same physician as the first patient as second patients and controls the transmission order to transmit the images of affected areas of the second patient after those of the first patient. Here, the physician ID of the physician who treated the first patient can be identified by the physician ID 504 in the scheduled treatment information related to the first patient.

[0081] When CPU201 identifies the physician ID of the physician who treated the first patient, it controls the transmission order to prioritize the transmission of affected area images associated with that physician ID. First, CPU201 refers to the scheduled medical information table and identifies a record as scheduled medical information for the second patient in which physician ID 504 is the identified physician ID and patient ID 505 is different from the patient ID of the first patient. Then, CPU201 determines the transmission order so that the affected area images registered in the image list 512 of that scheduled medical information are transmitted after the images of the first patient.

[0082] In this way, images of the affected area of ​​the patient examined by the doctor (second patient) are transmitted from the imaging device 101 with priority after the images of the affected area of ​​the first patient, thus reducing the waiting time for the doctor to receive images of the affected area for the electronic medical record that the doctor can edit next. Therefore, in the example where doctor "Minato Mirai" connects the imaging device 101 while editing the electronic medical record of patient "Tamagawa Saburo", the image files of patient "Kamata Jiro" are transmitted with priority after the image files of "Tamagawa Saburo". That is, the CPU 201 controls the transmission of the image files of "Kamata Jiro" IMG_0011.jpg~IMG_0020.jpg after the image files of "Tamagawa Saburo".

[0083] If there are multiple patients who qualify as the second patient, the CPU 201 should sequentially select the scheduled medical information for each patient in a predetermined order, such as by the date and time of imaging, and control the system to sequentially transmit the images of the affected area registered in the image list 512 of the scheduled medical information.

[0084] Therefore, in the support system of this embodiment, when a physician connects the imaging device 101 while editing an electronic medical record on the electronic medical record terminal 102, the system can efficiently capture images of affected areas related to patients treated by the physician while ensuring the convenience of editing the electronic medical record. In other words, a physician who edits an electronic medical record after completing outpatient treatment can efficiently capture images of affected areas that are candidates for addition to the electronic medical record being edited, while also capturing images of affected areas that may be subsequently edited as candidates for addition to the electronic medical record.

[0085] (Avoiding duplicate transmissions) In this embodiment of the support system, images transmitted from the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 are uploaded to and stored in the image management device 104, so there is no need to transmit them again from the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102. In other words, if an image is already stored in the image management device 104, it can be retrieved from the image management device 104 and displayed on the electronic medical record terminal 102 when displaying the electronic medical record, without needing to acquire it again from the imaging device 101. Therefore, by controlling the imaging device 101 to limit the images of affected areas that it transmits to only those images of affected areas that have not been transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in the past, the time required for image transmission can be reduced.

[0086] Therefore, the CPU 201 manages the transmission status of affected area images using the scheduled medical information table. As described above, when an image of a patient's affected area is recorded by imaging the affected area, the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for that patient stores the information "not transmitted". In other words, when the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, if the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the relevant patient is "not transmitted", the image files registered in the image list 512 of the scheduled medical information become targets for transmission to the electronic medical record terminal 102. The information in the transmission status 513 is configured to be updated to "transmission complete" by the CPU 201 when all image files registered in the image list 512 of the scheduled medical information have been transmitted, thereby avoiding duplicate transmission of the same image files.

[0087] On the other hand, since multiple images of the affected area can be taken for a single patient, if the transmission of affected area images is interrupted, for example, due to the connection of the imaging device 101 being lost, some of the affected area images that have already been transmitted may be transmitted redundantly. For this reason, in the support system of this embodiment, the imaging device 101 transmits the image files registered in the image list 512 of the scheduled medical information in file name order, and the CPU 201 stores the file name of the image file that has started to be transmitted in the transmission status 513. As a result, when the imaging device 101 is reconnected to the electronic medical record terminal 102 after the transmission of affected area images has been interrupted, the CPU 201 can determine which affected area image should be transmitted first by referring to the information in the transmission status 513 of the relevant scheduled medical information. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information stores one of the following: "Not transmitted", "Transmission completed", or "File name being transmitted".

[0088] Here, when connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, if there are no affected area images to be sent for the patient (first patient) whose electronic medical record is being edited in the electronic medical record terminal 102, the CPU 201 should output information to the electronic medical record terminal 102 to notify it of this fact. Upon receiving this information, the CPU 301 of the electronic medical record terminal 102 will, for example, make a notification corresponding to the area of ​​the status display 640 of the electronic medical record being displayed on the display unit 305.

[0089] For example, when connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, if all images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been transmitted, that is, if the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the first patient is recorded as "transmission complete", the CPU 201 transmits information to that effect. Upon receiving this information, the CPU 301 changes the display of the status display 640 of the electronic medical record for the first patient that is currently being displayed to indicate that the images of the affected area of ​​that patient have been received.

[0090] Alternatively, for example, when connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, if there are no images of the affected area of ​​the first patient, that is, if the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the first patient is blank, the CPU 201 sends information to that effect. Upon receiving this information, the CPU 301 changes the display of the status display 640 of the electronic medical record for the first patient that is currently being displayed to indicate that no images of the affected area were taken during the patient's treatment.

[0091] Transmission control processing The transmission control process performed in the imaging device 101 of this embodiment will be described below using the flowchart in Figure 10 to explain the specific process. The process corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the CPU 201 reading the corresponding processing program stored in the ROM 202, for example, loading it into the RAM 203 and executing it. This transmission control process will be described as being started, for example, when the imaging device 101 detects that it has been connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102.

[0092] In step S1001, the CPU 201 obtains the patient ID (patient ID of the first patient) related to the electronic medical record being edited on the electronic medical record terminal 102. This step is performed by sending a request to obtain the patient ID of the first patient to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via the connection I / F 208, and receiving the patient ID from the electronic medical record terminal 102 as a response to the request.

[0093] In S1002, the CPU 201 determines whether or not there are unsent images of the affected area for the first patient. This determination can be made based on the transmission status 513 information of the scheduled medical information for the first patient in the scheduled medical information table. Specifically, the CPU 201 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area if the transmission status 513 is "not sent" or "file name". The CPU 201 also determines that there are no unsent images of the affected area if the transmission status 513 is "transmission completed" or "blank". If the CPU 201 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area for the first patient, it moves the process to S1003. If it determines that there are no unsent images of the affected area for the first patient, it moves the process to S1004.

[0094] In S1003, the CPU 201 sequentially transmits the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the first patient to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Specifically, the CPU 201 identifies the image files related to the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the first patient based on the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the first patient and the image list 512. The CPU 201 then reads the identified image files from the recording medium 207 via the recording I / F 206 and transmits them to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Once all the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in this manner, the CPU 201 updates the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the first patient to transmission complete and moves the process to S1004.

[0095] In S1004, the CPU 201 sends information to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via the connection I / F 208 indicating that all images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been transmitted. If the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the first patient is blank, the CPU 201 also sends information to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via the connection I / F 208 indicating that no images of the affected area were taken during the first patient's treatment.

[0096] In S1005, CPU201 identifies the patient ID of the second patient who was treated by the same physician as the first patient. Specifically, CPU201 extracts records from the other records in the scheduled medical information table that do not pertain to the first patient, and whose scheduled medical information pertains to the first patient and physician ID 504 are the same. Then, CPU201 identifies the patient ID 505 of the scheduled medical information pertaining to the extracted record as the patient ID of the second patient. As mentioned above, a physician may treat multiple patients, so multiple records may be extracted. Therefore, in this step, CPU201 only needs to store the identified patient IDs of the second patients as a list in RAM203.

[0097] In S1006, the CPU 201 determines whether or not there are any unsent images of the affected area for the second patient. This determination can be made based on the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the second patient in the scheduled medical information table. Specifically, the CPU 201 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area for the second patient if the transmission status 513 of any of the scheduled medical information for the second patient is either "not sent" or "file name". The CPU 201 also determines that there are no unsent images of the affected area for the second patient if the transmission status 513 of all scheduled medical information for the second patient is either "transmission completed" or "blank". If the CPU 201 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area for the second patient, it moves the process to S1007; otherwise, it moves the process to S1008.

[0098] In S1007, the CPU 201 sequentially transmits the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Specifically, the CPU 201 identifies the image files related to the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient based on the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information and the image list 512 related to the second patient. The CPU 201 then reads the identified image files from the recording medium 207 via the recording I / F 206 and transmits them to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Once all the images of the affected area of ​​one second patient have been sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102, the CPU 201 updates the transmission status 513 of the information for that second patient to transmission complete. Once all the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient have been sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in this manner, the CPU 201 moves the processing to S1008. In this embodiment, the CPU 201 selects second patients for whom untransmitted affected area images exist in chronological order of the date and time of examination, and controls the transmission of the affected area images. That is, in this embodiment, the untransmitted affected area images of second patients are transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 for each patient in chronological order of the start date and time of image acquisition.

[0099] In S1008, the CPU 201 sends information to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via the connection I / F 208 indicating that all images of the affected area taken by the physician editing the electronic medical record have been transmitted, and completes this transmission control process.

[0100] In this embodiment, the transmission control process describes a method in which, in S1005, the patient IDs of second patients who were treated by the same physician as the first patient are listed, and then the affected area images are transmitted for second patients from this list who have unsent affected area images. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and the process in S1006 can be omitted by configuring the system so that second patients whose affected area images have already been transmitted or are blank are not included in the list at the time of listing in S1005.

[0101] Receiving Processing Next, the specific processing of receiving images of affected areas in the electronic medical record terminal 102 of this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 11. The processing corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the CPU 301 reading the corresponding processing program stored in the ROM 302, for example, loading it into the RAM 303 and executing it. This receiving process will be explained assuming that it is started, for example, when the imaging device 101 is detected to be connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Prior to the receiving process, the electronic medical record terminal 102 will acquire the electronic medical record information of the patient specified by the operating physician from the medical record management device 103, and the electronic medical record will be displayed on the display unit 305 based on that electronic medical record information.

[0102] In S1101, the CPU 301 determines whether or not it has received a request from the imaging device 101 to obtain the patient ID (patient ID of the first patient) related to the electronic medical record being edited. If the CPU 301 determines that it has received a request to obtain the patient ID of the first patient, it moves the process to S1102; otherwise, it repeats the process in this step.

[0103] In S1102, the CPU 301 transmits the patient ID of the first patient to the connection I / F 310, which then sends it to the imaging device 101.

[0104] In S1103, the CPU 301 determines whether it has received information notifying it that all images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been transmitted. If the CPU 301 determines that it has received information notifying it that all images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been transmitted, it moves the process to S1105; otherwise, it moves the process to S1104.

[0105] In S1104, when the CPU 301 receives the image of the affected area of ​​the first patient, it stores the image in the RAM 303 and transmits it to the network I / F 309 to upload it to the image management device 104. As a result, the image of the affected area transmitted from the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 is uploaded to the image management device 104 and managed by the image management device 104. The CPU 301 then places the image of the affected area stored in the RAM 303 into the affected area image area 633 of the electronic medical record displayed on the display unit 305 and displays it, before returning processing to S1103.

[0106] On the other hand, if the CPU 301 determines in S1103 that it has received information indicating that all images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been transmitted, the CPU 301 updates the status display 640 of the electronic medical record displayed on the display unit 305 in S1105. Specifically, the CPU 301 updates the status display 640 to indicate that all images of the affected area of ​​the patient (first patient) in the electronic medical record have been received.

[0107] S1106, CPU301 determines whether it has received information notifying it that all images of the affected area taken by the physician editing the electronic medical record have been sent. That is, CPU301 determines whether all images of the affected area of ​​the second patient have also been received. If CPU301 determines that it has received information notifying it that all images of the affected area taken by the physician editing the electronic medical record have been sent, it moves the process to S1108; otherwise, it moves the process to S1107.

[0108] In S1107, when the CPU 301 receives an image of the affected area of ​​the second patient, it stores the image in the RAM 303 and transmits it to the network I / F 309 to upload it to the image management device 104.

[0109] On the other hand, if the CPU 301 determines in S1106 that it has received information indicating that all images of the affected area taken by the physician editing the electronic medical record have been sent, the CPU 301 updates the status display 640 of the electronic medical record displayed on the display unit 305 in S1108. Specifically, the CPU 301 updates the status display 640 to indicate that all images of the affected area of ​​patients treated by the physician editing the record have been received. Once the CPU 301 updates the status display 640, it completes this reception process.

[0110] As described above, the information processing device of this embodiment enables highly convenient image transfer. More specifically, when the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102 and transmits multiple images of affected areas recorded on the recording medium 207, the electronic medical record terminal 102 controls the transmission of images of affected areas of patients in the electronic medical record being edited, prioritizing their transmission. This allows the physician to begin work on affected area images in the electronic medical record being edited as soon as possible. Furthermore, since the transmission of images of affected areas of other patients treated by the physician editing the electronic medical record is then controlled, the editing work on electronic medical records for those other patients treated by the physician can also be made more efficient.

[0111] Furthermore, considering that the imaging device 101 is continuously used for medical treatment, the transmission control process may be configured to delete images of the affected area that have been transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 from the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101. Information such as whether or not images of the affected area have been transmitted can be obtained by referring to the scheduled medical treatment information table, and images of the affected area that have already been uploaded to the image management device 104 can be obtained from the image management device 104. Therefore, the CPU 201 can delete transmitted images of the affected area 2 from the recording medium 207.

[0112] In this embodiment, as a control method for controlling the transmission order of affected area images, a control method was described in which the image of the patient related to the electronic medical record being edited is transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 with the highest priority. However, the control of the transmission order is not limited to this, and it is sufficient to control the transmission of the affected area image in question with priority over any other affected area images recorded on the recording medium 207. Here, "priority" does not necessarily mean that the image in question is transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 first, and includes, for example, control that starts transmitting the affected area image that should be prioritized only after the transmission of the affected area image that is already being transmitted is completed.

[0113] [Example 1] In the example shown in Figure 7 of the above-described embodiment, a scenario was described in which all outpatient consultations conducted in the examination room were general outpatient consultations. On the other hand, some hospitals have multiple departments, and even the same doctor may provide different types of outpatient consultations, such as general outpatient consultations and specialized outpatient consultations, depending on the time of day. In such a scenario, the doctor may have to edit the electronic medical records of multiple departments after the consultations are completed, but it is difficult to imagine editing electronic medical records across different departments. In other words, it may be preferable from the standpoint of efficiency to centrally edit the electronic medical records of patients of the same type of outpatient consultation, for example, by completing the editing of the electronic medical records of all patients who visited a specialized outpatient clinic, and then editing the electronic medical records of patients who visited a general outpatient clinic all at once. In this modified example, a configuration is described in which the transmission control of affected area images is performed to streamline the subsequent editing work of electronic medical records when a doctor is in charge of multiple types of outpatient consultations.

[0114] Overview of Image Transmission Control Figure 12 illustrates a table of scheduled medical information held in the imaging device 101 according to this modified example, showing the state after the completion of outpatient consultations in examination room 1. As shown in the figure, in this modified example, all outpatient consultations in examination room 1 are handled by physician "Ichiro Yokohama," with general outpatient consultations in the morning and specialist outpatient consultations in the afternoon. In addition, during the general outpatient consultations in the morning, the affected area of ​​patient "Taro Hirama" was imaged using the imaging device 101, and during the specialist outpatient consultations in the afternoon, the affected areas of patients "Jiro Kamata" and "Saburo Tamagawa" were imaged.

[0115] Here, we will describe the case where, after the end of the consultation, Dr. Yokohama Ichiro connects the imaging device 101 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in order to select the affected area image to be added to the electronic medical record of patient Tamagawa Saburo. In this case, according to the transmission control of Embodiment 1, the affected area image of the first patient, Tamagawa Saburo, is first transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102, followed by the affected area image of Hirama Taro, the second patient treated by Yokohama Ichiro, whose image was taken first in chronological order of acquisition. On the other hand, the electronic medical record that Dr. Yokohama Ichiro wishes to edit after patient Tamagawa Saburo may be that of Kamata Jiro, who was treated in a specialized outpatient clinic, similar to Tamagawa Saburo, rather than Hirama Taro, who was treated in a general outpatient clinic.

[0116] Therefore, in this modified example, the CPU 201 controls the transmission of the affected area image of the second patient, which is sent after the affected area image of the first patient, according to the type of outpatient treatment the first patient received. More specifically, the CPU 201 identifies the type of outpatient treatment the first patient received and controls the transmission order so that the affected area image of the second patient, which has the same type of outpatient treatment as the first patient, is transmitted with priority over the affected area image of the second patient, which has a different type of outpatient treatment. That is, in the example in Figure 12, the CPU 201 controls the transmission order of the affected area images so that the affected area image of "Kamata Jiro" is transmitted with priority over the affected area image of "Hirama Taro" after the affected area image of "Tamagawa Saburo" has been transmitted.

[0117] Transmission control processing The transmission control process performed in the imaging device 101 of this modified example will be described below using the flowchart in Figure 13. The process corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the CPU 201 reading the corresponding processing program stored in the ROM 202, for example, loading it into the RAM 203 and executing it. This transmission control process will be described as starting, for example, when the imaging device 101 detects that it has been connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102. In this description of the transmission control process, steps that perform the same processing as the transmission control process of Embodiment 1 will be given the same reference numerals and their descriptions will be omitted, and only steps that perform processing specific to this modified example will be described below.

[0118] In S1004, when information is sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102 indicating that all images of the affected area of ​​the first patient have been transmitted, the CPU 201 identifies the type of outpatient consultation the first patient received in S1301. The type of outpatient consultation the first patient received can be identified by the outpatient consultation type 502 in the scheduled consultation information for the first patient.

[0119] In S1302, the CPU 201 identifies the patient ID of the second patient who was treated by the same physician as the first patient. The CPU 201 also classifies the identified patient ID of the second patient according to whether or not the type of outpatient treatment received by the second patient is the same as that of the first patient. That is, the CPU 201 classifies the patient ID of the second patient based on the type of outpatient treatment 502 of the scheduled treatment information for the second patient and the type of outpatient treatment received by the first patient identified in S1301. This classification may be performed, for example, by providing two types of lists in the RAM 203: one for patient IDs whose outpatient treatment type is the same as that of the first patient and one for patient IDs whose outpatient treatment type is different, and adding the identified patient ID of the second patient to the appropriate list. Hereinafter, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, the second patient whose outpatient treatment type is the same as that of the first patient will be distinguished as "Second Patient (Same)", and the second patient whose outpatient treatment type is different from that of the first patient will be distinguished as "Second Patient (Different)".

[0120] In S1303, CPU201 determines whether or not there are unsent images of the affected area for the second patient (same). If CPU201 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area for the second patient (same), it moves the process to S1304; otherwise, it moves the process to S1305.

[0121] In S1304, the CPU 201 sequentially transmits the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient (same) to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Once the CPU 201 has sent all of the affected area images for one second patient (same) to the electronic medical record terminal 102, it updates the transmission status 513 of the information for that second patient (same) to transmission complete. Once all of the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient (same) have been sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in this manner, the CPU 201 moves the processing to S1305. In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, the CPU 201 selects the second patient (same) in the order of the date and time they were treated and controls the transmission of the affected area images.

[0122] In S1305, CPU201 determines whether or not there are unsent images of the affected area for the second patient (different). If CPU201 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area for the second patient (different), it moves the process to S1306; otherwise, it moves the process to S1008.

[0123] In S1306, the CPU 201 sequentially transmits the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient (different) to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Once the CPU 201 has transmitted all of the affected area images for one second patient (different) to the electronic medical record terminal 102, it updates the transmission status 513 of the information for that second patient (different) to transmission complete. Once all of the untransmitted images of the affected area of ​​the second patient (different) has been transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in this manner, the CPU 201 moves the processing to S1008. In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, the CPU 201 selects the second patient (different) in the order of the date and time they were treated and controls the transmission of the affected area images.

[0124] In this modified support system, images of the affected area of ​​a second patient whose outpatient treatment type is the same as that of the first patient whose electronic medical record is being edited are transmitted with priority over images of the affected area of ​​a second patient whose outpatient treatment type is different. This makes the electronic medical record editing work performed by the physician using the electronic medical record terminal 102 more efficient.

[0125] [Embodiment 2] In the embodiments and modifications described above, an embodiment was described in which images of the affected area of ​​a patient treated by the physician editing the electronic medical record (the physician who treated the first patient) are transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 by a transmission control process. On the other hand, the acquisition of affected area images from the imaging device 101 (and uploading them to the image management device 104) takes time, and it is preferable to perform this actively during the period when the imaging device 101 and the electronic medical record terminal 102 are connected. That is, since the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101 can also store affected area images taken during medical treatments performed by other physicians, limiting the affected area images to be transmitted to only those of patients treated by the physician editing the electronic medical record can save time for other physicians. In this embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which images of the affected area of ​​a patient treated by the physician editing the electronic medical record are transmitted preferentially, and then images of affected area of ​​patients treated by other physicians are transmitted later.

[0126] To facilitate understanding of the invention, the physician editing the electronic medical record on the electronic medical record terminal 102, i.e., the physician who treated the first patient, will be referred to as the "first physician." Furthermore, among the physicians whose information is registered in the scheduled consultation information table, i.e., among the physicians who treated the first patient in the same examination room, a physician different from the first physician will be referred to as the "second physician." Furthermore, among the patients whose information is registered in the scheduled consultation information table, a patient who is neither the first patient nor the second patient will be referred to as the "third patient." In other words, in embodiments where a third patient exists, the third patient corresponds to a patient treated by the second physician.

[0127] Transmission control processing The transmission control process performed in the imaging device 101 of this embodiment will be described below using the flowchart in Figure 14. The process corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the CPU 201 reading the corresponding processing program stored in the ROM 202, for example, loading it into the RAM 203 and executing it. This transmission control process will be described as starting, for example, when the imaging device 101 detects that it has been connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102. In this description of the transmission control process, steps that perform the same processing as the transmission control process of Embodiment 1 will be given the same reference numerals and their descriptions will be omitted, and only steps that perform processing specific to this embodiment will be described below.

[0128] In S1008, when the first physician sends information to the electronic medical record terminal 102 indicating that all images of the affected area have been transmitted, the CPU 201 determines in S1401 whether or not there are any images of the affected area of ​​the third patient that have not yet been transmitted. This determination can be made, for example, based on whether or not there is a record in the scheduled medical information table where physician ID 504 indicates a physician ID other than the first physician, and the transmission status 513 is not transmitted or is a file name. Alternatively, this determination can also be made, for example, based on whether or not there is a record in the scheduled medical information table where patient ID 505 indicates a patient ID other than the first and second patients, and the transmission status 513 is not transmitted or is a file name. If the CPU 201 determines that there are images of the affected area of ​​the third patient that have not yet been transmitted, it moves the process to S1402; otherwise, it moves the process to S1403.

[0129] In S1402, the CPU 201 sequentially transmits the untransmitted images of the third patient's affected area to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Specifically, the CPU 201 identifies the image files related to the untransmitted images of the patient's affected area based on the transmission status 513 of the scheduled medical information for the third patient and the image list 512. The CPU 201 then reads the identified image files from the recording medium 207 via the recording I / F 206 and transmits them to the connection I / F 208 and has them sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Once the CPU 201 has transmitted all of the affected area images for one third patient to the electronic medical record terminal 102, it updates the transmission status 513 of the third patient's information to transmission complete. Once all of the untransmitted images of the third patient's affected area have been transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 in this manner, the CPU 201 moves the processing to S1403. In this embodiment, the CPU 201 selects third patients for whom untransmitted affected area images exist in chronological order of the date and time of treatment, and controls the transmission of the affected area images. That is, in this embodiment, the untransmitted affected area images of third patients are transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 for each patient in chronological order of the start date and time of image acquisition.

[0130] In S1403, CPU201 sends information to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via connection I / F208 indicating that all images of the affected area taken by the second physician have been transmitted, and completes this transmission control process.

[0131] As explained above, according to the support system of this embodiment, after the transmission of patient images of the first and second patients treated by the first physician, the patient images of the third patient treated by the second patient are transmitted, thus reducing the time required for the second physician to acquire patient images. In other words, when the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102 by the first physician, images of affected areas recorded on the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101 are transmitted, not limited to patients treated by that physician, thus improving the overall convenience for users (physicians) of the support system.

[0132] [Differentiation 2] In the above-described embodiment 2, when there are unsent images of the affected area of ​​a third patient, the method of transmitting the images of the affected area of ​​the third patient for each patient in order of the start date and time of image capture was explained. On the other hand, since there may be multiple third patients, there may also be multiple second physicians who treated these third patients. In such a case, the editing of the electronic medical record using the electronic medical record terminal 102 will be performed by multiple second physicians in shifts after the first physician, but in the method of transmitting the images of the affected area for each patient in order of the start date and time of image capture, as in embodiment 2, the following situation may occur. For example, when one second physician uses the electronic medical record terminal 102 after the first physician, the images of the affected area of ​​the patient treated by that physician (the third patient) may not have been captured yet. That is, if there are multiple physicians other than the first physician who were in charge of the examination room, the desired images of the affected area of ​​the third patient may not have been captured when the second physician uses the electronic medical record terminal 102, and it may not be possible to proceed with editing the electronic medical record.

[0133] Therefore, in this modified support system, we will describe an embodiment that controls the transmission order of images of the affected area of ​​the third patient based on a predetermined order in which the electronic medical record terminal 102 is used after the completion of medical treatment. Specifically, when transmitting images of the affected area of ​​the third patient, the CPU 201 selects the second physician according to the order in which the electronic medical record terminal 102 is used, and transmits the images of the affected area of ​​the third patient that the physician treated. In the example described below, the order in which physicians use the electronic medical record terminal 102 after the completion of medical treatment is described as the first physician followed by the second physician in the order of physician ID, but it will be easy to understand that the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. The order in which physicians use the electronic medical record terminal 102 after the completion of medical treatment can also be, for example, the order of the date and time in which the physicians provided medical treatment, the ascending order of the physicians' names, or the order of the applications to use the electronic medical record terminal 102 after the completion of medical treatment.

[0134] Transmission control processing The transmission control process performed in the imaging device 101 of this modified example will be described below using the flowchart in Figure 15. The process corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the CPU 201 reading the corresponding processing program stored in the ROM 202, for example, loading it into the RAM 203 and executing it. This transmission control process will be described as being started, for example, when the imaging device 101 detects that it has been connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102. In this description of the transmission control process, steps that perform the same processing as the transmission control process of Embodiment 2 will be given the same reference numerals and their descriptions will be omitted, and only steps that perform processing specific to this modified example will be described below.

[0135] If S1401 determines that there are unsent images of the affected area of ​​the third patient, CPU201 executes the transmission process related to the transmission of the patient images of the third patient in S1501.

[0136] <Transmission process> Here, the transmission process performed in this step will be explained in detail using the flowchart in Figure 16.

[0137] In S1601, CPU201 adds the second physician's physician ID to the physician list based on the order in which the electronic medical record terminal 102 was used after the completion of medical treatment. Specifically, CPU201 reads the physician ID 504 from the scheduled medical treatment information for the third patient and adds the second physician's physician ID to the physician list so that the physician IDs are sorted in ascending order. CPU201 is controlled not to add physician IDs that are the same as those already added to the physician list. The order of physician IDs in the physician list may be adjusted, for example, by sorting them in ascending order after all the second physician's physician IDs have been added to the physician list.

[0138] In S1602, the CPU 201 selects physician IDs in order from the beginning of the physician list and sequentially transmits the unsent affected area images of the third patient treated by the second physician indicated by the selected physician ID to the connected I / F 208, causing them to be sent to the electronic medical record terminal 102. Once the CPU 201 has sent all affected area images for one third patient to the electronic medical record terminal 102, it updates the transmission status 513 of the information for that third patient to transmission complete. After sending all the unsent affected area images of the third patient treated by the second physician with the selected physician ID to the electronic medical record terminal 102, the CPU 201 selects the next physician ID in the physician list and performs the same process. The CPU 201 then completes this transmission process when it has sent the unsent affected area images of the third patient for all physician IDs in the physician list.

[0139] In this way, images of the affected area of ​​the third patient are sequentially transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102 for each physician, starting with the second physician using the electronic medical record terminal 102. Therefore, the convenience of editing the electronic medical record for the second physician, who uses the electronic medical record terminal 102 after the first physician, can be improved.

[0140] [Difference 3] In the embodiments and modifications described above, it was explained that when the imaging device 101 is connected, the patient information (first patient) of the electronic medical record being edited in the electronic medical record terminal 102 is registered in the scheduled treatment information table. On the other hand, the support system can edit the electronic medical record in the electronic medical record terminal 102 by receiving electronic medical record information from the medical record management device 103, so a physician can edit the electronic medical record of any patient for whom they are the attending physician. That is, the electronic medical record being edited in the electronic medical record terminal 102 when the imaging device 101 is connected may be, for example, the electronic medical record of a patient for whom the acquisition of affected area images has already been completed and the corresponding scheduled treatment information table and records have been deleted from the imaging device 101. In such a case, even if the patient ID of the electronic medical record being edited in the electronic medical record terminal 102 is obtained, the CPU 201 cannot identify the physician (first physician) performing the editing work.

[0141] Furthermore, it is possible that when the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, no editing of the electronic medical record is being performed on the electronic medical record terminal 102. In such a case, the CPU 201 cannot obtain the patient ID of the electronic medical record being edited on the electronic medical record terminal 102, and naturally, it cannot identify the physician using the electronic medical record terminal 102.

[0142] Therefore, when the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, if the first physician editing the electronic medical record cannot be identified based on the acquired patient ID, or if the patient ID cannot be acquired and the first physician cannot be identified, the CPU 201 controls as follows. Specifically, if the CPU 201 cannot identify the first physician, it sends a request to the electronic medical record terminal 102 via the connection I / F 208 to acquire the physician ID of the first physician editing the electronic medical record, and receives the physician ID from the electronic medical record terminal 102 in response to the request. At this time, the electronic medical record terminal 102 displays a notification on the display unit 305 inquiring about the physician ID, and controls can be performed to accept input of the physician ID into the text box shown in the notification, for example. As a result, the CPU 201 can identify the first physician, and in the transmission control process, it is sufficient to control the transmission order of affected area images so as to prioritize the transmission of affected area images of patients treated by that physician. In other words, the transmission control of images of affected areas of multiple patients recorded on the recording medium 207 to the electronic medical record terminal 102 can be performed in accordance with the acquisition of the physician ID of the physician editing the electronic medical record, instead of acquiring the patient ID of the physician editing the electronic medical record.

[0143] [Embodiment 3] In the embodiments and modifications described above, the CPU 201 of the imaging device 101 primarily controls the transmission of affected area images based on the patient ID or physician ID obtained from the electronic medical record terminal 102. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. The transmission control of affected area images recorded on the recording medium 207 of the imaging device 101 may also be performed based on a transmission request received from an external device or terminal connected to the imaging device 101. That is, in an embodiment in which the imaging device 101 is connected to the electronic medical record terminal 102, as in the support system shown in Figure 1, the CPU 301 of the electronic medical record terminal 102 may generate a transmission request containing information on affected area images of patients whose transmission order should be prioritized and send it to the imaging device 101. Upon receiving the transmission request, the CPU 201 can read the patient images based on the transmission order according to the transmission request, transmit them to the connection I / F 208, and control them to be transmitted to the electronic medical record terminal 102. The transmission order to be prioritized in the transmission request may be the same as in the embodiments and modifications described above, requesting the transmission of affected area images in the following order: patient in the electronic medical record being edited (first patient), and then patients other than the first patient treated by the physician editing the electronic medical record (first physician) (second patient).

[0144] In this way, as with the embodiments and modifications described above, highly convenient image transfer can be achieved.

[0145] [Other embodiments] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

[0146] [Summary of Embodiments and Modifications] The disclosures herein include the following information processing devices, control methods, programs, and support systems. (Item 1) An information processing device having a recording device that records images of multiple patients, A transmission means for transmitting images of the aforementioned multiple patients to an external device, A control means for controlling the transmission of images by the aforementioned transmission means, A means for obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies a patient, It has, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. An information processing device characterized by the following: (Item 2) The system further includes a first identification means for identifying a second patient among the aforementioned multiple patients who was treated by the same physician as the first patient, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that the image of the second patient is transmitted after the image of the first patient. The information processing device described in item 1, characterized by the features described herein. (Item 3) The system further includes a second identification means for identifying a third patient among the aforementioned multiple patients, whose physician is different from that of the first patient. The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so as to transmit the image of the third patient after the image of the second patient. The information processing device described in item 2, characterized in that it is an information processing device. (Item 4) The aforementioned third patient includes multiple patients, The control means controls the transmission order of images of multiple patients so that, if there are multiple physicians who have treated the third patient, the images of the third patient are transmitted separately for each physician who treated the patient. The information processing device described in item 3, characterized by the features described herein. (Item 5) The images of the aforementioned patients were taken during outpatient visits. The information processing device further includes a third identification means for identifying the type of outpatient treatment received by the first patient, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that images of the second patient whose outpatient treatment type is the same as that of the first patient are transmitted with higher priority than images of patients whose outpatient treatment type is different from that of the first patient. An information processing device according to any one of items 2 to 4, characterized in that it is an information processing device. (Item 6) The aforementioned external device is a terminal for editing electronic medical records, The acquisition means acquires patient information that uniquely identifies a patient by querying the patient in relation to the electronic medical record being edited by the external device. An information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 5, characterized by the above. (Item 7) The acquisition means can acquire physician information that uniquely identifies a physician, instead of acquiring patient information. When the physician information is acquired by the acquisition means, the control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so as to prioritize the transmission of images of patients treated by the first physician identified by the physician information. An information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 6, characterized by the above. (Item 8) The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that images of patients treated by a second physician (different from the first physician) are transmitted after images of patients treated by the first physician. The information processing device described in item 7, characterized by the features described herein. (Item 9) The control means controls images that have not yet been transmitted to the external device as targets for transmission by the transmission means. An information processing device according to item 7 or 8, characterized by the features described therein. (Item 10) The device further includes an output means that outputs information to an external device notifying the recording device if, based on the patient information or physician information acquired by the acquisition means, the image to be transmitted does not exist in the recording device. The information processing device according to item 9, characterized in that it is a processing device. (Item 11) The system further includes a management means for managing, in association with information for identifying the patient who is the subject of the image and information for identifying the physician who treated the patient, for each of the aforementioned images of multiple patients. An information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 10, characterized by the above. (Item 12) An information processing device that causes a recording device on which images of multiple patients are recorded to transmit said images, A means for obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies a patient, A generation means for generating a request to transmit images of the multiple patients, A control means for controlling the generation of the transmission request by the generation means, A transmission means for transmitting the transmission request generated by the generation means to the recording device, It has, The control means causes the generation means to generate a transmission request that prioritizes the transmission order of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. An information processing device characterized by the following: (Item 13) A control method for an information processing device having a recording device that records images of multiple patients, A transmission step of transmitting images of the aforementioned multiple patients to an external device, A control step that controls the transmission of images in the transmission step, The process involves obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies the patient, It has, In the control step, the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients is controlled so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired in the acquisition step. A control method characterized by the following: (Item 14) A control method for an information processing device that causes an image to be transmitted to a recording device that has images of multiple patients recorded on it, The process involves obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies the patient, A generation step that generates a request to transmit images of the multiple patients, A control step that controls the generation of the transmission request in the generation step, A transmission step of transmitting the transmission request generated in the generation step to the recording device, It has, In the control step, the generation step is controlled to generate a transmission request that prioritizes the transmission order of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired in the acquisition step. A control method characterized by the following: (Item 15) A program to cause a computer to function as one of the means of an information processing device described in any one of items 1 through 12. (Item 16) A support system including an information processing device having a recording device that records images of multiple patients, and a terminal for editing electronic medical records, The aforementioned information processing device is A transmission means for transmitting images of the multiple patients to the terminal, A control means for controlling the transmission of images by the aforementioned transmission means, The terminal includes an acquisition means for acquiring patient information that uniquely identifies a patient related to the electronic medical record being edited, It has, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. A support system characterized by the following features. (Item 17) A support system including a recording device that records images of multiple patients and an information processing device that edits electronic medical records, The aforementioned information processing device is The aforementioned information processing device includes an acquisition means for acquiring patient information that uniquely identifies a patient related to the electronic medical record being edited, A generation means for generating a request to transmit images of the multiple patients, A control means for controlling the generation of the transmission request by the generation means, A transmission means for transmitting the transmission request generated by the generation means to the recording device, It has, The control means causes the generation means to generate a transmission request that prioritizes the transmission order of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. A support system characterized by the following features.

[0147] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0148] 101: Imaging device, 102: Electronic medical record terminal, 201: CPU, 207: Recording medium, 208: Connection interface, 301: CPU, 310: Connection interface

Claims

1. An information processing device having a recording device that records images of multiple patients, A transmission means for transmitting images of the aforementioned multiple patients to an external device, A control means for controlling the transmission of images by the aforementioned transmission means, A means for obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies a patient, It has, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the plurality of patients so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. An information processing device characterized by the following:

2. The system further includes a first identification means for identifying a second patient among the aforementioned multiple patients who was treated by the same physician as the first patient, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that the image of the second patient is transmitted after the image of the first patient. The information processing apparatus according to feature 1.

3. The system further includes a second identification means for identifying a third patient among the aforementioned multiple patients, whose physician is different from that of the first patient. The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that the image of the third patient is transmitted after the image of the second patient. The information processing apparatus according to feature 2.

4. The previous 3 patients included multiple patients, The control means controls the transmission order of images of multiple patients so that, if there are multiple physicians who have treated the third patient, the images of the third patient are transmitted separately for each physician who treated the patient. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.

5. The images of the aforementioned patients were taken during outpatient visits. The information processing device further includes a third identification means for identifying the type of outpatient treatment received by the first patient, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that images of patients among the second patients whose outpatient treatment type is the same as that of the first patient are transmitted with higher priority than images of patients whose outpatient treatment type is different from that of the first patient. The information processing apparatus according to feature 2.

6. The aforementioned external device is a terminal for editing electronic medical records, The acquisition means acquires patient information that uniquely identifies the patient by querying the patient in relation to the electronic medical record being edited by the external device. The information processing apparatus according to feature 1.

7. The acquisition means can acquire physician information that uniquely identifies a physician, instead of acquiring patient information. The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so as to prioritize the transmission of images of patients treated by the first physician identified by the physician information when the physician information is acquired by the acquisition means. The information processing apparatus according to feature 1.

8. The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients so that images of patients treated by a second physician (different from the first physician) are transmitted after images of patients treated by the first physician. The information processing apparatus according to feature 7.

9. The control means controls images that have not yet been transmitted to the external device as targets for transmission by the transmission means. The information processing apparatus according to feature 7.

10. The device further includes an output means that outputs information to an external device notifying the recording device if the image to be transmitted based on the patient information or physician information acquired by the acquisition means does not exist in the recording device. The information processing apparatus according to feature 9.

11. The system further includes a management means for managing, in association with information for identifying the patient who is the subject of the image and information for identifying the physician who treated the patient, for each of the aforementioned images of multiple patients. The information processing apparatus according to feature 1.

12. An information processing device that causes a recording device on which images of multiple patients are recorded to transmit said images, A means for obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies a patient, A generation means for generating a request to transmit images of the multiple patients, A control means for controlling the generation of the transmission request by the generation means, A transmission means for transmitting the transmission request generated by the generation means to the recording device, It has, The control means causes the generation means to generate a transmission request that prioritizes the transmission order of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. An information processing device characterized by the following:

13. A control method for an information processing device having a recording device that records images of multiple patients, A transmission step of transmitting images of the aforementioned multiple patients to an external device, A control step that controls the transmission of images in the transmission step, The process involves obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies the patient, It has, In the control step, the transmission order of the images of the multiple patients is controlled so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired in the acquisition step. A control method characterized by the following:

14. A control method for an information processing device that causes an image to be transmitted to a recording device that has images of multiple patients recorded on it, The process involves obtaining patient information that uniquely identifies the patient, A generation step that generates a request to transmit images of the multiple patients, A control step that controls the generation of the transmission request in the generation step, A transmission step of transmitting the transmission request generated in the generation step to the recording device, It has, In the control step, the generation step is controlled to generate a transmission request that prioritizes the transmission order of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired in the acquisition step. A control method characterized by the following:

15. A program for causing a computer to function as one of the means of an information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A support system including an information processing device having a recording device that records images of multiple patients, and a terminal for editing electronic medical records, The aforementioned information processing device is A transmission means for transmitting images of the multiple patients to the terminal, A control means for controlling the transmission of images by the aforementioned transmission means, The terminal includes an acquisition means for acquiring patient information that uniquely identifies a patient related to the electronic medical record being edited, It has, The control means controls the transmission order of the images of the plurality of patients so as to prioritize the transmission of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. A support system characterized by the following features.

17. A support system including a recording device that records images of multiple patients and an information processing device that edits electronic medical records, The aforementioned information processing device is The aforementioned information processing device includes an acquisition means for acquiring patient information that uniquely identifies a patient related to the electronic medical record being edited, A generation means for generating a request to transmit images of the multiple patients, A control means for controlling the generation of the transmission request by the generation means, A transmission means for transmitting the transmission request generated by the generation means to the recording device, It has, The control means causes the generation means to generate a transmission request that prioritizes the transmission order of the image of the first patient identified by the patient information acquired by the acquisition means. A support system characterized by the following features.

Images