Method, apparatus and system for providing healthcare support by message based communication to healthcare support terminals

• US 8,734,340 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2004
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Shibata, Mariko, Takada, Yoichi, Haragashira, Motoji, Sato, Kozo
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomson, Bill
• Assistant Examiner(s): Archer, Marie
• Application Number:
  US11/022,784
• Publication Number:
  US 20050148831A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,437 Days
• Field of Search: 600300-301, 600/201, 128903-905, 128/920, 705 2- 3, 340/539.12, 340/539.16, 340/539.18
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/01 Emergency care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/07 Home care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 1/08 using electric transmission ; transformation of alarm signals to electrical signals from a different medium, e.g. transmission of an electric alarm signal upon detection of an audible alarm signal
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/92 Computer assisted medical diagnostics

Abstract

A patient terminal can communicate with doctor terminals and a center terminal via a communication network. The patient terminal acquires vital data from a measuring device with a receiving unit. A control unit determines whether the vital data contains an abnormal value and the necessity of messaging depending on the presence or absence of a manual messaging request with a message button and selects the doctor terminal or the center terminal. When it is determined that messaging is necessary, the control unit makes a communication unit call the selected terminal.

Claims

1. A method of providing a healthcare support service with a healthcare support apparatus connectable to a plurality of providing-side terminals via a communication network, the method comprising:

acquiring patient'"'"'s vital signs data by a measuring device;

determining whether or not the vital data contains an abnormal value;

determining that messaging to a destination terminal is required by the patient when one of;

a first case in which a messaging request is inputted by the patient into the healthcare support apparatus while the vital data contains an abnormal value, and

a second case in which a messaging request is not inputted by the patient within a predetermined time after it is determined that the vital data contains the abnormal value;

selecting, by a processor in the healthcare support apparatus, a destination terminal from the plurality of providing-side terminals according to whether the first case or the second case occurs; and

transmitting a message to the selected destination terminal when it is determined that messaging to the selected destination terminal is required by the patient, the message being one of input by the patient, and generated for the patient depending on whether the first case or the second case occurs,

wherein, in the selecting step, the destination terminal selected for the first case is different from the destination terminal selected for the second case,

wherein when the plurality of providing-side terminals include assistant terminals different from doctor terminals, and

wherein in the second case, the destination terminal selected in the selecting step is selected from among the assistant terminals.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination of whether or not the vital data contains an abnormal value is made by a criterion determined for each patient.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination of whether or not the vital data contains an abnormal value is made depending on a degree of change of the vital data.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the degree of change of the vital data is determined as a time integral and a vector value of the vital data.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the messaging request is inputted by the patient and it is determined that the vital data contains the abnormal value, the destination terminal is selected from among the doctor terminals.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein

in the second case that the messaging is required by the patient because the messaging request is not inputted by the patient within the predetermined time after it is determined that the vital data contains the abnormal value, message information is transmitted to the destination terminal, the message information including information indicating that the message was automatically transmitted when the predetermined time passed, and

in the first case that the messaging is required by the patient because the messaging request was inputted by the patient into the healthcare support apparatus while the vital data contained an abnormal value, message information is transmitted to the destination terminal, the message information indicating that the message information was transmitted based on an intention of the patient.

7. A healthcare support system including an apparatus connectable to a plurality of providing-side terminals via a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

an input device configured to receive a messaging request from a patient;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire patient'"'"'s vital signs data;

a first determination unit configured to determine the necessity of messaging to a destination terminal from the vital data acquired by the acquisition unit;

a second determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vital data acquired by the acquisition unit contains an abnormal value, wherein

the first determination unit determines that the messaging is required by the patient when one of;

a first case in which a messaging request is inputted by the patient into the healthcare support apparatus while the vital data contains an abnormal value, and

a second case in which a messaging request is not inputted by the patient within a predetermined time after it is determined that the vital data contains the abnormal value;

a selection unit configured to select a destination terminal from the plurality of providing-side terminals according to whether the first case or the second case occurs; and

a transmitting unit configured to transmit a message to the selected destination terminal when it is determined that messaging to the selected destination terminal is required by the patient, the message being one of input by the patient, and generated for the patient depending on whether the first case or the second case occurs,

wherein, the selection unit is further configured to select the destination terminal selected for the first case different from the destination terminal selected for the second case,

wherein the plurality of providing-side terminals include assistant terminals different from doctor terminals, and

wherein in the second case, the selection unit is further configured to select the destination terminal from among the assistant terminals.

8. The healthcare support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second determination unit determines from a criterion determined for each patient whether or not the vital data contains an abnormal value.

9. The healthcare support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second determination unit determines whether or not the vital data contains an abnormal value depending on a degree of change of the vital data.

10. The healthcare support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the degree of change of the vital data is determined as a time integral and a vector of the vital data.

11. The healthcare support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein:

the selection unit selects the destination terminal from among the doctor terminals when the messaging request is inputted by the patient and it is determined that the vital data contains the abnormal value.

12. The healthcare support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

in the second case that the messaging is required by the patient because the messaging request is not inputted by the patient within the predetermined time after it is determined that the vital data contains the abnormal value, message information is transmitted to the destination terminal, the message information including information indicating that the message was automatically transmitted when the predetermined time passed, and

in the first case that the messaging is required by the patient because the messaging request was inputted by the patient into the healthcare support apparatus while the vital data contained an abnormal value, message information is transmitted to the destination terminal, the message information indicating that the message information was transmitted based on an intention of the patient.