Information Processing Apparatus for Care Plan Assessment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional care management systems rely heavily on care managers' experience, leading to inconsistent and often unsuitable care plans for recipients, as they struggle to assess and select appropriate support contents due to the complexity and time-intensiveness of the assessment process, especially in labor-shortage care fields.

Innovation Solution

An information processing method and apparatus that determines and presents suitable support contents for care recipients by analyzing basic information and assessment results in two stages, using databases to classify and prioritize support needs, and includes features for monitoring and adjusting care plans based on evaluation results and sensor data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If care managers rely on their experience to determine support contents, then the care plan reflects professional judgment, but the quality of care plans becomes inconsistent and depends on individual ability

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvequality of care planVSAvoidconsistency across different care managers

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the care plan creation process into distinct components: basic information input, assessment item evaluation, and support content determination. Each component is handled systematically through the flowchart steps (S1-S7), separating the subjective experience-based judgment into structured, repeatable evaluation stages that reduce dependency on individual care manager expertise while maintaining professional quality standards.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transforms the qualitative, experience-based care management process into a quantitative parameter-driven system. Assessment items are evaluated with specific parameters (e.g., evaluation results, degrees of need), and support contents are determined based on calculated totals and thresholds. This parameterization ensures consistent application across different care managers while preserving the ability to adapt to individual recipient needs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If comprehensive assessment items and support contents are provided to ensure suitable care plans, then the care quality improves, but the assessment process becomes more time-consuming and complex

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesuitability of support contentsVSAvoidassessment process time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-structuring the assessment framework with defined assessment items and corresponding support contents before the actual assessment process. The system prepares evaluation criteria, degree classifications, and determination rules in advance (as shown in the flowchart structure), allowing care managers to efficiently navigate through predetermined options rather than creating assessments from scratch, thus reducing time while maintaining comprehensiveness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent divides the comprehensive assessment into segmented, manageable steps (S1-S7 in the flowchart). Each step focuses on a specific aspect: inputting basic information, evaluating individual assessment items, determining degrees of need, calculating totals, and selecting support contents. This segmentation makes the complex process more tractable and time-efficient while ensuring all necessary elements are covered systematically.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Measurement precision

If multiple assessment items and support contents are evaluated in detail, then the precision of care plan determination improves, but the device complexity and operational difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprecision of support content selectionVSAvoidcomplexity of assessment system

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent inverts the traditional approach by providing determination rules and evaluation criteria first, then having care managers apply these rules to specific cases rather than requiring them to develop complex assessment frameworks from scratch. The system works backwards from desired outcomes (appropriate support contents) to establish the assessment structure, simplifying the interface while maintaining precision through structured evaluation and calculation steps.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS11238978B2Information processing method, information processing apparatus and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing information processing program

Publication Date: 2022.02.01 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORP OF AMERICA

AI summary

An information processing method performed by a computer includes determining a plurality of first support contents corresponding to a care recipient or assistance recipient from a plurality of support contents based on basic information on the care recipient or assistance recipient, outputting first presentation information for presenting the plurality of first support contents and assessment items respectively associated with the plurality of first support contents to a user, determining a second support content from the plurality of first support contents based on assessment results input by the user for the assessment items, and outputting second presentation information for presenting the second support content to the user.