JP2024122631A - Medical record creation system and medical record creation method - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] The objective of the present invention is to provide a system and method for easily creating a medical record while identifying an individual animal in a simple manner. [Solution] A medical record creation system comprising an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of a pet animal, a search unit that searches a patient database for registered information based on the identification information, a re-search unit that searches a registration database for registered information based on the identification information, and a creation unit that creates a medical record based on the registered information. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a system and method for creating medical records for animal patients.

When pets such as dogs and cats are brought to a veterinary clinic, veterinarians create or refer to medical records based on the owner's declaration, but it is difficult to determine whether the owner's declaration is correct. As a result, owners sometimes make fraudulent insurance claims by switching pets, such as claiming insurance for an insured pet when in fact the pet is not insured.

Currently, animals kept as pets are required to have microchips fitted (in some cases, this is a best efforts obligation), making it possible to match the pet with its owner. Microchips contain unique information attached to each pet, and are registered in databases maintained by the Ministry of the Environment or private registration organizations in association with information about the pet's owner. It is therefore expected that objective individual identification of pets that are the subject of medical treatment will become possible.

However, veterinarians must go through a number of steps to match a pet's owner to a microchip. Specifically, the veterinarian first reads the identification number from the pet's microchip using a microchip reader or similar device. Next, they access an external database, such as that of the Ministry of the Environment or a private registration organization. They then search for the identification number in the external database and obtain the information registered in that database. By going through this series of steps, it is possible to match a pet with its owner and obtain accurate information.

Furthermore, when creating a medical record, in addition to the information obtained above, the pet's name, breed, and date of birth must be recorded. Also, when a pet's owner changes, or when the owner's address changes, the registered information related to the microchip's identification number may change. In such cases, the veterinarian must update the information in the medical record each time.

As a result, even though it has become mandatory to implant microchips in pets and it has become possible to identify individual animals, the burden of creating medical records remains large.

Patent Document 1 discloses an animal management method that receives a registration request together with first identification information for identifying an electronic circuit stored in an electronic circuit embedded in an animal's body and owner personal information for identifying the owner of the animal, assigns second identification information to the owner of the animal in response to the registration request, associates the first identification information, the owner personal information, and the second identification information and stores them in a storage device, and issues a card storing the second identification information to the owner.

However, Patent Document 1 only discloses a method for managing information about pet animals, and does not disclose a method for reducing the burden on veterinarians when treating pet animals, or a system or method for creating medical records. In addition, while it describes a management method for when a lost animal is brought to a veterinary clinic, a lot of processing is required to find the owner of the lost animal, and it is not possible to find the owner of the lost animal easily.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-187297

The present invention aims to provide a system and method that allows for the easy creation of medical records while ensuring the individual identifiability of pet animals.

After extensive research to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention discovered that the above problems could be solved by a system or method that includes a re-search unit that, upon acquiring identification information of a pet, accesses a database and searches for registered information related to the identification information, and a creation unit that creates a medical record based on the registered information, and thus completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention relates to the following [1] to [10].
[1] A medical record creation system comprising an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of a pet, a search unit that searches for registered information from a patient database based on the identification information, a re-search unit that searches for registered information from a registration database based on the identification information, and a creation unit that creates a medical record based on the registered information.
[2] The medical record creation system of [1], wherein the re-search unit searches for registered information from a registration database based on the identification information when there is no registered information in the patient database or when the registered information is insufficient.
[3] The medical record creation system of [1], wherein the identification information is a microchip's identification information, an iris image of the pet animal, or a facial image of the pet animal.
[4] The medical record creation system according to [3], wherein the registration database is a database storing data on pets with embedded microchips and their owners.
[5] A medical record creation system according to [3], wherein the acquisition unit is connected to a microchip reader via a network and acquires the identification information of the microchip via the microchip reader.
[6] A medical record creation system according to [5], wherein the registration database requires access authority, and the access authority is linked to a microchip reader that reads the microchip.
[7] A medical record creation system according to [1], further comprising an update unit that updates the registration information stored in the patient database, either based on the user's wishes or automatically, when there is a difference between the registration information stored in the patient database and the registration information stored in the registration database.
[8] The medical record creation system of [1], wherein the re-search unit performs the search based on the user's intention or automatically.
[9] A medical record creation system comprising an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of a pet, a re-search unit that searches a registration database for registration information, and a creation unit that creates a medical record based on the registration information.
[10] A medical record creation method comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring identification information of a pet; a search step of using a computer to search for registration information from a patient database based on the identification information; a re-search step of using a computer to search for registration information from a registration database based on the identification information; and a creation step of using a computer to create a medical record based on the registration information.

The present invention can provide a medical record creation system and a medical record creation method that reduce the burden on veterinarians when creating medical records. It can also provide a medical record creation system and a medical record creation method that can prevent fraudulent insurance claims due to the switching of pet animals as described above.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a medical record creation system of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a medical record creation system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of the medical record creation system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of the medical record creation system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of the medical record creation system of the present invention.

<Medical record creation system>
The medical record creation system of the present invention is characterized by comprising an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of a pet, a search unit that searches a patient database for registered information based on the identification information, a re-search unit that searches the registration database for registered information based on the identification information when the registered information does not exist in the patient database or the registered information is insufficient, and a creation unit that creates a medical record based on the registered information. These comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized as a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a storage medium, or may be realized as any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a storage medium.

[System Overview]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the medical record creation system of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the medical record creation system 1 of the present invention is configured in one device or server, and is connected to a user terminal 2, a patient database 3, and a registration database 4 via a network. The network is constructed, for example, by a public telephone line network, a mobile phone line network, a wireless communication network, Ethernet (registered trademark), the Internet, an intranet, etc. This configuration is one example, and a certain configuration may be combined with another configuration, or may include another configuration. The patient database 3 may be installed in the medical record creation system 1 without being connected to a network. The server may be, for example, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be configured by cloud computing. In addition, the entire network system including the server, the user terminal 2, the patient database 3, and in some cases, the registration database 4 may be referred to as the medical record creation system 1. The electronic medical record used by the veterinarian and the medical record creation system of the present invention do not need to be one device, and may be a form in which the created medical record is sent to another terminal.

The user terminal 2 is a device for a user to read the identification information of a pet animal, a terminal such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone connected to the device, or a device in which the device and the terminal are integrated. The identification information is information for identifying a pet animal. It is preferable that the information is unique to each pet animal, and more preferable that the information is attached to the pet animal. Specifically, the identification information may be information specific to an individual pet animal or information given to the pet animal after birth, such as the identification number of a microchip attached to the pet animal, an iris, a facial image, or a nose print. The user terminal 2 is not particularly limited as long as it has a function to read the identification information or is connected to or integrated with a device having such a function, and examples of the user terminal 2 include a camera, a terminal with a camera, a microchip reader, and a terminal connected to a microchip reader. It may also have a function to transmit the identification information to the acquisition unit of the present invention as appropriate. Examples of users include veterinary medical professionals such as veterinarians and pet nurses, and workers at animal hospitals such as office staff.

Pets include mammals such as dogs, cats, rabbits, and ferrets, as well as birds and reptiles, with dogs and cats being preferred.

The patient database 3 is a database in which at least registration information is stored, and may be managed in the form of a database server, may be managed on a cloud server, or may be a distributed database. There are no particular limitations on the method of writing information to the database, and a method of writing information via an acquisition unit, a method of writing information to the database using a storage medium, etc. may be appropriately selected. Details of the patient database will be described later.

The registration database 4 is a database that stores registration information that associates the identification information of an animal with information about the owner of that animal. Owners include not only those who own, manage or raise pet animals, but also those who have been entrusted by pet owners to act on their behalf, breeders who breed and sell pet animals, pet shops, etc. Details of the registration database will be described later.

The server is realized by a computer or the like, and the hardware configuration may be a general one, for example, including a control unit (arithmetic unit), memory, storage, a communication unit, and an input/output unit, which are interconnected via a bus.

Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of an example of an embodiment in which the medical record creation system of the present invention is configured in one device or server, and is a functional configuration diagram of the medical record creation system 10 in Figure 1. The medical record creation system 10 in this example includes a memory unit, a processing calculation unit, and an interface unit.

The storage unit stores information processing programs for operating each part of the medical record creation system, and in this embodiment, stores software for executing the functions of the search unit 11, re-search unit 12, creation unit 13, inquiry unit 14, and update unit 15. The storage unit is composed of, for example, ROM, RAM, or a hard disk.

The processing calculation unit 20 executes the search unit 11, re-search unit 12, creation unit 13, inquiry unit 14, and update unit 15 stored in the memory unit.

The interface unit includes an acquisition unit 31 and an output unit 32. The acquisition unit acquires the identification information of the pet animal through input from the user terminal or the user, and the output unit outputs to the user a screen on which the results of the inquiry unit, update unit, search unit, and re-search unit, the symptoms of the animal patient, the treatment method, etc., are input, or transmits the results to an electronic medical record system owned separately by the veterinarian.

Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a medical record creation system based on one embodiment of the medical record creation system of the present invention. First, the acquisition unit of the medical record creation system acquires the identification information read by the user terminal (step S1). Next, the processing calculation unit executes the search unit, and searches the patient database for registered information based on the identification number (step S2). If the registered information is stored in the patient database, the creation unit creates a medical record based on the registered information (step S4). If the registered information of the pet animal does not exist in the patient database, the re-search unit searches the registration database for the registered information (step S3), and the medical record creation unit creates a medical record based on the registered information (step S4).

Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a medical record creation system based on another embodiment of the medical record creation system of the present invention. First, the user terminal reads the identification information of the pet animal and transmits it to the medical record creation system, and the acquisition unit of the medical record creation system acquires the identification information (step S1). Next, the processing calculation unit executes the re-search unit, accesses the registration database, and searches for the registration information of the pet animal (step S2). Then, the creation unit creates a medical record based on the registration information (step S3).

Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a medical record creation system based on one embodiment of the medical record creation system of the present invention when the registration information stored in the patient database and the registration database do not match. First, the user terminal reads the identification information of the pet animal and transmits it to the medical record creation system, which then acquires the identification information (step S1). Next, the processing calculation unit executes the search unit and searches the patient database for registration information based on the identification information (step S2). Next, the re-search unit searches the registration database for registration information based on the identification information (step S3), and the update unit updates the registration information stored in the patient database based on the registration information stored in the registration database (step S4).

[Identification information]
The identification information is information for identifying a pet. It is preferable that the information is unique to each pet, and more preferable that the information is attached to the pet. Specifically, the identification information is information specific to an individual pet or information given to the pet after birth, such as the identification number of the microchip attached to the pet, the iris, the face image, the nose print, etc. Therefore, the user terminal is not particularly limited as long as it has a function to read the identification information or is connected to or integrated with a device having such a function, and examples of the user terminal include a camera, a terminal with a camera, a microchip reader, and a terminal connected to a microchip reader. As for the microchip, a microchip reader is an example. The microchip reader may be a device dedicated to the present invention or a commercially available device. As for the iris, face image, and nose print, an example is a device that can take images of them and compare them with images registered in advance. In addition, it is preferable that the user terminal such as the microchip reader is given a unique identification code and access rights to the registration database for the user such as a veterinarian. By providing a unique identification code and access authority to a user terminal, when access authority is required for a registration database, the identification code and access authority of the user terminal are linked to the access authority of the registration database, so that when identification information of a pet animal is obtained using the user terminal, the registration database can be accessed without having to input a password, etc. As a specific example, the registration database is configured so that only veterinarians who have access authority according to regulations such as laws and regulations can access it, a unique identification code is assigned to each veterinarian, and the veterinarian is registered for his or her own use, and by reading the identification information of a pet animal using the microchip reader assigned with the identification code, the identification information is uploaded to the medical record creation system of the present invention together with the identification code of the microchip reader, and the medical record creation system of the present invention can access the registration database by using the information of the identification code without the user having to separately input a password, etc.

[Registration information]
Registration information is information in which identification information of a pet animal is associated with information on the owner. A specific example is information about a dog named Kotaro (identified by a microchip identification number, etc.) owned by an owner named Hanako (identified by an address, name, date of birth, phone number, etc.). Owner information is information that includes, for example, one or more of the owner's name, date of birth, address, phone number, and My Number. Registration information is necessary to identify the owner from the identification information of the pet animal. Information in which identification information of a pet animal, information on the owner, and basic information about the pet animal are associated with each other may also be referred to as registration information.

The basic information of a pet is basic information about the pet's body other than identification information, and is preferably information that is useful for examining and treating the pet, or for creating a medical record. For example, the basic information includes one or more of the pet's name, date of birth, sex, type (dog, cat, etc.), breed, coat color, and whether or not it has been vaccinated.

[Patient database]
The patient database of the present invention is a database in which at least registration information is stored, and may also store data such as medical history, insurance status of the animal (whether or not it is insured, insurance product plan, insurance claim history, expiration date), and created medical records, and may also store data such as interview information, physical examination information, examination history information, diagnosis history information, treatment history information, medication history information, and prescription history information of the pet obtained when the pet is examined.

The patient database may be in a form that can be shared between animal hospitals in the same group, or between an animal hospital and an insurance company. For example, it is preferable that the patient database is connected to a medical record storage system owned by the animal hospital, and the registration information of pets examined at the animal hospital is uploaded as appropriate, and the registration information of the pets is accumulated. With such a configuration, for example, when a pet is examined at a later date at another animal hospital, the identification information is obtained at that animal hospital, and the medical record creation system of the present invention is accessed, whereby the patient database is searched from the medical record creation system of the present invention, the registration information of the pet is searched, and a medical record for that animal hospital is created.

[Registration Database]
The registration database of the present invention is a database in which at least registration information is stored. The registration database may be a public database such as that of the Ministry of the Environment, or may be a database owned by an insurance company or other private registration organization. The registration database is preferably a database in which registration information of pet animals is permitted to be registered by law, administrative regulations, or guidelines. For example, microchips are required to be attached to pet animals and their information registered by laws such as the Law on Welfare and Management of Animals, ministerial orders, etc., and breeders, pet shops, etc. are required to register registration information of pet animals in a registration database of owner information owned or managed by a designated registration organization. By using such a legally backed database as the registration database, the registration database can be a registration database in which registration information of pet animals is comprehensively stored. The medical record creation system of the present invention can obtain registration information of pet animals that is not registered in the patient database or about which the patient database has insufficient information by re-searching such a comprehensive registration database.

[Search section]
The search unit of the present invention searches for registered information from a patient database based on the identification information of the pet. Preferably, the search unit is a program or the like that, upon acquiring the identification information, accesses the patient database based on the user's will or automatically and performs a search based on the identification information. If the registered information exists in the patient database, the update unit of the present invention updates the medical record.

[Search again]
The re-search unit of the present invention accesses the registration database. After accessing, it searches for registered information. Preferably, the re-search unit is a program or the like that accesses the registration database and searches for registered information when there is no registered information in the patient database for the acquired identification information of the pet animal or when the registered information in the patient database is insufficient.

Also, preferably, when there is insufficient registered information in the patient database, the re-search unit of the present invention searches for registered information from the registration database based on the identification number. For example, when the owner's telephone number is not stored in the registered information in the patient database, the re-search unit searches for registered information from the registration database. If the owner's telephone number is stored in the registration database, the telephone number stored in the registration database is entered into the patient database, either automatically or at the user's discretion. Note that the configuration may be such that the user can appropriately set the circumstances under which there is insufficient registered information. For example, the user sets the owner's telephone number as a required piece of registered information. Then, when the owner's telephone number is not included in the registered information in the patient database, the re-search unit accesses the registration database.

The re-search unit may be independent of the search unit and have a function that directly accesses the registration database when identification information is acquired.

The medical record creation system of the present invention may also have a function that allows the re-search unit to appropriately set whether to access the registration database based on the user's will or automatically.

[Creation Department]
The creation unit of the present invention creates a medical record based on the registration information. Creating a medical record means, for example, generating a master required for creating the medical record and inputting the registration information. Specifically, for example, when the registration information is acquired, the registration information is stored in a patient database, and a frame for a pet having the registration information is provided in the master in the patient database, and the registration information is input therein. The creation unit may be configured to create a medical record in a database other than the patient database or in an external existing medical record database.

[Inquiry Section]
In the case where the registration database, particularly the registration database is a database established in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations, access restrictions may be set for the registration database from the viewpoint of information security, and in such a case, password authentication or biometric authentication that is permitted for access may be required. Although such authentication is necessary for information security, it may hinder smooth medical treatment. Therefore, the medical record creation system of the present invention may further include a query unit that automatically authenticates the registration database that the user has access authority. Note that the access authority does not need to be an authority to access all information, and it is sufficient if the information necessary for creating the medical record of a pet animal can be accessed. Therefore, the information that can be viewed by the user's access authority is preferably the registered information, and more preferably the owner's name and phone number.

One method for having the registration database authenticate that a user has access rights is, for example, as described in the section on identification information, to associate unique information about a user's terminal with a user ID that can access the registration database, and then to read the identification information using the user's terminal, which automatically inputs the user ID and password.

[Update section]
The medical record creation system of the present invention may further include an update unit that updates data in the patient database. Pet animals are usually bred by breeders and other breeding businesses, sold by live animal sellers such as pet shops, and then kept at home. Pet animals also tend to be taken to veterinarians frequently and are not euthanized due to infectious diseases, so they tend to live longer than industrial animals, and the owner information in the registered information may change. Therefore, when treating an existing patient, a veterinarian must update the medical record each time the registered information changes.

Therefore, the medical record creation system of the present invention may further include an update unit that updates the registered information stored in the patient database, either automatically or at the user's discretion, when there is a difference between the registered information stored in the patient database and the registered information stored in the registration database.

Updating the registration information may involve overwriting the registration information stored in the patient database with the registration information stored in the registration database, or may involve adding the registration information stored in the registration database to the registration information stored in the patient database.

For example, if the owner's telephone number is stored in both the patient database and the registration database, but the telephone numbers stored in each database are different, the telephone number stored in the patient database is overwritten or added to the telephone number stored in the registration database, either at the user's discretion or automatically.

The user may be able to set whether to overwrite or append as appropriate.

In addition, the output unit can create a medical record for the date when the identification information was read, and output a screen on which new symptoms, treatment methods, prescriptions, medications, etc. for existing patients can be entered.

It may also be possible to directly input and update the patient database as necessary.

[Acquisition section]
The medical record creation system of the present invention may further include an acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of the animal. The method of acquiring the identification information is not particularly limited. The user may directly input the identification information to the acquisition unit of the present invention, or the identification information transmitted from the user terminal may be automatically acquired (received).

When acquiring facial images including irises and nose prints, the system may have the ability to identify individuals using artificial intelligence.

[Output section]
The medical record creation system of the present invention may include an output unit. The output unit outputs a screen on which the symptoms of the animal patient and the treatment method can be input to the medical record created by the creation unit. Alternatively, the medical record created by the medical record creation system of the present invention is transmitted to an electronic medical record system separately owned by a veterinarian.

[How to create a medical record]
The medical record creation method of the present invention comprises an acquisition step of acquiring identification information of a pet, a search step of searching a patient database for registered information based on the identification information using a computer, a re-search step of searching a registration database for registered information based on the identification information using a computer, and a creation step of creating a medical record based on the registered information using a computer. The acquisition step, search step, re-search step, and creation step are the same as those described for the acquisition unit, search unit, re-search unit, and creation unit of the medical record creation system of the present invention, respectively.

(Example of an embodiment of a medical record creation system)
(1) When a New Animal Patient Visits the Veterinary Clinic An example of an embodiment of the medical record creation system of the present invention when a new animal patient, dog A, visits a veterinary clinic is shown.

First, a veterinarian uses a microchip reader to read the identification number of an animal's microchip, and the microchip reader transmits the identification number to the medical record creation system. Next, the search unit of the medical record creation system of the present invention searches the patient database for registered information based on the microchip identification number.

If the identification number of Dog A is not present in the patient database, the re-search unit accesses the registration database, searches for registration information based on the identification number of Dog A's microchip, and stores the registration information in the patient database.

The creation unit generates a medical record based on the registration information stored in the patient database. Specifically, a frame for registering information about Dog A is created on a master management screen that displays a list of each animal patient, and the registration information for Dog A is entered. The output unit of the present invention then outputs a screen where the symptoms and treatment method for Dog A can be entered.

(2) When an Existing Patient Visits the Hospital An example of an embodiment of the medical record creation system of the present invention is shown below when an existing animal patient, dog B, visits the hospital.

First, a veterinarian uses a microchip reader to read the identification number of an animal's microchip, and the microchip reader transmits the identification number to the medical record creation system. Next, the search unit of the medical record creation system of the present invention searches for registered information from a patient database based on the microchip identification number.

Next, the re-search unit searches for the registration information from the registration database based on the microchip's identification number. If there is a difference between the registration information stored in the patient database and the registration information stored in the registration database, the update unit overwrites or adds the registration information stored in the registration database to the patient database.

Then, the update unit creates a medical record with the date when the microchip was read, and the output unit of the present invention outputs a screen on which the symptoms and treatment method of Dog B can be input. Furthermore, if there are any changes in the owner's information, it is updated.

As can be seen from the above embodiment, it is possible to easily prevent fraudulent insurance claims, such as when an owner substitutes a pet for another pet, and to automatically update medical records.

Claims (10)

An acquisition unit that acquires identification information of a pet animal;
a search unit that searches a patient database for registered information based on the identification information;
a re-search unit for searching registration information from a registration database based on the identification information;
A creating unit that creates a medical record based on the registration information;
A medical record creation system comprising: The medical record creation system according to claim 1, wherein the re-search unit searches for registered information from the registration database based on the identification information when there is no registered information in the patient database or when the registered information is insufficient. The medical record creation system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is a microchip identification information, an iris image of a pet animal, or a facial image of a pet animal. The medical record creation system according to claim 3, wherein the registration database is a database that stores data on pets with embedded microchips and their owners. The medical record creation system according to claim 3, wherein the acquisition unit is connected to a microchip reader via a network and acquires the microchip identification information via the microchip reader. The medical record creation system according to claim 5, wherein the registration database requires access authority, and the access authority is linked to a microchip reader that reads microchips. The medical record creation system according to claim 1, further comprising an update unit that updates the registration information stored in the patient database, either automatically or at the user's discretion, when there is a difference between the registration information stored in the patient database and the registration information stored in the registration database. The medical record creation system according to claim 1, wherein the re-search unit performs the search based on the user's intention or automatically. An acquisition unit that acquires identification information of a pet animal;
a re-search unit for searching registration information from a registration database;
A creating unit that creates a medical record based on the registration information;
A medical record creation system comprising: An acquisition step of acquiring identification information of a pet animal;
a searching step of searching a patient database for registration information based on the identification information using a computer;
a re-search step of searching for registration information from a registration database based on the identification information using a computer;
creating a medical record based on the registration information using a computer;
The medical record creation method includes the steps of:

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