Medicine assist system, medicine assist method, and medicine assist program

Abstract

Provided is a medicine assist system that, in consideration of factors such as regulation on a medicine in a delivery destination such as a foreign country, is capable of delivering the medicine even to the foreign country. The system comprises: a reception unit that receives information described in a prescription from a patient-side terminal; an information generation unit that generates, on the basis of the information described in the prescription, dispensation data indicating a medicine; a checking unit that checks the dispensation data; and an instruction unit that issues an instruction to deliver a prescribed drug comprising said medicine to the patient.

Description

Medication support system, medication support method, and medication support program

[0001] The present invention relates to a drug support system, a drug support method, and a drug support program in which, when a patient is attempting to obtain a prescription drug via the Internet, a pharmacist remotely performs dispensing and delivers the dispensed prescription drug to the patient.

[0002] Traditionally, patients would bring their prescriptions to pharmacies and pharmacists would fill them on-site. With the rise of the internet, more and more pharmacists are filling prescriptions online and delivering the filled medications to patients' addresses.

[0003] The dispensing support system disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the function of remotely auditing dispensing actions by comparing dispensing information generated based on an image of the prescription with the prescription information written on the prescription, thereby reducing the workload of pharmacists.

[0004] Furthermore, the prescription drug order management system disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes an acquisition unit that acquires multiple data such as data indicating prescription contents, a medication instruction data generation unit, a storage unit that stores various data, and a medication instruction management unit that manages the implementation status of medication instruction. The prescription drug order management system acquires information indicating prescription contents and patient application information and generates them as order data. The prescription drug order management system also generates information such as the date and time of remote medication instruction to the patient based on the order data and transmits it to the pharmacist in charge. In this case, the pharmacist in charge can provide remote medication instruction to the patient at the specified implementation date and time, thereby reducing the workload of the pharmacy.

[0005] JP 2023-107632 A JP 2023-096917 A

[0006] However, the systems described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 only disclose remote dispensing within Japan, and when attempting to deliver dispensed prescription drugs to a destination in a foreign country, there is a possibility that the drugs cannot be delivered to the foreign country due to factors such as drug regulations in the foreign country.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a drug support system, drug support method, and drug support program that can deliver drugs even to foreign countries, taking into account factors such as drug regulations in delivery destinations such as foreign countries.

[0008] One embodiment of the present invention comprises a receiving unit that receives information written on a prescription from a patient terminal, an information generating unit that generates dispensing data indicating medication based on the information written on the prescription, an auditing unit that audits the dispensing data, and an instruction unit that issues instructions to deliver prescription medication consisting of medication to the patient.

[0009] The above-mentioned medication support system may further include a status acquisition unit that acquires, as regulatory data, identifiers of drugs that are restricted at a delivery destination to which prescription drugs are delivered, an information generation unit that generates dispensing data by linking drugs listed on the prescription with the drug identifiers, an audit unit that determines the dispensing data to be valid if none of the drug identifiers indicated in the dispensing data are included in the drug identifiers included in the regulatory data, and if the data is determined to be valid, the instruction unit may issue a delivery instruction. If the information included in the patient's personal information entered from the patient-side terminal completely matches the information included in the personal information listed on the prescription entered from the patient-side terminal, the audit unit may determine that the patient is a legitimate user, and if the information is determined to be valid, the instruction unit may issue a delivery instruction. In the above-mentioned medication support system, when the auditing unit determines that the dispensing data is legitimate and that the user is legitimate, the system may be equipped with a calculation unit that generates information including the dispensing data as approved drug display information, and an identification code generation unit that links an identification code for identifying multiple pieces of information with information including the approved drug display information and generates identification information that can be identified on the patient's terminal to display information about prescribed drugs.

[0010] This is a drug support method in which a computer executes a receiving step in which it receives information written on a prescription from a patient terminal, an information generating step in which it generates dispensing data indicating drugs based on the information written on the prescription, an auditing step in which it audits the dispensing data, and an instruction step in which it issues instructions to deliver prescription drugs consisting of drugs to the patient.

[0011] This is a drug support program that enables a computer to perform the following functions: a receiving function that receives information written on a prescription from a patient's terminal; an information generating function that generates dispensing data indicating drugs based on the information written on the prescription; an auditing function that audits the delivery destination of the dispensing data; and an instruction function that issues instructions to deliver prescription drugs consisting of drugs to the patient.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present application, the medication support system of the present invention audits whether the prescription drug can be delivered to the delivery destination, thereby enabling the patient to receive the prescription drug that is appropriate for the delivery destination.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a medication support system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an intermediate terminal. FIG. 3 is a data table showing data extracted from a personal information acquisition unit. FIG. 4 is a data table showing identification information. FIG. 5 is a data table showing data extracted from a prescription information identification unit. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for generating medication display information. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for generating identification information.

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the medication support system 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. In addition, some components that are not important for the explanation are omitted in the accompanying drawings.

[0015] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a medication support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the medication support system 10 according to this embodiment, an intermediate terminal 100, a patient terminal 200, and a pharmacist terminal 300 are communicably connected via the Internet NW.

[0016] The intermediate terminal 100 can receive various information (including, for example, information that can identify the patient personally or drug information written on a prescription) from the patient terminal 200 and transmit it to the pharmacist terminal 300. The intermediate terminal 100 can also audit the information related to the patient's personal information transmitted from the patient terminal 200, and can audit various information (including, for example, drug information) transmitted from the pharmacist terminal 300.

[0017] In the present invention, auditing refers to determining whether information is legitimate by comparing it. If information is legitimate, the audited item may be deemed to be free of problems. Furthermore, the auditing in the present invention may include at least one of the following: (i) auditing the contents of a prescription; (ii) auditing whether the person applying for the prescription is the person himself / herself; (iii) auditing whether the delivery address for the drug prescribed based on the prescription is entered; (iv) auditing whether the drug prescribed based on the prescription is correct; and (v) auditing whether the dispensing action by the pharmacist is correct. If at least one of (i) to (v) is determined to be invalid, the prescription drug may not be delivered to the patient. Here, the criteria for determining whether a drug is legitimate, i.e., whether a drug is regulated, include various regulations that may regulate drugs, such as laws, orders, ministerial ordinances, and local ordinances of each country (hereinafter referred to as "drug regulation regulations, etc."), and may include, for example, laws regarding the import and export of drugs. The medication support system 10 can be audited based on the drug regulatory ordinances of the country of the patient to whom the prescription is to be delivered. For example, if the drug contained in the prescription is not regulated by the drug regulatory ordinances, the prescription may be delivered to the patient. Conversely, if the drug contained in the prescription is regulated by the drug regulatory ordinances, the prescription may not be delivered to the patient.

[0018] The intermediate terminal 100 can generate a patient-specific account based on information that can identify the patient (for example, but not limited to, an insurer number, date of birth, gender, email address, and telephone number) and grant the patient the right to use the medication support system 10. As an example, the patient may input their own personal information into the patient-side terminal 200, and the patient-side terminal 200 may transmit the personal information input by the patient to the intermediate terminal 100. The intermediate terminal 100 may generate a patient-specific account based on the patient's personal information and then transmit the patient-specific account to the patient-side terminal 200.

[0019] In addition, the intermediate terminal 100 may compare the personal information of the account holder with various information written on the prescription to determine whether the account holder and the prescription holder are the same person, and may audit patient impersonation, or may audit the pharmacist's dispensing actions (for example, whether the pharmacist's dispensing actions are fraudulent).

[0020] The patient-side terminal 200 can associate information written on a prescription entered by the patient (for example, but not limited to, an insurer number, date of birth, sex, telephone number, and information related to medication) with an account dedicated to the patient and transmit the information to the intermediate terminal 100. There are no limitations on the means for entering information, and the patient may manually enter the various pieces of information written on the prescription, or may enter the information by taking a photo of the prescription and uploading the photo to the patient-side terminal 200.

[0021] The prescription according to the present invention may be obtained by the patient from a doctor at a hospital or online. When the patient consults a doctor online, the doctor may send an electronic file of the prescription (for example, a photo of the prescription or a copy of the prescription) to the patient's email address, or may send the original prescription to the patient's address.

[0022] The pharmacist terminal 300 can receive various information input from the pharmacist. The pharmacist terminal 300 can acquire information from the intermediate terminal 100, such as pass data including patient information and drug information. The pharmacist can check the drug information included in the pass data on the pharmacist terminal 300 and dispense the drug.

[0023] <Configuration> <Intermediate Terminal 100> Next, an intermediate terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described using Figure 2. The intermediate terminal 100 may include a receiving unit 110, a calculating unit 120, an information processing unit 130, an information generating unit 140, a storage unit 150, a transmitting unit 160, and an instruction unit 170. The intermediate terminal 100 is typically a computer system, and functions are realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. Note that Figure 2 is an example, and the configuration of the intermediate terminal 100 is not limited to that shown.

[0024] The receiving unit 110 can receive various types of information from the patient terminal 200 and the pharmacist terminal 300. The receiving unit 110 can receive, for example, the patient's personal information and information written on a prescription from the patient terminal 200. Furthermore, the various types of information received by the receiving unit 110 may be stored in the storage unit 150 as unprocessed information.

[0025] The calculation unit 120 can calculate various costs associated with drug prescriptions. The calculation unit 120 may also add up some or all of the various costs to calculate a partial or total total amount. Here, the various costs may include the cost of the drug listed on the patient's prescription, the cost of delivering the prescription drug (hereinafter referred to as "shipping"), the dispensing cost of the pharmacist's dispensing, and fees for using the medication support system 10. The calculation unit 120 may also be communicatively connected to a medical receipt computer system (hereinafter referred to as "receipt computer") and request the receipt computer to calculate various costs (e.g., medical fees, etc.). Here, the receipt computer system refers to a computer system that creates "receipts (medical fee statements)" to bill medical fees to payment periods such as medical facilities and health insurance associations.

[0026] The information processing unit 130 may include a status acquisition unit 131, an audit unit 132, a personal information acquisition unit 133, and a prescription information identification unit 134. The information processing unit 130 may have a function of determining whether the prescription holder is the person in question, whether the drugs included in the prescription are regulated by overseas drug control regulations, and whether the pharmacist's dispensing action complies with a certain prescription.

[0027] The status acquisition unit 131 can acquire various information. Here, the acquired various information may include pharmaceutical regulatory ordinances, etc., of the destination of the prescription drug delivery, and environmental information of the destination of the prescription drug delivery (e.g., information that may affect the storage of the prescription drug, such as temperature, air pressure, humidity, and light exposure). The status acquisition unit 131 may also identify drugs that are regulated by pharmaceutical regulatory ordinances, etc., of the destination of the prescription drug delivery, and associate the identifiers of the drugs as regulatory data. Identifiers used as drug identifiers are not limited, and the status acquisition unit 131 may assign a unique identifier to each drug based on information that can identify the drug, such as a medical drug search number. As an example of acquiring pharmaceutical regulatory ordinances, etc., of the destination, when a patient in country A sends prescription information to a pharmacist in country B, the status acquisition unit 131 may automatically acquire the pharmaceutical regulatory ordinances, etc., of country A, which corresponds to the IP address, upon receiving the patient's sending IP address (Internet Protocol Address) at the receiving unit 110. Furthermore, the status acquisition unit 131 may acquire drug regulatory ordinances, etc. of each country in advance and store them in the storage unit 150. The status acquisition unit 131 may identify the IP address of the patient and directly acquire regulatory data based on the patient's sending IP address from the storage unit 150. Furthermore, in addition to acquiring drug regulatory ordinances, etc., the status acquisition unit 131 may also acquire, for drugs that are regulated based on the drug regulatory ordinances, etc., by linking the identifiers of the drugs as regulatory data.

[0028] The auditing unit 132 can compare the dispensing data indicating the drugs generated by the information generating unit 140 based on the information described in the prescription received by the receiving unit 110 with the regulatory data and audit the data. Here, the dispensing data is generated by linking the drugs described in the prescription with identifiers. If at least one of the drug identifiers indicated in the dispensing data is included in the drug identifiers included in the regulatory data, it may be determined that the prescribed drug cannot be delivered to the patient.

[0029] The auditing unit 132 may audit the prescription drugs dispensed by the pharmacist. For example, the auditing unit 132 may audit the pharmacist's dispensing actions as part of the prescription drug audit. In this case, the auditing unit 132 has a function for capturing images of the pharmacist's dispensing actions, and audits the pharmacist's actions, such as checking, weighing, mixing, and checking the drug bag or drug tag, while dispensing the drug. The captured video and prescription may be stored in the storage unit 150 as audit data and audited by the auditing unit 132, or may be transmitted as audit data to an external terminal capable of auditing the pharmacist's dispensing actions and audited by the external terminal. The auditing of the pharmacist's dispensing actions may involve auditing whether the pharmacist's dispensing actions comply with the local Pharmacists Act. If at least one of the aforementioned dispensing actions violates the Pharmacists Act, the auditing unit 132 may determine that the dispensed prescription drugs are invalid.

[0030] The personal information acquisition unit 133 can extract and acquire the patient's personal information from the unprocessed information stored in the storage unit 150. As an example, the personal information acquisition unit 133 may acquire the patient's personal information (e.g., the patient's personal telephone number, email address, insurer number, address, etc., may be included, but are not limited to these) entered when creating a patient account, and the information generation unit 140 may generate a patient-specific account based on the patient's personal information. The personal information acquisition unit 133 may acquire information that can identify the account owner (e.g., the patient's personal telephone number, email address, insurer number, etc., may be included, but are not limited to these) as unchangeable information, or may acquire information that cannot identify the account owner (e.g., the patient's gender, location, age, etc., may be included, but are not limited to these) as changeable information. This allows the account owner's information to be freely changed even if the patient's location changes due to moving, etc.

[0031] 3 is an example of a data table showing information related to a patient-dedicated account generated based on personal information extracted by the personal information acquisition unit 133. The personal information acquisition unit 133 can acquire information that identifies the individual account owner from the personal information received by the receiving unit 110. The data table DT100 may include information such as, but is not limited to, "patient name," "insurer number," "date of birth," "gender," "email address," and "telephone number."

[0032] The prescription information identification unit 134 can extract and acquire information written on a prescription from the unprocessed information stored in the storage unit 150. The prescription information identification unit 134 may further identify various information written on a prescription and classify it into prescription owner information and drug information before acquiring it. For example, the prescription information identification unit 134 may identify various information written on a prescription and classify it into prescription owner information indicating the prescription owner's personal information and drug information including the drug name and dosage before acquiring it. As an example, the prescription information identification unit 134 may use morphological analysis to recognize the patient's name and a predetermined number of digits of the insurer number written on the prescription and acquire them as prescription owner information. Based on the received information, the prescription information identification unit 134 may acquire information that can identify the prescription owner (e.g., including, but not limited to, the patient's personal phone number, email address, insurer number, etc. written on the prescription) as the prescription owner's personal information, or may acquire information that cannot identify the prescription owner (e.g., including, but not limited to, gender, age, etc.) as not the prescription owner's personal information. Alternatively, the drug information may be stored in the storage unit 150 as is.

[0033] The prescription information identification unit 134 may also have a function for recognizing prescription images. For example, when uploading a prescription image, the prescription information identification unit 134 can classify and identify the information written on the prescription from the prescription image into prescription owner information indicating the identity of the prescription owner and drug information including the drug name and dosage. For example, the prescription information identification unit 134 may identify the insurer number in the prescription image and acquire it as the identity information of the prescription owner. After acquiring the image, other information that cannot identify the identity of the prescription owner may be deleted without being stored in the storage unit 150. Note that if the prescription is in a foreign language, the information processing unit 130 may further include a translation unit, and after acquisition by the prescription information identification unit 134, the foreign language portion of the prescription photo may be translated into a language understandable to the pharmacist.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows an example of a data table DT200 showing information obtained from a prescription extracted by the prescription information identification unit 134. The data table DT200 may include, but is not limited to, information such as the "patient name," "telephone number," "date of birth," "country where the prescription was obtained," and "drug information" written on the prescription.

[0035] After the personal information acquisition unit 133 and the prescription information identification unit 134 acquire patient information (personal information of the account holder and personal information of the prescription holder), the audit unit 132 can audit the patient's identity. For example, when account holder A inputs various information (which may include, for example, patient B's name, insurer number, drug name, drug dosage, etc.) listed on a prescription for patient B (prescription holder) into the medication support system 10, the medication support system 10 may determine whether the account holder and the prescription holder are the same by comparing the personal information (which may include, for example, the insurer number and insurer name) of account holder A with the personal information (which may include, for example, the insurer number and insurer name) listed on the input prescription for patient B. Furthermore, the medication support system 10 may be connected to a database of a medical institution in the patient's country. In this case, after obtaining connection permission from the medical institution in the country where the medication support system 10 is located, it searches the database of the medical institution in the country where patient B is located using personal information of account holder A (which may include, for example, the insurer number and the insurer name) as a keyword to determine whether or not there is a prescription record for account holder A. If there is a prescription record for account holder A, it compares the various information contained in that record (which may include, for example, the drug name and drug dosage) with the various information listed on patient B's prescription. If the various information does not match, it may be determined that account holder A and patient B listed on the prescription are not the same person.

[0036] If the medication listed on the prescription complies with the Pharmaceutical Control Ordinance and the prescription holder and account holder are the same person, the audit unit 132 may certify the dispensing data as acceptable data. Furthermore, the medication support system 10 is connected to a receipt computer that supports the NSIPS (registered trademark): New Standard Interface of Pharmacy-system Specifications) standard, and the acceptable data may be sent to a dispensing system such as a dispensing inspection system or an automatic tablet / powder packaging machine to generate a common specification for dispensing medication.

[0037] The calculation unit 120 may associate the calculated total amount with the pass data to generate passed medicine display information. The passed medicine display information may not include the total amount.

[0038] The information generating unit 140 may include a medication instruction information generating unit 141 and an identification code generating unit 142. The information generating unit 140 may generate an identification code for identifying medication instruction information and various information stored in the storage unit 150. The information generating unit 140 may generate dispensing data by linking a drug written on a prescription with an identifier of the drug.

[0039] The medication instruction information generation unit 141 can generate information related to the prescription of prescription drugs. As an example, the storage unit 150 may pre-store information associated with the drugs included in a prescription drug to be communicated to the patient when the drug is prescribed. The medication instruction information generation unit 141 may generate information to be communicated to the patient when the drug is prescribed by identifying the drug. For example, the medication instruction information generation unit 141 may generate information such as, "Take this prescription drug at the same time every day, before or after meals," or "Avoid alcohol consumption while taking this prescription drug." When dispensing medication, a pharmacist may input the type, dosage, efficacy, dosage instructions, and prescribing precautions of each drug into the pharmacist-side terminal 300. The medication instruction information generation unit 141 may generate medication instruction information based on the information input by the pharmacist. Furthermore, various information generated by the medication instruction information generation unit 141 may be linked to approved drug display information and provided to the patient. The patient-provided information may not include the various information generated by the medication instruction information generation unit 141.

[0040] The patient-provided information may be displayed in multiple languages. In this case, the information processing unit 130 further includes a translation unit that can translate the patient-provided information into multiple languages. For example, if the patient-provided information is in English and the pharmacist is Japanese, the translation unit can translate the English version of the patient-provided information into Japanese. Here, the obtained Japanese version of the patient-provided information and the English version of the patient-provided information may be stored as a set. The translation (i.e., obtained by translating the patient-provided information into another country's language) may be freely adjusted depending on the patient's nationality and the delivery destination of the prescription drug.

[0041] The identification code generation unit 142 can generate a code for identifying the patient-provided information and associate it with the patient-provided information to generate identification information. The identification code may be a barcode (one-dimensional code) or a QR code (registered trademark) (two-dimensional code), but is not limited to these, and may also be a character code. After generating the identification code, the identification code generation unit 142 may associate the identification code with the patient-provided information. The patient can check the patient-provided information by reading the identification code.

[0042] The identification information may include patient information, drug information, dispensing data, approval data, total amount, approved drug display information, medication instruction information, patient-provided information, and an identification code, and patients can use the identification code to obtain various information about their prescribed drugs.

[0043] FIG. 5 shows an example of identification information generated by the identification code generation unit 142. In the data table DT300 shown in FIG. 5 , the identification information includes, but is not limited to, an identification code, a patient name, whether delivery is possible, medication instruction information, prescription information, shipping costs, and a total amount. The identification code generated by the identification code generation unit 142 is transmitted to the patient terminal 200 by the transmission unit 160 and displayed on the patient terminal 200, allowing the patient to read the identification code on the patient terminal 200. As an example, when patient 1 reads Code 1, which is the identification code, the following may be displayed on the patient terminal 200: "Patient Name_1, Mailing Available, Medication Instructions (1) and (2), Drug Name 1, Drug Dosage 1, Drug Cost 1, Shipping Cost 1, and Total Amount 1."

[0044] The storage unit 150 is a recording medium that stores various programs and various data required by the intermediate terminal 100. The storage unit 150 is realized by, for example, a hard disc drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, etc., but is not limited to these. The storage unit 150 may also include, for example, a flash memory, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), etc.

[0045] The transmission unit 160 can transmit various types of information to the patient terminal 200 and the pharmacist terminal 300. The transmission unit 160 may, for example, transmit a digital delivery note including the identification information and the prescription to the patient terminal 200. This allows the patient to check the identification information on the patient terminal 200 while referring to the prescription.

[0046] The instruction unit 170 can issue delivery instructions to the pharmacist terminal 300.

[0047] <Examples of Operation and Display Screen> Next, an embodiment of the medication support system 10 according to the present invention will be described based on a flowchart and a data table. Fig. 6 is an example of a flowchart showing part of the operation of the intermediate terminal 100, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0048] First, various information is received from the patient-side terminal 200 (S101). The auditing unit 132 audits whether the personal information entered by the patient from the patient-side terminal 200 matches the personal information listed on the prescription entered by the patient (S102). If at least one piece of information included in the personal information entered by the patient and the personal information listed on the prescription entered by the patient does not match, the auditing unit 132 determines that the patient who entered the information from the patient-side terminal 200 or the individual listed on the prescription is not a legitimate user and is therefore invalid (NO in S102), and terminates the operation of the intermediate terminal 100. If the information included in the personal information entered by the patient and the information included on the prescription entered by the patient completely match, the auditing unit 132 determines that the patient who entered the information from the patient-side terminal 200 is the same as the individual listed on the prescription and is therefore a legitimate user (YES in S102), and proceeds to the next step.

[0049] The information generating unit 140 generates dispensing data indicating the medication based on the information on the prescription entered from the patient-side terminal 200 (S103). The status acquiring unit 131 acquires the drug control ordinances, etc. of the destination of the prescription medication, recognizes and identifies medications regulated by the drug control ordinances, etc. of the destination of the prescription medication, and associates the identifiers of the medications with the ordinances, etc. as regulated data (S104). The auditing unit 132 compares the dispensing data with the regulated data and audits it (S105). If at least one of the medication identifiers indicated in the dispensing data is included in the drug identifiers included in the regulated data, the auditing unit 132 determines that the dispensing data is invalid (NO in S105) and terminates the operation of the intermediate terminal 100.

[0050] If none of the drug identifiers indicated in the dispensing data are included in the drug identifiers included in the regulatory data, the auditing unit 132 determines that the dispensing data is valid, recognizes the dispensing data as accepted data (YES in S105), and proceeds to the next step. The auditing unit 132 audits the pharmacist's dispensing actions (S106). If the auditing unit 132 determines that the pharmacist's dispensing actions are invalid (NO in S106), the auditing unit 132 terminates the operation of the intermediate terminal 100. If the auditing unit 132 determines that the pharmacist's dispensing actions are valid (YES in S106), the auditing unit 132 proceeds to the next step.

[0051] The calculation unit 120 then calculates the total amount (S107). The calculation unit 120 associates the total amount with the pass data and generates pass medicine display information (S108).

[0052] Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing part of the operation of generating identification information by the intermediate terminal 100. Note that Fig. 7 is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

[0053] First, the medication instruction information generating unit 141 generates medication instruction information regarding the dispensed prescription drug (S201).

[0054] Next, the medication instruction information generating unit 141 links the medication instruction information generated by the medication instruction information generating unit 141 with the approved drug display information (S202) and generates it as information to be provided to the patient (S203).

[0055] Thereafter, the identification code generation unit 142 generates an identification code for identifying the patient-provided information (S204). The identification code generation unit 142 associates the generated identification code with the patient-provided information (S205) and generates it as identification information (S206).

[0056] Here, the medication instruction information may include a video in which a pharmacist gives medication instruction, etc., and this video may be transmitted from the pharmacist's terminal 300.

[0057] Furthermore, if the auditing unit 132 determines that the request is not valid, the auditing unit 132 may generate information indicating that the processing has been interrupted, such as "delivery not possible" or "prescription not possible," and send this information to the patient-side terminal 200 before terminating the operation of the intermediate terminal 100. The auditing unit 132 may link the information, such as "delivery not possible" or "prescription not possible," with the identification code, the patient's personal information, and information regarding the prescription to generate claim refusal information. This allows the patient to understand the situation in which they are unable to obtain the prescribed drug.

[0058] If the information is determined to be invalid, the patient may be able to transmit a request for reconfirmation to the intermediate terminal 100. In this case, the intermediate terminal 100 may transmit the patient's request to the pharmacist terminal 300. The pharmacist may be able to reconfirm the information included in the identification information at the pharmacist terminal 300 in response to the patient's request, and may be able to perform the process again in the event of an incorrect response by the pharmacist or insufficient explanation, or may be able to add a more detailed explanation to the identification information, but this is not limited to this.

[0059] When the instruction unit 170 receives a notification from the patient terminal 200 that payment for the prescription drug will be remitted, it sends a command to the pharmacist terminal 300 to deliver the prescription drug. At this time, information necessary for delivery may also be sent to the pharmacist terminal 300. The pharmacist may package the prescription drug in accordance with the command and then deliver it to the address listed in the patient's account.

[0060] In addition, when issuing a command to deliver the prescription drug, an information list regarding payment information (for example, a delivery note or receipt) and data for an information label containing delivery address information may be sent to the pharmacist terminal 300, along with a command to print these data. In this case, the pharmacist may deliver the prescription drug, information list, and information label to the patient's address in accordance with the command.

[0061] <Supplementary Note> Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various modifications and functions that can be implemented will be described below.

[0062] (1) In the above embodiment, after a patient-specific account is created, the medication support system 10 may send a notification of completion of account creation to the patient terminal 200. As an example, after a patient creates an account, the medication support system 10 sends a notification of completion of account creation to the patient's telephone number or email address. In this case, the notification of completion of account creation does not need to include the patient's personal information.

[0063] (2) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may store information about patient-dedicated accounts in an external server. As an example, the medication support system 10 may be connected to a NAS (Network Attachment Storage) server. After a patient enters their personal information, etc. into the medication support system 10, the medication support system 10 transmits the personal information to the NAS server. The NAS server may then automatically send the URL of a storage location where various information is stored to the patient via email or text message in conjunction with the creation of a patient information folder. If a patient wishes to reconfirm their personal information, they may click on the URL of the storage location and their personal information may be automatically displayed. Furthermore, the owner of the medication support system 10 may manage information about patient-dedicated accounts in the NAS server.

[0064] (3) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may store the patient's medication history. As an example, after various processes are executed by the intermediate terminal 100, the patient's medication history or medication instruction information may be stored in the storage unit 150 or the NAS server. If the patient suffers from the same illness, the patient may search for their existing medication history and take their prescribed medication while referring to that medication history and medication instruction information. As another example, the patient's medication history before using the medication support system 10 may be stored in the storage unit 150 or the NAS server. After obtaining connection permission from a medical institution in the patient's country, the medication support system 10 connects to the database of the medical institution in the patient's country. The medication support system 10 may extract the patient's medication history from the medical institution's database based on the patient's personal information, particularly the patient's name and insurer number, and store the patient's medication history in the storage unit 150 or the NAS server. Alternatively, the patient may manually enter their medication history into the medication support system 10 and store it in the storage unit 150 or the NAS server. In this case, the patient may freely check the medication history linked to the patient's dedicated account on the patient-side terminal 200.

[0065] (4) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may be connected to a generating AI program and automatically acquire medication instructions. For example, if the pharmacist's medication instruction information is insufficient, the patient may acquire medication instruction information for the prescribed drug in a question-and-answer format by conversing with the generating AI program connected to the medication support system 10.

[0066] (5) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may generate health advice for the patient based on the medication instruction information for the prescribed drug when connected to the generation AI program. For example, in the case of lower back pain, the medication support system 10 may generate advice such as "Avoid awkward postures!" or "Manage stress properly" and send it to the patient-side terminal 200.

[0067] (6) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may be connected to an external terminal that generates an identification code. As an example, the information generation unit 140 may further include an identification code storage unit. The identification code generation unit 142 may acquire an identification code, such as a QR code, from the external terminal and store the identification code in the identification code storage unit.

[0068] (7) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may provide an online medical consultation system. As an example, the patient terminal 200 and the pharmacist terminal 300 may be equipped with a camera function, and a pharmacist may provide the patient with an explanation of medication dispensing and instructions on how to take prescribed medications via online diagnosis.

[0069] (8) In the above embodiment, the medication support system 10 may further include a medical questionnaire input unit. As an example, the patient may input information written on a medical questionnaire obtained from a hospital or pharmacy into the medical questionnaire input unit on the patient-side terminal 200. Furthermore, the method of inputting the medical questionnaire is not limited; the patient may manually input the information written on the medical questionnaire into the medical questionnaire input unit. Alternatively, the medical questionnaire input unit may further include a text recognition display function, and the patient may take a photo of the medical questionnaire and then upload the photo to the medical questionnaire input unit, thereby allowing the medical questionnaire input unit to read the information written on the photo of the medical questionnaire. Since the information obtained from the medical questionnaire input unit is stored in the storage unit 150, the patient may reconfirm the photo of the medical questionnaire linked to the patient-dedicated account or the information written on the medical questionnaire on the patient-side terminal 200.

[0070] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Medication support system 100 Intermediate terminal 200 Patient side terminal 300 Pharmacist side terminal 110 Receiving unit 120 Calculation unit 130 Information processing unit 131 Status acquisition unit 132 Audit unit 133 Personal information acquisition unit 134 Prescription information identification unit 140 Information generation unit 141 Medication instruction information generation unit 142 Identification code generation unit 150 Storage unit 160 Transmission unit 170 Instruction unit

Claims

1. A drug support system comprising: a receiving unit that receives information described on a prescription from a patient's terminal; an information generating unit that generates dispensing data indicating a drug based on the information described on the prescription; an auditing unit that audits the dispensing data; an instruction unit that issues an instruction to deliver a prescription drug consisting of the drug to a patient; and a status acquiring unit that acquires, as restriction data, an identifier of a drug that is restricted at a delivery destination to which the prescription drug is delivered, wherein the information generating unit generates the dispensing data by linking the drug described on the prescription with a drug identifier, and the auditing unit determines that the dispensing data is valid if none of the drug identifiers indicated in the dispensing data are included in the drug identifiers included in the restriction data, and when the data is determined to be valid, the instruction unit issues the instruction to deliver.

2. The drug support system of claim 1, wherein the auditing unit determines that the patient is a legitimate user when the information contained in the patient's personal information entered from the patient's terminal completely matches the information contained in the personal information listed on the prescription entered from the patient's terminal, and when the legitimacy is determined to be there, the instruction unit issues instructions for delivery.

3. The drug support system according to claim 1, further comprising: an auditing unit which determines that the patient is a legitimate user when information contained in the patient's personal information entered from the patient terminal completely matches information contained in the personal information stated on the prescription entered from the patient terminal; a calculation unit which generates information including the dispensing data as approved drug display information when the auditing unit determines that the patient is a legitimate user when the auditing unit determines that the dispensing data is legitimate and that the patient is a legitimate user; and an identification code generation unit which links an identification code for identifying multiple pieces of information with information including the approved drug display information and generates identification information that can be identified by the patient terminal to display information regarding the prescribed drug.

4. A drug support method in which a computer executes the following steps: a receiving step of receiving information described on a prescription from a patient's terminal; an information generating step of generating dispensing data indicating a drug based on the information described on the prescription; an auditing step of auditing the dispensing data; an instruction step of issuing an instruction to deliver a prescription drug consisting of the drug to a patient; and a status acquiring step of acquiring, as regulated data, an identifier of a drug that is regulated at a delivery destination to which the prescription drug is delivered; wherein the information generating step generates dispensing data by linking the drug described on the prescription with a drug identifier; the auditing step determines that the dispensing data is valid if none of the drug identifiers indicated in the dispensing data are included in the drug identifiers included in the regulated data; and when the data is determined to be valid, the instruction step issues the instruction to deliver.

5. A drug support program which implements in a computer a receiving function for receiving information described on a prescription from a patient's terminal, an information generating function for generating dispensing data indicating a drug based on the information described on the prescription, an auditing function for auditing the dispensing data, an instruction function for issuing an instruction to deliver a prescription drug consisting of the drug to a patient, and a status acquiring function for acquiring an identifier of a drug that is regulated at a delivery destination to which the prescription drug is delivered as regulated data, wherein the information generating function generates dispensing data by linking the drug described on the prescription with a drug identifier, the auditing function determines that the dispensing data is valid if none of the drug identifiers indicated in the dispensing data are included in the drug identifiers included in the regulated data, and when the data is determined to be valid, the instruction function issues the instruction to deliver the data.

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