Abstract:
Mask information for instructing the prohibition of information which cannot be serviced to the outside, is set and inputted by a manager so that the information, the permission of service of which is indicated by the mask information is exclusively sucked up from an in-hospital server by an external server outside the hospital. A service application created for each service reads out and exploits the information needed by itself, from the in-hospital information sucked up by the external server.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit of Japanese Application No. 2004-243166 filed Aug. 24, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference. 
     This application is a continuation of PCT application No. PCT/JP2005/010722, which was filed on Jun. 10, 2005. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a system for managing electronic data handled inside a hospital, and more particularly relates to how to transfer electronic data when transferring the data to outside the hospital. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Currently in a medical field too, with the development of a network technology and an information processing technology, a system for digitalizing information used inside a hospital facility, such as information about various types of medical actions, accounting information and the like, and exchanging this via a network is devised and put into practical use. 
     For example, Patent reference 1 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-207822 (FIG. 1, paragraphs [0010]˜[0014]) discloses a system for exchanging medical information and the like by connecting an area information server provided for each area to a general home and a terminal provided for a medical facility in that area via a network or connecting each area information server and a comprehensive information server for exchanging data via a network, such as the Internet or the like. 
     Inside a hospital, with the advance of medical information connection system, such as a hospital information system (HIS) and the like, various data of a patient and its medical actions transmitted from examination equipment or a terminal device via a network is stored in/managed by an in-hospital server provided for each hospital. 
     It is considered that various types of information stored in/managed by the server in this hospital is used not only inside the hospital but also secondarily used outside the hospital. However, in this case, the rare data stored in the database of the in-hospital server is transferred to outside the hospital by copying it to a server outside the hospital. Alternatively, a service application outside the hospital directly obtains data field s to be secondarily used from the in-hospital server and uses them. 
       FIG. 1  shows how to conventionally transfer data to outside the hospital. 
     In  FIG. 1A , each service application  102  for providing services using data stored in an in-hospital server  101  subsequently reads data from the in-hospital server individually. In  FIG. 1B , an external server collectively sucks up data stored in the in-hospital server. 
     In the case of  FIG. 1A , each of service applications  102 - 1 ˜ 102 - n  individually accesses the in-hospital server  101  via a network and reads out necessary data. 
     In the case of  FIG. 1B , an external server  103  sucks up all pieces of data stored in the in-hospital server  101  via a network and each of the service applications  102 - 1 ˜ 102 - n  reads out necessary data from this external server  103  and secondarily uses it. 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing the process of transfer data as shown in  FIG. 1A . 
       FIG. 2A  shows the process shown in  FIG. 1A . In  FIG. 2A  when the process is started, firstly in step S 101 , information about examination is transmitted from each piece of examination equipment in the hospital to the in-hospital server  101 . Then, in step S 102 , the in-hospital server  101  registers and stores this information in an internal database. 
     In this state, in step S 103 , each service application  102  for secondarily using data in the in-hospital server  101  accesses the in-hospital server  101  via a network to obtain only necessary information from the in-hospital server  101  (step S 104 ). Then, each service application  102  uses this information to realize services (step S 105 ). 
       FIG. 2B  shows the process shown in  FIG. 1B . In  FIG. 2B  when the process is started, as in  FIG. 2A , firstly in step S 111 , information about examination is transmitted from each piece of examination equipment to the in-hospital server  101 . Then, in step S 112 , the in-hospital server  101  registers and stores this information in an internal database as in-hospital information. 
     In this state, in step S 113 , the external server  103  accesses the in-hospital server  101  via the network to suck up and obtain all pieces of in-hospital information stored in the database and stored/accumulated in the in-hospital server  101 . 
     Then, in step S 113 , each service application  102  for secondarily using data in the in-hospital server  101  accesses the external server  103  via the network to obtain only necessary in-hospital information from the external server  103  (step S 114 ). Then, each service application  102  uses this information to realize services (step S 115 ). 
     As described above, when using in-hospital information outside the hospital, conventionally each service application  102  directly obtains and uses information collected in the in-hospital server  101  (method 1). Alternatively, the external server  103  sucks up all pieces of information in the in-hospital server  101  and service application  102  uses only necessary (method 2). 
     In method 1, since necessary information can be obtained on demand by an out-hospital server accessing an in-hospital server, necessary information can be obtained and processed for each service application. However, in this case, the more the number of service applications becomes, the more the number of accesses to the in-hospital server becomes. Therefore, it becomes more difficult to protect security and load to the in-hospital server becomes larger. Furthermore, when a plurality of service application must be generated, a mechanism for obtaining information from the in-hospital server must be provided for each service application and the in-hospital server. Therefore, it takes much time and labor to extend the entire system including the in-hospital server, out-hospital server or service applications. In method 2, since all pieces of information in the in-hospital server is sucked up, information which a hospital does not want to go out of the hospital and information which a law/regulation prohibits from going out of the hospital is also sucked up. Furthermore, since all pieces of information in the in-hospital server are sucked up, the transfer amount of data increases to give a large load to the out-hospital and in-hospital servers.
     Patent reference 1: Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-207822 (FIG. 1, paragraphs [0010]˜[0014])   Patent reference 2: Re-published WO02/017171 (pages 14˜25, FIGS. 1˜9)   

     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a data management system with a mechanism for efficiently sucking up necessary information from an in-hospital server in order to provide each service. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a data management system for efficiently sucking up necessary information from an in-hospital server in order to provide each service while preventing information which a hospital does not want to go out of the hospital from the in-hospital server, such as personal information and the like, or information which a law/regulation prohibits from going out of the hospital, from leaking from the in-hospital server. 
     Furthermore, it is another object of the present invention to provide a highly extendable data management system capable of minimizing the number of modification points even when the number of services increases to increase the number of service applications for providing the services. 
     An in-hospital information processing device for storing and managing in-hospital information handled in a hospital comprises an in-hospital information storage means (or in-hospital information storage unit), a mask means (or mask setting unit) and a publishable information generation means (or publishable information generation unit) in order to solve the above-described problems. 
     The in-hospital information storage means stores and accumulates in-hospital information collected from within the hospital. 
     The mask setting means sets mask information indicating whether the in-hospital information stored in the in-hospital information storage means should be permitted to provide to outside the hospital. 
     The publishable information generation means generates only publishable information which is permitted to provide or output to outside the hospital via a communication line, based on the mask information. 
     An out-hospital information processing device installed outside a hospital comprises a publishable information reading means (or publishable information reading unit) and a publishable information storage means (or publishable information storage unit). 
     The publishable information reading means reads out the publishable information from the in-hospital server. 
     The publishable information storage means stores the publishable information read out from the in-hospital server. 
     By adopting such configurations, an external server can read out only publishable information excluding in-hospital information whose provision to outside the hospital is prohibited. Therefore, in-hospital information whose provision to outside the hospital is prohibited can be prevented from being read by an external server. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  shows how to conventionally transfer data to outside a hospital (No.  1 ); 
         FIG. 1B  shows how to conventionally transfer data to outside a hospital (No.  2 ); 
         FIG. 2A  is a flowchart showing the conventional process of transferring data (No.  1 ); 
         FIG. 2B  is a flowchart showing the conventional process of transferring data (No.  2 ); 
         FIG. 3  shows how to transfer in-hospital information to outside the hospital in the data management system of the preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  shows the basic configuration of all components installed inside the hospital, of the data management system in the preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  shows the configuration of a system provided for a diagnosis and treatment department; 
         FIG. 6  shows the configuration of the in-hospital server; 
         FIG. 7  shows the basic configuration of the entire data management system in the preferred embodiment and its flow of information; 
         FIG. 8  shows the process flow in the hospital at the time of endoscopic examination and its major generated in-hospital information; 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing the operational process of the in-hospital server at the time of mask information setting; 
         FIG. 10  shows an example of a mask information setting screen; 
         FIG. 11  shows an example of in-hospital information stored in the in-hospital server; 
         FIG. 12  shows an example of a definition sentence by a SQL code, for generating publishable in-hospital information View; 
         FIG. 13  is a flowchart showing the process of the external server, performed when sucking up information from the in-hospital server of a hospital; 
         FIG. 14  shows an example of a hospital selection screen; 
         FIG. 15A  shows an example of publishable in-hospital information sucked up from a hospital by an external server; 
         FIG. 15B  shows another example of publishable in-hospital information sucked up from a hospital by the external server (No.  1 ); 
         FIG. 15C  shows another example of publishable in-hospital information sucked up from a hospital by an external server (No.  2 ); 
         FIG. 15D  shows another example of publishable in-hospital information sucked up from a hospital by an external server (No.  3 ); 
         FIG. 15E  shows another example of publishable in-hospital information sucked up from a hospital by an external server (No.  4 ); 
         FIG. 16  is a flowchart showing the process of the service application; 
         FIG. 17  shows the typical data management system of other preferred embodiments; 
         FIG. 18  shows the data management system of another preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 19  is a flowchart showing the operation of a terminal; 
         FIG. 20  shows an example of a mask setting GUI screen displayed on the monitor of the terminal; 
         FIG. 21  shows an example of a mask table recorded on the terminal; 
         FIG. 22  is a flowchart showing a series of operations from the mask table transmitting operation of the terminal up to the mask table recording operation of an information registration server; 
         FIG. 23  shows an example of a mask table whose mask information is already modified; 
         FIG. 24  shows another example of a mask table whose mask information is already modified; 
         FIG. 25  shows an example of a database provided for a database management terminal; 
         FIG. 26  is a flowchart showing the data management system in the case where in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information is deleted from the database of the database management terminal; 
         FIG. 27  shows an example of the mask table in the case where old and new mask tables are combined; 
         FIG. 28  shows the database in the case where all examination contents areas corresponding to the modified mask information is nullified; 
         FIG. 29  is a flowchart showing the operation of additionally recording in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information on the database; 
         FIG. 30  shows an example of the mask table obtained by combining old and new mask tables; 
         FIG. 31  shows the data table of in-hospital information extracted from the database of an information storage server; 
         FIG. 32  shows how to additionally record lacking in-hospital information on the database; 
         FIG. 33  shows the configuration of another preferred embodiment of the data management system; 
         FIG. 34  is a flowchart showing the operation of a terminal; 
         FIG. 35  is a flowchart showing the operation of the data management system, of additionally recording in-hospital information on the database; 
         FIG. 36  is a flowchart showing the operation of the data management system, of deleting in-hospital information from the database; 
         FIG. 37  is a flowchart showing the operation of the data management system, of additionally recording in-hospital information on the database; and 
         FIG. 38  is a flowchart showing the operation of the data management system, of deleting in-hospital information from the database. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     One preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the drawings. 
       FIG. 3  shows how to transfer in-hospital information to outside the hospital in the data management system of this preferred embodiment. 
     In this preferred embodiment, various types of information is collected from each diagnosis and treatment department and a reception in a hospital via an intra-hospital LAN installed in the hospital, and is stored in the database and stored in an in-hospital server (also called “in-hospital information processing device”)  1 . Then, the manager sets and inputs mask information for instructing the provision prohibition of information whose provision to outside the hospital is prohibited, such as information to be related to the privacy of a patient, of the various types of collected information. Then, information which is permitted to provide is generated based on this mask information, and an external server (also called “out-hospital information processing device”)  3  located outside the hospital sucks up only the information via a communication line (for example, a public network, such as the Internet or the like). Then, each of service applications  2 - 1 ˜ 2 - n  generated for each service provides services by reading out its necessary information from the in-hospital information stored in the external server  3 , whose provision to outside the hospital is permitted, and using it. 
     Thus, information whose provision to outside the hospital is not desired, such as the personal information of patients and the like can be preventing from externally leaking. Since each of the service applications  2 - 1 ˜ 2 - n  reads out necessary information not from the in-hospital server but from the external server  2 , the restriction of data transfer speed is loose. Furthermore, when a new external service application  2  must be generated, by extracting in advance information excluding one whose provision to outside the hospital is prohibited, from the data of the in-hospital server  1  to the external server  3  and a service application  2  for secondarily using the data using it, redundancy can be eliminated and extensibility can be provided. 
     In this specification, a term “in-hospital server” includes all servers for collecting, storing and managing electronic data inside a hospital, such as a server for storing and managing information handled inside the entire hospital facility, a server provided for each diagnosis and treatment department and other departments of the hospital and the like. 
       FIG. 4  shows the basic configuration of all components installed inside the hospital, of the data management system in the preferred embodiment. 
     In a data management system (also called “in-hospital system”)  10 , a plurality of terminals  12 ,  14  and  16  are connected to each other by a LAN  13 . 
     The terminal  12  is used to refer to data stored in the data management system  10 . In  FIG. 4 , portions enclosed by dotted lines  15 ,  17  and  19  indicate department systems provided for each diagnosis and treatment department in a hospital, and the terminals  14  and  16  indicate ones belonging to each diagnosis and treatment department. For example, in a diagnosis and treatment department  15 , when inspecting using an endoscope, the terminal  14  is used to prepare an examination report by displaying the sensed image of the endoscope, inputting the opinion of a doctor, and so on. In a diagnosis and treatment department  17 , the terminal  16  is provided to prepare an examination report by displaying an image obtained in an examination and inputting the opinion of a doctor. The terminals  14  and  16  can also be medical equipment connected to a network. 
       FIG. 5  shows the configuration of a system provided for a diagnosis and treatment department.  FIG. 5  corresponds to the diagnosis and treatment department  15  shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     In  FIG. 5 , to a LAN  23 , which is a part of the LAN  13  shown in  FIG. 4 , an examination device terminal  22 , a report input/output terminal  24 , a data transmitting/receiving terminal  28  and a printer  29  are connected, and data can be exchanged among them via the LAN  23 . 
     The examination device terminal  22  is an information processing terminal for controlling an examination instrument and processing data, such as an examination result and the like. In  FIG. 5 , an endoscopic examination device  21  is shown as an example of the examination instrument handled by the examination device terminal  22 . The image data of an image sensed by the endoscopic examination device  21  is taken into the examination device terminal  22 . The examination device terminal  22  also specifies the type of the endoscopic examination device  21  and so on. 
     The report input/output terminal  24  is used for a doctor conducting an examination to prepare a report by input its opinion and so on. A report prepared on this report input/output terminal  24  is transmitted to an in-hospital server  25  and a DVD control terminal  27 . The report prepared by the report input/output terminal  24  can be printed by the printer  29   b  connected to this. 
     The in-hospital server  25  classifies data, such as patient information, including the name and age, of a patient, examination information, including image data obtained by an examination and a report describing the opinion of a doctor, equipment information, including the type and used time of a used examination instrument, user information, which is information about hospital staff, including a doctor and a nurse and the like, and stored the data in the database. These pieces of information collected via the LAN  23  are stored in the database as in-hospital information and is stored. The in-hospital server  25  also prints the information using the printer  29   a , based on a user&#39;s instruction. The DVD control terminal  27  stores image data obtained by an examination in a DVD mounted on a DVD changer  26  and reads out image data stored in the DVD. 
     The data transmitting/receiving terminal  28  receives the data of a patient from an electronic carte system  18  and accesses the data of another diagnosis and treatment department. The printer  29  is generally used to print data received by the data transmitting/receiving terminal  28  and to print data for a general purpose. 
       FIG. 6  shows the configuration of the in-hospital server  25  shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     For the in-hospital server  25 , an ordinary general-purpose computer can be used. For example, its configuration is as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     In the configuration shown in  FIG. 6 , a data control unit  36 , which can be realized by a CPU or the like, processes data, based on a program stored in a data storage unit, and realizes a process described later by storing data in the data storage unit  35  as requested and reading out data from the data storage unit  35 . To a data input unit  32 , an input device for a user inputting an instruction, such as a pointing device, including a mouse, a keyboard or the like is connected. By operating this input device, a doctor inputs information, such bas its opinion and the like. A data display unit  34  is connected to a PC monitor and transmits data for displaying an information setting/input screen, which is described later, on the PC monitor, to the PC monitor. A network I/F  31  is an interface for exchanging data with another device via the intra-hospital LAN. To a printer I/F  33 , a printer is connected, and prints and outputs in-hospital information stored in an external server and the like. 
       FIG. 7  shows the basic configuration of the entire data management system in the preferred embodiment and its flow of information. 
     In  FIG. 7 , a service center for providing the management service of equipment used for examination, using in-hospital information handled in a hospital sucks up in-hospital information composed of character data, image data and the like, from the hospital, and provides services, such as the maintenance management of an examination instrument, charging and the like, using this in-hospital information. 
     A variety of information generated in equipment  43 - 1 ˜ 43 - m , such as an examination instrument, its terminals (corresponding to the endoscopic examination device  21  and examination device terminal  22  shown in  FIG. 5 ) and one or a plurality of terminal devices  42  (corresponding to the terminals  12 ,  14  and  16  shown in  FIG. 4 ), which are connected to an intra-hospital LAN  41 , which is a network inside a hospital facility  40  is transmitted to an in-hospital server  45  (corresponding to the in-hospital server  25  shown in  FIG. 5 ) via the intra-hospital LAN  41  (corresponding to the LAN  13  shown in  FIG. 4 ) as shown by a route R 1  and is stored/accumulated in the in-hospital server  45 . 
     When the read request of data stored in the in-hospital server  45  is issued from an external server  55  in an external facility  50 , such as a service center located outside the hospital facility  40 , to the in-hospital  45  via a route R 2  (or R 3 ), only information whose provision to outside the hospital the hospital side permits is sucked up by and stored in the external server  55  via a route R 4  (or R 5 ), which is the route the reversal of the route R 2  (or R 3 ). 
     The information stored in the external server  55  is obtained by service applications  56 - 1 ˜ 56 - n  via an intra-house LAN  51  as shown in a route R 6 , upon the request of a service application used for each service, and is secondarily used in various ways. 
     On the route R 2  (or R 4 ) of the information routes shown in  FIG. 7 , information is exchanged via a network  61  of the Internet. On the route R 2 , the external server  55  in the external facility  50  and the in-hospital server  45  in the hospital facility  40  are connected to the network  61  via a virtual private network (VPN)  44  (VPN  53 ) and a firewall  47  (firewall  52 ) to improve the security of data communication. On the route R 3  (and R 5 ), information is exchanged via a network  62  using a public line, such as a telephone line or the like. On the route R 3  (and R 5 ), the external server  55  in the external facility  50  and the in-hospital server  45  in the hospital facility  40  are connected to each other via the network  62 , using a dial-up router  46  (dial-up router  54 ). 
     Although in  FIG. 7 , the external facility  50 , being a service center, is connected to one hospital facility  40 , the external facility  50  can also be connected to a plurality of hospital facilities  40  via the networks  61  and  62 , and can provide services by sucking up in-hospital information from the plurality of these hospital facilities  40 . In this case, by targeting a plurality of hospitals, wider services can be provided using in-hospital information collected from the plurality of hospitals. 
     Although service applications  56 - 1 ˜ 56 - n  are provided in the same external facility  50  as the external server  55 , a part or all of these service applications  56 - 1 ˜ 56 - n  can also be provided in a facility different the external facility  50  in which the external server  55  is installed and necessary in-hospital information can be read from the external server  55  via a dedicated line or the networks  61  and  62 . 
     In such a system configuration, for example, in the case of an endoscopic examination, an endoscopic examination device for conducting an endoscopic examination transmits equipment use information, examination information, examination result information, sensed image information and the like from the endoscopic examination device terminal  43  to the in-hospital server. When cleaning an endoscope after examination, cleaning information is transmitted from an endoscope cleaning device to the in-hospital server. 
     The in-hospital server  45  records and manages equipment/facility information, such as the number of endoscopic examination rooms, the number of endoscopic examination devices, the number of endoscopes, the number of endoscope cleaning devices as in-hospital information in addition to information about patients and examination transmitted from each piece of equipment  43  and each terminal from time to time. Then, by the mask setting process described later, the manager of the in-hospital server inputs mask information indicating whether the provision to outside the hospital of the information should be permitted, and the external server  55  sucks up only information whose provision to outside the hospital is permitted according to this mask information. In this case, such information can also be outputted to the external server  55 . 
     Then, in the external facility, the service application  56  realizes services using the information sucked up by the external server  55 . 
     As such services, a consultant service of calculating by how many endoscopes and endoscope cleaning machines an examination can be efficiently conducted in this hospital, based on the number of endoscopic examinations, an examination time, the number of doctors and nurses, the number of examination rooms, the number of endoscopes, the number of endoscope cleaning machines, etc., of information stored in the external server  55 , giving advices about the efficient use of equipment and giving consultations on the installation/introduction of endoscopic examination related facilities when installing a new hospital and when introducing such facilities, an equipment lease charging service of charging for the use of the device, based on the number of endoscopic examinations, the use of a special function of the endoscopic device, the used frequency of an endoscope, etc., and the like can be considered. 
     Next, the flow of each of various types of information in the data management system of this preferred embodiment is described in detail using various types of information generated by an endoscopic examination as an example. 
       FIG. 8  shows the process flow in the hospital at the time of endoscopic examination and its major generated in-hospital information. 
     In  FIG. 8 , after in step S 1  a patient visits the hospital and in step S 2  the patient finishes its receiving procedures at the reception of a diagnosis and treatment department in which the patient takes diagnosis and treatment, patient information that hospital staff inputs from a terminal at the reception and patient information received from the HIS is stored in the in-hospital server of the diagnosis and treatment department. 
     Then, when in step S 3  the temperature and pulse rate of the patient are measured as the pre-treatment of an endoscopic examination, these performance records and vital sign data, which is the measurement result, are inputted from the terminal and are recorded and stored in the in-hospital server. 
     When starting the endoscopic examination, as its preparation (step S 4 ), information for specifying an examination instrument, such as an endoscopic device to be used and the like is inputted from the terminal. Then, at the time of examination (step S 5 ), the image data of a sensed endoscopic image, information about used equipment, the performance record of a used instrument is transmitted from the examination device terminal to which each piece of equipment is connected to the in-hospital server. The in-hospital server stores the data in the database, and stores and accumulates it. 
     While the patient rests in a recovery room (step S 7 ) after the endoscopic examination finishes (step S 6 ), its temperature and pulse rate are measured. Then, these results are inputted from the terminal as vital sign data and are transmitted to the in-hospital server. 
     After the endoscopic examination finishes, in step S 8  a doctor in charge prepares an examination report. When preparing this report, the opinion of a doctor, the annotation data of an endoscopic image sensed by examination, diagnosis data are inputted from the terminal and are transmitted to the in-hospital server. Then, in step S 9  the examination result is explained to the patient. 
     In step S 10 , the instrument, such as an endoscope or the like, used for the endoscopic examination is cleaned by the endoscope cleaning device, and in step S 11  the instrument is accommodated into a predetermined place. However, in this case, a cleaning cycle log and cleaning history data are transmitted to the in-hospital server as the record of this cleaning. 
     The in-hospital information shown in  FIG. 8  is transmitted to the in-hospital server via the intra-hospital LAN from time to time. The in-hospital server stores the in-hospital information in the database, and stores and manages it. Then, the manager of the in-hospital server inputs mask information indicating whether the provision to outside the hospital of this in-hospital information is permitted to the in-hospital information. Thus, the external server sucks up only information whose external provision is permitted by this mask information. 
       FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing the operational process of the in-hospital server at the time of mask information setting. 
     By this process, whether the external provision of the in-hospital information stored in the in-hospital server should be permitted is set in the in-hospital information. 
     In  FIG. 9 , in step S 21  the manager of the in-hospital server logs in in-hospital server from the in-hospital server or a terminal connected to the in-hospital server via an in-hospital LAN. 
     Then, in step S 22  the manager of the in-hospital server inputs an authentication password. Authentication information is referenced by the inputted password and an authentication process is performed. If no authentication permit is given, processes after that are terminated. 
     If in the authentication process of step S 22  its authentication is permitted, then in step S 23  the in-hospital server activates a mask information setting application. 
     This mask information setting application performs a mask information setting process of setting whether the external provision of the information recorded and stored in the in-hospital server should be permitted. In step S 24 , in the in-hospital server the mask information setting application activated in step S 23  displays a mask information setting screen on which the field s of the in-hospital information stored in the in-hospital server is shown, on the monitor of the terminal logged in the in-hospital server in step S 21 . Then, in step S 25  the manager of the in-hospital server selects the fields of information whose external provision is prohibited from the screen displayed in step S 24  and inputs the fields. 
       FIG. 10  shows an example of a mask information setting screen displayed in step S 24 . 
     On the screen shown in  FIG. 10 , the manager of the in-hospital server selects the field s of information whose external provision is prohibited from “patient information”, “examination information”, “equipment information” and “user information”, by operating a pointing device or the like. Then, the manager selects information fields which should not be published from the detailed information field s of the selected tab  71  by checking a radio button  72  (a field marked with ● indicates the selected field in  FIG. 10 ) and records the selected and specified contents by pushing a “register” button  74 . Then, by pushing a “close” button  73 , the setting of mask information is completed. The classification of the in-hospital information stored in the database in the in-hospital server into “patient information”, “examination information”, “equipment information” and “user information” is one example. The in-hospital information can be classified appropriately according to how to define the type of collected and stored information and the data structure of its database. 
     When the manager of the in-hospital server selects all information field s whose external provision should be prohibited on the mask information setting screen shown in  FIG. 10  and pushes the “register” button  74  on the screen (yes in step S 26 ), in step S 27  the in-hospital server stores and manages non-publishable in-hospital information field data indicating the field s that are selected and inputted in step S 25 , as mask information. 
     Then, in step S 28  the in-hospital server generates a definition sentence by the SQL code, for generating publishable in-hospital information View, based on the non-publishable in-hospital information field data stored in step S 27  and executes the definition sentence to generate publishable in-hospital information View. Then, in step S 30  the mask information setting screen is closed and this process is terminated. 
       FIG. 11  shows an example of in-hospital information stored in the in-hospital server on the basis of which View is generated in step S 28 . 
       FIG. 11  shows act.patient_table in which patient information is stored as its example. This act.patient_table has information field s to be classified as patient information in its column, and the column names of each information field, its Japanese name, its content character and numerical value data, which is not shown in  FIG. 11 , corresponding to the column are stored in its line. In this example, in-hospital data collected in the in-hospital server is stored in the database and is stored as act.patient_table, act.study_table, act.equipment_table and act.user_table corresponding to the above-described “patient information”, “examination information”, “equipment information” and “user information”, respectively. Such a table structure is one example, and an appropriate structure can be taken according to how to define the type of collected and stored information and the data structure of a database. 
       FIG. 12  shows an example of a definition sentence by the SQL code, for generating publishable in-hospital information View generated in step S 29 . 
     The definition sentence shown in  FIG. 12  defines how to generate the Views of “patient information”, “examination information” and “equipment information” by SQL commands. A table in which the values of PatientID, PatientName, Age and the like whose publication is prohibited by the non-publishable in-hospital information field data stored in step S 27  of  FIG. 10 , in the column of a “patient information” table act.patient_table are replaced with “- - - - -” is generated as Reft.patient_table. Since “examination information” and “equipment information” have no field s whose publication is prohibited by the non-publishable in-hospital information field data, act.study_table and act.equipment_table are generated as ref.study_table and ref.equipment_table, respectively, without performing any modification. 
     By executing the definition sentence by SQL, shown in  FIG. 12 , a View in which field s whose publication is prohibited are replaced with “- - - - -” is generated. By the external server sucking up this View from the in-hospital server, information whose publication is prohibited can be prevented from externally leaking. 
       FIG. 13  is a flowchart showing the process of the external server, performed when sucking up information from the in-hospital server of a hospital. 
     In  FIG. 13  when the process is started, firstly in step S 41  the staff of a facility, such as a service center activates a publishable in-hospital acquisition application of the external server. Then, this publishable in-hospital acquisition application sucks up information from each hospital using a network. 
     In step S 42 , this publishable in-hospital acquisition application displays a selection screen and the staff of a facility, such as a service center selects a hospital from which information is obtained (no in step S 43 ). 
       FIG. 14  shows an example of the hospital selection screen displayed on this time. 
     In  FIG. 14 , a tab  81  “           ”, “         ”, “         ” and “         ” which classify hospital names in order of Japanese alphabet (         ) is selected by operating a pointing device. Then, a target hospital name is selected from the hospital names shown in the selected tab  81  by checking the radio button  82  (a field marked with ● indicates the selected field). Then, the selected and specified contents are recorded by pushing a “connect” button  84 . Then, the selection/specification of the operator is registered by pushing the “close” button  83 , and the flow proceeds to the network connection process to a subsequent hospital.
     When the staff of a facility, such as a service center, selects a hospital on the screen shown in  FIG. 14  and pushes the “connect” button  84  (yes in step S 43 ), then in step S 44  the external server is connected to the selected one or plurality of hospital facilities via the network  61  or  62  shown in  FIG. 7 . Then, the staff inputs an authentication password for obtaining an authentication permit from the hospital selected in step S 42  and transmits the password to the in-hospital server of a corresponding to make it perform an authentication process. Then, if the authentication permit can be obtained from the in-hospital server, in step S 45  the external server accesses the publishable in-hospital information View that is generated by the in-hospital server in step S 28  of  FIG. 9  and is stored in the in-hospital server of the hospital. 
     Then, in step S 46  in the external server, the staff specifies and inputs the period of a publishable in-hospital information to be sucked up from the in-hospital server. Then, in step S 47  the publishable in-hospital information corresponding to the specified and inputted period is sucked up, and is stored and managed. If the external server is connected via the network  62 , the network is disconnected and then this process is terminated. 
       FIG. 15  shows examples of the publishable in-hospital information sucked up from the hospital by the external server in step S 47 . 
     Of a plurality of pieces of publishable in-hospital information sucked up from the in-hospital server by the external server, one shown in  FIG. 15A  is in-hospital facility information indicating information about endoscopic equipment in the hospital and includes the respective types and numbers of upper endoscopes, lower endoscopes, video processors, treatment instruments used for an endoscope, vital sign monitors and endoscopic systems. One shown in  FIG. 15B  is examination information indicating information about an endoscopic examination conducted in a hospital includes the name of an examined patient, the date of its visit, an examination starting time, the type of an examination, the name and ID of a used endoscope, the number of sensed endoscopic images, the name of an examining doctor, the names of nurses, the name and number of a used treatment instrument and the name and number of a used medicine. One shown in  FIG. 15C  is facility information, being information about the maintenance of endoscopic equipment in a hospital and includes the name of a target facility, its date of purchase, its unit price, its used frequency, its date of failure, its repair company, its period of guaranty, its availability and the date of repair application. One shown in  FIG. 15D  is information about an endoscope cleaning machine and includes the name and ID of an endoscope cleaned by a cleaning machine, the name and ID of a cleaner, a cleaning starting time and various types of cleaning machine setting information at the time of cleaning and the like. One shown in  FIG. 15E  is in-hospital resources information, being information about endoscopic examination staff and equipment in a hospital and includes the respective numbers of endoscopic doctors, nurses and cleaners in charge, the number of examination per day, the total number of vital sign monitors, endoscopes and video processors. 
     If the plurality of pieces of information shown in  FIG. 15  is related to the above-described classification of in-hospital information, the in-hospital facility information shown in  FIG. 15A , the facility information shown in  FIG. 15C  and the cleaning machine information shown in  FIG. 15D  correspond to the equipment information, the examination information shown in  FIG. 15B  corresponds to the examination information and the in-hospital resources information shown in  FIG. 15E  corresponds to the user information. 
     In  FIG. 15 , since the publication of the name of a patient in the examination information is prohibited, in  FIG. 15B  its field is made “- - - - -” and the external server cannot read the patient name. 
     The publishable in-hospital information sucked up from a hospital by the external server can also be stored in the external server as rare data and each service application can process this rare data. Alternatively, the information sucked up by the external server can be processed in advance and each service application can read the data. 
       FIG. 16  is a flowchart showing the process of each service application. This service application is executed in the terminal  56  connected to the intra-house LAN  51  in the external facility  50  shown in  FIG. 7  or an information processing device connected to the external server  55  via the networks  61  and  62 . 
     When the process shown in  FIG. 16  is started, firstly in step S 51  a terminal in which each service application operates accesses an external server via an intra-house LAN or the like. 
     Then, in step S 52  a service application operating in the terminal makes a user to input an authentication password for obtaining an authentication permit to the external server and transmits the password to the external server to make the external server to perform an authentication process. 
     If in step S 52  receiving the authentication permit from the external server, in step S 53  the service application displays a selection screen on the terminal to make the user select a facility for conducting information processing. 
     Then, the service application reads the publishable in-hospital information recorded in and managed by the external server, and in step S 55  extracts data needed to provide a service, from this publishable in-hospital information. Then, in step S 56  the service application various types of processes corresponding to the service, using this data. Then, in step S 57  the service application outputs the process result and this process is terminated. 
     As described above, according to the data management system in this preferred embodiment, a mechanism for efficiently sucking up necessary in-hospital information from outside the hospital and providing each service can be realized. 
     Since of the in-hospital information handled inside the hospital, only one whose external provision is permitted can be externally read out, information whose external provision is prohibited, such as personal information and the like can be prevented from leaking. 
     Furthermore, even when a new service using in-hospital information is added and the number of service applications for realizing its services increases, the situation can be easily coped with only by giving the minimum modifications to the existing function. 
     Although in the data management system in this preferred embodiment, the exchange of information between a hospital facility and an external facility, such as a service center or the like, is conducted via a network, the information can also be exchanged using a portable storage medium, such as a DVD or the like. 
     Although in-hospital information collected in the in-hospital server in a hospital is stored in the database, and stored and managed, this database can be built using not only SQL but also another data manipulation language. 
     There is also a conventional data management system in which a terminal installed in a hospital transmits in-hospital information indicating the used state of medical equipment to an information registration server (for example, corresponding to the out-hospital server (out-hospital information processing device) and the external server  55  shown in  FIG. 7 ) installed in an external facility for providing a medical service, such as the rental service of medical equipment via a network as a communication line, and the information registration server or the like provides the hospital with a medical service by analyzing the in-hospital information, or charging a fee for the medical service (for example, see re-published WO02/017171 (pages 14˜25, FIGS. 1˜9)). 
     If an external facility provides a medical service, based on in-hospital information and charges a fee for the medical service thus, it is preferable to record a variety of in-hospital information on the information registration server in order for the external facility to provide a hospital with better services. 
     However, if the law of medical treatment is revised or the policy of a hospital is modified, sometimes part of in-hospital information cannot be transmitted to an information registration server or new in-hospital information can be transmitted to the information registration server. 
     If part of in-hospital information cannot be transmitted to an information registration server, better services must be provided to the hospital by transmitting in-hospital information other than the in-hospital information that cannot be transmitted, to the registration server to meet the revised law. 
     If new in-hospital information can be transmitted to the information registration server, the new in-hospital information can be added to the in-hospital information and be transmitted to the information registration server. Therefore, an external server can provide the hospital with better medical services. 
     In order to meet the revised law and the modified hospital policy to continue to provide better services thus, in-hospital information that is met by the revised law and the modified hospital policy and whose transmission to the information registration server is permitted must coincide with in-hospital information actually recorded in the information registration server. 
     Therefore, in order to reset information whose transmission from the hospital to the external facility is permitted to match in-hospital information recorded on the hospital with in-hospital information recorded in the external facility, conventionally the entire data management system commonly provided for the hospital and the external facility is replaced. 
     However, it takes much labor and cost to replace the entire data management system commonly provided for the hospital and the external facility. 
     Therefore, in the following preferred embodiments, a data management system capable of matching in-hospital information whose transmission to the external facility is permitted, according to the revised law and the modified hospital policy with in-hospital information actually recorded in the external facility while suppressing labor and cost is described. 
       FIG. 17  shows a typical data management system capable of matching in-hospital information whose transmission to the external facility is permitted with in-hospital information actually recorded in the external facility. 
     The data management system  1000  shown in  FIG. 17  comprises a terminal  1002  provided for an information transmitting source facility  1001  (this terminal  1002  (for example, corresponding to the in-hospital server (in-hospital information processing device) and the in-hospital server  45  shown in  FIG. 7 )) and an information registration server  1004  (for example, corresponding to the out-hospital server (out-hospital information processing device)) provided for an external facility  1003 , which are connected via a network, such as the Internet or the like. 
     The terminal  1002  is connected to an information storage server  1005  provided for the information transmitting source facility  1001  via a network, such as a local area network (LAN) or the like. 
     The information storage server  1005  comprises a database (first database). On this database, a plurality of pieces of information (for example, corresponding to the patient information and endoscopic images, inputted by hospital staff, shown in  FIG. 8 ) is recorded, and of the plurality of pieces of information, information based on a request from the terminal  1002  is transmitted to the terminal  1002 . The database provided for the information storage server  1005  can also be provided for the terminal  1002 . 
     The terminal  1002  comprises a mask setting means  1006  for relating field information indicating its field when the plurality of pieces of information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  is classified for each field to mask information indicating whether information corresponding to the field can be transmitted to the information registration server  1004  and recording them as a mask table and a transmitting means  1007  for transmitting modification information based on the mask table whose mask information is already modified to the information registration server  1004 . 
     The transmitting means  1007  checks information whose transmission to the information registration server  1004  is permitted, based on a mask table set by the mask setting means  1006  and extracts the checked information from the database of the information storage server  1005 . Then, the transmitting means  1007  transmits the information to the information registration server  1004 . 
     The information registration server  1004  is connected to a database management terminal  1008  for recording the information transmitted from the terminal  1002  (for example, corresponding to information shown in  FIGS. 15A˜15E ) via a network, such as a LAN or the like. The database management terminal  1008  comprises a database (second database) and records information transmitted from the information registration server  1004  to the database. The database management terminal  1008  can also comprise, for example, a personal computer or the like. The database provided for the database management terminal  1008  can also be provided for the information registration server  1004 . 
     The information registration server  1004  comprises a registration information management means  1009  for requesting previous information which is information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  before the mask information is modified, of the plurality of pieces of information of the terminal  1002  and recording the information the database of the database management terminal  1008 , or deleting the previous information already recorded in the database of the database management terminal  1008 , based on the modification information transmitted from the terminal  1002 . 
     The mask setting means  1006  and the transmitting means  1007  can also be realized by executing a program recorded on random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM) or the like provided for the terminal  1002  by a central processing unit (CPU) or the like. 
     The registration information management means  1009  can also be realized by a CPU or the like executing a program recorded, for example, on RAM, ROM or the like, provided for the information registration server  1004 . 
     In the data management system  1000 , when the mask information is modified, the previous information is recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 , or the previous information already recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008  is deleted. 
     Thus, information whose transmission from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004  is permitted and information recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008  can usually be matched. 
     Next, the case where the data management system  1000  is used as a data management system in which a terminal provided for a hospital and an information registration server provided for an external facility for providing medical services are connected via a network is studied. 
       FIG. 18  shows the preferred embodiment in which the data management system  1000  is used as a data management system in which a terminal provided for a hospital and an information registration server provided for an external facility are connected via a network. The same reference numerals are attached to the same components as shown in  FIG. 17 . 
     The data management system  200  shown in  FIG. 18  comprises the terminal  1002  provided for a hospital  201  and an information registration server  1004  provided for an external facility  202  for providing the hospital  201  with medical services, which are connected via a network  2003 . 
     The terminal  1002  is connected to the information storage server  1005  via a network  204 . The information storage server  1005  is connected to a personal computer (PC) client  207  (for example, corresponding to the examination device terminal  22 ) provided with an endoscopic examination equipment  205  and an endoscopic examination equipment  206  (for example, corresponding to the endoscopic examination device  21 ), via the network  204 . In-hospital information indicating the examination results obtained by the endoscopic examination equipment  205  and  206  is transmitted from the endoscopic examination equipment  205  and the PC client  207  to the information storage server  1005  via the network  204  and is recorded on the database provided for the information storage server  1005 . 
     The terminal  1002  comprises the mask setting means  1006  and the transmitting means  1007 . 
     The mask setting means  1006  relates field information indicating its field when the plurality of pieces of information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  is classified for each field to mask information indicating whether information corresponding to the field can be transmitted to the information registration server  1004  and records them on the terminal  1002  as the mask table  208 . 
     The transmitting means  1007  extracts in-hospital information from the database of the information storage server  1005 , based on the mask table  208  and transmits the information to the information registration server  1004 . 
     When the mask information is modified, the transmitting means  1007  transmits the mask table  28  whose mask information is already modified to the information registration server  1004 . 
     The information registration server  1004  is connected to the database management terminal  1008  for recording the in-hospital information transmitted from the terminal  1002  via a network  209 . The database management terminal  1008  comprises a database and records the in-hospital information transmitted from the information registration server  1004  to the database. 
     The information registration server  1004  comprises a registration information management means  1009  for recording the mask table  208  whose mask information is not yet modified and the mask table  208  whose mask information is already modified as an old mask table  300  and a new mask  301 , respectively, and transmitting the in-hospital information transmitted from the terminal  1002  to the database management terminal  1008 . 
       FIG. 19  is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal  1002 . 
     Firstly, in step A 1  the terminal  1002  relates each field to mask information indicating whether in-hospital information corresponding to the field should be transmitted to the information registration server  1004 , based on the operation of a user, and sets a mask table (mask setting). 
       FIG. 20  shows an example of a mask setting graphical user interface (GUI) screen displayed on the monitor or the like provided for the terminal  1002 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 20 , the mask setting GUI screen  400  comprises a field display area  401  for displaying fields and a checkbox display area  402  for displaying a checkbox corresponding to each field. 
     In  FIG. 20 , checkboxes corresponding to “patient name” and “weight” are checked. A setting completion button or the like can also be provided on the mask setting GUI screen  400  and the mask setting can be terminated when the setting completion button is pushed. 
     When the user checks a checkbox, the transmission of the in-hospital information of fields corresponding to the checkboxes is prohibited. Specifically, in  FIG. 20 , since the checkboxes corresponding to “patient name” and “weight” are checked, the transmission to the information registration server  1004  of in-hospital information corresponding to “patient name” and “weight” is prohibited. The transmission to the information registration server  1004  of in-hospital information corresponding to the other fields “examination doctor”, “examination type” and “date of examination” whose checkboxes are not checked is permitted. If the law is revised or the policy of the hospital  201  is modified and the transmission to the information registration server  1004  of in-hospital information corresponding to the field “examination doctor” is prohibited, the user checks a checkbox corresponding to the field “examination doctor”. 
       FIG. 21  shows an example of the mask table  208  recorded on the terminal  1002 . The mask table  208  shown in  FIG. 21  corresponds to the mask setting of each checkbox of the mask setting GUI screen  400  shown in  FIG. 20 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 21 , the mask table  208  stores and comprises many mask information records  500  ( 500 - 1 ,  500 - 2 ,  500 - 3 ,  500 - 4 ,  500 - 5 , . . . ). Each mask information record  500  comprises a field information area  501  for recording field information and a mask information area  502  for recording mask information indicating whether in-hospital information corresponding to field information should be transmitted to the information registration server  1004 . 
     In  FIG. 21 , “examination doctor” and “not exist” are recorded in the field information area  501  and mask information area  502 , respectively, of the mask information record  500 - 3 . In  FIG. 21 , “exist” recorded in the mask information area  502  indicates that the transmission to the information registration server  1004  of in-hospital information is prohibited. In  FIG. 21 , “not exist” recorded in the mask information area  502  indicates that the transmission to the information registration server  1004  of in-hospital information is permitted. 
     Then, in step A 2  of  FIG. 19 , when the user finishes the mask setting, the terminal  1002  writes the mask table  208  whose setting is finished over the mask table  208  used up to now and stores it. 
     Then, the terminal  1002  transmits the mask table  208  overwritten and stored to the information registration server  1004 . 
       FIG. 22  is a flowchart showing a series of operations covering transmitting a mask table  208  from the terminal  1002  up to recording the mask table  208  on an information registration server  1004 . 
     Firstly, in step B 1 , the terminal  1002  transmits the mask table  208  whose setting is finished to the information registration server  1004 . 
       FIG. 23  shows an example of the mask table  208  whose setting is finished and which is transmitted to the information registration server  1004 . 
     The mask table  208  shown in  FIG. 23  is one in which “not exist” recorded in the mask information area  502  of the mask information record  500 - 3  in the mask table  208  shown in  FIG. 21  is modified to “exist”. In this case, characters “exist” recorded in the mask information area  502  of the mask information record  500 - 3  can be bold so that the modification of the mask information can be visually detected by the user. Alternatively, the characters can be emphasized by changing their style to italic, changing their color or so on. 
     After the mask table is set thus, the set mask table  208  is transmitted from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004 . 
       FIG. 24  shows another example of the mask table  208  whose setting is finished and which is transmitted to the information registration server  1004 . The mask table  800  shown in  FIG. 24  is one in which characters recorded in the mask information area  502  of the mask information record  500 - 3  in the mask table  208  shown in  FIG. 21  is modified from “not exist” to “exist” as in  FIG. 23 . 
     The mask table  800  shown in  FIG. 24  comprises only mask information record  801  ( 801 - 1 ) whose mask information is already modified. The mask information record  801  comprises a field information area  802  for recording field information and a mask information area  803  for recording mask information indicating whether in-hospital information corresponding to field information should be transmitted to the information registration server  1004 . 
     In  FIG. 24 , “examination doctor” and “exist” are recorded in the field information area  802  and mask information area  803 , respectively, of the mask information record  801 - 1 . 
     As described above, the mask table  800  can comprise only mask information record  801  whose mask information is already modified and be transmitted from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004 . 
     Then, in step B 2  of  FIG. 22 , the information registration server  1004  receives the mask table  208  whose setting is finished. 
     Then, in step B 3 , the information registration server  1004  renames the old mask table  208  used up to now to record it as an old mask table  300 . 
     Then, in step B 4 , the information registration server  1004  records the new mask table  208  whose setting is finished and is transmitted from the terminal  1002  as a new mask table  301 . 
     Then, in step B 5 , the information registration server  1004  notifies the terminal  1002  of the reception completion of the mask table  208 . 
     Thus, the information registration server  1004  records the old mask table  300  and the new mask table  301  and compares the new mask table  301  with the old mask table  300  to check which mask information is modified. 
     Then, the information registration server  1004  requests in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information of the terminal  1002 , and transmits the information to the database management terminal  1008  or deletes it from the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
       FIG. 25  shows an example of a database provided for the database management terminal  1008 . 
     The database  900  shown in  FIG. 25  stores many in-hospital information records  901  ( 901 - 1 ,  901 - 2 ,  901 - 3 ,  901 - 4 ,  901 - 5 , . . . ). Each in-hospital information record  901  comprises a field information area  902  for recording field information and an examination contents area  903  ( 903 - 1 ,  903 - 2 , . . . ) for recording examination contents obtained by endoscopic examination equipment  205  and  206 . The examination contents area  903  is added every time examination contents are transmitted from the terminal  1002 . For example, it can be added in ascending order of date. 
     In  FIG. 25 , “examination doctor” and examination contents are recorded in the field information area  902  and examination contents areas  903 - 1  and  903 - 2 , respectively, of the in-hospital information record  901 - 3 . “∘” shown in the examination contents area  903  indicates that some examination contents are recorded. “X” shown in the examination contents area  903  indicates that no examination contents are recorded. The database  900  shown in  FIG. 25  which is provided for the information storage server  1005  records in-hospital information in all the examination contents areas  903 . 
     Next, the operations of the registration information management means  1009  of comparing the old mask table  300  with the new mask table  301  and deleting in-hospital information corresponding to modified mask information from the database of the database management terminal  1008  are described. 
       FIG. 26  is a flowchart showing the operations of the data management system  1000  in the case where in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information is deleted from the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, in step C 1 , the registration information management means  1009  reads the recorded old mask table  300  and new mask table  301 . 
     Then, in step C 2 , the registration information management means  1009  compares the old mask table  300  with the new mask table  301 . 
       FIG. 27  shows an example of the mask table in the case where the old mask table  300  and the new mask table  301  are combined in order to compare them. The mask table shown in  FIG. 27  is obtained by combining the mask tables  208  shown in  FIG. 21 and 23 . 
     The mask table  1100  shown in  FIG. 27  stores many mask information records  1100  ( 1101 - 1 ,  1101 - 2 ,  1101 - 3 ,  1101 - 4 ,  1101 - 5 , . . . ). Each mask information record  1101  comprises a field information area  1102  for recording field information, an old mask information area  1103  for recording the mask information of the old mask table  300  and a new mask information area  1104  for recording the mask information of the new mask table  301 . 
     In  FIG. 27 , “examination doctor”, “not exist” and “exist” are recorded in the field information area  1102 , old mask information area  1103  and new mask information area  1104 , respectively, in the mask information record  1101 - 3 . 
     If “not exist” and “exist” are recorded in the old mask information area  1103  and new mask information area  1104 , respectively, in the mask information record  1101  thus, the registration information management means  1009  determines that in-hospital information corresponding to the field information of the mask information record  1101  cannot be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Then, in step C 3  of  FIG. 26 , the registration information management means  1009  retrieves field information corresponding to the mask information whose modification is detected from the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Then, in step C 4 , the registration information management means  1009  nullifies all the filed values of examination contents area corresponding to the retrieved field information in the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
       FIG. 28  shows the database of the database management terminal  1008  in the case where all the examination contents areas corresponding to the modified mask information are nullified. The database shown in  FIG. 28  is a part of the database  900  shown in  FIG. 25 . 
     The database  900  shown in  FIG. 28  shows that in-hospital information recorded in all the examination contents areas  903  corresponding to the in-hospital information record  901 - 3  are deleted as a result of the comparison between the old mask table  300  and the new mask table  301  in the mask table  1100  shown in  FIG. 27 . Specifically, the database  900  shown in  FIG. 28  shows that when in-hospital information to be recorded in the examination contents area  903 - 3  is transmitted from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004 , the mask information area  502  of the mask information record  500 - 3  in the mask table  208  shown in  FIG. 21  is modified from “not exist” to “exist”, the in-hospital information recorded in the examination contents areas  903 - 1  and  903 - 2  of the database of the database management terminal  1008  up to then has been deleted. 
     Thus, in-hospital information recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008  can be deleted before the mask table  208  is modified. 
     In the database of the database management terminal  1008 , the field values of all the examination contents areas corresponding to the retrieved field information can also be set in such a way as to be referenced, instead of nullifying the field values of all the examination contents areas corresponding to the retrieved field information. 
     Next, the operations of the registration information management means  1009  of comparing the new mask table  301  with the old mask table  300  and adding in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information to the database of the database management terminal  1008  are described. 
       FIG. 29  is a flowchart showing the operation of additionally recording in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information to the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, in step D 1 , the registration information management means  1009  reads the recorded old mask table  300  and new mask table  301 . 
     Then, in step D 2 , the registration information management means  1009  compares the new mask table  301  with the old mask table  300 . 
       FIG. 30  shows an example of the mask table obtained by combining the old mask table  300  and new mask table  301  in order to compare the new mask table  301  with the old mask table  300 . 
     The mask table  1400  shown in  FIG. 30  stores many mask information records  1401  ( 1401 - 1 ,  1401 - 2 ,  1401 - 3 ,  1401 - 4 ,  1401 - 5 , . . . ). Each mask information record  1401  comprises a filed information area  1402  for recording field information, an old mask information area  1403  for recording the mask information of the old mask table  300  and a new mask information area  1404  for recording the mask information of the new mask table  301 . 
     In  FIG. 30 , “weight”, “exist” and “not exist” are recorded in the field information area  1402 , old mask information area  1403  and new mask information area  1404 , respectively, of the mask information record  1401 - 2 . 
     If “exist” and “not exist” are recorded in the old mask information area  1403  and new mask information area  1404 , respectively, of the mask information record  1401  thus, the registration information management means  1009  determines that in-hospital information corresponding to the field information of the mask information record  1401  can be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Then, in step D 3  of  FIG. 29 , the registration information management means  1009  requests lacking in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information of the terminal  1002 . When requesting the lacking in-hospital information of the terminal  1002 , an examination contents area  903  corresponding to the lacking in-hospital information can also be requested. As shown in  FIG. 30 , the registration information management means  1009  can also delete the entire mask information record  1401  in which “exist” and “not exist” are recorded in the old mask information area  1403  and the new mask information area  1404 , respectively, from the database of the database management terminal  1008  and request the corresponding entire new mask information record  1401  of the terminal  1002 . 
     Then, in step D 4 , the terminal  1002  extracts in-hospital information (field value) based on the request transmitted from the information registration server  1004  from the database of the information storage server  1005 . In this case, as shown in  FIG. 12 , the in-hospital information can also be extracted by the structured query language (SQL), another database control language. 
       FIG. 31  shows the data table of the in-hospital information extracted from the database of an information storage server  1005 . The data table shown in  FIG. 31  records in-hospital information corresponding to the field information “weight”. 
     The data table  1500  shown in  FIG. 31  stores and comprises many lacking information records  1501  ( 1501 - 1 ,  1501 - 2 ,  1501 - 3 , . . . ) for recording lacking in-hospital information. Each lacking information record  1501  comprises an examination contents area  1502  for recording examination contents and a weight area  1503  for recording weight. 
     In  FIG. 31 , “examination 1” and “68” are recorded in the examination contents area  1502  and weight area  1503 , respectively, of the lacking information record  1501 . 
     Then, in step D 5  of  FIG. 29 , the terminal  1002  transmits the extracted in-hospital information to the information registration server  1004 . 
     Then, in step D 6 , the information registration server  1004  receives the in-hospital information. 
     Then, in step D 7 , the information registration management means  1009  transmits the received in-hospital information to the database management terminal  1008  and records it on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
       FIG. 32  shows how to additionally record the received in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . The database  900  shown in  FIG. 32  is a part of the database  900  shown in  FIG. 25 . 
     The database  900  shown in  FIG. 32  the in-hospital information is additionally recorded in all the examination contents areas  903  corresponding to the in-hospital information record  901 - 2  as the result of comparison between the old mask table  300  and the new mask table  301  in the mask table  1400  shown in  FIG. 30 . Specifically, the database  900  shown in  FIG. 32  indicates that when transmitting in-hospital information to be recorded in the examination contents area  903 - 3  from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004 , the mask information area  502  of the mask information record  500 - 2  in the mask table  208  shown in  FIG. 21  is modified from “exist” to “not exist” and the in-hospital information recorded in the examination contents areas  903 - 1  and  903 - 2  in the database of the information storage server  1005  up to then has additionally recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Thus, in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  can be additionally recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008  in the mask table  208  is modified. 
     As described above, when the mask information is modified, the data management system  1000  records the previous information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  before the mask information is modified on the database of the database management terminal  1008  or deletes the previous information recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . Therefore, in-hospital information whose transmission from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004  is permitted and in-hospital information actually recorded on the database of the database of the database management terminal  1008  can be always matched. 
     Thus, even when the in-hospital information law is revised or the hospital policy is modified, medical services and the like can be correctly analyzed. Since there is no need to replace the entire data management system, the labor and cost of building a data management system can be suppressed. 
     The present invention is not limited to the above-described preferred embodiments and various configurations in “claims” can be adopted. For example, the following configuration modification is possible. 
       FIG. 33  shows the configuration of another preferred embodiment of the data management system  1000 . The same reference numerals are attached to the same components as shown in  FIG. 18 . 
     The data management system  1700  shown in  FIG. 33  differs from the data management system  200  shown in  FIG. 18  in that the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  compares a new mask table  1702  with an old mask table  1701  and if there is transmission-permitting mask information for modifying information whose transmission is prohibited to one whose transmission is permitted in the new mask table  1702 , previous in-hospital information corresponding to the transmission-permitting mask information and an add instruction for additionally recording the previous in-hospital information corresponding to the transmission-permitting mask information for modifying information whose transmission is prohibited to one whose transmission is permitted to the database of the database management terminal  1008 , the transmitting means  1007  transmits to the information registration server  1004 . If there is transmission-prohibiting mask information for modifying information whose transmission is permitted to one whose transmission is prohibited in the new mask table  1702 , a delete instruction for deleting the previous in-hospital information corresponding to the transmission-prohibiting mask information is deleted from the database of the database management terminal  1008  is transmitted to the information registration server  1004 . The data management system  1700  also differs from the data management system  200  in that when the additional instruction is transmitted from the terminal  1002 , the registration information management means  1009  of the information registration server  1004  additionally records previous in-hospital information corresponding to the transmission-permitting mask information to the database of the database management terminal  1008  and if a delete instruction is transmitted from the terminal  1002 , the previous in-hospital information corresponding to the transmission-prohibiting mask information is deleted from the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, the operation of the terminal  1002  is described. 
       FIG. 34  is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal  1002  of the data management system  1700 . 
     Firstly, in step E 1 , the terminal  1002  relates each field to mask information indicating whether in-hospital information corresponding to the field should be transmitted to the information registration server  1004  by the operation of a user to set a mask table (mask setting). 
     Then, in step E 2 , the terminal  1002  renames the old mask table used up to now and records it as an old mask table  1701 . 
     Then, in step E 3 , the terminal  1002  records the new mask table set in step E 1  as a new mask table  1702 . 
     Next, the operation of additionally recording in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information on the database of the database management terminal  1008  if there is modified mask information in the new mask table  1702  when the new mask table  1702  and the old mask table  1701  are compared is described. 
       FIG. 35  is a flowchart showing the operation of the data management system  1700 , of additionally recording in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, in step F 1 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  reads the recorded old mask table  1701  and new mask table  1702 . 
     Then, in step F 2 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  compares the new mask table  1702  with the old mask table  1701 . 
     Then, in step F 3 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  extracts in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the information storage server  1005 . The transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  can also extracts in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  before the mask information is modified, of all pieces of in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the information storage server  1005 . In-hospital information can also be extracted by an SQL or another database control language. 
     Then, in step F 4 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  transmits the extracted in-hospital information, an add instruction for additionally recording the in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008 , and the recording destination of the database to the information registration server  1004 . 
     Then, in step F 5 , upon receipt of the add instruction, the registration information management means  1009  of the information registration server  1004  transmits the in-hospital information and the recording destination of the database to the database management terminal  1008  and records the in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008 , based on the recording destination of the database. 
     Next, the operations of the terminal  1002 , of comparing the new mask table  1702  with the old mask table  1701  and deleting in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the database management terminal  1008  are described. 
       FIG. 36  is a flowchart showing the operation of the data management system  1700 , of deleting in-hospital information from the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, in step G 1 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  reads the recorded old mask table  1701  and new mask table  1702 . 
     Then, in step G 2 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  compares the new mask table  1702  with the old mask table  1701 . 
     Then, in step G 3 , the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  transmits a delete instruction for deleting in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the database management terminal  1008 , to the information registration server  1004 . 
     Then, in step G 4 , the registration information management means  1009  of the information registration server  1004  delete in-hospital information from the database of the database management terminal  1008 , based on the received delete instruction. In the database of the database management terminal  1008 , in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information can also be set not to be referenced, instead of deleting the in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information. 
     As in this data management system  1700 , the terminal  1002  can also determine whether in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  before the mask information is modified should be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Next, a data management system in another preferred embodiment (hereinafter called “another data management system”) is described. 
     This other data management system differs from the data management system  1000  shown in  FIG. 18  in that the transmitting means  1007  of the terminal  1002  transmits an instruction for recording previous in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  before the mask information is modified, of a plurality of pieces of in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  and an add instruction for recording additionally record the previous in-hospital information for deleting the previous in-hospital information to be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 , or a delete instruction for deleting the previous in-hospital information to be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 , without comparing the old and new mask tables and in that if the terminal  1002  transmits an add instruction, the registration information management means  1009  records the previous in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008  and if the terminal  1002  transmits a delete instruction, the registration information management means  1009  deletes the previous in-hospital information to be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Next, the operation of additionally recording in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information on the database of the database management terminal  1008  in this other data management system is described. 
       FIG. 37  is a flowchart showing the operation of this other data management system, of additionally recording in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, in step H 1 , each field is related to mask information indicating whether in-hospital information corresponding to the field should be transmitted to the information registration server  1004  as a mask table by the operation of a user to modify specific mask information. 
     Then, in step H 2 , the terminal  1002  extracts in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the information storage server  1005 . The terminal  1002  can also extract in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information storage server  1005  before the mask information is modified, of all pieces of in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the information storage server  1005 . In-hospital information can also be extracted by an SQL and another database control language. 
     Then, in step H 3 , the terminal  1002  transmits the extracted in-hospital information, an add instruction for additionally recording the in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008  and the recording destination (field name) of the database to the information registration server  1004 . The terminal  1002  can also transmits the extracted in-hospital information, the add instruction for additionally recording the in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008  and the recording destination (field name) of the database to the information registration server  1004  on a list. 
     Then, in step H 4 , the information registration server  1004  receives the in-hospital information, the add instruction and the recording destination of the database that are transmitted from the terminal  1002 . 
     Then, in step H 5 , upon receipt of the add instruction, the registration information management means  1009  of the information registration server  1004  transmits the in-hospital information and the recording destination of the database to the database management terminal  1008  and records the in-hospital information on the database of the database management terminal  1008 , based on the recording destination of the database. 
     Next, the operation of this other data management system, of deleting in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the database management terminal  1008  is described. 
       FIG. 38  is a flowchart showing the operation of this other data management system, of deleting in-hospital information from the database of the database management terminal  1008 . 
     Firstly, in step J 1 , each field is related to mask information indicating whether in-hospital information corresponding to the field should be transmitted to the information registration server  1004  as a mask table by the operation of a user to modify specific mask information. 
     Then, in step J 2 , the terminal  1002  transmits a delete instruction deleting in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information from the database of the database management terminal  1008  to the information registration server  1004 . 
     Then, in step J 3 , the registration information management means  1009  of the information registration server  1004  deletes the in-hospital information from the database of the database management terminal  1008 , based on the delete instruction transmitted from the terminal  1002 . In the database of the database management terminal  1008 , in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information can also be set not to be referenced, instead of deleting the in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information. 
     As in this other data management system, it can also be determined whether the in-hospital information corresponding to the modified mask information should be recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008  without comparing the old and new mask tables. 
     Alternatively, in the above-described preferred embodiment, each of the terminal  1002  and the information registration server  1004  can be provided with a correspondence table relating field information to a simple symbol, such as a figure or the like and recording them. In this case, when the terminal  1002  transmits in-hospital information to the information registration server  1004 , the simple symbol can be transmitted instead of the field information and the information registration server  1004  can refer to the correspondence table. 
     By transmitting the simple symbol instead of the field information thus when transmitting in-hospital information, the amount of information to be transmitted can be reduced. 
     In the above-described preferred embodiment, in-hospital information can also be added to and recorded on the database of the database management terminal  1008  and then the fact can also be returned to the terminal  1002 . 
     Alternatively, in the above-described preferred embodiment, after in-hospital information is deleted from the database of the database management terminal  1008 , such a notice can be returned to the terminal  1002 . 
     Although in the above-described preferred embodiment, when a mask table is modified, the contents of the database of the database management terminal  1008  are updated, the currently used mask table and the contents of the database of the database management terminal  1008  can also be compared in intervals of a prescribed elapsed time and the contents of the database of the database management terminal  1008  can be updated based on the comparison result. 
     Thus, according to the above-described preferred embodiment, when mask information is modified, previous information is recorded on the database of the information registration server  1004  or previous information recorded on the database is deleted. Therefore, information whose transmission from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004  is permitted can be always matched with information recorded on the database of the information registration server  1004 . 
     By providing the terminal  1002  and the information registration server  1004  for the hospital  201  and the external facility  202  for providing medical services, even when the medical law is revised or the policy of the hospital  202  on which in-hospital information should be stored outside the hospital  202  is modified, in-hospital information whose transmission from the terminal  1002  to the information registration server  1004  is permitted and in-hospital information recorded on the database of the information registration server  1004  can be always matched. Therefore, a medical service for analyzing in-hospital information recorded on the database and providing the hospital  202  with it can be correctly realized. 
     In this case, since there is no need to replace the entire data management system, the labor and cost of re-building a database handled in the data management system can be suppressed.