Interview System

Abstract

To provide a technique for making all questions to be asked, be asked without being forgotten in a medical consultation.SOLUTION: A server device 11 receives symptom data showing a symptom selected by a patient from a terminal device 12 used by the patient, and sends data showing options of questions based on the symptom and a plurality of answers to the questions to the terminal device 12. The terminal device 12 displays the options of questions and answers shown by the data received from the server device 11. The server device 11 receives answer data showing answers selected by the patient from the terminal device 12, determines necessity of asking unanswered questions on the basis of the answers in the received answer data, and sends the questions that the server device has determined to be necessary to be asked and data indicating the options of the answers to the terminal device 12. In that way, all the questions to be asked are asked without being forgotten and questions not to be asked are not asked.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for processing medical information. [Background technology]

[0002] In order for medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, etc.) to correctly diagnose a patient's condition, they need to obtain information such as medical history from the patient or their family, etc. This process of obtaining information is called a medical interview, but it is not easy for medical professionals to obtain all the necessary information during the interview.

[0003] Therefore, a technology for supporting medical interviews has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a medical interview system with a learning function, which is characterized by sequentially providing a symptom input step, a symptom input step, a medical interview item step, and a medical interview result display step, providing a step of "explanation of diagnostic points related to symptoms" between the symptom input step and the symptom input step, and providing a step of "explanation related to medical interview items" between the symptom input step and the medical interview item step. According to the medical interview system with a learning function described in Patent Document 1, medical personnel can learn information required for medical interviews with patients when necessary. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-158754 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In many medical institutions (hospitals, pharmacies, etc.), medical interviews are conducted by having patients answer questions listed on a standardized medical interview form. In such medical interviews based on standardized medical interview forms, subsequent questions do not change depending on the answers to previous questions. Therefore, there is a problem that questions that are actually necessary depending on the patient's condition are missed.

[0006] In view of the above background, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for ensuring that all necessary questions are asked in a medical interview. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a storage means for storing a database which stores, for each of a plurality of questions relating to each of a plurality of symptoms, question data indicating the question, answer option data indicating a plurality of answer options for the question, and necessity condition data indicating conditions for judging the necessity of the question indicated by the question data based on answers by a user to questions other than the question indicated by the question data, and which stores answer content data indicating the content of the answer of the option indicated by the answer option data for each of the plurality of answer option data; acquiring means for acquiring symptom data indicating a symptom input by a user; and display instruction means for causing a display device to display, among the question data stored in the database, a question indicated by question data corresponding to a symptom indicated by the symptom data and answer options indicated by the plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data, The first aspect of the medical interview system includes an acquisition means for sequentially acquiring answer data indicating an answer selected by a user from among the answer options displayed on the display device, the storage means for sequentially storing the answer data sequentially acquired by the acquisition means, and the display instruction means, when new answer data is stored in the storage means, determines the necessity of each of the questions indicated by question data corresponding to the symptoms indicated by the symptom data and not answered by the user, based on the conditions indicated by the necessity condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the answer data stored in the storage means, extracts the questions determined to be necessary, displays the extracted questions and the answer options corresponding to the questions on the display device, and outputs answer content data corresponding to the answer data for each of the multiple answer data stored in the storage means to an external device.

[0008] According to the medical interview system of the first aspect, if appropriate data is stored in the database, all necessary questions are asked in the medical interview without omission.

[0009] In the medical interview system according to the first aspect described above, a second aspect may be adopted in which the database stores question explanation data indicating an explanation for the question indicated by each of the multiple question data stored therein, and the display instruction means causes the display device to display an explanation indicated by the question explanation data corresponding to the question data indicating the question being displayed on the display device.

[0010] According to the medical interview system according to the second aspect, for example, medical staff can obtain information such as the significance of questions and effective ways of asking questions.

[0011] In the medical interview system according to the first or second aspect described above, a third aspect may be adopted in which the database stores one or more pieces of urgency determination condition data indicating conditions for determining the urgency of treatment for a disease based on the answers indicated by the response data, and the display instruction means causes the display device to display the urgency of treatment for the disease determined based on the conditions indicated by the urgency determination condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the response data stored in the memory means.

[0012] According to the medical interview system according to the third aspect, for example, a patient can determine whether or not he or she should go to a medical institution to receive medical treatment.

[0013] In the medical interview system according to any one of the first to third aspects described above, a fourth aspect may be adopted in which the database stores urgency explanation data indicating an explanation regarding the urgency determined by the conditions indicated by the urgency determination condition data for each of the one or more stored urgency determination condition data, and the display instruction means causes the display device to display an explanation indicated by the urgency explanation data corresponding to the urgency determination condition data used to determine the urgency displayed on the display device.

[0014] According to the interview system according to the fourth aspect, for example, medical personnel can know the points that should be considered with priority when diagnosing a patient's illness.

[0015] In a fifth aspect of the medical interview system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, each of the plurality of question data stored in the database includes language-specific question data indicating, for each of a plurality of languages, a text in which a question indicated by the question data is expressed in that language, and each of the plurality of answer choice data stored in the database includes language-specific answer choice data indicating, for each of the plurality of languages, a text in which an answer choice indicated by the answer choice data is expressed in that language, and the acquiring means acquires language data indicating a language selected by a user from the plurality of languages, and the display instruction means, when causing the display device to display the question indicated by the question data and the answer choices indicated by the plurality of answer choice data corresponding to the question data, causes the display device to display, among the plurality of language-specific question data included in the question data, a text indicated by the language-specific question data corresponding to the language indicated by the language data, and among the plurality of language-specific answer choice data included in each of the plurality of answer choice data, a text indicated by the language-specific answer choice data corresponding to the language indicated by the language data.

[0016] According to the medical interview system of the fifth aspect described above, by preparing text in multiple languages ​​only for the questions and answer options, a medical interview can be conducted even if the patient and medical staff speak different languages.

[0017] In the medical interview system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects described above, the configuration may be adopted as a sixth aspect, in which the acquisition means acquires medical institution condition data indicating conditions related to a medical institution specified by a user, the acquisition means acquires available appointment time data indicating the time periods during which appointments can be made at each medical institution that satisfies the conditions indicated by the medical institution condition data, the display instruction means causes the display device to display the time periods during which appointments can be made at each medical institution indicated by the available appointment time data, the acquisition means acquires appointment data indicating the time periods during which appointments can be made at a medical institution selected by the user from the time periods during which appointments can be made at each medical institution displayed on the display device, and the acquisition means is further equipped with a notification means for notifying the medical institution indicated by the appointment data that an appointment has been made for the time period indicated by the appointment data.

[0018] According to the medical interview system of the sixth aspect described above, when a patient wishes to visit a medical institution to receive medical treatment, the patient can easily make a reservation to receive treatment at a medical institution that meets the desired conditions at the desired time period.

[0019] In the medical interview system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects above, a seventh aspect may be adopted in which the output means outputs answer content data regarding patients receiving treatment at a medical institution to a device storing electronic medical records managed by the medical institution.

[0020] According to the medical interview system according to the seventh aspect, a medical institution can view the results of a medical interview of a patient visiting the institution.

[0021] The present invention also provides a process for storing in a computer a database for storing, for each of a plurality of questions relating to each of a plurality of symptoms, question data indicating the question, answer option data indicating a plurality of answer options for the question, and necessity condition data indicating conditions for judging the necessity of the question indicated by the question data based on answers from a user to questions other than the question indicated by the question data, and for storing answer content data indicating the content of the answer of the option indicated by the answer option data for each of the plurality of answer option data, a process for acquiring symptom data indicating a symptom input by a user, and a process for displaying, on a display device, the question indicated by question data corresponding to the symptom indicated by the symptom data and the answer options indicated by the plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data, among the question data stored in the database. a process of sequentially acquiring answer data indicating an answer selected by a user from among answer options displayed on the display device; a process of sequentially storing the sequentially acquired answer data; when new answer data is stored in the storing process, a process of determining the necessity of each of the questions indicated by question data corresponding to the symptoms indicated by the symptom data that have not been answered by the user, based on the conditions indicated by necessity condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the stored answer data, extracting the questions determined to be necessary, and displaying the extracted questions and answer options corresponding to the questions on the display device; and a process of outputting answer content data corresponding to the answer data for each of the multiple stored answer data to an external device.

[0022] The present invention also provides a process for storing in a computer a database for storing, for each of a plurality of questions relating to each of a plurality of symptoms, question data indicating the question, answer option data indicating a plurality of answer options for the question, and necessity condition data indicating conditions for judging the necessity of the question indicated by the question data based on answers from a user to questions other than the question indicated by the question data, and for storing answer content data indicating the content of the answer of the option indicated by the answer option data for each of the plurality of answer option data; a process for acquiring symptom data indicating a symptom input by a user; a process for displaying, on a display device, a question indicated by question data corresponding to a symptom indicated by the symptom data, and answer options indicated by the plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data, among the question data stored in the database; and In a ninth aspect, there is provided a non-volatile recording medium on which is continuously recorded in a computer-readable state a program for executing the following processes: sequentially acquiring answer data indicating an answer selected by a user from among the options; sequentially storing the sequentially acquired answer data; when new answer data is stored in the storing process, determining the necessity of each of the questions that have not been answered by the user among the questions indicated by question data corresponding to the symptoms indicated by the symptom data, based on the conditions indicated by the necessity condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the stored answer data, extracting the questions determined to be necessary, and displaying the extracted questions and answer options corresponding to the questions on the display device; and outputting answer content data corresponding to the answer data for each of the stored multiple answer data to an external device.

[0023] According to the program according to the eighth aspect or the recording medium according to the ninth aspect, the medical interview system according to the first aspect is realized by a computer. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a medical inquiry system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a medical interview table according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 11 is a diagram showing a data configuration of an urgency table according to an embodiment; FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a user table according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a hospital table according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a data configuration of an answer table according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a reservation table according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 12] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 13] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 14] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 15] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 16] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 17] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 18] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 19] 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a terminal device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] [Embodiment] An interview system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The interview system 1 is a system that supports interviewing a patient. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the interview system 1. The interview system 1 includes a server device 11 managed by a business operator that operates the interview system 1, a terminal device 12 used by a patient, a server device 13 managed by a medical institution, and a terminal device 14 used by a staff member of the medical institution.

[0026] In Fig. 1, server device 11 is shown as one device, but server device 11 may be configured as a group of multiple devices that operate in cooperation with server device 11. In Fig. 1, only one terminal device 12 is shown, but in reality, the number of terminal devices 12 varies depending on the number of patients using medical interview system 1. In Fig. 1, only one server device 13 is shown, but in reality, the number of server devices 13 varies depending on the number of medical institutions using medical interview system 1. In Fig. 1, only one terminal device 14 is shown, but in reality, the number of terminal devices 14 varies depending on the number of medical institution employees using medical interview system 1.

[0027] The terminal device 12 performs data communication with the server device 11. The server device 13 performs data communication with the server device 11. The terminal device 14 performs data communication with the server devices 11 and 13.

[0028] In this embodiment, the server device 11, the terminal device 12, the server device 13, and the terminal device 14 are realized by a computer executing a program according to this embodiment. The computer for realizing the server device 11 and the server device 13 includes a memory, a processor that processes data according to the program stored in the memory, and a communication interface that performs data communication with an external device.

[0029] A computer for realizing the terminal device 12 and the terminal device 14 includes a memory, a processor for processing data according to a program stored in the memory, a communication interface for performing data communication with an external device, a display device such as a liquid crystal display for displaying various information to a user, and an operation device such as a keyboard for accepting user operations. However, instead of including the display device and the operation device, the computer for realizing the terminal device 12 and the terminal device 14 may include an input / output interface for inputting and outputting data to and from the display device and the operation device, and these devices may be connected to the computer via the input / output interface.

[0030] A medical interview database, a user table, and a hospital table are stored in the memory (an example of a storage means) of the server device 11. In addition, the memory of the server device 11 stores an answer table that stores the results of an answer to a medical interview every time a patient answers the medical interview.

[0031] The medical interview database includes a medical interview table for each symptom and an urgency table. Figure 2 shows the data structure of the medical interview table. The medical interview table is prepared for each of a number of symptoms, and stores records for each of a number of questions corresponding to the corresponding symptom in the order in which they should be asked. Records in the medical interview table include the fields [Question ID], [Necessity condition], [Necessity flag], [Question], [Answer options], [Question explanation], and [Answer content]. [Question] and [Answer options] include subfields such as [Japanese] and [English] corresponding to each of a number of languages.

[0032] The field [Question ID] stores data indicating an identifier (Identifier) ​​that identifies the question. The field [Necessity condition] stores necessity condition data indicating a condition for determining whether a question corresponding to another record is necessary based on the patient's answer to a question corresponding to that record. An example of the condition indicated by the necessity condition data is a condition such as "if the answer to the question corresponding to question ID XX is XX, then a question is necessary."

[0033] The field [Necessity Flag] stores a flag indicating whether the question corresponding to the record is necessary. For questions that are required by default, the field [Necessity Flag] is pre-stored with, for example, "1" indicating that they are necessary. For questions that are not required by default, the field [Necessity Flag] is pre-stored with, for example, "0" indicating that they are not required.

[0034] The field [Question] stores question data indicating a question. The field [Question] stores language-specific question data indicating text expressing a question in a corresponding language in subfields corresponding to each of a plurality of languages.

[0035] The field [Answer Choices] stores answer choice data indicating multiple answer choices to the question indicated by the question data stored in the field [Question] of the same record. The subfields corresponding to each of the multiple languages ​​contained in the field [Answer Choices] store language-specific answer choice data indicating text expressing the answer choices in the corresponding language.

[0036] The field [Question explanation] stores question explanation data that indicates an explanation for the question indicated by the question data stored in the field [Question] of the same record. The explanation for the question is, for example, an explanation of the meaning of the question or an effective way to ask the question.

[0037] The field [Answer Content] stores data for each answer option stored in the field [Answer Options] of the same record that indicates the content of the answer for that option in terms that are easy for medical professionals to understand (for example, expressions using technical terms, with the question and its answer expressed in one sentence).

[0038] 3 shows the data structure of the urgency table, which stores records corresponding to each of the conditions for determining the urgency of treatment for a patient's illness based on the patient's answers to questions.

[0039] The records in the urgency table include the fields [urgency determination condition], [urgency], and [urgency explanation]. The field [urgency determination condition] stores urgency determination condition data indicating the condition for determining the urgency of treatment for a patient's illness based on the patient's answer to a question. An example of the condition indicated by the urgency determination condition data is a condition such as "the answer to the question corresponding to question ID XX is XX, and the answer to the question corresponding to question ID XX is XX."

[0040] The field [urgency] stores data indicating the urgency of treatment for a patient's illness when the conditions indicated by the urgency determination condition data stored in the field [urgency determination condition] of the same record are satisfied. In this embodiment, the urgency indicates one of three levels, for example, "high," "medium," or "low."

[0041] The field [urgency explanation] stores urgency explanation data indicating an explanation of the urgency determined by the conditions indicated by the urgency determination condition data stored in the field [urgency determination condition] of the same record. The explanation of the urgency is, for example, the reason why the urgency is determined to be high (for example, "high" or "medium"), etc.

[0042] 4 is a diagram showing the data configuration of the user table. The user table stores records corresponding to each user (general users who may become patients) of the medical interview system 1. The records in the user table include the following fields: [User ID], [Password], [User name], [Date of birth], [Gender], [Health insurance card information], [Address], [Telephone number], and [Location].

[0043] Each field in the user table stores data corresponding to the field name. The data stored in the field [Location] is data indicating the latitude and longitude corresponding to the user's address (home).

[0044] 5 is a diagram showing the data configuration of the hospital table. The hospital table stores records corresponding to each medical institution (hereinafter, for convenience, referred to as "hospital") that uses the medical interview system 1. The records of the hospital table include the fields [Hospital ID], [Password], [Hospital Name], [Medical Department], [Address], [Telephone Number], [Location], [Appointment Table URL], and [Medical Record Database URL].

[0045] Each field of the hospital table stores data corresponding to the name of the field. The data stored in the field [Location] is data indicating the latitude and longitude corresponding to the address of the hospital. The data stored in the field [Appointment Table URL] is data indicating the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the appointment table (described later) stored in the server device 13. The data stored in the field [Medical Record Database URL] is data indicating the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the medical record database (described later) stored in the server device 13.

[0046] 6 is a diagram showing the data structure of the answer table. The answer table is a table that is generated every time a medical interview is conducted, and is stored in the memory of the server device 11 in association with the user ID of the patient who answered the medical interview and data indicating the time when the medical interview was conducted (for example, the start time of the medical interview).

[0047] The answer table stores records corresponding to each question answered by the patient. The records in the answer table include the fields [Question ID] and [Answer].

[0048] The field [Question ID] stores data indicating an identifier for identifying the question answered by the patient. The field [Answer] stores data indicating the answer selected by the patient from multiple options for the question.

[0049] An appointment table and a medical record database are stored in the memory of the server device 13. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the data structure of the appointment table. The appointment table is a table generated according to each business day of the hospital, and is stored in the memory of the server device 13 in association with data indicating the dates of the business days.

[0050] The appointment table stores records corresponding to the time slots for accepting appointments for medical treatment. Records in the appointment table contain the fields [Time Slot], [User Name], [Health Insurance Card Information], and [Phone Number]. Each field in the appointment table stores data according to the name of the field. Note that for records of time slots for which no appointments have yet been made, no data is stored in the fields [User Name], [Health Insurance Card Information], and [Phone Number].

[0051] The medical record database is a database that stores data from electronic medical records used by hospitals.

[0052] The operation of the medical interview system 1 when a patient uses the medical interview system 1 to answer a medical interview will be described below.

[0053] A patient user, for example, inputs the URL of the login page of the medical interview system 1 into a web browser running on the server device 11, and inputs a user ID, password, and language to be used on the displayed login page to open the web page of the medical interview site provided by the server device 11. Figure 8 shows the top screen of the medical interview site displayed on the display of the terminal device 12. Note that on the web page of the medical interview site, questions and answer options are displayed in the language input by the patient on the login page.

[0054] The patient selects one or more of his / her symptoms on the screen of Fig. 8 and clicks the "Start medical interview" button, etc. In response to this operation, symptom data indicating the symptoms selected by the patient is transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server device 11.

[0055] When the server device 11 receives symptom data from the terminal device 12, it generates a new empty answer table (Fig. 6) by associating it with the patient's user ID and data indicating the time at that time, and stores it in memory. In addition, the server device 11 generates a copy of the interview table corresponding to the symptom indicated by the received symptom data, from among the multiple interview tables (Fig. 2) stored in the interview database, as a working interview table (hereinafter simply referred to as "interview table"), and stores it in memory.

[0056] Next, the server device 11 extracts records in which the data stored in the field [Necessity Flag] of the medical interview table indicates that a question is necessary, and transmits data instructing the terminal device 12 to display the question and answer options indicated by the extracted record. The terminal device 12 displays a medical interview screen in accordance with the data received from the server device 11. Fig. 9 is an example of the medical interview screen. Note that the medical interview screen may display questions one at a time, or multiple questions may be displayed simultaneously.

[0057] When a patient performs an operation on the interview screen to select an appropriate answer from among multiple answer options for one question, the terminal device 12 transmits answer data indicating the selected answer to the server device 11. When the server device 11 receives the answer data, it stores the received answer data in an answer table in association with the question ID of the question corresponding to the answer data.

[0058] Next, the server device 11 determines whether or not questions that have not been answered by the patient, among the questions indicated by the question data included in the interview table, are necessary, based on the conditions indicated by the necessity condition data stored in the interview table corresponding to the symptoms indicated by the symptom data received from the terminal device 12 and the answers indicated by the answer data stored in the answer table at that time, and updates the data stored in the field [Necessity Flag] with data indicating the result.

[0059] The server device 11 extracts records from the medical interview table updated as described above, in which the data stored in the field [Necessity Flag] indicates that a question is necessary, and transmits data instructing the terminal device 12 to display the question and answer options indicated by the extracted record. The terminal device 12 displays a new medical interview screen in accordance with the data received from the server device 11. Figure 10 shows an example of the medical interview screen newly displayed on the display of the terminal device 12.

[0060] Thereafter, each time the patient selects an answer on the interview screen, the answer data is transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server device 11, and data instructing the terminal device 12 to display a new interview screen is transmitted from the server device 11 to the terminal device 12, and the new interview screen is displayed on the display of the terminal device 12. This series of processes is repeated in the server device 11 until no records relating to unanswered questions that require an answer are extracted from the interview table.

[0061] Fig. 11 shows an interview screen that is newly displayed when, for example, "pulsating pain" is selected on the interview screen of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 shows an interview screen that is newly displayed when, for example, "throbbing pain" is selected on the interview screen of Fig. 10. In this way, the questions displayed on the subsequent interview screen change depending on the answer selected by the patient on the preceding interview screen. As a result, all necessary questions according to symptoms, etc. are asked of the patient, and unnecessary questions are not asked.

[0062] When all questions have been answered on the medical interview screen and no records related to unanswered questions that require an answer can be extracted from the medical interview table, the server device 11 judges the urgency of treatment for the illness based on the conditions indicated by the urgency judgment condition data stored in the urgency table (FIG. 3) and the answers indicated by the answer data stored in the answer table. The server device 11 then displays the determined urgency and transmits data to the terminal device 12 instructing it to display a message urging the patient to make a hospital appointment.

[0063] The terminal device 12 displays a hospital reservation screen shown in Fig. 13 in accordance with the data received from the server device 11. In the example of Fig. 13, the urgency of treatment for the disease (if there are multiple determined urgency levels, the highest among them) is "medium" based on the result of the interview, and advice according to the urgency, such as "If you wait until tomorrow and don't get better, go to the hospital" is displayed. If the urgency is "high", advice such as "Go to the hospital immediately" is displayed on the hospital reservation screen. If the urgency is "low", advice such as "If you wait a week and don't get better, go to the hospital" is displayed on the hospital reservation screen.

[0064] When a patient selects the department they wish to visit, the area in which the hospital is located, the consultation date, and the time period on the hospital reservation screen, and clicks the ``Execute search'' button, etc., medical institution condition data indicating the selected department and area, and time period condition data indicating the selected consultation date and time period are sent from terminal device 12 to server device 11.

[0065] When the server device 11 receives the medical institution condition data and the time period condition data, it extracts records of hospitals that satisfy the conditions (medical department, area) indicated by the medical institution condition data from the hospital table (FIG. 5). At that time, the server device 13 reads the patient's home position from the user table (FIG. 4) and uses it to calculate the distance from the home to the hospital.

[0066] Next, server device 11 obtains the appointment tables (FIG. 7) of those hospitals from server device 13 corresponding to each hospital, as available appointment time slot data indicating the time slots during which appointments can be made, according to the appointment table URL indicated by the data stored in the records extracted from the hospital table. Next, server device 11 extracts records corresponding to available appointment time slots that satisfy the conditions (examination date, time slot) indicated by the time slot condition data from the appointment table obtained from server device 13, and generates a list showing the time slots indicated by the time slot data stored in those records, together with the hospital name, the area including the hospital address, and the distance from the patient's home to the hospital, for example in ascending order of distance, and transmits data indicating the list to terminal device 12.

[0067] The terminal device 12 uses the data received from the server device 11 to display a list of available time slots on the hospital reservation screen. Fig. 13 shows the hospital reservation screen with the list displayed. When the patient selects one of the available time slots included in the list and clicks the "Make reservation" button, the terminal device 12 transmits reservation data indicating the name of the hospital and the time slot selected by the patient to the server device 11.

[0068] When server device 11 receives the reservation data, it searches the user table (Fig. 4) for a record corresponding to the patient, and generates notification data by adding data indicating the user name, health insurance card information, and telephone number stored in the searched record to the reservation data. Next, server device 11 searches the hospital table (Fig. 5) for a record corresponding to the hospital name indicated in the reservation data, and transmits the notification data to server device 13 corresponding to the hospital selected by the patient on the hospital reservation screen, according to the reservation table URL indicated by the data stored in the searched record. Server device 13 updates the reservation table (Fig. 7) according to the notification data received from server device 11. As a result, the hospital reservation is completed.

[0069] The above is the operation of the medical interview system 1 when a patient is interviewed.

[0070] Thereafter, when the patient goes to the reserved hospital during the reserved time period, a medical worker at the hospital uses the terminal device 14 to view the data stored in the reservation table (FIG. 7) stored in the server device 13, and confirms the reservation of the patient who has come to the hospital. FIG. 14 shows a reservation confirmation screen displayed on the terminal device 14. When a patient who has made a reservation comes to the hospital, the medical worker clicks on the "Visit" column of the row of that patient in the list, etc. In response to this operation, the terminal device 14 transmits to the server device 11, for example, data indicating the user name and telephone number of this patient as answer content request data requesting answer content data indicating the results of the patient's medical interview.

[0071] The server device 11 reads out from memory the patient's answer table (FIG. 6) indicated by the received answer content request data, and for each record included in the read answer table, searches the medical interview table (FIG. 2) for answer content data indicating the answer content corresponding to the combination of question and answer indicated by the data stored in that record.

[0072] The server device 11 searches the hospital table (FIG. 5) for a record corresponding to the hospital name of the terminal device 14 that sent the answer content request data, and transmits the answer content data searched as described above to the server device 13 according to the medical record database URL indicated by the data stored in the searched record. This makes it possible to view the results of the patient's medical interview in a system for viewing the electronic medical records of the hospital the patient visited.

[0073] Figure 15 shows an example of the answer displayed to a doctor or the like in a system for viewing electronic charts in a hospital. Among the answers shown in Figure 15, the underlined parts are those related to answers that have been judged to have a "medium" or "high" level of urgency.

[0074] The above-mentioned operation of the medical interview system 1 is the operation when a patient interviews using the terminal device 12, but the medical interview system 1 can also be used when a medical worker interviews a patient at a hospital the patient visits. The medical worker can conduct an appropriate medical interview by accessing the server device 11 using the terminal device 14, asking questions to the patient while looking at the interview screen displayed on the terminal device 14, and inputting the answers.

[0075] A medical staff member uses a hospital ID and a password when logging in to the interview system 1 using the terminal device 14. This enables the server device 11 to determine whether the user is a patient or a medical staff member.

[0076] An "Explanation" button is displayed on the medical interview screen displayed to the medical worker by the terminal device 14, as shown in Fig. 16. When the medical worker clicks the "Explanation" button, an explanation regarding the question is displayed, as shown in Fig. 17. This explanation is an explanation indicated by the question explanation data stored in the medical interview table (Fig. 2). This explanation enables the medical worker to know the significance of the question and how to ask an effective question, etc.

[0077] Furthermore, when the medical interview is completed, a list of answers shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the terminal device 14 instead of the hospital appointment screen (FIG. 13). In this list, an "Explanation" button is displayed for items that are determined to have a "high" or "medium" level of urgency. When the medical staff clicks on this "Explanation" button, an explanation of the urgency is displayed, as shown in FIG. 19. This explanation is the explanation indicated by the urgency explanation data stored in the urgency table (FIG. 3). This explanation allows the medical staff to know the points that should be considered as a priority in diagnosis, etc.

[0078] [Variations] The above-described embodiment may be modified in various ways. Examples of such modifications are shown below. Note that two or more of the modifications shown below may be combined as appropriate.

[0079] (1) The functions of server device 13 may be provided in server device 11.

[0080] (2) The programs executed by a computer to realize server device 11, terminal device 12, server device 13, and terminal device 14 may be downloaded to the computer via a network such as the Internet, or may be read by the computer from a non-volatile recording medium that persistently stores those programs. [Explanation of symbols]

[0081] 1...interview system, 11...server device, 12...terminal device, 13...server device, 14...terminal device.

Claims

1. a database storing, for each of a plurality of questions relating to a plurality of symptoms, question data indicating the question, answer option data indicating a plurality of answer options to the question, necessity condition data indicating conditions for determining whether the question indicated by the question data is necessary based on a user's answers to questions other than the question indicated by the question data, and necessity data indicating that the question is necessary if the question is required by default and indicating that the question is unnecessary if the question is unnecessary by default, and storing answer content data indicating the content of the answer to the option indicated by the answer option data for each of the plurality of answer option data, the database including a table storing records corresponding to each of the plurality of questions including a field for storing the necessity condition data; An acquisition means for acquiring symptom data indicating a symptom input by a user; a display instruction means for displaying on a display device a question indicated by question data corresponding to a symptom indicated by the symptom data among the question data stored in the database and answer options indicated by a plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data; Equipped with the acquiring means successively acquires answer data indicating an answer selected by a user from answer options displayed on the display device; The storage means sequentially stores the answer data sequentially acquired by the acquisition means, When new answer data is stored in the storage means, the display instruction means determines the necessity of each of the questions indicated by the question data corresponding to the symptom indicated by the symptom data that has not been answered by the user, based on the conditions indicated by the necessity condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the answer data stored in the storage means, updates the necessity data stored in the database with necessity data indicating the result of the determination, extracts question data and answer option data related to a question indicating that necessity data is necessary from the database, and displays on the display device the question indicated by the extracted question data and the answer options corresponding to the question indicated by the extracted answer option data, The apparatus further includes an output unit for outputting answer content data corresponding to each of the plurality of answer data stored in the storage unit to an external device. Questionnaire system.

2. the database stores question explanation data indicating an explanation regarding a question indicated by each of the stored plurality of question data; The display instruction means displays, on the display device, an explanation indicated by question explanation data corresponding to question data indicating the question being displayed on the display device. The medical interview system according to claim 1 .

3. the database stores one or more pieces of urgency determination condition data indicating conditions for determining the urgency of treatment for a disease based on the answer indicated by the answer data; The display instruction means causes the display device to display the urgency of treatment for the disease determined based on the conditions indicated by the urgency determination condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the answer data stored in the storage means. The medical interview system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the database stores, for each of the one or more pieces of urgency determination condition data stored therein, urgency explanation data indicating an explanation regarding the urgency determined based on the condition indicated by the urgency determination condition data; The display instruction means displays, on the display device, an explanation indicated by urgency explanation data corresponding to urgency determination condition data used to determine the urgency displayed on the display device. The medical interview system according to claim 3.

5. Each of the plurality of pieces of question data stored in the database includes language-specific question data indicating, for each of a plurality of languages, a text in which a question indicated by the question data is expressed in the language; Each of the plurality of answer option data stored in the database includes language-specific answer option data indicating text in which an answer option indicated by the answer option data is expressed in the language, for each of the plurality of languages; the acquiring means acquires language data indicating a language selected by a user from among the plurality of languages; The display instruction means, when causing the display device to display a question indicated by the question data and answer options indicated by a plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data, causes the display device to display text indicated by language-specific question data corresponding to the language indicated by the language data among a plurality of language-specific question data included in the question data, and text indicated by language-specific answer option data corresponding to the language indicated by the language data among a plurality of language-specific answer option data included in each of the plurality of answer option data. The inquiry system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The acquiring means acquires medical institution condition data indicating conditions related to a medical institution designated by a user, The acquisition means acquires appointment available time slot data indicating time slots during which appointments can be made for medical treatment at each of the medical institutions that satisfy the conditions indicated by the medical institution condition data, and The display instruction means displays on the display device the time periods during which appointments can be made at each medical institution, which are indicated by the available appointment time period data; The acquisition means acquires reservation data indicating a time period during which a reservation can be made at a medical institution selected by a user from the time periods during which a reservation can be made at each medical institution displayed on the display device, A notification means is provided for notifying a medical institution indicated by the reservation data that a medical appointment has been made for the time period indicated by the reservation data. The inquiry system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The output means outputs answer content data related to patients receiving medical treatment at a medical institution to a device storing electronic medical records managed by the medical institution. The inquiry system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. On the computer, a process of storing, for each of a plurality of questions relating to a plurality of symptoms, question data indicating the question, answer option data indicating a plurality of answer options to the question, necessity condition data indicating conditions for determining whether the question indicated by the question data is necessary based on a user's answers to questions other than the question indicated by the question data, and necessity data indicating that the question is necessary if the question is required by default and indicating that the question is unnecessary if the question is unnecessary by default, and storing answer content data indicating the content of the answer to the option indicated by the answer option data for each of the plurality of answer option data, the database including a table storing records corresponding to each of the plurality of questions including a field for storing the necessity condition data; obtaining symptom data indicative of symptoms input by a user; a process of displaying on a display device a question indicated by question data corresponding to the symptom indicated by the symptom data among the question data stored in the database and answer options indicated by a plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data; a process of sequentially acquiring answer data indicating an answer selected by a user from among answer options displayed on the display device; A process of sequentially storing the sequentially acquired answer data; a process of determining whether each of the questions indicated by the question data corresponding to the symptom indicated by the symptom data that has not been answered by the user is necessary, based on the conditions indicated by the necessity condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the stored answer data, updating the necessity data stored in the database with the necessity data indicating the result of the determination, extracting question data and answer option data related to a question indicating that necessity data is necessary from the database, and displaying on the display device the question indicated by the extracted question data and the answer options corresponding to the question indicated by the extracted answer option data; A process of outputting answer content data corresponding to each of the stored multiple answer data to an external device. A program for executing the above.

9. On the computer, a process of storing, for each of a plurality of questions relating to a plurality of symptoms, question data indicating the question, answer option data indicating a plurality of answer options to the question, necessity condition data indicating conditions for determining whether the question indicated by the question data is necessary based on a user's answers to questions other than the question indicated by the question data, and necessity data indicating that the question is necessary if the question is required by default and indicating that the question is unnecessary if the question is unnecessary by default, and storing answer content data indicating the content of the answer to the option indicated by the answer option data for each of the plurality of answer option data, the database including a table storing records corresponding to each of the plurality of questions including a field for storing the necessity condition data; obtaining symptom data indicative of symptoms input by a user; a process of displaying on a display device a question indicated by question data corresponding to the symptom indicated by the symptom data among the question data stored in the database and answer options indicated by a plurality of answer option data corresponding to the question data; a process of sequentially acquiring answer data indicating an answer selected by a user from among answer options displayed on the display device; A process of sequentially storing the sequentially acquired answer data; a process of determining whether each of the questions indicated by the question data corresponding to the symptom indicated by the symptom data that has not been answered by the user is necessary, based on the conditions indicated by the necessity condition data stored in the database and the answers indicated by the stored answer data, updating the necessity data stored in the database with the necessity data indicating the result of the determination, extracting question data and answer option data related to a question indicating that necessity data is necessary from the database, and displaying on the display device the question indicated by the extracted question data and the answer options corresponding to the question indicated by the extracted answer option data; A process of outputting answer content data corresponding to each of the stored multiple answer data to an external device. A non-volatile recording medium that persistently records a program for executing the above in a computer-readable state.

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