Supplement intake management system, supplement intake management method and program

Abstract

This system allows staff at pre-registered facilities to easily determine whether or not supplement users are taking the appropriate amount of supplements. [Solution] A supplement intake management system that manages the intake status of supplements to supply nutrients that contribute to bone formation receives a notification from a user that they have taken a supplement and registers the intake history for each user (S16). Based on this intake history, if the system detects that the user has not taken enough supplements on any given day, it sends an intake reminder notification to the user's terminal to encourage them to take supplements (S17). For periods longer than one day, if the system detects that the user has not taken enough supplements during that period, it creates intake deficiency information indicating this (S18) and sends it to the terminal of the facility associated with the user in response to access from that terminal (S21).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a supplement intake management system, a supplement intake management method, and a program for managing the intake status of supplements, and particularly relates to those suitable for managing the intake status of supplements for replenishing nutrients that contribute to bone formation.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, various supplements for replenishing nutrients necessary or useful for the human body are known. For such supplements, users often purchase their desired products on their own, and judge the intake amount by themselves with reference to product labels and the like before taking them. Also, as in Patent Document 1, a system is known that proposes an appropriate number of intakes and the necessity of intake based on the meals and the like that a user takes.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, although a standard intake amount is often defined for supplements, it is often the case that the intake person cannot take the supplement in accordance with this intake amount due to forgetting to take it or the like. When a doctor treats a patient's illness, the doctor may recommend the intake of supplements to keep the patient's nutritional status good, and in such a case in particular, it is important whether the patient is taking the expected intake amount or not.

[0005] For example, in the treatment of osteoporosis, when recommending that patients take supplements containing vitamin D and calcium, which are nutrients that contribute to bone formation, doctors have a need to easily verify whether or not the patient is taking the supplements in the intended dosage. Furthermore, even if a doctor asks the patient directly in such cases, they may not receive an accurate response regarding their intake. Therefore, there is a need for an objective and easily accessible method of verification.

[0006] This invention was made in view of these circumstances and aims to enable registered facilities to easily determine whether or not users of supplements are taking an appropriate amount of supplements. Furthermore, this invention takes into account the characteristics of supplements that provide nutrients that contribute to bone formation and is suitable for managing the intake status of such supplements. Although the example of a physician is given here, the facilities are not limited to medical institutions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The supplement intake management system of this invention, in order to achieve the above objective, is a supplement intake management system for managing the intake status of supplements for supplying nutrients that contribute to bone formation, and includes a user registration unit which receives and registers information on users and the minimum intake amount of the supplement corresponding to each user from a pre-registered facility, distributed in one information processing device or a plurality of information processing devices that can communicate with each other, and an intake history creation unit which receives a first intake notification from a user registered in the user registration unit indicating that the supplement has been taken, and creates an intake history of the supplement for each user based on the first intake notification. Furthermore, based on the intake history, the system includes a first notification unit that, at a predetermined time each day, sends an intake reminder notification to the user terminals of users who have not yet taken the daily intake amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for that day, urging them to take the supplement; and a first transmission unit that, based on the intake history, for periods longer than one day, creates intake deficiency information indicating that the intake of the supplement for that period has been insufficient for the period, for users who have not taken the intake amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for that period within that period, and transmits the intake deficiency information to the facility terminal of the facility associated with the user in response to access from the facility terminal.

[0008] In such a supplement intake management system, the user registration unit may include a supporter registration unit that registers supporters in association with each user, and the intake history creation unit may receive a second intake notification from a supporter registered in the supporter registration unit indicating that the user corresponding to the supporter has taken the supplement, and create the user's intake history based on the second intake notification. Furthermore, the system may not accept the first intake notification from the user indicating that the supplement was taken before the past first predetermined period, but may accept the second intake notification from the supporter indicating that the supplement was taken before the past first predetermined period.

[0009] Furthermore, when the first notification unit sends the intake reminder notification to a user's terminal, it is also preferable to send the intake reminder notification to the supporter's terminal associated with that user. Additionally, when the first transmission unit creates intake deficiency information for a user, it is preferable to send a notification to the supporter's terminal associated with that user, with content corresponding to the intake deficiency information, encouraging the intake of the supplement.

[0010] Furthermore, in any of the above-mentioned supplement intake management systems, the user registration unit may include a staff member registration unit that registers staff members in association with each of the facilities, and the intake history creation unit may receive a second intake notification from a staff member registered in the staff member registration unit indicating that the user corresponding to the staff member has taken the supplement, and create the intake history of the user based on the second intake notification. Alternatively, the system may not accept the first intake notification from the user indicating that the supplement was taken before the past first predetermined period, but may accept the second intake notification from the staff member indicating that the supplement was taken before the past first predetermined period. Alternatively, in any of the supplement intake management systems described above, it is not necessary to notify the user that their intake of the supplement is excessive.

[0011] Alternatively, in any of the above-described supplement intake management systems, it is preferable to further provide: a quantity registration unit distributed across the one information processing device or the multiple information processing devices, which registers the quantity of the supplements held by each user; a first update unit that receives information on the quantity of the supplements sold to the user, associated with the user's identification information, from the facility or a pre-registered seller, and updates the quantity of the supplements held in the quantity registration unit based on this information; and a second update unit that updates the quantity of the supplements held in the quantity registration unit based on the first intake notification received by the intake history creation unit. Furthermore, it is preferable to further provide a second transmission unit that, when it is detected that the quantity of supplements held by a user has fallen below a first threshold, creates information indicating that the quantity of supplements held by that user has decreased, and transmits the information to the facility terminal in response to access from the facility terminal associated with the user.

[0012] Alternatively, in any of the above-described supplement intake management systems, it is preferable to further provide: a quantity registration unit distributed across the one information processing device or the multiple information processing devices, which registers the quantity of the supplements held by each user; a first update unit that receives information on the quantity of the supplements sold to the user, associated with the user's identification information, from the facility or a pre-registered seller, and updates the quantity of the supplements held in the quantity registration unit based on this information; and a second update unit that updates the quantity of the supplements held in the quantity registration unit based on the first and second intake notifications received by the intake history creation unit. Furthermore, it is preferable to further provide a second notification unit that, when it is detected that the quantity of supplements held by a user has fallen below a first threshold, notifies the supporter terminal of the supporter associated with that user that the quantity of supplements held by that user has decreased.

[0013] As described above, the present invention can be implemented not only as an information processing device that realizes the functions of the supplement intake management system, but also as a system that includes all or part of the following: a user terminal used by the user, a facility terminal used by the facility, a supporter terminal used by the supporter, a staff terminal used by the person in charge, and a seller terminal used by the seller. In addition to being implemented as a system invention, it can also be implemented in any form, such as an apparatus, method, program, recording medium on which the program is recorded, etc. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the supplement intake management system of this invention described above, registered facilities can easily determine whether or not a supplement user is taking an appropriate amount of supplement. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the operation of an intake management system, which is one embodiment of this invention. [Figure 2] This diagram shows the hardware configuration of the intake management system 100. [Figure 3] This figure shows an overview of the system's operation procedure when using the intake management system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the functions provided by the intake management system 100. [Figure 5] This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the functions provided by the facility terminal 200. [Figure 6] This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the functions provided by the employee terminal 300. [Figure 7] This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the functions provided by the user terminal 400. [Figure 8] This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the functions provided by the support terminal 500. [Figure 9] This is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the functions provided by the retail terminal 600. [Figure 10]This is a diagram showing the configuration of information registered in the facility DB 131. [Figure 11] This is a diagram showing the configuration of information registered in the person-in-charge DB 132. [Figure 12] This is a diagram showing the configuration of information registered in the user DB 133. [Figure 13] This is a diagram showing the configuration of information registered in the supporter DB 134. [Figure 14] This is a diagram showing the configuration of information registered in the intake history DB 135. [Figure 15] This is a diagram showing the configuration of information registered in the purchase history DB 136. [Figure 16] This is a sequence diagram showing the operations of the facility terminal 200 and the intake management system 100 when the operator of the facility terminal 200 performs user registration and update. [Figure 17] This is a flowchart of processing executed by the user terminal 400 when a user activates an intake management screen from the user terminal 400. [Figure 18] This is a diagram showing an example of the intake management screen 700 displayed on the user terminal 400 by the processing of Figure 17. [Figure 19] This is a sequence diagram showing the operations of the user terminal 400 and the intake management system 100 when the user operates an intake notification button 704 on the intake management screen 700. [Figure 20] This is the flowchart of the order determination processing shown in Figure 19. [Figure 21] This is a diagram showing an example of a notification displayed on the supporter terminal 500 by the order determination processing of Figure 20. [Figure 22] This is a sequence diagram showing the operations of the supporter terminal 500 and the intake management system 100 when a supporter transmits a retroactive intake notification from the supporter terminal 500. [Figure 23] This is a sequence diagram showing the operations of the user terminal 400 and the intake management system 100 when a user transmits a retroactive intake notification from the user terminal 400. [Figure 24] This is a flowchart of the first intake alert notification processing that the intake management system 100 executes periodically. [Figure 25] This figure shows an example of a notification displayed on the user terminal 400 or supporter terminal 500 as a result of the first intake prompt notification processing shown in Figure 24. [Figure 26] This is a flowchart of the second intake reminder notification process that the intake management system 100 periodically performs. [Figure 27] Figure 26 shows an example of a notification displayed on the user terminal 400 or supporter terminal 500 as a result of the second intake prompt notification processing. [Figure 28] This figure shows an example of a user's supplement intake status, obtained from their personal history registered in the intake history database DB135. [Figure 29] This figure shows an example of user information screen 800 for viewing user information. [Figure 30] This is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the sales terminal 600 and the intake management system 100 when an operator of the sales terminal 600 issues an order registration instruction. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] The embodiments of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, Figure 1 shows an example of the operation of the intake management system. Figure 2 shows the hardware configuration of the intake management system 100 in Figure 1.

[0017] In the example shown in Figure 1, the intake management system 100 corresponds to one embodiment of the supplement intake management system of this invention. Furthermore, a system including one or more of the following in addition to the intake management system 100—a facility terminal 200, a staff terminal 300, a user terminal 400, a supporter terminal 500, and a retailer terminal 600—also corresponds to another embodiment of the supplement intake management system of this invention. While the facility terminal 200, staff terminal 300, user terminal 400, supporter terminal 500, and retailer terminal 600 each represent a representative example, there may be multiple examples of each.

[0018] The intake management system 100 shown in Figure 1 is a system primarily responsible for managing the intake status of supplements. The intake management system 100 is deployed in the system provider's environment, connected to a network N such as the internet, and is in a state where it can communicate with each terminal 200-600 in a timely manner. A cloud environment is also acceptable. Each terminal 200-600 only needs to be able to connect to the internet N when communication with the intake management system 100 is necessary. It is not essential that they can constantly receive push notifications from the intake management system 100.

[0019] As shown in Figure 2, the intake management system 100 can be configured as an information processing device in which a processor 101, memory 102, storage 103, a communication I / F 104 for communication via the Internet N, etc., an operation unit 105 for receiving operations from an operator, and a display unit 106 for displaying information to the operator are connected by a communication path 107 such as a system bus. Multiple information processing devices that can communicate with each other may be configured by distributing the necessary functions among them.

[0020] The basic hardware configuration of each of the other terminals 200-600 is the same as that shown in Figure 2. More specifically, any information processing device can be used, such as a PC (personal computer), tablet computer, or smartphone. It does not need to be a dedicated device; by accessing the intake management system 100 from any information processing device and receiving authentication using a predetermined ID, the information processing device can be made to function as a terminal 200-600 corresponding to the ID. Furthermore, each terminal (200-600) may be a device that uses VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality), etc., to receive operations and display information. Each terminal may be a different model.

[0021] The facility terminal 200 is a terminal device to be placed in facilities that want to recommend supplement intake to users and monitor users' supplement intake. Such facilities are envisioned to be medical institutions, and in this case, the users are envisioned to be patients visiting medical institutions, but are not limited to these. Furthermore, the operators of the facility terminal 200 are envisioned to be medical professionals such as doctors.

[0022] The staff terminal 300 is a terminal device intended to be operated by staff designated by the facility when interacting with users. Examples of such staff include doctors who examine users and registered dietitians who provide nutritional guidance, but these are not limited to these. In this embodiment, the facility terminal 200 is primarily intended to be operated within the facility, while the staff terminal 300 is intended to be taken outside the facility for use during visits to users, etc. However, both the facility terminal 200 and the staff terminal 300 are terminal devices intended to be operated by staff designated by the facility, and it is not necessarily required that they be clearly distinguished. The staff terminal 300 can also be considered an example of a facility terminal.

[0023] The user terminal 400 is a terminal device intended to be operated by facility users who are required to take supplements. As mentioned above, users are expected to be patients visiting medical institutions, but are not limited to them. Suitable users include patients with osteoporosis and those undergoing treatment for fractures. This is because such users need to consume sufficient nutrients over a long period of time to ensure bone formation, and often require regular visits to medical institutions over extended periods.

[0024] The support terminal 500 is a terminal device intended to be operated by a supporter who is near the user and assists the user in taking supplements. The supporter could be, for example, a family member or caregiver of the user, but is not limited to these. The sales terminal 600 is a terminal device intended to be installed in a sales outlet that sells supplements to users. If the sales outlet is located within a facility, the facility terminal 200 and the sales terminal 600 may be the same.

[0025] In the system described above, the intake management system 100 provides various services to facilities, facility staff, users, and support staff in response to access from each terminal 200 to 600.

[0026] Examples of services provided by the Intake Management System 100 are as follows: • Receive notifications from users indicating that they have taken supplements, and create a record of their intake based on those notifications. • Past intake history of users who forgot to notify staff can be retrospectively recreated through the actions of support staff and facility personnel. • Manage the user's supplement intake history and make it accessible to the facility, staff, users, and support personnel as needed. • Encourage users to take supplements if they are not taking the appropriate amount. • Ensure that the facility is aware if a user is not taking the appropriate amount of supplements. • Enable facility operators or support staff to encourage users to purchase additional supplements when their supply runs low. • The facility will be able to recognize when the amount of supplements a user has left decreases.

[0027] The following describes, with reference to Figure 3 and beyond, the configuration of the functions that the intake management system 100 and each terminal 200-600 are equipped with to provide these services, as well as examples of the data, algorithms, screens, etc., used to realize these functions. In the following explanation, unless otherwise specified, "supplement" refers to supplements whose intake is managed by the intake management system 100, and "supplement" is used as an abbreviation for "supplement".

[0028] First, Figure 3 shows an overview of the operating procedure of the intake management system 100 when it is in use. The procedure shown in Figure 3 is only an overview, and each step does not need to be performed in the order shown in the figure.

[0029] It is assumed that the decision to introduce or use the intake management system 100 will be made by a facility that recommends the intake of supplements to users. When using the intake management system 100, the facility must first register with the intake management system 100 based on a system usage agreement (S11). Once registration is complete, the facility terminal 200 will be able to access the intake management system 100. Similarly, it is assumed that the decision to connect to the intake management system 100 will be made by the retailer that sells the supplements. As with the facility, the retailer will register with the intake management system 100 based on a system usage agreement (S11). Once registration is complete, the retailer terminal 600 will be able to access the intake management system 100. These registrations are expected to be performed according to the operation of the intake management system 100 operator.

[0030] After step S11, if the facility wishes to register a person in charge, the facility registers the person in charge in the intake management system 100 by operating the facility terminal 200 (S12). Once registration is complete, the registered person in charge will be able to access the intake management system 100 from their person in charge terminal 300. However, registration of the person in charge and use of the person in charge terminal 300 are not mandatory.

[0031] Next, the facility terminal 200 is used to register users who will be taking supplements in the intake management system 100 (S13). At this time, the minimum daily intake and the order timing quantity for each user are also registered. If the facility is a medical facility, the minimum daily intake, in particular, should be determined by the doctor. Once registration is complete, the registered users can access the intake management system 100 from their user terminals 400.

[0032] Subsequently, if the facility or user wishes to register a supporter to assist the user with supplement intake, the facility terminal 200 or user terminal 400 can be used to register the supporter in the intake management system 100, associating them with the user (S14). Once registration is complete, the registered supporter's supporter terminal 500 will be able to access the intake management system 100. However, registration of supporters and use of the supporter terminal 500 are not mandatory.

[0033] If the user purchases a supplement at a store after the above registration has been completed, the store operator operates the store terminal 600 to register the purchase history related to that purchase in the intake management system 100 (S15). Subsequently, the user takes the supplement at home or elsewhere as appropriate. In principle, each time the supplement is taken, the user operates the user terminal 400 to send a notification of intake to the intake management system 100. The intake management system 100 creates and registers the intake history based on the intake notification (S16). It is naturally assumed that users may forget to take the supplement or forget to send a notification.

[0034] Furthermore, the intake management system 100 checks the intake history at any time, and if it detects a user who has not taken enough supplements on any given day, it sends an intake reminder notification to the user's terminal 400 and the supporter's terminal 500 of the supporter corresponding to that user, urging them to take supplements (S17). In addition to step S17, the intake management system 100 checks the intake history weekly and, if it detects a user whose weekly supplement intake is insufficient, registers information indicating this insufficiency, associating it with the user. It also notifies the user terminal 400 and the supporter terminal 500 of this fact (S18).

[0035] Furthermore, if a supporter, staff member, or facility discovers a omission in the registration of intake history (presumably mainly due to the user failing to notify), they can register the past intake history in the intake management system 100 by operating the supporter terminal 500, staff member terminal 300, or facility terminal 200 (S19). Such a discovery is expected to be made after receiving the notification in step S18, or after encountering the intake deficiency information registered in step S18 and referring to the registered intake history. In addition, the intake management system 100 should, in principle, not accept registration of intake history going back more than a predetermined period (for example, before the previous day) from the user terminal 400. This is because allowing users to operate it themselves would make it easier for them to "pretend to have taken the food".

[0036] Furthermore, the intake management system 100 manages the remaining quantity of supplements held by users based on the purchase history registered in step S15 and the intake history registered in steps S16 and S19. The system checks this remaining quantity at any time, and when it detects that a user's remaining quantity has fallen below the order timing quantity, it registers information indicating this decrease in quantity, associated with the user. It also notifies the supporter terminal 500 of this fact (S20). In this case, the user themselves is not notified because they can see the actual quantity they have, but they may be notified in the same way as the supporter. Steps S16 to S20 described above are repeated as needed.

[0037] Furthermore, facility staff check the status of users at regular intervals. At that time, they access the intake management system 100 from the facility terminal 200 and refer to the user's information. If the intake deficiency information from step S18 or the decrease in intake information from step S20 has been registered for the user, it is sent from the intake management system 100 to the facility terminal 200, and the operator of the facility terminal 20 can easily refer to this information (S21).

[0038] For example, when a patient visits a medical facility regularly for a doctor's examination, the doctor could use the facility terminal 200 to perform this check. This would allow the doctor to refer to information on whether the patient is taking the expected amount of supplements, that is, whether the patient is getting enough of the necessary nutrients, while conducting the examination. Furthermore, if the amount of supplements the patient possesses has decreased, the doctor can inform the patient, preventing situations where the patient forgets to purchase supplements and interrupts their intake. In carrying out these procedures, doctors do not need to meticulously refer to or analyze the patient's intake history, and the increase in the effort and time required for consultations should be kept to a minimum.

[0039] Next, Figures 4 to 9 show functional block diagrams that primarily represent the functional configurations of the intake management system 100 and each terminal 200-600 shown in Figure 1, focusing on those necessary to realize the services exemplified above or the operations shown in Figure 3. The functions of each component shown in Figures 4 to 9 can be realized by the processor of each device executing the required program to control the required hardware. This program may be installable and uninstallable as needed.

[0040] Furthermore, the functions of each terminal 200 to 600 shown in Figures 5 to 9 may be realized by the execution of a dedicated application program installed on the terminal, or they may be realized dynamically by programs or data such as web pages downloaded in response to accessing the intake management system 100 or other systems by executing a general-purpose program such as a web browser.

[0041] In the latter configuration, each terminal 200-600 may be a general-purpose information processing device that has no special functions when not using the functions of the intake management system 100. Furthermore, all data necessary for realizing the functions of each terminal 200-600 may be dynamically acquired from the accessed system, or some data may be stored locally on terminals 200-600. Furthermore, all or part of the functions shown in Figures 4 to 9 can be implemented using dedicated hardware. Additionally, all or part of the functions of each device can be implemented using resources from external devices, such as a cloud environment.

[0042] As shown in Figure 4, the intake management system 100 includes the following functions: facility registration unit 111, staff member registration unit 112, user registration unit 113, supporter registration unit 114, intake notification reception unit 115, intake history creation unit 116, intake reminder notification transmission unit 117, intake amount setting unit 118, intake deficiency information creation unit 119, user information transmission unit 120, purchase information registration unit 121, shipping processing unit 122, stock reduction notification transmission unit 123, and stock reduction information creation unit 124. Furthermore, the intake management system 100 includes a facility database (DB) 131, a staff member DB 132, a user DB 133, a supporter DB 134, an intake history DB 135, and a purchase history DB 136. The information registered in each of these DBs is shown in Figures 10 to 15, but further details will be described later.

[0043] Of these, the facility registration unit 111 has a function that corresponds to the operation of step S11 in Figure 3, which is to register information of facilities that use the intake management system 100 in the facility DB 131 in response to the operator's operation. For retailers, it is conceivable to register them in the facility DB 131 as one of the attributes of the facility (see Figure 10), or a separate retailer DB may be established and used for registration.

[0044] The personnel registration unit 112 has a function corresponding to step S12 in Figure 3, which is to register the facility's personnel in the personnel DB 132 in response to a request from the facility terminal 200. The user registration unit 113 has a function corresponding to step S13 in Figure 3, which registers facility users (which can also be considered as supplement users) in the user database 133 in response to requests from the facility terminal 200. The supporter registration unit 114 has a function corresponding to step S14 in Figure 3, which registers registered users and their corresponding supporters in the supporter database in response to requests from the facility terminal 200 or the user terminal 400. This allows supporters to be registered not only by the facility but also by user operations.

[0045] The intake notification receiving unit 115 has the function of receiving intake notifications from each terminal indicating that a supplement has been taken. These intake notifications may include notifications of new supplement intake and notifications of past unnotified supplement intake. The latter will be specifically called "retroactive intake notifications." The sources of the notifications may include the facility terminal 200, the staff terminal 300, the user terminal 400, and the support staff terminal 500.

[0046] The intake history creation unit 116 has the function of creating a supplement intake history for each user based on the intake notification received by the intake notification reception unit 115. The created intake history is registered in the intake history DB 135. The intake history creation unit 116 also has the function of a second update unit that, when registering the intake history, updates the number of supplements owned by the user who has taken a supplement in the user DB by the amount taken. The functions of the intake notification receiving unit 115 and the intake history creation unit 116 correspond to steps S16 and S19 in Figure 3.

[0047] The supplement intake reminder notification transmission unit 117 has a function to send notifications to users who have not completed their daily supplement intake or who have insufficient supplement intake over a period longer than one day, such as weekly, based on the contents of the user database 133 and the intake history database 135, encouraging them to take supplements. This notification corresponds to the one performed in steps S17 and S18 of Figure 3, but the details will be described later.

[0048] The intake amount setting unit 118 has the function of registering the amount of supplement intake (minimum daily intake in Figure 12) that serves as the basis for notifications by the intake reminder notification transmission unit 117 for each user in the user database 133, in response to a request from the facility terminal 200. The intake deficiency information creation unit 119 has the function of creating intake deficiency information indicating that supplement intake has been insufficient for a period longer than one day, corresponding to the notification sent by the intake reminder notification transmission unit 117, and registering it in the user database 133 in association with the user.

[0049] The user information transmission unit 120 has the function of transmitting user data C registered in the user DB 133 and individual user intake history (personal history H) registered in the intake history DB 135 in response to requests from the facility terminal 200, staff terminal 300, user terminal 400, or supporter terminal 500. The extent to which user data C and personal history H are transmitted may be set as a reference permission for each operator of the requesting terminal.

[0050] The purchase information registration unit 121 has a function corresponding to step S15 in Figure 3, which registers the purchase history, including the quantity of supplements sold to the user, in the purchase history DB 136 in association with the user, in response to a request from the sales terminal 600. The purchase information registration unit 121 also has a first update unit function that, when registering the purchase history, updates the number of supplements owned by the user registered in the user DB for the user who purchased the supplements by the quantity sold.

[0051] The shipping processing unit 122 has the function of arranging the shipment of supplements to users in response to requests from the retailer terminal 600. The shipment arrangement can be made, for example, by requesting the order management system, which is linked with the intake management system 100, to ship the number of supplements sold to the addresses registered in the user database 133.

[0052] The inventory reduction notification transmission unit 123 has a function to notify a user and their corresponding supporter when the remaining quantity of supplements held by a user registered in the user database 133 falls below the order timing quantity. This notification corresponds to the one performed in step S20 of Figure 3, but the details will be described later. The inventory reduction information creation unit 124 has the function of creating inventory reduction information that corresponds to the notification made by the inventory reduction notification transmission unit 123, indicating that the user's remaining quantity of supplements has fallen below the order timing quantity, and registering it in the user DB 133 in association with the user.

[0053] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5, the facility terminal 200 is equipped with the functions of a staff member registration request unit 211, a user registration request unit 212, a supporter registration request unit 213, an intake amount registration request unit 214, a retroactive intake notification transmission unit 215, a user information request unit 216, and a user information display unit 217. Of these, the staff member registration request unit 211, the user registration request unit 212, and the support staff registration request unit 213 each have the function of requesting the intake management system 100 to register the facility staff member, user, and support staff. When a request is made, each of the above units receives the necessary information for registration (some of the information shown in Figures 11 to 13) from the operator and transmits it to the intake management system 100. It is also possible to request changes or deletions to information that has already been registered.

[0054] The intake registration request unit 214 specifically highlights the function of requesting the intake management system 100 to register or update information on the minimum daily intake of supplements from among the user's information. The minimum daily intake could be determined, for example, by a doctor examining the patient (user) and entered into the facility terminal 200. The retroactive intake notification transmission unit 215 has the function of sending a retroactive intake notification to the intake management system 100 informing a specific user that there was an unnotified supplement intake in the past. This corresponds to the function of the intake notification reception unit 115.

[0055] The user information request unit 216 has the function of requesting the intake management system 100 to transmit registered information about a specific user. This corresponds to the function of the user information transmission unit 120. The user information display unit 217 has a function to display information about the user received from the intake management system 100. This display can be performed, for example, by the user information screen 800 shown in Figure 29, but the details will be described later.

[0056] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6, the staff terminal 300 is equipped with the functions of a retroactive intake notification transmission unit 311, a user information request unit 312, and a user information display unit 313. The functions of each of these units are the same as those of the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 215, user information request unit 216, and user information display unit 217 in the facility terminal 200. However, the information that can be referenced from the staff terminal 300 or transmitted to the intake management system 100 is limited to information about users that the staff member operating the staff terminal 300 is responsible for. In other words, the functions of the staff terminal 300 are basically derived from some of the functions of the facility terminal 200. However, the staff terminal 300 may also have functions that are not present in the facility terminal 200.

[0057] Next, as shown in Figure 7, the user terminal 400 is equipped with the functions of a supporter registration request unit 411, an intake notification transmission unit 412, a retroactive intake notification transmission unit 413, an intake reminder notification display unit 414, a user information request unit 415, and a user information display unit 416. The function of the supporter registration request unit 411 is the same as that of the supporter registration request unit 213 of the facility terminal 200. However, only the supporters of the user operating the user terminal 400 can be registered upon request from the user terminal 400. The intake notification transmission unit 412 has the function of notifying the intake management system 100 that a user operating the user terminal 400 has newly taken a supplement. This corresponds to the function of the intake notification reception unit 115.

[0058] The retroactive intake notification transmission unit 413 has the function of notifying the intake management system 100 that a user operating the user terminal 400 has previously taken supplements without being notified. This also corresponds to the function of the intake notification reception unit 115. However, in this embodiment, the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 413 can only notify about supplement intake on the current day. For example, it can notify a user if they realize at night that they forgot to notify about supplement intake taken in the morning. For intake on previous days, it is assumed that notifications will be made from the facility terminal 200, the staff terminal 300, or the supporter terminal 500 as needed. If intake on the current day is notified by the function of the intake notification transmission unit 412, then the user terminal 400 does not need to have the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 413. An intake notification transmitted from the user terminal 400 by the function of the intake notification transmission unit 412 or the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 413 corresponds to the first intake notification.

[0059] The intake reminder notification display unit 414 has the function of displaying notifications encouraging supplement intake, which are sent from the intake reminder notification transmission unit 117 of the intake management system 100. Furthermore, if the user terminal 400 has memorized the number of supplement intake notifications received during the day and the user's minimum daily intake, it is also possible to configure the system to send this notification using only local processing based on this information. The functions of the user information request unit 415 and the user information display unit 416 are the same as those of the user information request unit 216 and user information display unit 217 in the facility terminal 200, respectively. However, the information that can be accessed from the user terminal 400 is limited to information about the user operating the user terminal 400.

[0060] Next, as shown in Figure 8, the supporter terminal 500 is equipped with the functions of a retroactive intake notification transmission unit 511, an intake reminder notification display unit 512, a retention reduction notification display unit 513, a user information request unit 514, and a user information display unit 515. The retroactive intake notification transmission unit 511 has the function of notifying the intake management system 100 that there have been unnotified supplement intakes in the past for users associated with a supporter operating the supporter terminal 500. This corresponds to the function of the intake notification reception unit 115. The supporter terminal 500 can notify of intakes retroactively without any particular time constraints. The intake notification transmitted from the supporter terminal 500 by the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 511 corresponds to the second intake notification.

[0061] The functions of the intake reminder notification display unit 512, the user information request unit 514, and the user information display unit 515 are the same as those of the intake reminder notification display unit 414, the user information request unit 415, and the user information display unit 416 on the user terminal, respectively. However, only information about the user associated with the supporter operating the supporter terminal 500 is displayed or requested. The inventory reduction notification display unit 513 has the function of displaying a notification from the inventory reduction notification transmission unit 123 of the intake management system 100 that the user's remaining quantity of supplements has fallen below the order timing quantity.

[0062] Next, as shown in Figure 9, the sales terminal 600 is equipped with the functions of an order processing unit 611 and a purchase information transmission unit 612. Of these, the order processing unit 611 has the function of ordering supplements to a predetermined order system according to the operator's instructions. When a user orders supplements at a store and they are out of stock or the sale is based on delivery, this function places an order. An online store may also perform the function of this order processing unit 611. In this embodiment, since the shipping processing unit 122 of the intake management system 100 handles the function of the order system, the order should be placed with the intake management system 100 together with the transmission of the sales quantity by the purchase information transmission unit 612.

[0063] The purchase information transmission unit 612 has a function to request that the quantity of supplements sold to the user be notified and registered to the intake management system 100, either in accordance with the operator's instructions or when the order processing unit 611 places an order for supplements. If the supplements can be handed to the user in person, the order processing unit 611 does not need to place an order, and it is sufficient to notify the user of the quantity sold.

[0064] Next, Figures 10 to 15 show examples of information registered in each DB 131 to 136 shown in Figure 4. Note that in Figure 3, for the sake of simplicity, each DB is shown as one within the intake management system 100, but for DBs other than facility DB 131, each facility may prepare a separate DB for registering information about the person in charge or users registered by that facility. Facility DB131 stores information about facilities that use the intake management system 100. As shown in Figure 10, it stores the number of facilities n1, which indicates the number of facilities registered in the DB, and n1 facility data entries I1 to In1, which represent the information for each facility.

[0065] Each facility data I (a code without a trailing number is used if individual identification is not required; the same applies to other data described below) includes the following information: • Facility ID: Facility identification information • Name: Name of the facility • Attributes: The attributes of the facility. This could include medical institutions, supplement retailers, other facilities or organizations that provide supplements, etc. • Contact Information: This includes the facility's contact details, such as address, phone number, and email address. • Terminal identification information: Information used to identify facility terminals 200 and retail terminals 600. This may include MAC (Media Access Control) address, IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier), UDID (Unique Device Identifier), serial number, and information from digital certificates stored in the terminal. • Authentication Information: Information used to authenticate individual operators operating facility terminals 200 or retail terminals 600. This may include a user ID and password, or reference information for using some kind of authentication system. It may also contain information for multiple individuals.

[0066] Next, the personnel DB132 registers information about the personnel assigned to each facility and the personnel terminal 300 that those personnel operate. As shown in Figure 11, the number of personnel n2, which indicates the number of personnel registered in the DB, and n2 personnel data P1 to Pn2, which represent the information of each personnel, are registered.

[0067] Each person's data P includes the following information: • Person in Charge ID: Identification information for the person in charge • Affiliated facility: Facility ID of the facility to which the person in charge belongs. • Name: Name of the person in charge • Attributes: The attributes of the person in charge. This could include doctors, registered dietitians, caregivers, and other instructors regarding supplement intake. • Contact information: Contact details of the person in charge • Assigned User: The user ID of the user assigned to the assigned user. If an assigned user is responsible for multiple users, multiple user IDs will be registered. • Terminal identification information: Information used to identify the terminal 300 operated by the person in charge. • Authentication information: Information used to authenticate the individual in charge. The format of contact information, terminal identification information, and authentication information may be the same as in the case of facility data I.

[0068] Next, the user database 133 registers information about users who take supplements and the user terminals 400 that those users operate. As shown in Figure 12, the database registers the number of users n3, which indicates the number of users registered in the database, and n3 user data points C1 to Cn3, which represent the information of each user.

[0069] Each user data C includes the following information: • User ID: User identification information • Facility used: Facility ID of the facility used by the user. Name, age, gender, contact information: User's name, age, gender, contact information • Terminal identification information: Information used to identify the user terminal 400 operated by the user. • Authentication information: Information used to authenticate the individual user. The format of contact information, terminal identification information, and authentication information may be the same as in the case of facility data I.

[0070] In addition to the above, user data C also includes supplement management information. Supplement management information includes information such as the minimum daily intake, order timing quantity, number of supplements held, intake deficiency information, and inventory decrease information. The minimum daily intake is the minimum amount of supplement a user should take per day. In the case of supplements that provide nutrients that contribute to bone formation, it is often important to continuously take more than the prescribed amount, and excessive intake is not a problem unless there are exceptional circumstances. For this reason, it is somewhat acceptable to compensate for, for example, forgetting to take a dose by taking more than the required amount later. This embodiment assumes such a supplement and does not define a maximum intake. Furthermore, there is no management of whether or not supplement intake is excessive, nor are there any notifications to warn of excessive intake. Furthermore, supplements intended to provide nutrients that contribute to bone formation may contain vitamin D and calcium, but may also contain other ingredients. Supplements can also be provided in various forms, such as liquids containing these ingredients, or jelly-type supplements containing predetermined amounts of these ingredients in individually packaged portions.

[0071] The order timing quantity is the first threshold that determines at what point a user's existing supply of supplements prompts them to make an additional purchase. The number of supplements owned represents the quantity of supplements owned by the user, and is an estimated value (difference) based on the quantity purchased and consumed as recorded by the intake management system 100. Information on insufficient intake and information on decreased retention are created and registered by the insufficient intake information creation unit 119 or the decreased retention information creation unit 124, respectively, and indicate insufficient intake or decreased retention of supplements.

[0072] Next, the supporter DB134 registers information about the supporters associated with the users and the supporter terminals 500 that those supporters operate. As shown in Figure 13, it registers n4 supporters, which indicates the number of supporters registered in the DB, and n4 pieces of supporter count data F1 to Fn4, which are the information for each supporter.

[0073] Each supporter's data F includes the following information: • Supporter ID: Identification information for supporters • Target user: The user ID of the user being supported by the supporter. If multiple users are being supported, multiple user IDs will be registered. • Name, contact information: Name and contact information of the supporter • Terminal identification information: Information used to identify the support terminal 500 operated by the support worker. • Authentication information: Information used to authenticate the individual supporter. The format of contact information, terminal identification information, and authentication information may be the same as in the case of facility data I.

[0074] Next, the intake history DB135 registers the supplement intake history for each user, as notified to the intake management system 100. Each individual history H1 to Hn3 corresponds to the user data C1 to Cn in the user DB133.

[0075] Each individual history H includes a user ID indicating which user the history belongs to, an intake data count n5 indicating the number of intake data entries included in the history, and n5 intake data HAs. Each intake data HA includes information such as the date and time the supplement was taken, the amount of supplement taken, and the sender of the notification related to that intake. It is assumed that one intake data HA will be registered for each supplement intake notification sent from the user terminal 400, supporter terminal 500, etc. It is not necessary to register notifications of new supplement intake and notifications of past unnotified supplement intake separately, but it may be possible to make them distinguishable.

[0076] Next, the purchase history DB136 registers the purchase history of supplements notified to the intake management system 100 for each user. Each individual history B1 to Bn3 corresponds to the user data C1 to Cn in the user DB133. Each individual history B includes a user ID indicating which user's history it is, a purchase data count n6 indicating the number of purchase data entries included in the history, and n6 purchase data BA entries. Each purchase data BA entry includes the supplement order ID, shipping date, and purchase quantity. In the case of in-store pickup, the order ID can be considered the purchase history ID. The shipping date should be registered based on the shipping completion notification from the external shipping system mentioned above.

[0077] Next, referring to Figure 16 and subsequent figures, we will explain in more detail the processes and operations performed by each device in order to realize the functions of the intake management system 100 and each terminal 200-600 described so far. The processes and operations of each device described below constitute an embodiment of the supplement intake management method of this invention. The processes and operations described below are performed by a processor executing the necessary programs and controlling the necessary hardware; however, for the sake of simplicity, the explanation will be given assuming that each device or system itself performs the processes and operations. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, it is assumed that each terminal 200-600 or their operator has been authenticated by some means to have access rights to the system by the intake management system 100 prior to each process or operation described below.

[0078] First, Figure 16 shows the operation of the facility terminal 200 and the intake management system 100 when a new user is registered in the intake management system 100 by operating the facility terminal 200. In this case, the facility terminal 200 receives user information and new registration instructions from the operator via a predetermined screen displayed on the display unit (S101), and sends a new user registration request to the intake management system 100 in response to the new registration instruction (S102). This request includes information to be registered in the user database 133, such as the facility used, name, and contact information.

[0079] When the intake management system 100 receives a request for new user registration, it creates a new user ID, registers the new user data C in the user database 133 based on the received information (S103), and sends a registration completion response to the facility terminal 200 (S104). The facility terminal 200 displays a message indicating that registration is complete on its screen in response to this response (S105), and the new registration is completed.

[0080] Furthermore, when changing the information of a registered user, the facility terminal 200 first receives a user ID specification and a user information display instruction from the operator via a predetermined screen (S111), and in response to the display instruction, sends a user information transmission request to the intake management system 100 (S112). This request includes the specified user ID. When the intake management system 100 receives a user information transmission request, it refers to the user database 133 and confirms that the source of the request is the facility terminal 200 of the facility used by the user corresponding to the received user ID (S113). If the confirmation is OK, it sends the user data C of the user to the requesting facility terminal 200 (S114).

[0081] The facility terminal 200 displays the contents of the received user data C on a predetermined screen and accepts input of the update location and update instructions (S115). When an update instruction is received, it sends a user information update request to the intake management system 100 (S116). This request includes the user ID of the user whose information needs to be updated and the information to be updated. For example, the maximum daily intake amount and order timing quantity, which are registered after a new user registration, may be sent here.

[0082] When the intake management system 100 receives a new user update request, it registers user data C in the user database 133 based on the received information (S117) and sends a response indicating the update is complete to the facility terminal 200 (S118). The facility terminal 200 displays a message indicating the update is complete on its screen in response to this message (S119), and the user information update is completed.

[0083] The above operations correspond to the operation in step S13 of Figure 3, and correspond to the functions of the user registration request unit 212 and intake amount registration request unit 214 of the facility terminal 200, and the user registration unit 113 and intake amount setting unit 118 of the intake management system 100. The operations in steps S103 and S117 correspond to the user registration procedure.

[0084] Furthermore, information on staff members and support staff can be registered and updated using the same process. This update includes adding or changing assigned users in staff member data C, and adding or changing target users in support staff data F. When a user terminal 400 is used to register or update a supporter, the user terminal 400 performs the same operations as the facility terminal 200. In this case, in step S113, the intake management system 100 refers to the supporter DB 134 and confirms that the source of the request is the user terminal 400 of the user associated with the supporter corresponding to the received supporter ID.

[0085] Furthermore, a supporter already associated with a user may also be associated with the user operating the user terminal 400 through operations from the user terminal 400. In this case, for example, when registering a new supporter by operating the user terminal 400, the user may be able to enter a supporter ID instead of the supporter's name, etc. In the process corresponding to step S103, the user ID of the user operating the requesting user terminal 400 should be added to the target user in the supporter data F in the supporter DB 134 that corresponds to the entered supporter ID. When making this addition, it would be good to ask the supporter indicated by the supporter ID for some kind of confirmation.

[0086] Next, Figure 17 shows a flowchart of the processes executed by the user terminal 400 when the user launches the intake management screen from the user terminal 400. Figure 18 shows an example of the intake management screen 700 displayed by this process. On the user terminal 400, the intake management screen 700 for managing supplement intake can be launched by starting a dedicated application, accessing a specified address via a browser, etc.

[0087] As shown in Figure 18, the intake management screen 700 includes a time display field 701 that displays the current time, an intake amount display unit 702 that displays the amount of supplements taken on the day, a notification display unit 703 that displays a notification message to the user, an intake notification button 704 that accepts instructions to notify when a new supplement has been taken, and various operation units 705 that accept other operations.

[0088] When the intake management screen is launched on the user terminal 400, the user terminal 400 starts the process shown in Figure 17, and first displays the time display field 701, the intake notification button 704, and the various operation buttons 705 as common parts of the intake management screen 700 on the display unit (S131). Next, the user terminal 400 accesses the intake management system 100 to obtain the daily supplement intake amount based on the intake history of the user operating the user terminal 400, which is registered in the intake history DB 135, and the user's minimum daily intake amount, which is registered in the user DB 133 (S132). If the user terminal 400 has locally stored the daily supplement intake amount (number of times intake notifications have been sent) and the minimum daily intake amount, it may also obtain those values.

[0089] In any case, the user terminal 400 displays the acquired intake amount on the intake amount display unit 702 (S133). Also, if the intake amount for the day does not reach the minimum daily intake amount (Yes in S134), the notification display unit 703 displays an intake reminder message encouraging the intake of supplements (S135).

[0090] Based on the above, the intake management screen 700 is displayed, prompting the user to take supplements if they have not yet taken a sufficient amount on that day. Figure 18 shows an example of the display when the minimum daily intake is 2 units and the amount taken on the day is 1 unit. In this example, an intake reminder notification is displayed prompting the user to take the missing 1 unit, but if a notification is not needed, the notification display unit 703 does not need to be displayed. Users are required to launch this intake management screen 700 each time they take a supplement and notify the intake management system 100 that they have taken the supplement using the intake notification button 704.

[0091] Figure 19 shows the operation of the user terminal 400 and the intake management system 100 when this notification is issued. Figure 20 shows the flowchart of the order determination process performed in step S145 of Figure 19. When the user terminal 400 detects that the intake notification button 704 has been operated (S141), it sends an intake notification to the intake management system 100 that includes the user ID of the user operating the user terminal 400 (S142). This intake notification is the first intake notification indicating that the user has just taken one supplement.

[0092] Upon receiving the intake notification, the intake management system 100 adds intake data HA indicating that one supplement was taken at the current time to the personal history H in the intake history DB 135, which corresponds to the user ID (S143). At this time, it is good to accurately record the time the notification was received, but there is little point in accurately recording the time the supplement was taken. This is because it is unclear how long after the user took the supplement the notification was sent. For this reason, in this embodiment, the timing of intake is registered as a time period with a granularity of morning, noon, evening, and late night, based on the time the notification was received. The intake management system 100 then decreases the number of supplements held in the user data C corresponding to the user ID in the user DB 133 by 1 (S144). This corresponds to the consumption of one supplement. After that, the order determination process shown in Figure 20 is executed.

[0093] In the process shown in Figure 20, the intake management system 100 retrieves the order timing quantity from the user data C corresponding to the user ID in the user database 133 (S151). If the updated number of supplements held is less than or equal to this order timing quantity (Yes in S152), it creates a holding decrease information indicating that the number of supplements held by the user indicated by the user ID has decreased and that additional purchases should be encouraged, and registers it in the user database 133 (S153). This holding decrease information is transmitted from the intake management system 100 in response to requests from facility terminals 200, etc., through the operation shown in Figure 16 and the screen display operation shown in Figure 29, which will be described later, and is displayed on the facility terminals 200, etc. Furthermore, the intake management system 100 refers to the supporter database 134 and sends a notification of decreased inventory to the supporter terminal 500 of each supporter associated with the user, indicating that they should be prompted to make additional purchases (S154), and then returns to the operation shown in Figure 19.

[0094] Figure 21 shows an example of a message displayed by a supporter terminal 500 upon receiving a notification of decreased stock. It is expected that the supporter, upon seeing this message, will encourage the user to purchase additional supplements, and that the user will make the purchase accordingly. Since a supporter may be associated with multiple users, it would be beneficial for the message to also include information on which user should be encouraged to purchase, as shown in Figure 21. For example, the intake management system 100 could retrieve the name of the relevant user from the user database 133 and include it in the notification of decreased stock. Similarly, the operator of the facility terminal 200 can prompt users to purchase additional supplements by viewing messages (see Figure 29) displayed in accordance with information on the decrease in their existing supplement supply during consultations, etc.

[0095] Notifications of decreased holdings can be sent using any publicly known method, such as web push notifications, APNs (Apple Push Notification service), or GCM (Google Cloud Messaging). The information necessary for sending these notifications is registered in the supporter DB134 as terminal identification information. The same applies to the sending of notifications from the intake management system 100 to each terminal, which will be described later. If the answer in step S152 is No, then steps S153 and S154 are skipped and the process returns to the operation shown in Figure 19.

[0096] After the order determination process described above, the intake management system 100 returns a response to the user terminal 400 indicating that the registration of the intake history was successful (S146). Upon receiving this response, the user terminal 400 displays a message indicating successful registration via a pop-up or the like (S147), and updates the display of the intake amount and intake reminder message on the intake management screen 700 to reflect the status after supplement intake (S148).

[0097] Through the above actions, users can notify and register their supplement intake with the intake management system 100. Furthermore, supporters can easily become aware when the user's remaining supply of supplements is running low. Since many supplement users are elderly and may not always be able to purchase additional supplements at the appropriate time, notifying supporters of the timing for additional purchases is useful. Of course, notifications of reduced supply can also be sent to the user themselves, not just the supporter. This information may be displayed in steps S147 or S148.

[0098] The operation in Figure 19 corresponds to the functions of the intake notification transmission unit 412 of the user terminal 400 and the intake notification reception unit 115 and intake history creation unit 116 of the intake management system 100. The operation in step S143 corresponds to the intake history creation procedure. In step S144, the intake history creation unit 116 functions as the second update unit. The processing in Figure 20 corresponds to the functions of the retention reduction notification transmission unit 123 and the retention reduction information creation unit 124, which act as the second notification unit and second transmission unit. Furthermore, if permission is granted for other terminals, such as the support terminal 500, the same operation should be performed on that terminal instead of the user terminal 400 in Figure 19. If the support terminal 500 is allowed to send an intake notification similar to that in Figure 19, this intake notification will be considered a second intake notification.

[0099] Next, Figure 22 shows the operation of the support terminal 500 and the intake management system 100 when retroactive intake information is transmitted from the support terminal 500 to the intake management system 100. Retroactive intake information is intended to be used when a support worker, referring to a user's past intake history, discovers a period when the user definitely took supplements but the intake history is not registered, and sends the information to correct the past history.

[0100] In this case, the supporter terminal 500 displays the required screen on its display unit and accepts instructions for inputting retroactive intake information and sending notifications (S171). The information to be entered here is the user ID of the user who took the supplement, the date and time (time zone) of supplement intake, and the number of supplements taken. The user ID may be displayed in a list, for example, along with the name associated with the supporter, and the user may select from this list. This list can be created by accessing the intake management system 100 when the screen is displayed and obtaining the necessary information based on the contents of the supporter DB 134 and user DB 133. If there is only one user associated with the supporter, the supporter terminal 500 may automatically write the user ID to the retroactive intake notification without specifically accepting input or selection of the user ID from the user. Upon receiving the transmission instruction, the supporter terminal 500 sends a retroactive intake notification to the intake management system 100, notifying it of the entered retroactive intake information along with the supporter ID of the supporter operating the supporter terminal 500 (S172).

[0101] Upon receiving this notification, the intake management system 100 refers to the supporter DB 134 to confirm that the received supporter ID is associated with the received user ID (the user ID is registered as "target user") (S173). If there are no problems, it adds intake data HA to the personal history in the intake history DB 135 corresponding to that user ID, indicating that the user consumed the received intake amount on the received intake date and time (S174). It also reduces the number of supplements held in the user data C corresponding to the user ID in the user DB 133 by the amount of the intake (S175). This is to ensure consistency between the intake history and the number of supplements held. Even if this reduction causes the number of supplements held to fall below the order timing quantity, it is not necessary to create information on the decrease in holdings or send a notification of the decrease in holdings at this point. However, it may be considered to do so. After the above, the intake management system 100 returns a response to the support terminal 500 indicating that the history registration was successful (S176). In response to this notification, the support terminal 500 displays on its screen that the registration is complete (S177), and the operation shown in Figure 22 is terminated.

[0102] Through the above operations, the supporter can operate the supporter terminal 500 to update the associated user's past supplement intake history. The operation shown in Figure 22 corresponds to the functions of the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 511 of the supporter terminal 500 and the intake notification reception unit 115 and intake history creation unit 116 of the intake management system 100. In step S174, the intake history creation unit 116 functions as the second update unit.

[0103] In addition to adding intake history, it may also be possible to delete intake history entries that are registered but were not actually taken using a similar procedure. Furthermore, the facility terminal 200 and the staff terminal 300 can also send retroactive intake notifications, but in this case, these terminals can be used to perform the same operation instead of the supporter terminal 500 in Figure 22. The staff terminal 300 can send retroactive intake notifications only to users registered as "assigned users" of the support staff member operating the terminal. The facility terminal 200 can send retroactive intake notifications to all users whose "usage facility" is the facility using the facility terminal 200.

[0104] Next, Figure 23 shows the operation of the user terminal 400 and the intake management system 100 when retroactive intake information is transmitted from the user terminal 400 to the intake management system 100. This feature allows users to correct their past intake history if they remember forgetting to register it themselves. In this case, the user terminal 400 displays the required screen on its display unit and accepts input of retroactive intake information and instructions to send notifications, similar to the case in Figure 22 (S191). When an instruction to send is received, it sends a retroactive intake notification to the intake management system 100 (S192). However, the ID to be included in the retroactive intake notification is the user ID of the user operating the user terminal 400. The retroactive intake notification sent by the user terminal 400 corresponds to the first intake notification.

[0105] Upon receiving this notification, the intake management system 100 first determines whether the received intake date and time falls within the immediate vicinity of a predetermined period (S193). The length of the predetermined period is arbitrary, but in this embodiment, it is set to the day the notification is received. The intention is to allow correction of forgotten intake history entries if the correction is made on the same day. If the answer in step S193 is Yes, the intake management system 100 updates the intake history DB 135 and user DB 133 in the same way as in steps S174 onwards in Figure 22, and returns a response to the user terminal 400 indicating that the history registration was successful (S194-S196). The user terminal 500 responds to this response by displaying on the screen that the registration is complete (S197), and the operation in Figure 23 ends.

[0106] On the other hand, if the answer in step S193 is No, the intake management system 100 determines that it cannot register the intake history based on the user's request (S198) and returns a response indicating that the history cannot be registered to the user terminal 400 (S199). Upon receiving this response, the user terminal 400 displays a message on its screen indicating that registration failed and prompting a support worker to enter the history (S200), and terminates the operation shown in Figure 23.

[0107] Through the above actions, within a specified period, users can operate the user terminal 400 to update their past supplement intake history. Furthermore, retroactive intake notifications for intakes prior to the specified period are not accepted, and users cannot update their history from the user terminal 400, thus preventing users from registering intake history and "pretending" to have taken supplements when they have not actually taken them. While it's possible to pretend to have taken a supplement by pressing the intake notification button 704 without actually taking it, preventing retroactive "pretending to have taken" supplements can improve the reliability of the intake history to a certain extent. The operation shown in Figure 23 corresponds to the functions of the retroactive intake notification transmission unit 413 of the user terminal 400 and the intake notification reception unit 115 and intake history creation unit 116 of the intake management system 100.

[0108] Next, we will describe the process that the intake management system 100 periodically performs to encourage intake. Figure 24 shows a flowchart of the first intake reminder notification process performed by the intake management system 100. The intake management system 100 starts the process shown in Figure 24 at a predetermined time each day. The predetermined time may be once a day or multiple times a day, but it is preferable to perform the process multiple times for more detailed encouragement of intake.

[0109] In the process shown in Figure 24, the intake management system 100 first refers to the user database 133 and extracts users whose intake history should be checked at the current time based on each user's minimum daily intake (S211). For example, if the process is performed twice a day, in the afternoon and evening, if the minimum daily intake is 1, it is sufficient to consume it by evening, so to avoid frequent notifications, it is not included in the afternoon process. If the minimum daily intake is 2, it is included in both the afternoon and evening processes to draw attention in the afternoon to prevent consuming both at once in the evening. It is advisable to register in advance the correspondence between the minimum daily intake and when it should be included in the process.

[0110] After step S211, the intake management system 100 performs the processes in steps S212 to S215 for each of the extracted users. Specifically, the supplement intake history of the target user for today is extracted from the intake history DB135 using the user ID and today's date as keys (S212), and it is determined whether this is below the target user's minimum daily intake (S213). If it is below, an intake reminder notification is sent to the target user's user terminal 400 and to the supporter terminal 500 of each supporter associated with the target user (S214, S215). If the result in step S213 is No, no notification is sent.

[0111] Figure 25 shows an example of a message displayed by a terminal that receives a notification sent in steps S214 and S215. (A) and (B) are examples of messages displayed by the user terminal 400. (A) simply states the number of servings needed to meet the minimum daily intake, while (B) also indicates a preferred time of day for serving. (C) is an example of a message displayed by the support terminal 500. Here, as in the case of Figure 21, it would be good if the message also included information on which users should be encouraged to take the medication. Through the above process, users who have not taken the minimum daily intake of supplements by the designated time each day will be encouraged to take the supplements, and caregivers around the user will be encouraged to encourage the user to take the supplements. This increases the likelihood that users will take the minimum daily intake of supplements. The process shown in Figure 24 corresponds to the function of the intake reminder notification transmission unit 117 as the first notification unit, and is part of the first notification procedure.

[0112] Next, Figure 26 shows a flowchart of the second intake reminder notification process performed by the intake management system 100. The intake management system 100 initiates the process shown in Figure 26 once a week. In the process shown in Figure 26, the intake management system 100 executes steps S231 to S234 for each user registered in the user database 133.

[0113] Specifically, the system extracts the supplement intake history of the target user for the past week from the intake history DB135, using the user ID and today's date as keys (S231), and determines whether this is less than seven times the target user's minimum daily intake (i.e., the minimum weekly intake) (S232). If it is, it creates an intake deficiency notice indicating that the target user's supplement intake for the week was low and registers it in the user DB133 (S233). In addition, it sends an intake reminder notice to the target user's user terminal 400 and to each supporter's supporter terminal 500 associated with the target user, informing them that the target user's supplement intake for the week was low and encouraging them to take supplements, with content corresponding to the created intake deficiency notice (S234). If the answer in step S232 is No, no notice is sent.

[0114] Figure 27 shows an example of a message displayed by a terminal that receives a notification sent in step S233. (A) is an example of a message displayed by the user terminal 400, and (B) is an example of a message displayed by the supporter terminal 500. Both messages convey the target intake amount for the previous week (minimum intake amount per week: 14 units) and the actual intake amount (12 units), and encourage the intake of more supplements. The supporter message (B) should also include information on which users should be encouraged to take more supplements. This is the same as in Figures 21 and 25.

[0115] Through the above process, it is possible to encourage users who have not taken the minimum weekly dose of supplements to take them, and to encourage caregivers around the users to ensure they take the supplements. This increases the likelihood that users will take the minimum weekly dose of supplements. The processing shown in Figure 26 corresponds to the functions of the intake reminder notification transmission unit 117 and the intake deficiency information creation unit 119, which are the first notification unit and the first transmission unit.

[0116] Note that the weekly notification based on the processing shown in Figure 26 does not consider whether there are any days in which the intake falls below the minimum daily intake. This is because, with supplements that provide nutrients that contribute to bone formation, if a sufficient amount is consumed over a certain period, it is often not a major problem if the daily intake falls below the required amount, and this has been taken into consideration. Furthermore, it is not mandatory to perform the process shown in Figure 26 on a weekly basis; the process shown in Figure 26 can be performed at intervals longer than one day, in order to distinguish it from the daily notifications provided by the process shown in Figure 24. In this case, step S232 compares the minimum intake for that period with the intake based on the intake history within that period.

[0117] Next, we will explain the screen for referencing user information, which includes the information on decreased possessions registered in the process shown in Figure 20 and the information on insufficient intake registered in the process shown in Figure 26. Figure 28 shows an example of a user's supplement intake, summarizing the intake status as shown by data registered in User DB133 and Intake History DB135 in an easy-to-understand format.

[0118] This user has a minimum daily intake of "2" and is assumed to have taken the number of supplements shown in the "Intake Amount" column for each week shown in the "Period" column. In that case, the judgment in step S232 in Figure 26 will be "OK" for weeks 1, 2, and 5 as shown in the "Judgment" column, while for weeks 3 and 4, intake deficiency information will be created and registered in step S233. In addition, in the process shown in Figure 20, which is executed each time an intake notification is made, the judgment in step S152 will be "Yes" on March 6th, the final week, and it will be assumed that retention decrease information will be created and registered.

[0119] If the operator of the facility terminal 200 wishes to refer to the user's supplement intake status, they can operate the facility terminal 200 to perform the same actions as in steps S111 and below in Figure 16, thereby accessing the intake management system 100, transmitting user data including information on decreased intake and insufficient intake, and displaying it. In the intake management system 100, the user information transmission unit 120, which serves as the first and second transmission units, performs this transmission. Furthermore, the action in step S114 in Figure 16 corresponds to the first transmission procedure.

[0120] Figure 29 shows an example of a user information screen 800 for displaying user data. This user information screen 800 includes a person information display unit 810 that displays the user's name, age, gender, etc., an intake status display unit 820 that displays the supplement intake status, and an inventory status display unit 830 that displays the supplement inventory status. When the facility terminal 200 acquires information about insufficient intake, the contents are displayed in the intake status display unit 820. In the example in Figure 29, this corresponds to the display on the second and third lines. When the facility terminal 200 acquires information about decreased inventory, the contents are displayed in the inventory status display unit 830. This corresponds to the display shown in the example in Figure 29.

[0121] For example, when a patient (user) visits a hospital (facility) for a medical examination, the attending physician can use the facility terminal 200 to refer to the user information screen 800, allowing them to determine whether the patient is taking the supplements as expected before conducting the examination. If the patient's recovery is unsatisfactory, one possible cause could be poor nutritional status due to insufficient supplement intake. If the insufficient intake can be identified on the user information screen 800, this can be taken into consideration during the examination. Furthermore, if it is determined that there is no insufficient intake, other causes can be investigated more quickly. The same considerations can be applied to cases where a registered dietitian (or staff member) visits a patient (or user) to provide nutritional guidance.

[0122] Furthermore, if the number of supplements a user has is decreasing, this can be detected through the user information screen 800, allowing for reminders to be sent to prevent users from forgetting to purchase additional supplements and thus preventing insufficient intake due to forgotten purchases. Supplements that provide nutrients contributing to bone formation are often used to treat bone-related diseases such as osteoporosis. In such cases, patients often visit the hospital regularly for long-term checkups. Therefore, if the intake management system 100 registers information on decreased intake and insufficient intake, doctors are likely to be able to refer to this information regularly, allowing for meaningful use of the data.

[0123] On the other hand, it is thought that sending real-time push notifications to users and supporters regarding decreased levels of supplements or insufficient intake would be more beneficial for ensuring proper supplement intake. Therefore, in this embodiment, notification sending and information registration are used in conjunction with this consideration. Furthermore, in addition to the facility terminal 200, the staff terminal 300, user terminal 400, and supporter terminal 500 can also display the user information screen 800 and refer to information on decreased possession and insufficient intake, just as with the facility terminal 200. Of course, the information that can be referenced may be changed depending on the terminal operator.

[0124] Next, Figure 30 shows the operation of the retailer terminal 600 and the intake management system 100 when purchase data is registered in the intake management system 100 by operating the retailer terminal 600. In this case, the sales terminal 600 accepts input from the user who purchased the supplement, including the user ID, purchase quantity (quantity sold to the user), whether shipping is required, and order registration instructions, via a predetermined screen displayed on the display unit (S251). If the supplement is handed over in person at the time of sale, shipping is "not required". The user ID can be verified, for example, by using a patient's medical card if the product is sold at a hospital shop. Alternatively, it can be verified by a string of characters or code symbols displayed on the user terminal 400, or by reading a My Number card. When an order registration instruction is entered in step S251, the retailer terminal 600 sends an order registration request to the intake management system 100 (S252). This request includes information such as the user ID, purchase quantity, and whether or not shipping is required.

[0125] When the intake management system 100 receives an order registration request, it registers new purchase data BA in accordance with the order registration request in the personal history B of the purchase history DB 136, which corresponds to the received user ID (S253). Also, if shipping is required (Yes in S254), it instructs the designated shipping system to ship the supplement based on the name, contact information, etc. in the user data C in the user DB 133, which corresponds to the received user ID (S255). If shipping is not required, step S255 is skipped. Subsequently, the intake management system 100 adds the number of supplements owned in the user data C corresponding to the user ID by the number of purchases (S256), and sends a response to the sales terminal 600 indicating successful order registration (S257). The sales terminal 600 responds to this response by displaying on the screen that registration was successful (S258), and the registration of purchase data is completed.

[0126] The above operations correspond to the functions of the order processing unit 611 and purchase information transmission unit 612 of the sales terminal 600, and the purchase information registration unit 121 as the first update unit of the intake management system 100. Through the above operations, when a user purchases a supplement, that information is reflected in the user data, allowing the intake management system 100 to reliably track the number of supplements each user owns. This is particularly effective when the number of retailers where supplements can be purchased is limited, or when supplement delivery must be arranged through the intake management system 100.

[0127] This concludes the description of the embodiments. However, in this invention, the specific configuration of the system or device, the specific processing procedures, the data format, the network configuration, etc., are not limited to those described in the embodiments. Furthermore, while the above-described embodiments primarily focused on the case where the facility is a hospital and the users are patients receiving treatment at the hospital, the application of this invention is not limited to these cases. For example, the intake management system 100 described above is also effective in cases where an organization, including a company, provides supplements to its members on the condition that they be consumed appropriately, with the aim of promoting the health of its members.

[0128] In this case, "facility" can refer to the facility of the organization in question or an organization entrusted by that organization with the distribution of supplements. The user is the recipient of the supplements. Even in this case, by using the intake management system 100, it is possible to distribute supplements while easily confirming that the user is taking the supplements appropriately (adhering to the minimum daily intake).

[0129] Furthermore, while the above-described embodiment assumed supplements to provide nutrients that contribute to bone formation, the supplements managed by the intake management system 100 are not limited to such supplements. It can be applied to any other supplement. It can also be applied to managing the intake status of things that should be taken regularly, such as medicines and foods.

[0130] Furthermore, while the above embodiment described an example of managing the intake of one type of supplement, it is also conceivable to manage the intake of multiple types of supplements individually. In this case, each user would be given a minimum daily intake and order timing quantity for each type of supplement. For users who do not take a certain type of supplement, the minimum daily intake could be set to zero. In addition, when performing actions related to the management of supplement intake and stock levels, such as sending intake notifications and order registration instructions, intake reminder notifications and stock reduction notifications, and creating intake shortage information and stock reduction information, it is conceivable to identify which supplement is being referred to by the supplement ID or the like. Furthermore, the intake management system 100 could also be used to register product names and ingredient information for each type of supplement, allowing facility staff, users, support staff, etc., to refer to this information at their discretion, or to include this information in notifications.

[0131] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment explained an example in which no management or warnings regarding excessive intake were taken, if excessive intake could be a problem, it is advisable to set a maximum daily intake and issue a warning notification if the intake exceeds this amount. Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, a notification indicating that one supplement has been consumed was sent in response to the operation of the intake notification button 704. However, if it is common to consume multiple supplements at once, it may be possible to send intake notifications indicating that multiple supplements have been consumed. Alternatively, the user may input the amount of supplement to be consumed, and an intake notification indicating that that amount of supplement has been consumed may be sent. The amount of supplement may also be expressed not only by the number of units, but also by volume, weight, etc.

[0132] Furthermore, the above-described embodiment did not specify the case where multiple users associated with a particular supporter are using different facilities. However, if the user ID and supporter ID are unique throughout the entire intake management system 100, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which a supporter can be specified by the supporter ID and associated with a user (with the supporter's consent), regardless of which facility the user is using or who registered the supporter.

[0133] Furthermore, an embodiment of the program of this invention is a program that causes a computer to control the necessary hardware to realize the functions of the intake management system 100 and / or various terminals 200 to 600 in the above-described embodiment. Such programs may be stored from the outset in the computer's built-in ROM or other non-volatile storage media (flash memory, EEPROM, etc.). However, they can also be provided by recording them on any non-volatile storage medium such as a memory card, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc. By installing and running the programs recorded on these storage media on a computer, the functions described above can be realized.

[0134] Furthermore, it is possible to download programs from an external device connected to a network and equipped with a recording medium containing the program, or from an external device that stores the program in a storage means, install it on a computer, and run it. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the configurations of each embodiment and modified example described above can be combined in any way as long as they do not contradict each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0135] 100...Intake Management System, 200...Facility Terminal, 300...Staff Terminal, 400...User Terminal, 500...Supporter Terminal, 600...Retailer Terminal, 700...Intake Management Screen, 701...Time Display Field, 702...Intake Amount Display Unit, 703...Notification Display Unit, 704...Intake Notification Button, 705...Various Operation Units, 800...User Information Screen, 810...Person Information Display Unit, 820...Intake Status Display Unit, 830...Possession Status Display Unit, N...Network

Claims

1. A supplement intake management system that manages the intake status of supplements for supplying nutrients that contribute to bone formation, Distributed across one information processing device or multiple information processing devices capable of communicating with each other, A user registration unit receives and registers information on users and the minimum intake amount of the supplement corresponding to each user from pre-registered facilities. A user registration unit receives a first intake notification from a user registered in the user registration unit indicating that the supplement has been taken, and based on the first intake notification, creates an intake history of the supplement for each user. Based on the intake history, a first notification unit sends an intake reminder notification to the user terminal of a user who has not yet taken the daily intake amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for that day, at a predetermined time each day, to encourage them to take the supplement. A supplement intake management system characterized by comprising: a first transmission unit that, based on the intake history, creates intake deficiency information indicating that a user has not taken the amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for a period longer than one day within that period, and transmits the intake deficiency information to a facility terminal associated with the user in response to access from the facility terminal of the facility.

2. A supplement intake management system according to claim 1, The user registration unit includes a supporter registration unit that registers supporters in association with each user. The aforementioned intake history creation unit, Upon receiving a second intake notification from a supporter registered in the supporter registration section, indicating that the supporter and the corresponding user have taken the supplement, the system creates the user's intake history based on the second intake notification. If the user does not submit the first notification of intake stating that they took the supplement before the first specified period in the past, A supplement intake management system characterized by receiving a second intake notification from the supporter indicating that the supplement was taken before the first predetermined period in the past.

3. A supplement intake management system according to claim 2, When the first notification unit issues the intake reminder notification to a user's terminal, it also issues the intake reminder notification to the supporter's terminal associated with that user. The supplement intake management system is characterized in that, when the first transmission unit creates information about an intake deficiency for a particular user, it sends a notification to the supporter terminal of the supporter associated with the user, with content corresponding to the intake deficiency information, encouraging the user to take the supplement.

4. A supplement intake management system according to claim 1, The user registration unit includes a staff member registration unit that registers staff members in association with each of the aforementioned facilities. The aforementioned intake history creation unit, Upon receiving a second intake notification from a person registered in the aforementioned person registration department, stating that the person and the corresponding user have taken the supplement, the intake history of the user is created based on the second intake notification. If the user does not submit the first notification of intake stating that they took the supplement before the first specified period in the past, A supplement intake management system characterized by receiving a second intake notification from the person in charge indicating that the supplement was taken before the first predetermined period in the past.

5. A supplement intake management system according to claim 1, A supplement intake management system characterized by not notifying the user that their intake of the supplement is excessive.

6. A supplement intake management system according to claim 1, Distributed among the information processing device 1 or the plurality of information processing devices, For each user, there is a quantity registration unit that registers the quantity of the supplements that the user possesses, A first update unit receives information on the quantity of the supplement sold to the user, associated with the user's identification information, from the aforementioned facility or a pre-registered seller, and updates the quantity held in the holding quantity registration unit based on said information. A second update unit updates the quantity held in the quantity registration unit based on the first intake notification received by the intake history creation unit, A supplement intake management system characterized by comprising: a second transmission unit that, when it detects that the quantity of a user's supplements held has fallen below a first threshold, creates information indicating that the quantity of the supplements held by that user has decreased, and transmits the information indicating the decrease in holdings to a facility terminal associated with that user in response to access from the facility terminal of the facility.

7. A supplement intake management system according to claim 2, Distributed among the information processing device 1 or the plurality of information processing devices, For each user, there is a quantity registration unit that registers the quantity of the supplements that the user possesses, A first update unit receives information on the quantity of the supplement sold to the user, associated with the user's identification information, from the aforementioned facility or a pre-registered seller, and updates the quantity held in the holding quantity registration unit based on said information. A second update unit updates the quantity held in the quantity registration unit based on the first intake notification and the second intake notification received by the intake history creation unit, A supplement intake management system characterized by comprising: a second notification unit that, when it detects that the quantity of supplements held by a particular user has fallen below a first threshold, notifies the supporter terminal of the supporter associated with that user that the quantity of supplements held by that user has decreased.

8. A supplement intake management method comprising one or more processors working together to manage the intake status of supplements for supplying nutrients that contribute to bone formation, The first processor or the plurality of processors cooperate, A user registration procedure that receives and registers information on users and the minimum intake amount of the supplement corresponding to each user from pre-registered facilities, A procedure for creating an intake history, which involves receiving a first intake notification from a user registered in the user registration procedure indicating that the supplement has been taken, and creating an intake history for each user based on the first intake notification, Based on the intake history, a first notification procedure is performed to send an intake reminder notification to the user terminal of users who have not yet taken the daily intake amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for that day, at a predetermined time each day, to encourage them to take the supplement. A supplement intake management method characterized by: creating information indicating that a user has not consumed the amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for a period longer than one day, based on the intake history; and performing a first transmission procedure to transmit the information indicating the intake deficiency for a period to a facility terminal associated with the user, in response to access from the facility terminal of the facility.

9. A program for implementing a function that manages the intake status of supplements for supplying nutrients that contribute to bone formation, using one computer or by having multiple computers cooperate, The computer mentioned in 1 above, or the multiple computers mentioned above, cooperate with each other. A user registration procedure that receives and registers information on users and the minimum intake amount of the supplement corresponding to each user from pre-registered facilities, A procedure for creating an intake history, which involves receiving a first intake notification from a user registered in the user registration procedure indicating that the supplement has been taken, and creating an intake history for each user based on the first intake notification, Based on the intake history, a first notification procedure is performed to send an intake reminder notification to the user terminal of users who have not yet taken the daily intake amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for that day, at a predetermined time each day, to encourage them to take the supplement. A program for executing a first transmission procedure which, based on the intake history, creates intake deficiency information indicating that a user has not taken the amount of the supplement corresponding to the minimum intake amount for a period longer than one day, and transmits the intake deficiency information to a facility terminal associated with the user in response to access from the facility terminal of the facility.

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