Important Report Detection Device, Control Method, and Program

Abstract

To provide a technique for preventing a mistake by a reader of a diagnostic report.SOLUTION: An important report detection device 2000 acquires report information 30 which shows findings of a diagnostic report 20 (target object) of a determination object, and findings history information 40 which shows the past findings for a patient of the object report. The important report detection device 2000 determines that the object report includes important findings when the findings satisfying an important standard are included in the report information 30. The important standard includes (1) a standard that the findings are such findings that a prescribed keyword is included in the diagnostic information, and (2) a standard that the findings which show the same portion as a portion shown by the findings and in which the prescribed keyword is included in the diagnostic information do not exist in the findings history information 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a technique for analyzing diagnostic reports.

Background Art

[0002] A report (hereinafter referred to as a diagnostic report) describing findings based on a diagnosis may be created by a doctor who has diagnosed a patient. For example, as an example of a diagnostic report, a radiology report can be cited. A radiologist reads a patient's radiological image and records the findings based on the reading in the radiology report.

[0003] An information processing system related to such a diagnostic report has been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing omissions by comparing a radiology report being created with past radiology reports and determining whether there are any omissions in the radiology report being created.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Documents

[0005]

Non-Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing mistakes by the writer of a diagnostic report and does not mention a technique for preventing mistakes by the reader of a diagnostic report. The present disclosure has been made in view of this problem, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for preventing mistakes by the reader of a diagnostic report.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] The important report detection device of the present disclosure includes a report information acquisition unit that acquires report information about a diagnostic report to be determined, and the report information indicates a finding that is a combination of a site and diagnostic information obtained by diagnosis for that site regarding the description of the corresponding diagnostic report. A finding history information acquisition unit that acquires finding history information indicating past findings for the patient of the diagnostic report to be determined, and using the acquired report information and finding history information, determines whether a finding that satisfies a predetermined important criterion is included in the report information, and when a finding that satisfies the important criterion is included in the report information, a determination unit that determines that the diagnostic report to be determined includes an important finding. The important criterion includes a criterion that the finding is a finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information, and a criterion that the finding indicates the same site as the site indicated by the finding and that a finding in which the predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the finding history information.

[0008] The control method of the present disclosure is executed by a computer. The control method includes a report information acquisition step of acquiring report information about a diagnostic report to be determined, where the report information indicates findings that are a combination of a part and diagnostic information obtained by diagnosing that part regarding the description of the corresponding diagnostic report. A findings history information acquisition step of acquiring findings history information indicating past findings for the patient of the diagnostic report to be determined; and a determination step of using the acquired report information and findings history information to determine whether findings that meet a predetermined important criterion are included in the report information, and if findings that meet the important criterion are included in the report information, determining that the diagnostic report to be determined includes important findings. The important criterion includes a criterion that the finding is one in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information, and a criterion that the part indicated by the finding is the same as the part indicated by the finding, and further, a finding in which the predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the findings history information.

[0009] The program of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute the control method of the present disclosure.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present disclosure, a technique for preventing mistakes by the reader of the diagnostic report is provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted as necessary for clarity of explanation. Further, unless otherwise specified, predetermined values such as predetermined values and threshold values are stored in advance in a storage unit accessible from the device that uses the values. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the storage unit is composed of one or more arbitrary storage devices.

[0013] [Embodiment 1] [Overview] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the operation of the important report detection device 2000 according to Embodiment 1. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram for facilitating understanding of the overview of the important report detection device 2000, and the operation of the important report detection device 2000 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1.

[0014] The important report detection device 2000 determines whether the target diagnostic report 20 (hereinafter, the target report) includes important findings. Here, the diagnostic report 20 is data of a report in which findings regarding various diagnoses performed on a specific patient are described. Hereinafter, the patient who is the target of the diagnostic report 20 is also referred to as the target patient.

[0015] For example, when patient A undergoes a radiation examination, a radiologist reads the radiation image of patient A, and a radiation report indicating the findings based on the reading results for patient A is created. This radiation report can be treated as a diagnostic report targeting patient A. However, the diagnostic report 20 can be a report regarding any type of diagnosis and is not limited to a radiation report.

[0016] In the diagnostic report 20, the findings include one or more pairs of a patient's site and the diagnostic information obtained for that site. For example, suppose the diagnostic report 20 states the findings: "A linear shadow is observed in the right lung. Pleural effusion is observed in the left lung." These findings include the pair "Site: Right lung, Diagnostic information: Linear shadow" and the pair "Site: Left lung, Diagnostic information: Pleural effusion".

[0017] The important report detection device 2000 acquires report information 30 about the target report and findings history information 40 about the target patient of that target report in order to determine whether important findings are included in the target report. The report information 30 indicates one or more findings about the target patient obtained from the description of the findings included in a specific diagnostic report. The findings history information 40 indicates one or more past findings about a specific patient.

[0018] The important report detection device 2000 determines whether important findings are included in the target report by using the acquired report information 30 and findings history information 40. An important finding is a finding that satisfies a predetermined criterion (hereinafter, the important criterion) among the findings indicated in the report information 30. The important criterion includes at least the following two criteria. Note that the predetermined keyword is a term related to an important disease, such as "cancer" or "bleeding" (especially bleeding with a high risk such as cerebral hemorrhage). (1) A finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information. (2) A finding that indicates the same site as that finding and in which a finding with a predetermined keyword included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the findings history information 40.

[0019] For example, the important report detection device 2000 determines whether important findings are included in the target report in the following process. First, the important report detection device 2000 detects findings in the report information 30 in which predetermined keywords are included in the diagnostic information. Further, the important report detection device 2000 determines whether there is a finding in the finding history information 40 that satisfies the condition of "indicating the same part as the part indicated by the finding detected from the report information 30 and including a predetermined keyword in the diagnostic information". If there is no finding that satisfies this condition in the finding history information 40, the finding detected from the report information 30 is treated as an important finding because it satisfies the above-mentioned criteria (1) and (2). Therefore, the important report detection device 2000 determines that an important finding is included in the target report. However, as will be described later, other criteria may be further added to the important criteria in addition to the above-mentioned criteria (1) and (2).

[0020] <An example of the operation and effect> One of the problems regarding the diagnostic report is a mistake by the reader of the diagnostic report. Examples of mistakes on the reader side include overlooking the confirmation of the diagnostic report (forgetting to read). This problem can occur when the diagnostic report is created by a doctor other than the attending doctor. For example, when various examinations are performed on a patient, the diagnostic report for each examination may be created by the doctor in charge of that examination rather than the doctor (such as the attending doctor) who makes the final diagnosis. In such a case, the attending doctor etc. makes a comprehensive diagnosis after checking the diagnostic reports of each examination.

[0021] However, when the number of diagnostic reports increases, it is possible that the attending doctor overlooks the confirmation of the diagnostic report. As a result, problems such as appropriate measures not being taken for the patient even though there are important findings in the patient's diagnostic report may occur.

[0022] In this regard, according to the important report detection device 2000 of the present embodiment, for the diagnostic report 20 to be determined, it is determined whether the diagnostic report 20 contains important findings. Thereby, the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings can be specified. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the oversight of checking the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings.

[0023] In addition, in the important report detection device 2000, as the first criterion for being an important finding, a criterion that a predetermined keyword such as "cancer" is included in the diagnostic information is included. Thereby, only the findings containing important information related to cancer or the like can be treated as important findings.

[0024] Furthermore, as the second criterion for being an important finding, a criterion that a finding that indicates the same part as the finding and in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the finding history information 40 is included. Even if the finding included in the report information 30 indicates important information related to cancer or the like for a specific part, if a finding indicating the same information for the same part has existed in the past, it can be said that it is information known to the attending physician or the like. On the other hand, if a finding indicating the same information has not existed in the past, it can be said that it is a finding indicating new information for the attending physician or the like. Therefore, according to the second criterion, only the findings indicating new information considered important by the attending physician can be treated as important findings.

[0025] In this way, according to the important report detection device 2000, by using the above-mentioned criteria, the findings to be treated as important findings are narrowed down. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the oversight of checking the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings and reduce the labor of checking the diagnostic report 20 by the attending physician or the like.

[0026] Furthermore, in the report information 30 and the finding history information 40 handled by the important report detection device 2000, the findings are represented for each part. If the findings are not handled for each part, for example, in a case where different parts in the present and the past are in the same state, these may be treated as the same finding. As a result, there is a possibility that important findings may be overlooked. In this regard, since the findings are represented for each part in the important report detection device 2000, such overlooking of important findings can be prevented.

[0027] Hereinafter, the important report detection device 2000 of the present embodiment will be described in more detail.

[0028] <Example of functional configuration> FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the important report detection device 2000 according to Embodiment 1. The important report detection device 2000 includes a report information acquisition unit 2020, a finding history information acquisition unit 2040, and a determination unit 2060. The report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires report information 30 about the target report. The finding history information acquisition unit 2040 acquires finding history information 40 about the target patient of the target report. The determination unit 2060 determines whether the target report contains important findings using the report information 30 and the finding history information 40.

[0029] <Example of hardware configuration> Each functional component of the important report detection device 2000 may be realized by hardware (e.g., a hard-wired electronic circuit, etc.) that realizes each functional component, or may be realized by a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a combination of an electronic circuit and a program that controls it, etc.). Hereinafter, the case where each functional component of the important report detection device 2000 is realized by a combination of hardware and software will be further described.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of a computer 500 that implements the important report detection device 2000. The computer 500 is an arbitrary computer. For example, the computer 500 is a stationary computer such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a server machine. In addition, for example, the computer 500 is a portable computer such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The computer 500 may be a dedicated computer designed to implement the important report detection device 2000, or may be a general-purpose computer.

[0031] For example, by installing a predetermined application on the computer 500, each function of the important report detection device 2000 is realized on the computer 500. The above application is composed of programs for realizing each functional component of the important report detection device 2000. Note that the method of obtaining the above program is arbitrary. For example, the program can be obtained from a storage medium (such as a DVD disk or a USB memory) in which the program is stored. In addition, for example, the program can be obtained by downloading the program from a server device that manages the storage device in which the program is stored.

[0032] The computer 500 has a bus 502, a processor 504, a memory 506, a storage device 508, an input / output interface 510, and a network interface 512. The bus 502 is a data transmission path for the processor 504, the memory 506, the storage device 508, the input / output interface 510, and the network interface 512 to transmit and receive data to and from each other. However, the method of connecting the processor 504 and the like to each other is not limited to bus connection.

[0033] The processor 504 is various processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The memory 506 is a main storage device realized using, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage device 508 is an auxiliary storage device realized using a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), a memory card, a ROM (Read Only Memory), or the like.

[0034] The input / output interface 510 is an interface for connecting the computer 500 and an input / output device. For example, an input device such as a keyboard and an output device such as a display device are connected to the input / output interface 510.

[0035] The network interface 512 is an interface for connecting the computer 500 to a network. This network may be a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network).

[0036] The storage device 508 stores a program (a program that realizes the aforementioned application) that realizes each functional component of the important report detection device 2000. The processor 504 reads out and executes this program in the memory 506 to realize each functional component of the important report detection device 2000.

[0037] The important report detection device 2000 may be realized by one computer 500 or by a plurality of computers 500. In the latter case, the configurations of the respective computers 500 do not need to be the same and may be different from each other.

[0038] <Flow of processing> FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing executed by the important report detection device 2000 according to Embodiment 1. The report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires report information 30 (S102). The finding history information acquisition unit 2040 acquires finding history information 40 for the target patient of the target report (S104). The determination unit 2060 determines whether the target report contains important findings using the report information 30 and the finding history information 40 (S106).

[0039] <Regarding the diagnosis report 20 and the report information 30> As described above, the diagnosis report 20 is data of a report describing the results of a diagnosis performed on the target patient. The report information 30 indicates one or more findings about the target patient obtained from the description of the findings included in a specific diagnosis report 20.

[0040] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the diagnosis report 20 and the report information 30. In FIG. 5, the diagnosis report 20 has four pieces of data: report identification information 21, patient identification information 22, creation date and time 23, and findings 24. The report identification information 21 indicates information for identifying the diagnosis report. The patient identification information 22 indicates identification information of the target patient. Here, as the identification information of the patient, any information that can identify the patient (such as a medical record number or a My Number) can be used. The creation date and time 23 indicates the date and time when the diagnosis report 20 was created. The findings 24 indicate findings related to the diagnosis performed on the target patient.

[0041] The report information 30 has four pieces of data: report identification information 31, patient identification information 32, creation date and time 33, and a group of findings 34. The report identification information 31 indicates the identification information of the diagnosis report 20 corresponding to the report information 30. The patient identification information 32 indicates the identification information of the target patient of the diagnosis report 20 corresponding to the report information 30. The creation date and time 33 indicates the creation date and time of the diagnosis report 20 corresponding to the report information 30.

[0042] The finding group 34 is generated based on the findings 24 in the corresponding diagnostic report 20. The descriptions shown in the findings 24 may include multiple findings. For example, the findings 24 in FIG. 5 include the finding X1 for site P1 and the findings X2 and X3 for site P2. Therefore, the finding group 34 shows a pair of a site 35 and diagnostic information 36 for each of the multiple findings included in the description of the findings 24. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, pairs of "site 35 = P1, diagnostic information 36 = X1", "site 35 = P2, diagnostic information 36 = X2", and "site 35 = P2, diagnostic information 36 = X3" are shown.

[0043] Note that in the diagnostic report 20, it is also possible that one finding is described for multiple sites. For example, this is the case where the finding X1 for sites P1 and P2 is described in the findings 24 of the diagnostic report 20. In this case, for example, the report information 30 includes pairs of "site 35 = P1, diagnostic information 36 = X1" and "site 35 = P2, diagnostic information 36 = X1".

[0044] The finding group 34 may further indicate the confidence level of each finding. In this case, for example, as will be described later, only the findings with a confidence level higher than the standard are treated as important findings. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the report information 30 in which the confidence level is included in the finding group 34. The finding group 34 in FIG. 6 further includes data on the confidence level 37. In this example, the confidence level 37 is represented by five ranks from 1 to 5. The higher the value of the confidence level 37, the higher the confidence level of the finding.

[0045] There are various methods for generating the report information 30 from the diagnostic report 20. For example, the report information 30 is manually generated using the diagnostic report 20. Additionally, for example, the report information 30 may be automatically generated from the diagnostic report 20 using a computer. Hereinafter, the device for generating the report information 30 from the diagnostic report 20 is referred to as a "report information generation device".

[0046] The report information generation device generates report information 30 by acquiring a diagnostic report 20 and analyzing its content. Here, the report identification information 21, patient identification information 22, and creation date and time 23 can all be used as they are as the report identification information 31, patient identification information 32, and creation date and time 33. On the other hand, for the findings, it is necessary to convert the findings 24, which are free-text descriptions by the doctor who created the diagnostic report 20, into a structured-form data set of findings 34 in which the parts are associated with information related to the parts.

[0047] To achieve this conversion, for example, a pre-prepared learned model trained to convert free-text findings into a structured-form data set of findings is used. The report information generation device inputs the findings 24 of the diagnostic report 20 into this learned model to obtain the data set of findings 34. For a model that converts free-text findings into a structured form, for example, those disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 can be used.

[0048] Here, in the description of the findings, the terms may not be unified (there may be variations in notation). For example, there are doctors who describe a tumor as a neoplasm. When there are multiple terms with the same meaning in this way, it is preferable that the terms used in the data set of findings 34 be unified into one. Therefore, for example, when the report information generation device generates report information 30 from the diagnostic report 20, it performs a term unification process on each term included in the data set of findings 34.

[0049] The unification of terms is performed according to predetermined substitution rules. For example, in the substitution rules, one representative term to be used representatively is defined for a group of multiple terms with the same meaning. The report information generation device uses this substitution rule to substitute each term included in the data set of findings 34 with the representative term of the term group in which the term is included. For example, in the substitution rules, assuming that for a group of terms W1 and W2 with the same meaning as each other, the representative term W2 is defined. In this case, the term W2 included in the data set of findings 34 is substituted with the term W1. Note that a medical thesaurus or the like can be used to create the substitution rules.

[0050] Here, the process of unifying terms may be performed not by the report information generation device but by the important report detection device 2000. In this case, the important report detection device 2000 executes a term unification process on the findings group 34 of the acquired report information 30 by using the above-described substitution rules.

[0051] When including the confidence level of the findings in the report information 30, when the report information generation device generates the findings group 34 from the findings 24, for each finding included in the findings group 34, a process of estimating its confidence level is performed. For the process of estimating the confidence level of the findings, for example, the technology disclosed in Non-Patent Document 2 can be used. In Non-Patent Document 2, by using a learned classification model, for each finding, one of five levels of confidence (Define, Likely, May, Represent, Unlikely, and Denial in descending order of confidence) is assigned. Therefore, for example, by representing these five levels of confidence as numerical values from 5 to 1 in descending order of confidence, the height of the confidence level can be handled numerically. As a result, a process such as "treating only the findings with a confidence level equal to or higher than the threshold as important findings" becomes possible.

[0052] <Acquisition of Report Information 30: S102> The report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information 30 about the target report (S102). The method by which the report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information 30 is various. For example, it is assumed that the diagnostic report 20 to be treated as the target report is designated by the user of the important report detection device 2000. In this case, the report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information 30 corresponding to the designated diagnostic report 20 in response to the user operation of designating the diagnostic report 20. In this case, for example, the report information 30 is stored in an arbitrary storage unit accessible from the important report detection device 2000.

[0053] For example, in addition, the report information generation device may be configured to transmit the report information 30 to the important report detection device 2000 in response to generating new report information 30. In this case, the important report detection device 2000 acquires the report information 30 by receiving the report information 30 transmitted from the report information generation device.

[0054] For example, in addition, the important report detection device 2000 may acquire, from the storage unit in which the report information 30 is stored, the report information 30 (hereinafter, unprocessed report information 30) for which the determination process as to whether or not it contains important findings has not been performed yet at an arbitrary timing such as once a day. Here, there are various methods for specifying the unprocessed report information 30. For example, a flag indicating whether or not it is unprocessed (hereinafter, a processing flag) is provided in the report information 30. In this case, the report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information 30 in which the processing flag indicates unprocessed among the report information 30 stored in the storage unit. For example, in addition, the processed report information 30 and the unprocessed report information 30 may be stored in different storage units. In this case, the report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information 30 to be processed from the storage unit for storing the unprocessed report information 30.

[0055] Here, the diagnostic report 20 treated as the target report may be one or a plurality. In the latter case, the report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information 30 for each of the plurality of target reports. Then, the important report detection device 2000 performs processes (S104 and S106 in FIG. 4) for determining whether or not important findings are included on each of the acquired report information 30.

[0056] <Acquisition of finding history information 40: S104> The finding history information acquisition unit 2040 acquires the finding history information 40 for the target patient of the target report (S104). The finding history information 40 indicates past findings for a specific patient.

[0057] For example, the finding history information acquisition unit 2040 acquires, as the finding history information 40, the report information 30 obtained from the diagnosis report 20 in the past compared to the target report among the report information 30 about the target patient. Specifically, the report information 30 in which the identification information of the target patient is shown in the patient identification information 32 and the date and time before the creation date and time of the target report is shown in the creation date and time 33 is acquired as the finding history information 40.

[0058] For example, assume that the target patient of the target report is patient A and there are three different diagnosis reports D1 to D3 for patient A. Also assume that three report information R1 to R3 are generated from the diagnosis reports D1 to D3 respectively. And assume that the diagnosis report D1 is the newest and is the target report.

[0059] In this case, the report information acquisition unit 2020 acquires the report information R1 corresponding to the diagnosis report D1 as the report information 30 about the target report. Also, the finding history information acquisition unit 2040 acquires the report information R2 corresponding to the diagnosis report D2 and the report information R3 corresponding to the diagnosis report D3 respectively as the finding history information 40 indicating the past findings of patient A.

[0060] However, the finding history information 40 is not limited to the past report information 30 and may be information prepared separately from the report information 30. For example, assume that the attending physician of the patient organizes the findings of the diagnosis report 20 and records the final findings in the patient's electronic medical record. In this case, it is conceivable to generate the finding history information 40 from the past findings described in the electronic medical record of the target patient as the finding history information 40 of the target patient. Note that, as a method for generating the finding history information 40 from the findings in the electronic medical record, a method similar to the method for generating the report information 30 from the findings of the diagnosis report 20 can be adopted.

[0061] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the finding history information 40. The finding history information 40 in FIG. 7 has a creation date and time 41 and a finding group 42. The creation date and time 41 indicates the date and time when the corresponding finding group was created. The finding group 42 has a site 43 and diagnostic information 44. A pair of the site 43 and the diagnostic information 44 indicates one finding (a site and information obtained by diagnosis about the site). Note that the finding history information 40 may further indicate identification information of a patient, identification information such as report information 30 from which each finding was obtained, or an electronic medical record.

[0062] Here, the finding history information 40 acquired by the finding history information acquisition unit 2040 may indicate only those past findings of the target patient whose confidence level is equal to or higher than a threshold value. Even if there are the same findings between the present and the past, it is conceivable that their confidence levels are different from each other. For example, assume that a finding with a low confidence level in a past diagnosis has a high confidence level in the current diagnosis. When such a finding is included in the target report, it is considered an important finding that should be confirmed by the attending physician or the like because the confidence level has increased. By considering the confidence level in this way, even if there is the same finding as that shown in the target report in the past, if the confidence level is smaller than the threshold value, the finding is not included in the finding history information 40. Therefore, the finding shown in the target report is treated as a new finding.

[0063] Also, the finding history information 40 acquired by the finding history information acquisition unit 2040 may indicate only the findings generated in a past predetermined period (for example, one year). This is because if a certain finding was obtained in the past and the same finding is obtained after a long period has passed, even if it was the same finding in the past, the current finding may be important (such as recurrence of cancer in the same site). By considering the period constraint in this way, even if the same finding as that shown in the target report was shown even earlier than the predetermined period, the finding is not included in the finding history information 40. Therefore, the finding shown in the target report is treated as a new finding.

[0064] Determination of Whether to Include Important Findings: S106 The determination unit 2060 determines whether the target report includes important findings by using the report information 30 and the finding history information 40 (S106). Therefore, as described above, an important criterion, which is the criterion for treating as an important finding, is determined in advance. Then, the determination unit 2060 determines whether the findings that meet the important criterion are included in the report information 30. If the findings that meet the important criterion are included in the report information 30, the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report includes important findings. On the other hand, if the findings that meet the important criterion are not included in the report information 30, the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report does not include important findings.

[0065] As described above, the important criterion includes at least the following two criteria. (1) A finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information. (2) A finding that indicates the same part as that finding and in which a finding with a predetermined keyword included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the finding history information 40.

[0066] For example, the determination unit 2060 first detects, from the findings included in the report information 30, those in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information 36. If the findings in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information 36 do not exist in the report information 30, the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report does not include important findings.

[0067] When a finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information 36 is detected from the report information 30, the determination unit 2060 further determines whether or not a finding that satisfies the condition of "indicating the same part as the part indicated by the part 35 of the detected finding and including a predetermined keyword in the diagnostic information 44" is included in the finding history information 40. If a finding that satisfies this condition is not included in the finding history information 40, the finding detected from the report information 30 satisfies the above-described important criteria. Therefore, in this case, the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report includes an important finding. On the other hand, if a finding that satisfies the above-described condition is included in the finding history information 40, the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report does not include an important finding. This case is a case where the same finding has been recorded for the same part in the past.

[0068] As described above, the important criteria may further include criteria other than the criteria (1) and (2) above. Other criteria that may be included in the important criteria are, for example, the criterion that "the confidence level of the finding is equal to or higher than a threshold value". As described above, the report information 30 may further indicate a confidence level 37 representing the confidence level of each finding. In this case, only findings having a confidence level equal to or higher than a certain level may be treated as important findings. When using the confidence level as an important criterion, the determination unit 2060 determines whether or not the confidence level of each finding included in the report information 30 is equal to or higher than the threshold value.

[0069] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of determining whether or not a report information 30 includes a finding that satisfies an important criterion. It can be said that this flowchart specifically illustrates the content of S106 in FIG. 4. In this example, the important criteria include the following three criteria. (1) A finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information. (2) A finding about the same part as that finding and in which a finding including a predetermined keyword in the diagnostic information does not exist in the finding history information 40. (3) The confidence level of the finding is equal to or higher than a threshold value.

[0070] First, the determination unit 2060 detects a finding that includes a predetermined keyword in the diagnostic information 36 (a finding that satisfies criterion (1)) from the report information 30 (S202). If there is no finding that satisfies criterion (1) in the report information 30 (S202: NO), the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report does not include important findings (S204). If there is a finding that satisfies criterion (1) in the report information 30 (S202: YES), the determination unit 2060 determines whether there is a finding whose confidence level is equal to or higher than a threshold value (a finding that satisfies criterion (3)) among the findings that satisfy criterion (1) (S206).

[0071] If there is no finding that satisfies criterion (3) among the findings that satisfy criterion (1) (S206: NO), the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report does not include important findings (S204). If there is a finding that satisfies criterion (3) among the findings that satisfy criterion (1), that is, if there is a finding that satisfies both criterion (1) and (3) (S206: YES), the determination unit 2060 determines whether there is a finding that satisfies criterion (2) of "showing the same part as the part indicated by the finding in part 43 and having a predetermined keyword included in the diagnostic information 44 in the finding history information 40" among the findings that satisfy criterion (1) and (3) (S208).

[0072] If there is no finding that satisfies criterion (2) among the findings that satisfy criterion (1) and (3) (S208: NO). The determination unit 2060 determines that the target report does not include important findings (S204). On the other hand, if there is a finding that satisfies criterion (2) among the findings that satisfy criterion (1) and (3), that is, if there is a finding that satisfies all of criterion (1) to (3) (S208: YES), the determination unit 2060 determines that the target report includes important findings (S210).

[0073] Note that the order of making determinations for each criterion included in the important criteria is arbitrary and is not limited to the order shown in FIG. 8.

[0074] <Processing Based on the Determination Result> The important report detection device 2000 outputs information that can grasp the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings based on the result of the determination by the determination unit 2060. The functional component that outputs such information is called the output unit. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the important report detection device 2000 having an output unit.

[0075] There are various methods of output by the output unit. For example, the output unit 2080 adds data indicating whether or not the target report contains important findings to the target report. For example, it is assumed that the diagnostic report 20 is provided with a flag (hereinafter referred to as an important flag) capable of setting a value indicating whether or not important findings are included. In this case, the output unit 2080 sets a value to the important flag of the target report based on the result of the determination by the determination unit 2060.

[0076] Specifically, when it is determined that the target report contains important findings, the output unit 2080 sets a value (for example, 1) indicating that important findings are included to the important flag of the target report. On the other hand, when it is determined that the target report does not contain important findings, the output unit 2080 sets a value (for example, 0) indicating that important findings are not included to the important flag of the target report.

[0077] By setting the important flag in this way, it becomes possible to easily distinguish between the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings and the diagnostic report 20 not containing important findings. Therefore, for example, it is possible to obtain only the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings by searching for the diagnostic report 20 based on the value of the important flag. Thus, it is possible to prevent the oversight of confirming the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings. In addition, it is possible to reduce the labor required to find the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings.

[0078] In addition to, or instead of, setting the important flag, the output unit 2080 may add data indicating important findings detected from the target report to the target report. By doing so, for the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings, the important findings can be easily confirmed before reading all the descriptions of the findings in detail.

[0079] In addition, for example, the output unit 2080 may send a notification indicating the existence of the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings to a person who should view the target report determined to contain important findings (for example, the attending physician of the target patient of the target report, etc.). Information indicating the person who should view the diagnostic report 20 may be included in the diagnostic report 20 in advance, for example. The output unit 2080 sends a predetermined notification to the person indicated in the diagnostic report 20. Note that this notification may include the target diagnostic report 20 itself. By doing so, the person who receives the notification can easily obtain the diagnostic report 20 containing important findings.

[0080] To send the above notification, for example, information associating the identification information of a person with the destination of the notification for that person (such as an email address) is stored in advance in a storage device accessible from the important report detection device 2000. The output unit 2080 extracts the identification information of the person to whom the notification should be sent from the diagnostic report 20 determined to contain important findings. Further, the output unit 2080 accesses the above storage device to identify the destination associated with the extracted identification information. Then, the output unit 2080 sends a notification to the identified destination. However, the destination of the notification may be included in the diagnostic report 20 in advance.

[0081] In addition, the diagnostic report 20 may further be provided with a flag (hereinafter referred to as a viewing flag) indicating whether it has been viewed by the attending physician or the like. By checking this viewing flag, it is possible to determine whether the diagnostic report 20 has been viewed by the attending physician or the like. And when a diagnostic report 20 containing important findings has not been viewed for a predetermined time or more, the output unit 2080 notifies the attending physician or the like again.

[0082] Note that a part of the functions of the output unit 2080 described above may be realized by a device other than the important report detection device 2000 (for example, an electronic medical record management system). For example, the output unit 2080 sets an important flag for the diagnostic report 20. Then, another device appropriately processes the diagnostic report 20 for which the important flag is set (for example, notifies the attending physician or the like of the existence of a diagnostic report 20 including important findings).

[0083] As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

[0084] Note that in the above example, when the program is loaded into a computer, it includes a set of instructions (or software code) for causing the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, the computer-readable medium or tangible storage medium includes random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD) or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc or other optical disc storage, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices. The program may be transmitted on a transient computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, the transient computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

Description of Signs

[0085] 20 Diagnostic Report 21 Report Identification Information 22 Patient Identification Information 23 Creation Date and Time 24 Findings 30 Report Information 31 Report Identification Information 32 Patient Identification Information 33 Creation Date and Time 34 Group of Findings 35 Site 36 Diagnostic Information 37 Certainty Degree 40 Findings History Information 41 Creation Date and Time 42 Group of Findings 43 Site 44 Diagnostic Information 500 Computer 502 Bus 504 Processor 506 Memory 508 Storage Device 510 Input / Output Interface 512 Network Interface 2000 Important Report Detection Device 2020 Report Information Acquisition Unit 2040 Findings History Information Acquisition Unit 2060 Determination Unit 2080 Output Unit

Claims

1. It has a report information acquisition unit that acquires report information about a diagnostic report to be determined, The report information shows findings that are a combination of a part and diagnostic information obtained by diagnosis for that part, regarding the description of the corresponding diagnostic report, A findings history information acquisition unit that acquires findings history information showing past findings for the patient of the diagnostic report to be determined, Using the acquired report information and findings history information, it determines whether findings that meet a predetermined important criterion are included in the report information. If findings that meet the important criterion are included in the report information, it has a determination unit that determines that important findings are included in the diagnostic report to be determined, The important criterion includes a criterion that the findings are those in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information, and a criterion that shows the same part as the part shown by those findings and in which there is no finding in the findings history information that includes a predetermined keyword in the diagnostic information, an important report detection device.

2. The report information shows the confidence level of each of the findings, The important criterion further includes a criterion that the findings are those with a confidence level equal to or higher than a threshold value, the important report detection device according to Claim 1.

3. It has an output unit that outputs information that can indicate whether important findings are included in the diagnostic report to be determined, the important report detection device according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. Based on the result of the determination by the determination unit, the output unit adds information indicating whether the diagnostic report to be determined includes important findings, the important report detection device according to Claim 3.

5. When important findings are included in the diagnostic report to be determined, the output unit sends a notification that can be grasped that important findings are included in the diagnostic report to be determined to the person who should view the diagnostic report to be determined, the important report detection device according to Claim 3.

6. The findings history information shows past findings whose creation date and time are included in a predetermined period before the creation date and time of the diagnostic report, the important report detection device according to any one of Claims 1 to 5.

7. The findings history information shows past findings whose confidence level is equal to or higher than a threshold value, the important report detection device according to any one of Claims 1 to 6.

8. A control method executed by a computer, having a report information acquisition step of acquiring report information about a diagnostic report to be determined, wherein the report information indicates a finding which is a combination of a site and diagnostic information obtained by diagnosis for the site in the description of the corresponding diagnostic report, a finding history information acquisition step of acquiring finding history information indicating past findings for the patient of the diagnostic report to be determined, using the acquired report information and finding history information, determining whether the report information includes a finding that satisfies a predetermined important criterion, and if the report information includes a finding that satisfies the important criterion, determining that the diagnostic report to be determined includes an important finding, and a determination step, wherein the important criterion includes a criterion that the finding is a finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information, and a criterion that the same site as the site indicated by the finding is indicated, and further, a criterion that a finding in which the predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the finding history information, a control method.

9. causing a computer to execute a report information acquisition step of acquiring report information about a diagnostic report to be determined, wherein the report information indicates a finding which is a combination of a site and diagnostic information obtained by diagnosis for the site in the description of the corresponding diagnostic report, the computer, a finding history information acquisition step of acquiring finding history information indicating past findings for the patient of the diagnostic report to be determined, using the acquired report information and finding history information, determining whether the report information includes a finding that satisfies a predetermined important criterion, and if the report information includes a finding that satisfies the important criterion, determining that the diagnostic report to be determined includes an important finding, and a determination step, and causing the computer to execute the steps, wherein the important criterion includes a criterion that the finding is a finding in which a predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information, and a criterion that the same site as the site indicated by the finding is indicated, and further, a criterion that a finding in which the predetermined keyword is included in the diagnostic information does not exist in the finding history information, a program.

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