Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing program

Abstract

This information processing device comprises at least one processor. The processor acquires a first medical document in which is written information pertaining to an illness recognized in a patient, and acquires a second medical document in which is written information relating to treatment of the patient's illness or progression information of the patient's illness. When there is, among illnesses written in the first medical document, an un-treated illness, which is an illness not written in the second medical document, the processor produces a warning indicating that there is an un-treated illness.

Description

Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing program

[0001] The disclosed technology relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program.

[0002] The following techniques are known as techniques for preventing oversight of matters described in radiology reports: For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-38429 describes a medical assistance device that includes a medical report acquisition unit that acquires medical reports, an importance determination unit that determines the importance of the medical reports, a delivery destination determination unit that determines the delivery destination of an alert related to the medical reports using the importance, and a delivery unit that delivers the alert to the delivery destination determined by the delivery destination determination unit.

[0003] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-204189 describes an image interpretation report management device that includes a creation means that extracts a specified character string from a first image interpretation report created by an image interpretation physician in response to an image interpretation request from a clinician, and creates a second image interpretation report in which check boxes are placed at positions in the first image interpretation report that correspond to the extracted specified character string; a check determination means that determines whether all check boxes placed in the second image interpretation report have been checked; and a reception means that receives a request to end the display of the second image interpretation report when all check boxes placed in the second image interpretation report have been checked.

[0004] Information about diseases extracted from medical images such as plain X-ray images, CT (Computed Tomography) images, mammography images, and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) images is recorded in radiology reports. Doctors provide appropriate treatment for diseases recorded in radiology reports. If a disease recorded in a radiology report is overlooked, treatment for the disease may be delayed, leading to serious incidents such as worsening symptoms.

[0005] The disclosed technology has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to draw attention to the overlooking of diseases described in medical documents such as radiology reports.

[0006] An information processing device according to the disclosed technology includes at least one processor. The processor acquires a first medical document containing information about a disease diagnosed in a patient, and acquires a second medical document containing information about treatment for the patient's disease or information about the progress of the patient's disease. When an untreated disease that is a disease described in the first medical document but not described in the second medical document exists, the processor issues an alert indicating the existence of the untreated disease.

[0007] According to the disclosed technology, it is possible to draw attention to overlooking diseases described in medical documents such as radiology reports.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a medical information management system according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing server according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an information processing server according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a list according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a warning display according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow implemented by a CPU according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology executing an information processing program. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an importance table according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow implemented by a CPU according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology executing an information processing program. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an importance table according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an information processing server according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow implemented by a CPU according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology executing an information processing program.

[0009] Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the disclosed technology will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or equivalent components and parts are given the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0010] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a medical information management system 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. The medical information management system 1 includes an information processing server 10, a report server 20, an electronic medical record server 30, and a user terminal device 40.

[0011] The report server 20 is a server computer equipped with a storage medium on which medical documents such as an image interpretation report 21 and an examination report 22 are stored. The image interpretation report 21 contains information about diseases extracted from medical images such as plain X-ray images, CT images, mammography images, and MRI images. The examination report 22 contains information about the results of examinations performed on tissues or organs collected from a patient. The image interpretation report 21 and the examination report 22 are created for each patient. Multiple image interpretation reports 21 and multiple examination reports 22 may be created for a single patient. When the image interpretation report 21 and the examination report 22 are not distinguished from each other or are referred to collectively, they will be simply referred to as a "report 23" below. The report 23 is an example of a "first medical document" in the disclosed technology.

[0012] The electronic medical record server 30 is a server computer equipped with a storage medium that stores an electronic medical record 31 created for each patient. The electronic medical record 31 contains information about treatment for the patient's illness or information about the progress of the patient's illness. "Information about treatment" includes, for example, subjective information about the illness, objective information, assessment, plan, medication status, test results, test orders, etc.

[0013] The doctor creating the electronic medical record 31 registers the disease described in the report 23 as a disease to be treated for the patient using a registration system (not shown). The registered disease is recorded in the electronic medical record 31 through system integration. The disease includes positive diseases that have been determined to be definitive and suspected diseases (false positive diseases) that have not been determined to be definitive but are suspected to be such (false positive diseases). Each disease described in the electronic medical record 31 is assigned information indicating whether the disease is a positive disease or a suspected disease. The electronic medical record 31 is an example of a "second medical document" in the disclosed technology.

[0014] The information processing server 10 issues an alert indicating the presence of an untreated disease when, for a specific patient designated by the user terminal device 40, there is an untreated disease that is a disease not listed in the electronic medical record 31 among the diseases listed in the report 23. A disease not listed in the electronic medical record 31 among the diseases listed in the report 23 is presumed not to have been recognized by the doctor as a disease that requires treatment, and is therefore treated as an untreated disease in this system. Since the presence of an untreated disease may be due to an oversight of a disease listed in the report 23, the information processing server 10 issues an alert to the user terminal device 40 when there is an untreated disease. The information processing server 10 is an example of an "information processing device" in the disclosed technology.

[0015] The user terminal device 40 is a computer that is expected to be used by a doctor. The user terminal device 40 queries the information processing server 10 about the presence or absence of an untreated disease in a specific patient. The patient to be queried is specified by the user terminal device 40. In response to the query from the user terminal device 40, the information processing server 10 determines whether or not the specified patient has an untreated disease, and if an untreated disease is present, issues an alert to the user terminal device 40. The alert issued by the information processing server 10 is displayed on a display (not shown) of the user terminal device 40.

[0016] 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing server 10. The information processing server 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102, a non-volatile memory 103, an input device 104, a display 105, and a network interface 106. These pieces of hardware are connected to a bus 107.

[0017] The display 105 is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an LED (Light Emitting Diode) display. The input device 104 includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse, and may also include a proximity input device such as a touch panel display, a voice input device such as a microphone, or a non-contact input device such as a camera or sensor. The network interface 106 is an interface for connecting the information processing server 10 to the report server 20, the electronic medical record server 30, and the user terminal device 40 via a network.

[0018] The nonvolatile memory 103 is a nonvolatile storage medium such as a hard disk or flash memory. An information processing program 110 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 103. The RAM 102 is a work memory for the CPU 101 to execute processing. The CPU 101 loads the information processing program 110 stored in the nonvolatile memory 103 into the RAM 102 and executes processing in accordance with the information processing program 110. The CPU 101 is an example of a "processor" in the disclosed technology.

[0019] 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing server 10. The information processing server 10 has a report acquisition unit 11, an electronic medical record acquisition unit 12, an analysis unit 13, and an alarm issuance unit 14. When the CPU 101 executes the information processing program 110, the CPU 101 functions as the report acquisition unit 11, the electronic medical record acquisition unit 12, the analysis unit 13, and the alarm issuance unit 14.

[0020] The report acquisition unit 11 accesses the report server 20 and acquires reports 23 related to a specific patient from among those stored in a storage medium provided in the report server 20. The specific patient is specified by the user terminal device 40. Patient identification information such as a patient ID (identification) is assigned to the radiology report 21 and the examination report 22. The report acquisition unit 11 transmits a report acquisition request including the patient identification information (patient ID) to the report server 20. The report server 20 extracts reports 23 stored in its storage medium that have been assigned the patient identification information (patient ID) related to the acquisition request, and transmits the extracted reports to the information processing server 10. The report acquisition unit 11 acquires the reports 23 transmitted from the report server 20. Note that if multiple reports 23 have been created for one patient, all of the reports 23 for that patient are acquired.

[0021] The report server 20 may be provided with a report database (not shown) that associates patient identification information (patient ID) with identification information (report ID) of the radiology report 21 and the examination report 22. In this case, the report server 20 may extract the report 23 related to a specific patient using the report database.

[0022] The electronic medical record acquisition unit 12 accesses the electronic medical record server 30 and acquires electronic medical records 31 related to a specific patient that are stored in a storage medium provided in the electronic medical record server 30. The electronic medical records 31 are assigned with patient identification information (patient ID). The electronic medical record acquisition unit 12 sends an electronic medical record acquisition request including the patient identification information (patient ID) to the electronic medical record server 30. The electronic medical record server 30 extracts, from the electronic medical records 31 stored in its storage medium, the electronic medical record 31 that has been assigned with the patient identification information (patient ID) related to the acquisition request, and sends this to the information processing server 10. The electronic medical record acquisition unit 12 acquires the electronic medical records 31 sent from the electronic medical record server 30. Note that if multiple electronic medical records 31 have been created for one patient, all electronic medical records 31 for that patient are acquired.

[0023] The electronic medical record server 30 may be provided with an electronic medical record database (not shown) that associates patient identification information (patient ID) with identification information (electronic medical record ID) of the electronic medical record 31. In this case, the electronic medical record server 30 may use the electronic medical record database to extract the electronic medical record 31 related to a specific patient.

[0024] The analysis unit 13 analyzes the text written in the report 23 acquired by the report acquisition unit 11, extracts the portion of the text containing the name or type of disease written in the report, and identifies the disease written in the report based on the extracted portion of the text.

[0025] Similarly, the analysis unit 13 analyzes the text written in the electronic medical record 31 acquired by the electronic medical record acquisition unit 12, extracts the portion of the description including the name or type of disease written in the electronic medical record 31, and identifies the disease written in the electronic medical record 31 based on the extracted portion of the description. Note that when the electronic medical records 31 are stored in a form that allows the disease to be identified, including the name or type of disease, for each electronic medical record 31, analysis of the text, etc. is not necessary.

[0026] The alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether or not there is an untreated disease, which is a disease not recorded in the electronic medical record 31, among the diseases identified by the analysis unit 13 and recorded in the report 23. When determining that there is an untreated disease, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease.

[0027] Based on the analysis results by the analysis unit 13, the warning issuing unit 14 generates a list 200 (see FIG. 4 ) indicating whether or not target diseases, including diseases described in the report 23 and the electronic medical record 31, are described in the report 23 and the electronic medical record 31. The target diseases may be classified according to the ICD-10 International Classification of Diseases.

[0028] In the list 200, a check mark is added to each target disease to indicate that a description about that disease is present in the report 23. The list 200 illustrated in Fig. 4 shows that descriptions about "pneumonia," "lung abscess," "pyelonephritis," "renal enlargement," and "pleuritis" are present in the report 23. Each disease that is described in the report 23 is associated with identification information (report ID) of the report 23 that includes that description.

[0029] Similarly, in the list 200, a check mark is added to each target disease to indicate that a description of the disease exists in the electronic medical record 31. The list 200 illustrated in Fig. 4 indicates that descriptions of "pneumonia," "pneumonitis," and "pyelonephritis" exist in the electronic medical record 31. Each disease that has a description in the electronic medical record 31 is associated with identification information (electronic medical record ID) of the electronic medical record 31 that contains the description.

[0030] Based on the list 200, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether any untreated diseases, which are diseases not listed in the electronic medical record 31, exist among the diseases listed in the report 23. The alarm issuing unit 14 also identifies the name or type of the untreated disease. According to the list 200 illustrated in FIG. 4 , the alarm issuing unit 14 identifies "nephromegaly" and "pleurisy" as untreated diseases. In this case, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. The alarm issuing unit 14 may include information indicating "nephromegaly" and "pleurisy" identified as untreated diseases in the alarm. The alarm issuing unit 14 may also present information necessary to access the report 23 listing the untreated disease. For example, the alarm issuing unit 14 may present, together with the alarm, a hyperlink for accessing the report ID "A002" of the report 23 listing "nephromegaly" and the report ID "A001" of the report 23 listing "pleurisy." The list 200 may also be presented together with the alert. The alert issued by the alert issuing unit 14 is transmitted to the user terminal device 40. When the alert is received, the display 41 of the user terminal device 40 displays, for example, a message as shown in FIG.

[0031] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 101 when the CPU 101 executes the information processing program 110. The information processing program 110 is executed, for example, when an inquiry is made from the user terminal device 40 as to whether or not a specific patient has an untreated disease.

[0032] In step S1, the report acquisition unit 11 accesses the report server 20 and acquires reports 23 related to a specific patient from among the reports 23 stored in a storage medium provided in the report server 20. Specifically, the report acquisition unit 11 sends a report acquisition request including the patient's identification information (patient ID) to the report server 20. The report server 20 extracts reports 23 stored in its own storage medium that have been assigned the patient's identification information (patient ID) related to the acquisition request, and sends these to the information processing server 10. The report acquisition unit 11 acquires the reports 23 sent from the report server 20.

[0033] In step S2, the electronic medical record acquisition unit 12 accesses the electronic medical record server 30 and acquires electronic medical records 31 related to a specific patient from among the electronic medical records 31 stored in the storage medium of the electronic medical record server 30. Specifically, the electronic medical record acquisition unit 12 sends an electronic medical record acquisition request including the patient's identification information (patient ID) to the electronic medical record server 30. The electronic medical record server 30 extracts the electronic medical records 31 stored in its storage medium that have the patient's identification information (patient ID) associated with the acquisition request and sends them to the information processing server 10. The electronic medical record acquisition unit 12 acquires the electronic medical records 31 sent from the electronic medical record server 30. Note that, although the example shows a case in which the electronic medical record 31 is acquired after the report 23 is acquired, this is not limited thereto. The report 23 may be acquired after the electronic medical record 31 is acquired, or the report 23 and the electronic medical record 31 may be acquired in parallel.

[0034] In step S3, the analysis unit 13 analyzes the text written in the report 23 acquired in step S1 and extracts a portion of the text including the name or type of disease written in the report 23. The analysis unit 13 identifies the disease written in the report 23 based on the extracted portion of the text. Similarly, the analysis unit 13 analyzes the text written in the electronic medical record 31 acquired in step S2 and extracts a portion of the text including the name or type of disease written in the electronic medical record 31. The analysis unit 13 identifies the disease written in the electronic medical record 31 based on the extracted portion of the text.

[0035] In step S4, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether or not there is an untreated disease, which is a disease that is not recorded in the electronic medical record 31, among the diseases identified in step S3 and described in the report 23. If it is determined that there is an untreated disease, the process proceeds to step S5. If it is determined that there is no untreated disease, this routine ends.

[0036] In step S5, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. The alarm issued by the alarm issuing unit 14 is transmitted to the user terminal device 40. Upon receiving the alarm, the display 41 of the user terminal device 40 displays, for example, a message as shown in FIG.

[0037] As described above, the information processing server 10 according to the embodiment of the disclosed technology acquires the report 23 that contains information about the disease recognized for the patient. The information processing server 10 also acquires the electronic medical record 31 that contains information about the treatment for the disease of the patient or the progress of the disease of the patient. If there is an untreated disease that is not listed in the electronic medical record 31 among the diseases listed in the report 23, the information processing server 10 issues an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

[0038] As described above, the doctor creating the electronic medical record 31 registers the disease described in the report 23 as a disease to be treated for the patient using a registration system (not shown). The registered disease is recorded in the electronic medical record 31 through system integration. If a disease described in the report 23 is overlooked, the disease may not be recorded in the electronic medical record 31 and may be left unrecognized as a disease to be treated. In other words, a disease described in the report 23 is recognized as a disease to be treated by being recorded in the electronic medical record 31, but if the disease is not recorded in the electronic medical record 31, the disease may not be recognized as a disease to be treated.

[0039] According to the information processing server 10 of this embodiment, if there is an untreated disease that is not recorded in the electronic medical record 31 among the diseases recorded in the report 23, an alarm indicating the presence of the untreated disease is issued. In other words, if it is estimated that a disease recorded in the report 23 has been overlooked, a notification is issued that such a situation has occurred. Therefore, it is possible to call attention to the oversight of a disease recorded in the report 23.

[0040] The information processing server 10 also identifies untreated diseases by analyzing the text written in the report 23 and the electronic medical record 31, and presents information indicating the identified untreated disease (for example, the name or type of the disease) along with an alert. This allows the user, or doctor, to understand the untreated disease and quickly take the necessary measures for the untreated disease.

[0041] The information processing server 10 also presents information (e.g., a report ID or a hyperlink) required to access the report 23 describing the untreated disease, thereby enabling quick access to information about the untreated disease.

[0042] In this embodiment, an example is shown in which an alert is issued when a specific patient designated by the user terminal device 40 has an untreated disease. However, the disclosed technology is not limited to this example. The information processing server 10 may determine the presence or absence of an untreated disease for each patient managed in the medical information management system 1, and if an untreated disease is present, issue an alert for all corresponding patients. Alternatively, patients for whom an alert is to be issued may be registered for each user, and an alert may be issued for a registered patient when an untreated disease is present. For example, the information processing server 10 may register user identification information of a user and patient identification information of a patient under the user's care in association with each other. The information processing server 10 may identify the user operating the user terminal device 40 through a login process using a user's ID and password, etc., between the user terminal device 40 and the information processing server 10, identify the patient identification information of the patient associated with the user's user identification information, and issue an alert when the identified patient has an untreated disease. For example, by registering patients for each doctor or each department to which the doctor belongs, when the doctor logs in, an alert may be issued if there is an untreated disease in the patient for which the doctor is responsible, or if there is an untreated disease in the patient for which the department to which the doctor belongs. Furthermore, it may be possible for users to register patients for whom an alert is to be issued for each user.

[0043] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example has been given in which the information processing server 10 issues an alert by executing the information processing program 110, but the user terminal device 40 may also issue an alert by executing the information processing program 110. In this case, the user terminal device 40 functions as the "information processing device" in the disclosed technology. In this case, the user terminal device 40 may acquire the report 23 and the electronic medical record 31 via the information processing server 10. Alternatively, the user terminal device 40 may acquire the report 23 and the electronic medical record 31 by directly accessing the report server 20 and the electronic medical record server 30. In this case, since the user terminal device 40 also has the functions of the information processing server 10, it is possible to omit the information processing server 10 from the medical information management system 1.

[0044] [Second Embodiment] The information processing server 10 according to the first embodiment always issues an alert when an untreated disease is present, whereas the information processing server 10 according to the second embodiment issues an alert based on the importance level set for the untreated disease.

[0045] The non-volatile memory 103 of the information processing server 10 according to this embodiment stores an importance table 300 as shown in Fig. 7. The importance table 300 is a table that associates diseases with their importance. The importance is set taking into consideration, for example, the risk of the disease becoming severe and the risk of death.

[0046] If an untreated disease exists, the alarm issuing unit 14 refers to the importance table 300 stored in the non-volatile memory 103 and identifies the importance level set for the untreated disease. The alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm if the identified importance level for the untreated disease is equal to or greater than a threshold, and does not issue an alarm if it is less than the threshold. For example, if the threshold for severity is 3, an alarm is issued if the disease identified as the untreated disease is "renomegaly" with an importance level of 3, but no alarm is issued if the disease identified as the untreated disease is "pleurisy" with an importance level of 2.

[0047] Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 101 according to this embodiment by executing the information processing program 110. This flowchart has steps S4A and S4B added to the flowchart shown in Fig. 6. Only the steps that are different from the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 will be described below, and descriptions of the other steps will be omitted.

[0048] In step S4A, the alarm issuing unit 14 refers to the importance table 300 stored in the nonvolatile memory 103 and identifies the importance of the untreated disease determined in step S4.

[0049] In step S4B, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether the importance level determined in step S4A is equal to or greater than a threshold value. If it is determined that the importance level is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. On the other hand, if it is determined that the importance level is less than the threshold value, this routine ends.

[0050] As described above, the information processing server 10 according to the present embodiment issues an alert based on the level of importance set for an untreated disease, thereby making it possible to avoid frequent issuance of alerts for untreated diseases with low levels of importance, and to more effectively call attention by issuing alerts.

[0051] In the importance table 300, the importance associated with each disease may be set based on the type of organ associated with the disease. FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which the importance table 300 sets an importance level of 2 for sarcoidosis occurring in the stomach and an importance level of 3 for sarcoidosis occurring in the pancreas. In this manner, different importance levels may be set for the same disease occurring in different organs. According to the importance table 300 illustrated in FIG. 9, when the importance threshold is, for example, 3, an alarm is issued for "sarcoidosis occurring in the pancreas," which is identified as an untreated disease, but no alarm is issued for "sarcoidosis occurring in the stomach," which is also identified as an untreated disease. The organ associated with a disease identified as an untreated disease can be identified by text analysis of the corresponding report 23.

[0052] In the second embodiment described above, the importance level set for an untreated disease is a fixed value set in the importance level table 300. In the third embodiment, the importance level set for an untreated disease is set by the information processing server 10.

[0053] FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of an information processing server 10 according to a third embodiment of the disclosed technology. The information processing server 10 according to the third embodiment includes an importance setting unit 15. The importance setting unit 15 identifies the progression or urgency of an untreated disease based on a description in a report 23 describing the untreated disease. For example, if the untreated disease is a polyp, the importance setting unit 15 may identify the progression or urgency based on the size of the polyp described in the report 23. The importance setting unit 15 sets the importance of the untreated disease based on the identified progression or urgency. The importance setting unit 15 sets a relatively high importance for a disease with a relatively high progression or urgency. The importance setting may be performed, for example, by correcting a standard importance value preset for each disease based on the progression or urgency.

[0054] Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 101 according to this embodiment by executing the information processing program 110. This flowchart has steps S4C, S4D, and S4E added to the flowchart shown in Fig. 6. Only the steps that are different from the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 will be described below, and descriptions of the other steps will be omitted.

[0055] In step S4C, the importance setting unit 15 specifies the degree of progression or the degree of urgency of the untreated disease determined in step S4. The importance setting unit 15 specifies the degree of progression or the degree of urgency of the untreated disease based on the description of the report 23 in which the untreated disease is described.

[0056] In step S4D, the importance setting unit 15 sets the importance of the untreated disease based on the progression or urgency determined in step S4C.

[0057] In step S4E, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether the importance level set in step S4D is equal to or greater than a threshold value. If it is determined that the importance level is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. On the other hand, if it is determined that the importance level is less than the threshold value, this routine ends.

[0058] The information processing server 10 according to the present embodiment can avoid issuing frequent alarms for untreated diseases with low progression or urgency, and can more effectively call attention by issuing alarms. For example, the information processing server 10 according to the present embodiment can issue an alarm for a polyp measuring 10 mm, but not for a polyp measuring 3 mm.

[0059] [Fourth Embodiment] The information processing server 10 according to the third embodiment sets the importance of an untreated disease based on the progression or urgency determined for the untreated disease. In contrast, the information processing server 10 according to the fourth embodiment sets the importance of an untreated disease based on the relationship between the organs associated with the untreated disease and the organs associated with the treated disease, which is a disease recorded in the electronic medical record 31. Note that diseases recorded in the electronic medical record 31 are presumed to be recognized by doctors as diseases that require treatment, and are therefore treated as treated diseases in this system.

[0060] The importance setting unit 15 according to this embodiment identifies organs related to a disease to be treated based on a description in the electronic medical record 31 describing the disease to be treated. For example, the importance setting unit 15 identifies "kidneys," which are organs related to "chronic renal failure," based on a description in the electronic medical record 31 describing the disease to be treated. Similarly, the importance setting unit 15 identifies organs related to an untreated disease based on a description in the report 23 describing the untreated disease. For example, the importance setting unit 15 identifies "kidneys," which are organs related to "renal cysts," based on a description in the report 23 describing the untreated disease "renal cysts." Furthermore, the importance setting unit 15 identifies "liver," which is an organ related to "hepatic cysts," based on a description in the report 23 describing the untreated disease "hepatic cysts."

[0061] When an organ related to a disease to be treated and an organ related to an untreated disease are the same, the importance setting unit 15 lowers the importance of the untreated disease compared to when these organs are different. For example, the "kidney," which is an organ related to the disease to be treated, "chronic renal failure," and the "liver," which is an organ related to the untreated disease, "hepatic cyst," are different organs, so the importance setting unit 15 sets an importance level of 3 for the untreated disease, "hepatic cyst." On the other hand, the "kidney," which is an organ related to the disease to be treated, "chronic renal failure," and the "kidney," which is an organ related to the untreated disease, "renal cyst," are the same organ, so the importance setting unit 15 sets an importance level of 2 for the untreated disease, "renal cyst."

[0062] 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 101 according to this embodiment by executing the information processing program 110. This flowchart has steps S4F, S4G, S4H, and S4I added to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6. Only the steps that are different from the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 will be described below, and descriptions of the other steps will be omitted.

[0063] In step S4F, the importance setting unit 15 identifies an organ related to the disease to be treated based on the description of the disease to be treated in the electronic medical record 31.

[0064] In step S4G, the importance setting unit 15 identifies an organ related to the untreated disease based on the description in the report 23 describing the untreated disease.

[0065] In step S4H, the importance setting unit 15 sets the importance of the untreated disease based on the correlation between the organ related to the treated disease identified in step S4F and the organ related to the untreated disease identified in step S4G. Specifically, when the organ related to the treated disease and the organ related to the untreated disease are the same, the importance of the untreated disease is lowered compared to when these organs are different. For example, when the organ related to the treated disease and the organ related to the untreated disease are different, the importance set for the untreated disease may be predetermined as a standard value, and when these organs are the same, the importance of the untreated disease when the organs are the same may be set by correcting the standard value.

[0066] In step S4I, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether the importance level set in step S4H is equal to or greater than a threshold value. If it is determined that the importance level is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. On the other hand, if it is determined that the importance level is less than the threshold value, this routine ends.

[0067] Since some treatment has already been given to the organs related to the disease to be treated, it is considered that there is no strong need to issue an alarm for an untreated disease discovered in the same organ as the organ related to the disease to be treated. According to the information processing server 10 of this embodiment, the issuance of an alarm is suppressed for an untreated disease discovered in the same organ as the organ related to the disease to be treated.

[0068] [Fifth Embodiment] The information processing server 10 according to the second to fourth embodiments issues an alert based on the importance level set for an untreated disease. In contrast, the information processing server 10 according to the fifth embodiment issues an alert based on the result of comparing a first importance level set for an untreated disease with a second importance level set for a treated disease that is a disease recorded in the electronic medical record 31.

[0069] The non-volatile memory 103 of the information processing server 10 according to this embodiment stores an importance table 300 as shown in Fig. 7. The importance table 300 is a table that associates diseases with their importance. The importance is set taking into consideration, for example, the risk of the disease becoming severe and the risk of death.

[0070] When an untreated disease exists, the alarm issuing unit 14 refers to the importance table 300 stored in the non-volatile memory 103 and identifies a first importance level set for the untreated disease. The alarm issuing unit 14 also refers to the importance table 300 and identifies a second importance level set for a disease to be treated, which is a disease recorded in the electronic medical record 31. The alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm when the first importance level is equal to or greater than the second importance level, and does not issue an alarm when the first importance level is less than the second importance level.

[0071] For example, if the disease identified as an untreated disease is "pneumonitis" with a severity level of 4 and the disease identified as a disease to be treated is "renal enlargement" with a severity level of 3, an alarm will be issued, whereas if the disease identified as an untreated disease is "pleurisy" with a severity level of 2 and the disease identified as a disease to be treated is "renal enlargement" with a severity level of 3, no alarm will be issued.

[0072] Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 101 according to this embodiment by executing the information processing program 110. This flowchart has steps S4J, S4K, and S4L added to the flowchart shown in Fig. 6. Only the steps that are different from the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 will be described below, and descriptions of the other steps will be omitted.

[0073] In step S4J, the alarm issuing unit 14 refers to the importance table 300 stored in the nonvolatile memory 103 and identifies a first importance level for the untreated disease determined in step S4.

[0074] In step S4K, the alarm issuing unit 14 identifies the disease to be treated that is recorded in the electronic medical record 31, and refers to the importance table 300 stored in the non-volatile memory 103 to identify a second importance level for the disease to be treated.

[0075] In step S4L, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether the first importance level determined in step S4J is equal to or greater than the second importance level determined in step S4K. If it is determined that the first importance level is equal to or greater than the second importance level, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. On the other hand, if it is determined that the first importance level is less than the second importance level, this routine ends.

[0076] Since a disease requiring treatment of a high degree of importance requires a large number of medical resources, it is considered preferable to lower the priority of treatment for untreated diseases of a relatively low degree of importance. According to the information processing server 10 of this embodiment, when a disease requiring treatment of a relatively high degree of importance exists, the issuance of an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease is suppressed.

[0077] In the above-described fifth embodiment, the first importance level set for an untreated disease and the second importance level set for a treated disease were fixed values ​​set in the importance level table 300. In the sixth embodiment, the first importance level and the second importance level are set by the information processing server 10.

[0078] The information processing server 10 according to the sixth embodiment has an importance setting unit 15 (see FIG. 10 ), similar to the third embodiment. The importance setting unit 15 identifies the progression or urgency of an untreated disease based on the description of the report 23 describing the untreated disease. The importance setting unit 15 sets a first importance for the untreated disease based on the identified progression or urgency. The first importance may be set, for example, by correcting a standard value of importance previously set for each disease based on the progression or urgency.

[0079] The importance setting unit 15 also identifies the progression or urgency of the disease to be treated based on the description of the disease in the electronic medical record 31. The importance setting unit 15 sets a second importance for the disease to be treated based on the identified progression or urgency. The second importance may be set, for example, by correcting a standard importance value previously set for each disease based on the progression or urgency.

[0080] Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 101 according to this embodiment by executing the information processing program 110. This flowchart has steps S4M, S4N, and S4O added to the flowchart shown in Fig. 6. Only the steps that are different from the flowchart shown in Fig. 6 will be described below, and descriptions of the other steps will be omitted.

[0081] In step S4M, the importance setting unit 15 identifies the degree of progression or urgency of the untreated disease determined in step S4. The importance setting unit 15 identifies the degree of progression or urgency of the untreated disease based on the description of the report 23 in which the untreated disease is described. The importance setting unit 15 sets a first importance for the untreated disease based on the identified degree of progression or urgency.

[0082] In step S4N, the importance setting unit 15 identifies a disease to be treated that is recorded in the electronic medical record 31, and identifies the degree of progression or urgency of the disease to be treated. The importance setting unit 15 identifies the degree of progression or urgency of the disease to be treated, based on the description of the disease to be treated in the electronic medical record 31. The importance setting unit 15 sets a second importance for the disease to be treated, based on the identified degree of progression or urgency.

[0083] In step S4O, the alarm issuing unit 14 determines whether the first importance level set in step S4M is equal to or greater than the second importance level set in step S4N. If it is determined that the first importance level is equal to or greater than the second importance level, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the alarm issuing unit 14 issues an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease. On the other hand, if it is determined that the first importance level is less than the second importance level, this routine ends.

[0084] In the above description, the second importance level for a treatment target disease is set based on the progression or urgency of the disease. However, the importance level setting unit 15 may set the second importance level based on the number of treatment target diseases or the treatment period. For example, the greater the number of treatment target diseases or the longer the treatment period, the higher the second importance level may be. That is, a higher importance level is set for a treatment target disease that requires more medical resources. This suppresses the issuance of an alarm indicating the presence of an untreated disease when there is a treatment target disease that requires more medical resources. An example of a case where there are many treatment target diseases is multiple organ failure. Furthermore, an example of a disease that requires a long treatment period is cancer, which requires a long time to treat.

[0085] Here, when an alert is issued based on the results of a comparison between a first level of importance set for an untreated disease and a second level of importance set for a disease to be treated, if the first level of importance and the second level of importance are uniformly determined depending on the type, progression, or urgency of the disease, etc., there is a risk that the issuance of alerts will be overly restricted.

[0086] For example, if an alarm is to be issued whenever the untreated disease is "fracture," it is conceivable to set the importance level (first importance level) for "fracture" to the highest rank. On the other hand, if "fracture" is a disease to be treated and its importance level (second importance level) is set to the highest rank, only untreated diseases with the highest importance level will be subject to the issuance of an alarm, and an alarm cannot be issued for untreated diseases with an importance level lower than the highest rank. For example, although it would be desirable to issue an alarm for the untreated disease "gastritis," which is lower in importance than the disease to be treated, "fracture," no alarm will be issued.

[0087] Therefore, the importance setting unit 15 may set a first importance level for an untreated disease when the specific disease is an untreated disease, and a second importance level for a treated disease when the specific disease is a treated disease, which may be different from each other. More specifically, the first importance level for an untreated disease when the specific disease is an untreated disease may be lower than the second importance level for a treated disease when the specific disease is a treated disease. For example, the importance setting unit 15 may set "4" as the first importance level for "fracture" when "fracture" is an untreated disease, and may set "3" as the second importance level for "fracture" when "fracture" is a treated disease. This makes it possible to issue an alert for the untreated disease "gastritis," which has an importance level of 3, even when "fracture" is a treated disease. Examples of "specific diseases" for which different importance levels are assigned to untreated diseases and treated diseases include diseases that have a high risk of worsening if left untreated, diseases that require early treatment, and diseases that are expected to result in significant recovery through treatment.

[0088] In each of the above embodiments, the following various processors can be used as the hardware structure of the processing units that perform various processes, such as the report acquisition unit 11, electronic medical record acquisition unit 12, analysis unit 13, alarm issuance unit 14, and importance setting unit 15. As described above, the various processors include CPUs and GPUs, which are general-purpose processors that execute software (programs) and function as various processing units, as well as dedicated electrical circuits, such as programmable logic devices (PLDs) that are processors whose circuit configuration can be changed after manufacture, such as FPGAs, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which are processors with a circuit configuration designed specifically for performing specific processes.

[0089] A single processing unit may be configured with one of these various processors, or may be configured with a combination of two or more processors of the same or different types (for example, a combination of multiple FPGAs, or a combination of a CPU and an FPGA). Also, multiple processing units may be configured with a single processor.

[0090] Examples of configuring multiple processing units with a single processor include: first, a form in which one processor is configured with a combination of one or more CPUs and software, as typified by computers such as client and server computers, and this processor functions as multiple processing units; second, a form in which a processor is used to realize the functions of an entire system including multiple processing units with a single IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, as typified by systems on chips (SoCs); in this way, various processing units are configured using one or more of the above-mentioned various processors as a hardware structure.

[0091] Furthermore, more specifically, the hardware structure of these various processors can be an electric circuit that combines circuit elements such as semiconductor elements.

[0092] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the information processing program 110 is described as being pre-stored (installed) in the non-volatile memory 103, but this is not limiting. The information processing program 110 may be provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The information processing program 110 may also be downloaded from an external device via a network. In other words, the program described in this embodiment (i.e., the program product) may be provided on a recording medium or may be distributed from an external computer.

[0093] The following supplementary note is further disclosed regarding the above first to sixth embodiments: (Supplementary note 1) An information processing device including at least one processor, wherein the processor acquires a first medical document describing information about a disease recognized in a patient, acquires a second medical document describing information about treatment for the patient's disease or information about the progress of the patient's disease, and, if there is an untreated disease that is a disease not described in the second medical document among the diseases described in the first medical document, issues an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

[0094] (Supplementary Note 2) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein the processor identifies the untreated disease by analyzing text contained in the first medical document and the second medical document, and presents information indicating the identified untreated disease.

[0095] (Supplementary Note 3) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the processor presents information necessary to access the first medical document describing the untreated disease.

[0096] (Supplementary Note 4) The information processing device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 3, wherein the processor issues the alert based on a level of importance set for the untreated disease.

[0097] (Supplementary Note 5) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 4, wherein the importance level is set based on a type of organ related to the untreated disease.

[0098] (Supplementary Note 6) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 4 or Supplementary Note 5, wherein the processor identifies a progression or urgency of the untreated disease from the first medical document, and sets the importance level based on the identified progression or urgency.

[0099] (Supplementary Note 7) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 4, wherein the processor sets the importance level based on a relationship between an organ related to a treated disease, which is a disease described in the second medical document, and an organ related to the untreated disease.

[0100] (Supplementary Note 8) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 7, wherein the processor lowers the importance level when the organ related to the disease to be treated and the organ related to the untreated disease are the same, compared to when these organs are different from each other.

[0101] (Supplementary Note 9) The information processing device described in any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 3, wherein the processor issues the alert based on a comparison result between a first importance level set for the untreated disease and a second importance level set for a treated disease that is a disease described in the second medical document.

[0102] (Supplementary Note 10) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 9, wherein the processor sets the first importance level and the second importance level based on the degree of progression or urgency of the treatment target disease and the untreated disease.

[0103] (Supplementary Note 11) The information processing device according to Supplementary Note 9 or Supplementary Note 10, wherein the processor sets the second importance level based on the number of diseases to be treated or a treatment period.

[0104] (Supplementary Note 12) The information processing device described in Supplementary Note 9 or Supplementary Note 10, wherein the processor sets a first importance level for an untreated disease when the specific disease is the untreated disease, and a second importance level for a treated disease when the specific disease is the treated disease, which are different from each other.

[0105] (Supplementary Note 13) An information processing method in which at least one processor provided in an information processing device executes the following processes: acquire a first medical document containing information about a disease recognized for a patient; acquire a second medical document containing information about treatment for the patient's disease or information about the progress of the patient's disease; and if there is an untreated disease among the diseases listed in the first medical document that is not listed in the second medical document, issue an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

[0106] (Supplementary Note 14) An information processing program for causing at least one processor provided in an information processing device to execute the following processes: acquire a first medical document containing information regarding a disease recognized for a patient; acquire a second medical document containing information regarding treatment for the patient's disease or information regarding the progress of the patient's disease; and, if there is an untreated disease among the diseases listed in the first medical document that is not listed in the second medical document, issue an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

[0107] The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-068441, filed on April 18, 2022, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In addition, all documents, patent applications, and technical standards described herein are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as if each individual document, patent application, and technical standard were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

Claims

1. An information processing device including at least one processor, which acquires a first medical document containing information about a disease recognized by a patient, acquires a second medical document containing information about treatment for the patient's disease or information about the progress of the patient's disease, and, if there is an untreated disease that is not listed in the second medical document among the diseases listed in the first medical document, issues an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor identifies the untreated disease by analyzing text contained in the first medical document and the second medical document, and presents information indicating the identified untreated disease.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor presents information necessary to access the first medical document describing the untreated disease.

4. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processor issues the alert based on a level of importance set for the untreated disease.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the importance is set based on the type of organ associated with the untreated disease.

6. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the processor identifies a stage or urgency of the untreated disease from the first medical document, and sets the importance level based on the identified stage or urgency.

7. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the processor sets the importance level based on the relationship between an organ related to a disease to be treated, which is a disease described in the second medical document, and an organ related to the untreated disease.

8. The information processing device according to claim 7, wherein the processor lowers the importance level when the organ related to the disease to be treated and the organ related to the untreated disease are the same, compared to when these organs are different from each other.

9. An information processing device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processor issues the alert based on a comparison result between a first importance level set for the untreated disease and a second importance level set for a treated disease that is a disease described in the second medical document.

10. The information processing device according to claim 9, wherein the processor sets the first importance level and the second importance level based on the degree of progression or urgency of the disease to be treated and the untreated disease.

11. The information processing device according to claim 9, wherein the processor sets the second importance level based on the number of diseases to be treated or the treatment period.

12. The information processing device described in claim 9, wherein the processor sets a first importance level for a specific untreated disease when the specific disease is the untreated disease, and a second importance level for a treated disease when the specific disease is the treated disease, which are different from each other.

13. An information processing method performed by at least one processor of an information processing device, which performs the following processes: acquire a first medical document containing information about a disease diagnosed for a patient; acquire a second medical document containing information about treatment for the patient's disease or information about the progress of the patient's disease; and, if there is an untreated disease among the diseases listed in the first medical document that is not listed in the second medical document, issue an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

14. An information processing program for causing at least one processor provided in an information processing device to execute the following process: acquire a first medical document containing information about a disease recognized for a patient; acquire a second medical document containing information about treatment for the patient's disease or information about the progress of the patient's disease; and, if there is an untreated disease among the diseases listed in the first medical document that is not listed in the second medical document, issue an alert indicating the presence of the untreated disease.

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