Visitation management device, visitation management system, visitation management method, control program, and recording medium

Abstract

To allow a facility to easily make a reservation for visitation.SOLUTION: A visitation management apparatus 10 includes: a reservation reception unit 111 which receives a reservation request for visiting a resident who is living or hospitalized in a nursing care facility; a registration unit 114 which registers the visitation reservation received in the reservation reception unit on a visitation reservation date and time list; and a notification unit 112 which transmits reservation information including a date and time of the visitation reservation to a participant in the visitation relating to the visitation reservation. The reservation reception unit 111 can receive a reservation request using a family ID of persons concerned including a family of a resident associated with a resident registered in advance on a storage unit 20, and a reservation request from facility stuff who is a person in charge of caring the resident in the nursing care facility or a manager of the nursing care facility. On receipt of a reservation request from facility stuff, the notification unit 112 transmits reservation information to an address associated with the family ID of the persons concerned set for participants in a visitation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a visitation management device, a visitation management system, a visitation management method, a control program, and a recording medium. [Background technology]

[0002] In nursing homes, hospitals, and other care facilities, family members or acquaintances (hereafter referred to as "simply residents") of residents or hospitalized patients can visit them in person or via web visits using a communication device such as a tablet.

[0003] A notification program for appropriately responding to inquiries about visiting hours for hospitalized patients while taking into consideration the protection of personal information is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this notification program, when a disclosure request including contact information is received from a person who wishes to visit and knows the telephone number or email address of the hospitalized patient, the program notifies the requester of the visiting hours. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-147342 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, although Patent Document 1 allows family members and other related parties to easily visit the care recipients (residents), it cannot accommodate visits from the facility side. In addition to the resident's own request to be visited by family members, there is also a request from the facility side to be able to visit. For example, in a nursing care facility, there are situations where it is desired to stimulate a resident with dementia to slow down the progression of the disease, or to improve the resident's mood so that it is easier for staff to provide care thereafter.

[0006] The present invention has an object to solve such problems, that is, to provide a visiting management device and a visiting management method that allow a facility to easily make a visiting reservation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following means.

[0008] (1) a reservation reception unit that receives reservation requests for visits to residents who are residing or hospitalized in a nursing care facility; a registration unit that registers the appointment received by the appointment reception unit in an appointment date and time list; a notification unit that notifies participants of the appointment related to the appointment of reservation information including the date and time of the appointment; Equipped with The reservation reception unit is capable of receiving the reservation request using a family ID of a related person including the family of the resident linked to the resident that is registered in advance in a storage unit, and the reservation request from a person in charge of caring for the resident at the nursing care facility or a facility person who is an administrator of the nursing care facility, The notification unit of the visiting management device notifies the reservation information to the contact information linked to the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the visit when the reservation request is received from the facility staff.

[0009] (2) The resident is associated with one or more family IDs, The visiting management device described in (1) above, wherein the notification unit notifies the reservation information to the contact information of the family ID selected by the facility staff or to all of the family IDs linked to the resident.

[0010] (3) The appointment is an online appointment, A visit service providing unit that issues a visit ID for connecting to an online visit service, The visiting management device described in (1) or (2) above, wherein when the notification unit accepts a reservation from the facility staff, it notifies the contact information linked to the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the online visit of the visiting ID together with the reservation information.

[0011] (4) The visiting service provision department: An acquisition unit that acquires images captured by a facility-side client terminal used by the facility staff or the resident participating in the online visit, and one or more related-party-side client terminals used by the related parties; a delivery image generating unit that generates a delivery image in which one or more of the photographed images acquired by the acquisition unit are arranged on one screen; a distribution unit that distributes the distribution image to the client terminals participating in the meeting, the delivery image generation unit generates a first delivery image in which the photographed images acquired from the client terminal on the facility side are arranged in a size larger than the photographed images acquired from other client terminals, or a second delivery image in which only the photographed images acquired from the client terminal on the facility side are arranged; The visitation management device described in (3) above, wherein the distribution unit distributes the first distribution image or the second distribution image to a client terminal of the related party.

[0012] (5) the delivery image generation unit generates a third delivery image in which the photographed images acquired from the plurality of client terminals of the related parties are arranged in the same size; The visiting management device described in (4) above, wherein the distribution unit distributes the third distribution image to a client terminal on the facility side and to a client terminal on the related person side that has requested it.

[0013] (6) a request receiving unit that receives a capture request acquired from the client terminal during an online meeting; The visitation management device described in (4) or (5) above, further comprising a recorded image generation unit that, in response to receiving the capture request, generates a recorded image in which images based on captured images acquired by the acquisition unit from multiple client terminals participating in the online visit are arranged on a single screen.

[0014] (7) The visitation management device described in (6) above, wherein the recorded image generation unit extracts a person area from each of the captured images and generates a recorded image in which the image of the extracted person area is arranged on a single screen together with a predetermined background image.

[0015] (8) a memory unit that stores family IDs and contact information of related parties, including the family members of the resident, linked to the resident, as well as a list of appointment dates and times; A visitation management device according to any one of (1) to (7) above; A visitation management system that includes:

[0016] (9) (a) accepting a request for a visitation appointment for a resident residing or hospitalized in a nursing care facility; a step (b) of registering the appointment accepted in the step (a) in an appointment date and time list; (c) notifying participants of the appointment of appointment information including the date and time of the appointment; In the step (a), the reservation request can be received using a family ID of a related person including the family of the resident linked to the resident that is registered in advance in a storage unit, and the reservation request can be received from a person in charge of caring for the resident at the nursing care facility or a facility person who is a manager of the nursing care facility; In the step (c), when a reservation request is received from the facility staff, the reservation information is notified to the contact information linked to the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the visit, in this visit management method.

[0017] (10) The resident is associated with one or more family IDs, A visiting management method as described in (9) above, in which, in step (c), the reservation information is notified to the contact information of the family ID selected by the facility staff or to all family IDs linked to the resident.

[0018] (11) The appointment is an online appointment, Further, the method includes a step (d) of issuing a visit ID for connecting to the online visit service; In the step (c), when a reservation is accepted from the facility staff, the visit ID is notified along with the reservation information to a contact associated with the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the online visit.

[0019] (12) A step (e) of acquiring images taken by a client terminal on the facility side used by the facility staff or the resident participating in the online meeting, and one or more client terminals on the related party side used by the related party; A step (f) of generating a delivery image by arranging the plurality of captured images acquired in the step (e) on one screen; (g) a step of distributing the distribution image to the client terminals participating in the meeting; In the step (f), a first delivery image is generated in which the photographed images acquired from the client terminal on the facility side are arranged in a size larger than the photographed images acquired from other client terminals, or a second delivery image is generated in which only the photographed images acquired from the client terminal on the facility side are arranged; The visitation management method described in (11) above, wherein in the step (g), the first distribution image or the second distribution image is distributed to a client terminal of the person involved.

[0020] (13) In the step (f), a third delivery image is generated by arranging the photographed images acquired from the client terminals of the related parties in the same size; The visiting management method described in (12) above, wherein in the step (g), the third distribution image is distributed to a client terminal on the facility side and to a client terminal on the related person side that has requested it.

[0021] (14) a step (h) of accepting a capture request obtained from the client terminal during an online meeting; (i) generating a recorded image in which images based on captured images acquired from a plurality of client terminals participating in the online meeting are arranged on one screen in response to receiving the capture request; The visitation management method described in (12) or (13) above, further comprising:

[0022] (15) A visitation management method as described in (14) above, in which, in the step (i), a person area is extracted from each of the captured images, and a recorded image is generated in which the image of the extracted person area is arranged on a single screen together with a predetermined background image.

[0023] (16) A control program for causing a computer to execute the visitation management method described in any one of (9) to (15) above.

[0024] (17) A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a control program for causing a computer to execute the visitation management method described in any one of (9) to (15) above. Effect of the Invention

[0025] The visiting management device according to the present invention includes a reservation reception unit that receives reservation requests for visiting a resident residing or hospitalized in a nursing care facility, a registration unit that registers the visiting reservations received by the reservation reception unit in a visiting reservation date and time list, and a notification unit that notifies participants in the visiting reservation of reservation information including the date and time of the visiting reservation, the reservation reception unit can receive reservation requests using family IDs of related parties including the resident's family linked to the resident registered in advance in the storage unit, and reservation requests from facility personnel who are personnel caring for residents of the nursing care facility or administrators of the nursing care facility, and when a reservation request from the facility personnel is received, the notification unit notifies the reservation information to the contact information linked to the family ID of the related party set for the visiting participant. In this way, visiting reservations can be easily made from the facility side. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a visitation management system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] A block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a visitation management device and a memory unit. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an ID list. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an ID list. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart showing an appointment reservation process in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 13 is an example of an operation screen displayed on a client terminal. [Figure 7] 13 is an example of a top-level operation screen for making appointment reservations. [Figure 8] 13 is an example of an operation screen displayed on a client terminal. [Figure 9] A diagram showing an overview of a visitation management system relating to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] A block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a visitation management device and a memory unit. [Figure 11] 13 is a flowchart showing a distribution process of an online meeting in the second embodiment. [Figure 12] 13 is an example of a meeting screen (start screen) of a client terminal. [Figure 13] 13 is an example of a first distribution screen displayed on a client terminal of a related party. [Figure 14] 13 is an example of a second distribution screen displayed on a client terminal of a related party. [Figure 15] 13 is an example of a third distribution screen displayed on a client terminal on the facility side. [Figure 16] 13 is a flowchart showing a process for generating a recorded image in a modified example of the second embodiment. [Figure 17] 13 is an example of a distribution screen displayed on a client terminal of a related party. [Figure 18] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating a process for generating a recorded image. [Figure 19] 13 is an example of a recorded image displayed on a client terminal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted. In addition, the dimensional ratios of the drawings are exaggerated for the convenience of explanation, and may differ from the actual ratios.

[0028] (Overall configuration of the visitation management system 1000 according to the first embodiment) 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a visitation management system 1000 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the visitation management system 1000 includes a visitation management device 10 which is a reservation server, a storage unit 20 which is a file server, and a conference server 30.

[0029] The visitation management system 1000 or the visitation management device 10 manages visitation reservations by related parties for residents of a nursing care facility. The "nursing care facility" includes a nursing care facility for the elderly (special nursing home for the elderly), a nursing care health facility for the elderly, and a hospital. Hereinafter, these nursing care facilities are also simply referred to as "facilities." Furthermore, the "residents" of the facility include care recipients who receive care at a nursing care facility for the elderly or a nursing care health facility for the elderly (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to simply as "nursing facilities"), and hospitalized patients. Furthermore, the "related parties" who visit and make visit reservations for the residents include the residents' family, relatives, and acquaintances who have been registered in advance (hereinafter, also referred to as family, etc.). In this embodiment, the "visit" that is the subject of a visit reservation includes both a face-to-face visit and a web visit (or video visit). A face-to-face visit is an act in which a family member, etc. visits the facility and the resident and the family member, etc. meet face-to-face. A web visit is a visit between a resident and a family member, etc., in remote locations, via a network using a client terminal. A web visit is conducted via a dedicated conference server 30, but in cases involving a small number of people (generally less than a few people), it may be conducted peer-to-peer via a web browser. In each embodiment described below, a case will be described in which a care recipient residing in a nursing home for the elderly has a web visit with his or her family member via the conference server 30, but the visitation management system 1000 does not necessarily have to include the conference server 30.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 1, the visitation management system 1000 communicates with a client terminal 41 used in a nursing care facility and a client terminal 45 used by family members or the like at home or the like via a network. The client terminals 41, 45 are desktop PCs (personal computers), notebook PCs, tablet terminals, or smartphones. In addition, the client terminal 45 is given access rights to the visitation management system 1000 via an app (family app) by having the information of the relevant parties who will use the client terminal registered in advance by an administrator or the like on the facility side (Fig. 4, etc.).

[0031] (Visiting management device 10, memory unit 20) 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the visitation management device 10 and the memory unit 20. The visitation management device 10 and / or the memory unit 20 may be an on-premise server arranged in a building of a facility, or may be an external server unit connected to a network. In the case of an external server, it may be a cloud server using a commercial cloud service. In addition, in the case of an on-premise server, the memory unit 20 may be incorporated inside the visitation management device 10.

[0032] 2, visitation management device 10 includes control unit 11 and communication I / F 12. Control unit 11 is configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memories such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), and controls each unit and performs calculation processing according to a program. Control unit 11 may further include an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) as a memory.

[0033] The control unit 11 functions as a reservation reception unit 111, a notification unit 112, a visit service providing unit 113, and a registration unit 114, either alone or in cooperation with the communication I / F 12. The reservation reception unit 111 accepts a reservation request for a visit to a resident. The notification unit 112 notifies the participants of the visit related to the visit reservation of reservation information including the date and time of the visit reservation. Here, the reservation information includes the visit participants, the visit date and time, and the location (in the case of face-to-face) or information that it is an online visit. In the case of an online visit, the visit service providing unit 113 issues a visit ID for connecting to the visit service. Note that, in the case of an online conference using the conference server 30, the visit service providing unit 113 may obtain the visit ID from the conference server 30. The notification unit 112 notifies the contact associated with the family ID of the related person set for the participant of the visit of the reservation information (in the case of an online visit, the visit ID is also notified). Details of these functions will be described later.

[0034] The communication I / F 12 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data via wired or wireless communication with various terminal devices via a network.

[0035] Various data related to visits are stored in the memory unit 20. The stored data includes an "ID list" and a "visit reservation date and time list." The visit reservation date and time list is a list of visit reservations that have been booked and registered, and each visit reservation records the visiting time, resident, visitor, etc. (see FIG. 7 described below).

[0036] 3 and 4 are examples of ID lists stored in the storage unit 20, with FIG. 3 relating to a resident and FIG. 4 relating to the resident's family members (related persons).

[0037] 3, the resident ID list includes the resident ID, name, the facility ID of the nursing care facility where the resident lives, the facility name, and the resident's room name. Although not shown in the figure, an ID list of staff in charge of caring for the resident is also stored in the memory unit 20.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 4, the ID list of family members or related persons describes the family ID (also called related person ID), name, contact information, attributes, and settings for sending information when a proxy is given. The contact information includes telephone numbers, email addresses, addresses, etc. By registering the family ID, the related person can use various services of the visitation management system 1000 through an application (family application) on the client terminal 45. The "notice sending when proxy reservation" is the related person who is desired to participate in the visit when a visit reservation is made by the facility side (hereinafter also called "proxy reservation"). The related person who is set to "send" is notified of the visit information (reservation information) by the process described later (step S140 in FIG. 5). In the default setting, only the representative related person (usually one person) is set to "send", and the other related people are set to "do not send", but the selection can be changed appropriately by the user on the facility side according to the request of the representative related person, etc.

[0039] (Conference Server 30) Like the visitation management device 10, the conference server 30 has a CPU, memory, and a communication I / F, and holds a web conference using a web browser. Each client terminal 41, 45 obtains an operation screen from the conference server 30 and holds a web conference through this. When holding a web conference, the conference server 30 obtains captured image data and audio data from the client terminals 41, 45 and distributes them to each client terminal 41, 45.

[0040] (Appointment booking process) The visit reservation process in the first embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 5 to Fig. 8. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the visit reservation process executed by the visit management device 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0041] (Step S110) Here, the reservation reception unit 111 of the visitation management device 10 receives a request for a visitation reservation. A visitation reservation request is made from the client terminal 45 of the related party such as the resident's family member or from the client terminal 41 of the facility, according to the following procedure.

[0042] (Reservation request from interested parties) Fig. 6 shows examples of operation screens d450 to d452 displayed on the client terminal 45 of the related party. Fig. 6 shows a state in which family member X1 (a family member of Mr. A) who has registered a family ID (IDc001 in Fig. 4) is using the services of the visitation management system 1000. Family member X1 operates the "visitation reservation" icon on the operation screen d451 shown in Fig. 6, and the screen transitions to operation screen d451 for making the next visit reservation.

[0043] The family member X1 who has requested the appointment can apply for a reservation from the reservation slot list. The operation screen d451 shows reservation slots in 15-minute units (the length of one frame).

[0044] For example, family member X1 operates the reservation request button b51 to make a visit reservation for resident A on that date and time (reservation slot). This causes a visit request to be sent from client terminal 45 to visitation management device 100. In response to this, a confirmation notification is sent from the visitation management device 100, and an operation screen d452 is displayed on client terminal 45. At this point, this visit reservation is in a provisional reservation state, waiting for approval from the facility side.

[0045] Note that reservation slots that are already booked and cannot be used for new reservations are displayed as grayed out and cannot be selected (for example, button b52). The maximum number of reservations per reservation slot is set according to the convenience of the facility, such as the location of the meeting, the number of client terminals 41 used for online meetings, the number of staff members available, etc. For example, if the number of terminals available for online meetings on the facility side is one, the maximum number of reservations is one, and if another reservation has already been made, new reservations cannot be accepted.

[0046] (Reservation request from facility (proxy reservation)) FIG. 7 is an example of a top-level operation screen d410 related to visitation reservations displayed on the client terminal 41 on the facility side. A facility user (also called a "facility person in charge"), such as a staff member or a manager, launches the management system app on the client terminal 41 and displays the initial screen. Then, the user selects "visitation reservation" in the field a1. This causes the operation screen d410 to be displayed on the display of the client terminal 41. By selecting "resident" or "family" in the field a1, the user transitions to an operation screen not shown, and the user can register and update the above-mentioned resident ID and family ID shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 on each operation screen. Furthermore, by registering the family ID, the related parties can use the services of the visitation management system 1000 through the app (family app) on the client terminal 45, as described above.

[0047] When making a reservation request from the facility side, the "Proxy Reservation" button b10 on the operation screen d410 is pressed. This transitions to a screen displaying a list of reservation slots similar to the operation screen d451 in Fig. 6 (not shown). The facility user can set a reservation for a visit with the target resident (e.g. Mr. A) by selecting a reservation slot for a convenient date and time from the reservation slots and the target resident ID.

[0048] Column a2 of operation screen d410 in Fig. 7 displays a portion of the visit reservation date and time list registered by the processing of step S150 described below. This visit reservation list includes various information about each visit reservation, namely, the type of visit (video visit, face-to-face visit), requester, visit date and time, and target person (resident name, visitor). Visit reservations in columns c1 and c4 with the requester set to "proxy" are proxy reservations made by the facility, while reservations in columns c2 and c3 with the requester set to "self" are visit reservations made by the related party.

[0049] When the user wishes to change / update the default settings at the time of installation or previously set reservation settings, the user presses the online visit basic settings button b11. This transitions to a basic settings screen (not shown) for setting basic settings for online visits. In response to receiving user operations via this basic settings screen, the control unit 11 can set the length of one appointment slot (e.g. 15 minutes, 30 minutes), the number of days in advance for which reservations can be accepted for that appointment slot, the number of available reservations per appointment slot, etc. In addition, by pressing the online visit schedule setting button b12, the visiting schedule for each facility can be set. For example, on weekdays, the available visiting range is 9:00-16:00, and is set in 15- or 30-minute increments. (Step S120) The control unit 11 determines the subject of the reservation request received in step S110. If this reservation request is a reservation from the facility side, that is, a reservation made through the client terminal 41 on the facility side, the process proceeds to step S130. On the other hand, if this reservation request is a reservation from the related party side, that is, a reservation made from the client terminal 45 using a family ID, the process proceeds to step S160.

[0050] (Step S130) The control unit 11 acquires the family IDs associated with the resident and the contact information for the family IDs from the ID list in the storage unit 20. In this embodiment, the family IDs and their contact information are acquired for related parties for which "send notification when proxy guidance is provided" is set to "send" in the ID list in Fig. 4. However, this is not limited to the above, and as a first example, all family IDs associated with the resident and their contact information may be acquired, and as a second example, each time a proxy reservation is made, the facility user may acquire the contact information for a related party selected from multiple related parties of the target resident.

[0051] (Step S140) FIG. 8 shows examples of operation screens d453 to d455 displayed on the client terminal 45 of the related party. The notification unit 112 of the visit management device 10 notifies the contact of the related party ID acquired in step S130 of the reservation information and the visit ID. The operation screen d453 in FIG. 8 is a guide screen displayed by the notification of the reservation information. In the field a42 of the operation screen d453, the appointment information, such as the visit date and time, and the fact that it is an online visit, and the visit ID 92 for connecting to the online visit service are displayed. By pressing the visit ID, the next operation screen d454 is displayed. When the visit time comes on the operation screen d454, the related party can conduct a web visit with the resident of the facility using the conference server 30 by operating the start button b53. Note that the visit reservation from the facility side (proxy reservation) is made without checking the availability of the related party, and if it is not convenient, the visit reservation can be canceled by operating the delete button b54 on the operation screen d454.

[0052] (Step S160) The user on the facility side approves the appointment from the related party by pressing button b15 on the operation screen d410 (see FIG. 7) of the client terminal 41. By approving, the status column in field a2 in FIG. 7 changes to "approved." Furthermore, by approving, the process of step S170 is performed. Note that the process of step S160 may be omitted, making approval unnecessary at this point.

[0053] (Step S170) The notification unit 112 of the visitation management device 10 notifies the contact of the related party ID that is the requester of the visitation request in step S110 of the reservation information and the visit ID. If, when the visitation request is accepted, a selection of another related party of the same resident as a visit participant is accepted, the reservation information and the visit ID are also notified to the contact of that related party ID. The operation screen d455 of FIG. 8 is a guide screen that is displayed upon notification of the reservation information. This operation screen d455 is a screen that is displayed after the above-mentioned operation screen d452, and a field a44 has been added. In field a44 of the operation screen d455, the visit ID 94 for connecting to the online visitation service is displayed together with the reservation information.

[0054] (Step S190) The registration unit 114 registers the appointment related to the reservation request accepted in step S110 in the appointment date and time list in the storage unit 20 (END).

[0055] In this way, the reservation management device according to the first embodiment includes a reservation reception unit capable of receiving reservation requests using family IDs of related parties including the family of a resident linked to a resident of a nursing care facility that are registered in advance in the storage unit, and reservation requests from a facility staff member who is a person who cares for the resident or a manager of the nursing care facility, and a notification unit that notifies a contact associated with the family ID of the related party set as a visit participant of reservation information when a reservation request from the facility staff member is received. This allows a visit reservation to be easily made from the facility side. Particularly in nursing care facilities, there is a desire to set up visits from the facility side, and it is useful to be able to easily make a visit reservation from the facility side.

[0056] (Visiting management system 1001 according to the second embodiment) Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an overview of the visitation management system according to the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 9, the visitation management system 1001 includes a visitation management device 50 that functions as a reservation server and a conference server, and a memory unit 60 that is a file server. Also, as shown in Fig. 9, the visitation management system 1001 is communicatively connected to a client terminal 41 used in the nursing care facility and a client terminal 45 used by family members or the like at their homes or the like via a network.

[0057] (Visiting management device 50, memory unit 60) 10 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of visitation management device 50 and memory unit 60. Visitation management device 50 and memory unit 60 have the same hardware configuration as visitation management device 10 and memory unit 20 in the above-mentioned first embodiment. Visitation management device 50 has a control unit 51, a communication I / F 52, and a visitation service providing unit 53.

[0058] The control unit 51, either alone or in cooperation with the communication I / F 52, functions as a reservation reception unit 511, a notification unit 512, and a registration unit 514. These functions are equivalent to the reservation reception unit 111, the notification unit 112, and the registration unit 114 described above, and executes the visit reservation process shown in FIG. 5 by working in cooperation with a visit ID issuing unit 531 described below.

[0059] The communication I / F 52 has the same function as the above-mentioned communication I / F 12, and transmits and receives data to and from various terminal devices via a network by wired or wireless communication. The communication I / F 52 also functions as a transmission unit that transmits a "recorded image" to the client terminals 41 and 45, which will be described later.

[0060] Visiting service providing unit 53 is configured with a CPU and memories such as RAM, ROM, etc., and controls each unit and performs calculation processing according to a program. Note that visiting service providing unit 53 may be configured to share hardware with control unit 51.

[0061] The visit service providing unit 53, either alone or in cooperation with the communication I / F 52, functions as a visit ID issuing unit 531, an acquiring unit 532, a distribution image generating unit 533, a distribution unit 534, a request receiving unit 535, and a recorded image generating unit 536. The visit ID issuing unit 531 issues a visit ID for connecting to an online visit service, similar to the visit service providing unit 113 in the first embodiment.

[0062] The acquisition unit 532 acquires images captured by the cameras of the client terminals 41 and 45 of the facility and the related parties participating in the online meeting. For example, the captured images are moving images of the figures of the meeting participants captured in real time. In addition, the voices of the meeting participants captured by the microphones of the client terminals 41 and 45 are acquired simultaneously with the captured images.

[0063] The delivery image generating unit 533 generates a delivery image in which one or more photographed images acquired by the acquiring unit 532 are arranged on one screen. The delivery images include a first and a third delivery image in which a plurality of photographed images are arranged, and a second delivery image in which only one photographed image is arranged (FIGS. 13 to 15 described later).

[0064] The request receiving unit 535 receives a capture request from the client terminal 45 of the person concerned.

[0065] In response to the request receiving unit 535 receiving a capture request, the record image generating unit 536 generates a record image in which images based on the captured images of multiple participants in the online meeting are arranged on one screen. This record image is also called a memory image. The record image generating unit 536 extracts a still image at the time the capture request is received from each captured image as an image based on the captured image. Then, the record image generating unit 536 extracts a person area from the still image using a known image processing technique, and generates a record image in which the image of the person area is arranged on one screen together with a predetermined background image.

[0066] Various data related to the visit and the memory image are stored in the memory unit 60. The stored data includes the above-mentioned "ID list" and "visit reservation date and time list" related to the visit, as well as a "background image" used to generate the memory image and a "recorded image" which is the generated memory image.

[0067] (Distribution processing of online visits) FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the online visit distribution process executed by the visit management device 50 according to the second embodiment.

[0068] (Step S310) The visit service providing unit 53 accepts a service use request from a participant of an online visit. Specifically, the person concerned who is a participant of the visit reservation participates in the visit by pressing the start button b53 on the operation screen d454 of Fig. 8 from the client terminal 45. Also, on the facility side, the resident himself / herself or the accompanying staff member participates in the visit by pressing the visit start button for the corresponding visit reservation on the operation screen d410 of Fig. 7 from the client terminal 41.

[0069] (Steps S320 and S330) The visit service providing unit 53 transmits a visit screen (start screen) to the client terminals 41, 45 participating in the visit via the communication I / F 52. Then, image layout settings based on the captured images of each client terminal 41, 45 are accepted via the visit screen.

[0070] 12 is an example of a visiting screen displayed on the client terminals 41, 45. Residents (or staff) and related parties can select placement settings by pressing button b62. Button b61 can be used to send a capture request, and button b63 can be used to exit the visiting service conference room. The area within the dashed frame in the center (displaying "Waiting") is the area where a distribution image is displayed after an online visit has started.

[0071] The layout settings selectable by the button b62 include, for example, layouts 1 to 3 corresponding to the above-mentioned first to third delivery images. There are a delivery image in which only the photographed images of the resident are arranged (second delivery image), a delivery image in which the photographed images of the resident are arranged larger than the photographed images of the other participants (first delivery image), and a delivery image in which all the photographed images are arranged at an equal size (third delivery image). As a default, the third delivery image is set on the client terminal 41, and the first or second delivery image is set on the client terminal 45.

[0072] (Delivery loop of steps S340 to S344) After that, the meeting service providing unit 53 executes the distribution loop of S340 to S344 until the meeting ends. For example, the meeting ends when the meeting time corresponding to the meeting reservation has elapsed or when all participants have left the meeting service.

[0073] The acquisition unit 532 acquires captured images and audio from the client terminals 41 and 45 participating in the online meeting (step S341).

[0074] The distribution image generation unit 533 generates a distribution image according to the arrangement settings of each of the client terminals 41, 45 set in step S330 from the captured image acquired in step S341 (step S342). Then, the distribution unit 534 distributes the generated distribution image (step S343) to each of the client terminals 41, 45 together with the audio.

[0075] (Image delivered to client terminal 45 of the person concerned) 13 and 14 are examples of visit screens d456 and d457 displayed on a client terminal 45 such as a laptop PC or smartphone on the related party side. In online business interviews, the captured images of the participants are usually displayed at equal sizes (for example, JP 2019-117998 A). However, in the case of an online visit (interview) between a resident of a nursing care facility and related parties as in this embodiment, the main character is the resident, and the related parties have a desire to see the resident more closely than the other related parties. For this reason, the client terminal 45 on the related party side is set to display the first or second delivery image by default.

[0076] In the first delivery image displayed on the visit screen d456 in FIG. 13, the photographed image (i.e., the resident's portrait) acquired from the client terminal 41 on the facility side is arranged in a larger size than the photographed image (i.e., the portrait of the related person) acquired from the other client terminal 45. FIG. 13 shows a case where four people, resident b001 (Mr. A) and related persons c001 to c003, participate in an online visit (during a visit). In the field a61, an image based on the photographed image of resident b001 (Mr. A) is arranged in a large size, and in the field a62, a plurality of images based on the photographed images of related persons c001 to c003 (Mrs. X1 to X3) are arranged in a small size. In the example of FIG. 13, the image based on the photographed image of the user of the client terminal 45 himself, i.e., the related person c003, may be hidden.

[0077] In the second delivery image displayed on the appointment screen d457 in FIG. 14, only the photographed image acquired from the client terminal 41 on the facility side (that is, the image of the resident) is arranged.

[0078] (Image delivered to the facility's client terminal 41) FIG. 15 is an example of a visit screen d416 displayed on a client terminal 41 such as a notebook PC or tablet terminal on the facility side. There is a desire to view each of the parties participating in the visit on the client terminal 41 on the facility side used by the resident. For this reason, in the third delivery image displayed on the visit screen d416 in FIG. 15, images based on photographed images of all participants are arranged in the same size. Note that in the example of FIG. 15, the image based on the photographed image of the user of the client terminal 41 himself, i.e., the resident, may be hidden.

[0079] In this way, the visit management device 50 according to the second embodiment includes a visit service providing unit 53, which includes an acquisition unit 532 that acquires images taken by the client terminal 41 on the facility side and one or more client terminals 41 on the related party side that are participating in the online visit, a distribution image generating unit 533 that generates a distribution image in which one or more captured images acquired by the acquisition unit 532 are arranged on one screen, and a distribution unit 534 that distributes the distribution image to the client terminals 41 and 45 participating in the visit, and the distribution image generating unit 533 generates a first distribution image in which the captured image acquired from the client terminal 41 on the facility side is arranged in a larger size than the captured images acquired from the other client terminals 45, or a second distribution image in which only the captured image acquired from the client terminal 41 on the facility side is arranged, and the distribution unit 534 distributes the first distribution image or the second distribution image to the client terminal 45 on the related party side. In this way, a visit with a resident of a nursing care facility in which multiple related parties participate can be made meaningful.

[0080] (Recording image generation process in a modified example of the second embodiment) Next, the generation process of a record image in a modified example of the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 16 to Fig. 19. Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing the generation process of a record image. Fig. 17 is an example of a distribution screen d458 displayed on the client terminal 45 of the person concerned. Fig. 18 is a schematic diagram showing the generation process of a record image. Fig. 19 is an example of a record image displayed on the client terminal 45.

[0081] (Step 410) While the visit service providing unit 53 is providing an online visit service, the request receiving unit 535 receives a capture request from the client terminal 45 or client terminal 41 participating in the visit.

[0082] The distribution screen d458 in Fig. 17 is a screen displayed during an online visit, and displays a first distribution image. When the person concerned taps the area on the distribution screen d458 where the distribution image is displayed (indicated by a finger icon), a capture request is transmitted from the client terminal 45 to the visitation management device 50. Also, on the visitation screen as in Fig. 12, a capture request is transmitted to the visitation management device 50 by pressing the button b61.

[0083] (Step 420) As shown in FIG. 18, the record image generating unit 536 generates a record image (memory image) based on the captured image acquired from each client terminal 41, 45. Specifically, still images at a predetermined timing are extracted from the captured images (videos) of each client terminal 41, 45 participating in the online meeting acquired by the acquiring unit 532. Then, a person area is extracted from the still image. Then, a record image is generated in which the image of the person area is arranged on one screen together with a predetermined background image. The predetermined image is a background image stored in advance in the storage unit 60. This background image is selected from a plurality of background images stored in the storage unit 60. This selection may be made using a default background image, or when a capture request is accepted, a selection of a background image may be accepted at the same time, and the selected background image may be used.

[0084] (Step S430) The control unit 51 causes the storage unit 60 to store the record image generated by the record image generating unit 536 .

[0085] (Step S440) The visitation management device 50 transmits the record image generated in step S420 to the client terminal 45 that issued the capture request by the communication I / F 52 functioning as a transmission unit. At this time, the record image may be transmitted to all of the other client terminals 41, 45 participating in the online visit. FIG. 19 is an example of an operation screen d459 displayed on the client terminal 45. The operation screen d459 displays the record image in fields a91 and a92. In this way, the record image may be associated with the generation date and time and a simple comment entered by the requester of the capture request, stored in the storage unit 20, and displayed together.

[0086] In this modified example, the record image generating unit 536 extracts a person area from each captured image, and generates a record image in which the extracted person area image is arranged on one screen together with a predetermined background image. In this way, a meeting with a resident of a nursing care facility attended by multiple parties can be made meaningful.

[0087] The configuration of the visitation management device 10 (or 50) and the visitation management system 1000 (or 1001) equipped therewith described above is a description of the main configuration in explaining the features of the above-mentioned embodiment, but is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration and can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the processing in the visitation management device 10, 50 according to the above-mentioned embodiment may include steps other than those shown in the above flowcharts and sequence charts, or may not include some of the above-mentioned steps. Furthermore, the order of the steps is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. Furthermore, each step may be combined with other steps and executed as a single step, may be included in other steps and executed, or may be divided into multiple steps and executed.

[0088] In addition, the means and methods for performing various processes in the visitation management device according to the above-mentioned embodiment can be realized by either a dedicated hardware circuit or a programmed computer. The above-mentioned program may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB memory or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM, or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred to and stored in a storage unit such as a hard disk. In addition, the above-mentioned program may be provided as a standalone application software, or may be incorporated as a function into the software of the device such as the visitation management device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0089] 1000, 1001 Visitation Management System 10 Visitation Control Device 11 Control section 111 Reservations Department 112 Notification Department 113 Visiting Service Department 114 Registration Department 12 Communication I / F 20, 60 storage section 30 Conference Server 41, 45 Client terminal 50 Visitation Control Device 51 Control section 511 Reservation Reception Department 512 Notification Department 514 Registration Department 52 Communication I / F 53 Visiting Service Department 531 Visitor ID Issuance Department 532 Acquisition Department 533 Distribution Image Generation Unit 534 Distribution Department 535 Request Reception Department 536 Recorded Image Generation Unit

Claims

1. a reservation reception unit that receives a reservation request for a visit to a resident residing or hospitalized in a nursing care facility; a registration unit that registers the appointment received by the appointment reception unit in an appointment date and time list; a notification unit that notifies participants of the appointment related to the appointment of reservation information including the date and time of the appointment; Equipped with The reservation reception unit is capable of receiving the reservation request using a family ID of a related person including a family member of the resident linked to the resident that is registered in advance in a storage unit, and the reservation request from a person in charge of caring for the resident at the nursing care facility or a facility person who is an administrator of the nursing care facility, The notification unit, when receiving the reservation request from the facility staff, notifies the reservation information to a contact point linked to the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the visit, in the visitation management device.

2. The resident is associated with one or more family IDs, The visiting management device of claim 1 , wherein the notification unit notifies the reservation information to the contact information of the family ID selected by the facility staff member or to the contact information of all the family IDs linked to the resident.

3. The appointment is a reservation for an online appointment, A visit service providing unit that issues a visit ID for connecting to an online visit service, The visitation management device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when the notification unit accepts a reservation from the facility staff, it notifies the visit ID along with the reservation information to a contact associated with the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the online visit.

4. The meeting service providing department: an acquisition unit that acquires images captured by a facility-side client terminal used by the facility staff or the resident participating in the online visit, and one or more related-party-side client terminals used by the related parties; a delivery image generating unit that generates a delivery image in which one or more of the photographed images acquired by the acquiring unit are arranged on one screen; a distribution unit that distributes the distribution image to the client terminals participating in the meeting, the delivery image generation unit generates a first delivery image in which the photographed images acquired from the client terminal on the facility side are arranged in a size larger than the photographed images acquired from other client terminals, or a second delivery image in which only the photographed images acquired from the client terminal on the facility side are arranged; The visitation management device according to claim 3 , wherein the distribution unit distributes the first distribution image or the second distribution image to a client terminal of the related person.

5. the delivery image generation unit generates a third delivery image in which the photographed images acquired from the plurality of client terminals of the related parties are arranged in the same size; The visitation management device according to claim 4 , wherein the distribution unit distributes the third distribution image to a client terminal on the facility side and to a client terminal on the related person side that has made a request.

6. a request receiving unit that receives a capture request acquired from the client terminal during an online meeting; The visitation management device of claim 4 or claim 5, further comprising a recorded image generation unit that, in response to receiving the capture request, generates a recorded image in which images based on captured images acquired by the acquisition unit from multiple client terminals participating in the online visit are arranged on a single screen.

7. The visitation management device according to claim 6, wherein the recorded image generation unit extracts a person area from each of the captured images and generates a recorded image in which the image of the extracted person area is arranged on a single screen together with a predetermined background image.

8. A storage unit that stores family IDs and contact information of related parties including family members of the resident who are linked to the resident, as well as a list of appointment dates and times for visiting; A visitation management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, A visitation management system that includes:

9. A computer-implemented method for managing visitation, comprising: (a) accepting a request for an appointment to visit a resident residing or hospitalized in a nursing care facility; a step (b) of registering the appointment accepted in the step (a) in an appointment date and time list; (c) notifying participants of the appointment of appointment information including a date and time of the appointment, In the step (a), the reservation request can be received using a family ID of a related person including a family member of the resident linked to the resident, which is registered in advance in a storage unit, and the reservation request can be received from a person in charge of caring for the resident at the nursing care facility or a facility person who is a manager of the nursing care facility; In the step (c), when a reservation request is received from the facility staff, the reservation information is notified to the contact information linked to the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the visit, in this visit management method.

10. The resident is associated with one or more family IDs, The visiting management method of claim 9 , wherein in step (c), the reservation information is notified to the contact information of the family ID selected by the facility staff or to all of the family IDs linked to the resident.

11. The appointment is a reservation for an online appointment, The method further includes a step (d) of issuing a visit ID for connecting to an online visit service, the step (d) being executed by the computer; The visitation management method of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein in step (c), when a reservation is accepted from the facility staff, the visit ID is notified along with the reservation information to a contact associated with the family ID of the related person set as a participant of the online visit.

12. Further, the method executed by the computer is (e) acquiring images taken by a client terminal on the facility side used by the facility staff or the resident participating in the online meeting, and one or more client terminals on the related party side used by the related party; A step (f) of generating a delivery image in which the plurality of photographed images acquired in the step (e) are arranged on one screen; (g) a step of distributing the distribution image to the client terminals participating in the meeting; In the step (f), a first delivery image is generated in which the photographed image acquired from the client terminal on the facility side is arranged in a size larger than the photographed images acquired from the other client terminals, or a second delivery image is generated in which only the photographed image acquired from the client terminal on the facility side is arranged; The visitation management method according to claim 11 , wherein in the step (g), the first distribution image or the second distribution image is distributed to a client terminal of the person involved.

13. In the step (f), a third delivery image is generated in which the photographed images acquired from the plurality of client terminals of the related parties are arranged in the same size; 13. The visiting management method according to claim 12, wherein in said step (g), said third distribution image is distributed to a client terminal on the facility side and to a client terminal on the related person side that has made a request.

14. Executed by the computer during an online visit, (h) receiving a capture request obtained from the client terminal; (i) generating a recorded image in which images based on captured images acquired from a plurality of client terminals participating in the online meeting are arranged on one screen in response to receiving the capture request; The visitation management method according to claim 12 or claim 13, further comprising:

15. The visitation management method described in claim 14, wherein in step (i), a person area is extracted from each of the captured images, and a recorded image is generated in which the image of the extracted person area is arranged on a single screen together with a predetermined background image.

16. A control program for causing a computer to execute the visitation management method according to any one of claims 9 to 15.

17. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a control program for causing a computer to execute the visitation management method according to any one of claims 9 to 15.

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