Patent Publication Number: US-2017372012-A1

Title: Patient information display system and patient information display method

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-124031, filed on Jun. 23, 2016, including description, claims, drawings and abstract are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a patient information display system and a patient information display method. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In the medical field, home care has recently become more important. Since nursing and care of a home-care patient requires 24-hour 365-day support, cooperation between clinics, home-visit nursing care service and long-term care service, patient families and the like is important. 
     Further, the past medical history and the treatment history of a patient sometimes has a great influence on the future treatment. In view of them, a technique has been proposed which involves receiving an input of specifying a predetermined period in a timeline displayed on the display apparatus, searching electronic medical record information on medical examinations of a patient in the specified period, extracting the examined body parts from the electronic medical record information, and overlaying marks on an outer appearance image of the patient at the positions of the examined body parts (see JP 2012-247879A and JP 2012-247880A). 
     In order to improve the care of a home care patient, it is required to check both reference information (baseline information) that represents the patient condition at the time he/she started to be cared at home and time-series information (timeline information) that is generated after he/she started to be cared at home. In home care, it is also important who with which attribute provided each information since many persons with different relationship with the patient such as physicians, nurses, caregivers and patient family members are involved. 
     There has been no screen structure which enables displaying the patient information on a patient in a single screen in a classified manner as reference information or time-series information along with indication of the source of each information. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem with the prior art, and an object thereof is to display patient information in an easy-to-understand manner. 
     In order to realize the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a patient information display system, including: 
     a storage for storing patient information on a patient in a classified manner as reference information which indicates a condition of the patient at a predetermined time point or time-series information which is generated after the predetermined time point and is accumulated as time proceeds, 
     wherein each of the patient information is stored in the storage along with an attribute of a user who registered the patient information, 
     wherein the patient information display system further includes: a hardware processor which retrieves patient information of a target patient and an attribute linked to the patient information from the storage and displays the patient information of the target patient in a single screen on a display in which the screen is divided into respective areas for reference information and time-series information with respect to each attribute. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a patient information display method for a patient information display system that includes a storage for storing patient information on a patient in a classified manner as reference information which indicates a condition of the patient at a predetermined time point or time-series information which is generated after the predetermined time point and is accumulated as time proceeds, 
     wherein each of the patient information is stored in the storage along with an attribute of a user who registered the patient information, 
     the method including: 
     retrieving patient information of a target patient and an attribute linked to the patient information from the storage; and 
     displaying the patient information of the target patient in a single screen on the display in which the screen is divided into respective areas for reference information and time-series information with respect to each attribute. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the appended drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a system configuration view of a home care cooperation system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the functional configuration of a data management apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a user management table; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a patient information table; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an example of a basic information table; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an example of a baseline table; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an example of a timeline table; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an example of an access restriction table; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates the folder structure of a file storage; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an example of patient information; 
         FIG. 11  is a block diagram of the functional configuration of a user terminal; 
         FIG. 12  is a ladder chart of a patient registration processing that is performed by a data management apparatus and a user terminal; 
         FIG. 13  is a ladder chart of a patient information upload processing that is performed by the data management apparatus and the user terminal; 
         FIG. 14  illustrates an example of a patient list window; 
         FIG. 15  illustrates an example of a file management window; 
         FIG. 16  illustrates an example of an edit window; 
         FIG. 17  is a ladder chart of a patient information reference processing that is performed by the data management apparatus and the user terminal; 
         FIG. 18  illustrates an example of a patient information reference window; 
         FIG. 19  illustrates an example of a patient basic information window; and 
         FIG. 20  illustrates an example of a vital sign window. 
     
    
    
     PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the patient information display system according to the present invention will be described referring to the drawings. However, it is not intended that the scope of the present invention is limited to the illustrated examples. 
     Configuration of Home Care Cooperation System 
       FIG. 1  illustrates the system configuration of a home care cooperation system  100  as the patient information display system according to an embodiment. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the home care cooperation system  100  includes a data management apparatus  10  that is installed in a regional data center and user terminals  20  that can be used by users such as a home-care patient, family members of the patient and physicians, nurses, caregivers and the like belonging to facilities for medical care, nursing and care who are involved in the home care. The data management apparatus  10  are connected to the user terminal  20  through a communication network N. 
     The data management apparatus  10 , which includes a medical information DB (Data Base)  161 , a file storage  162  and the like, accumulates and manages medical information that is registered on the user terminals  20  by the users. The data management apparatus  10  may be constituted by a cloud server provided in a cloud environment. 
     The user terminals  20  are constituted by PCs (Personal Computers) tablet terminals, smartphones and the like that are used in facilities and the home of a home-care patient. Such facilities include the hospital or clinic of the primary care physician of a patient, home-visit nursing care services of the nurses who provide home-visit nursing to a home-care patient, care coordinators who develop a care plan of a home-care patient, long-term care services of caregivers who provide home care to a home-care patient. 
     The users involved in the home care of a home-care patient register patient information on the patient through the user terminals  20 . The registered patient information is stored in the data management apparatus  10  and is disclosed to the members of the team for a home-care patient. 
     Configuration of Data Management Apparatus 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the functional configuration of the data management apparatus  10 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the data management apparatus  10  includes a hardware processor  11 , an operation section  12 , a display  13 , a communication section  14 , a RAM  15 , a storage  16  and the like, which are connected to each other through a bus  17 . 
     The hardware processor  11 , which is constituted by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, integrally controls the processing operation of the components of the data management apparatus  10 . Specifically, the CPU reads out various processing programs stored in the storage  16 , develops them in the RAM  15  and performs a variety of processing in cooperation with the various processing programs according to operation signals input from the operation section  12  or order signals received from the communication section  14 . 
     The operation section  12 , which includes a keyboard with cursor keys, character input keys, a variety of function keys and the like, and a pointing device such as a mouse, outputs an operation signal input by means of a key operation on the keyboard or a mouse operation to the hardware processor  11 . Alternatively, the operation section  12  may be constituted by a touch panel laminated on the display  13  and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the position of a touch gesture with a finger or the like of the operator to the hardware processor  11 . 
     The display  13 , which includes a monitor such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, displays a variety of windows according to a display signal input from the hardware processor  11 . 
     The communication section  14 , which is constituted by a network interface and the like, sends and receives data to and from an external device that is connected through a communication network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network) or the Internet. 
     The RAM  15  forms a work area for temporarily storing various programs read out from the storage  16 , input or output data and parameters in the variety of processing that is performed and controlled by the hardware processor  11 . 
     The storage  16  is constituted by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a non-volatile semiconductor memory and the like. In the storage  16 , various processing programs, parameters and files necessary for executing the programs and the like are stored. For example, a web server program for providing a function as a web server that communicates with a web browser installed in the user terminals  20  in the HTTP protocol to provide a variety of web pages to the web browser, an application program that runs on the web server for providing a home care cooperation service to the users of the user terminals  20  through the web browser, and the like are stored in the storage  16 . The home care cooperation service refers to a service for sharing information between the team for a home-care patient. 
     In the storage  16 , patient information on a patient is stored in a classified manner as reference information (baseline information) that represents the condition of the patient at a predetermined time point or time-series information (timeline information) that is generated after the predetermined time point and is accumulated as time proceeds. In the embodiment, the predetermined time point corresponds to the time when the patient started to be cared at home. For example, the time when a patient started to be cared at home can correspond to the time when an inpatient was discharged to be a home-care patient, the time when an outpatient becomes a home-care patient, or the like. 
     The reference information includes, for example, a medical certificate, a medical history, opinions on the hospital discharge, a disease name, a prescription and the like. 
     The time-series information includes vital signs after the start of home care, prescriptions, laboratory tests, photographs and images, a nursing record, a care record, an electronic medical record, an SNS and the like. 
     The storage  16  includes a medical information DB  161  and a file storage  162 . 
     The medical information DB  161  is provided to store and manage medical information. 
     The medical information DB  161  includes a user management table T 1  and a patient information table T 2 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of the user management table T 1 . The user management table T 1  is provided to manage information on users with respect to each of the users of the home care cooperation system  100 . In the user management table T 1 , a user ID, a password, a name, an attribute, a facility name, a display parameter and the like are stored with a link to each other. That is, the storage  16  functions as a second storage, which stores the user management table T 1  that links attributes to user IDs and the names. 
     The user ID is identification information of a user. 
     The password is used for user authentication when a user logs in the system. 
     The name is the name of a user. 
     The attribute is the attribute of a user. In the embodiment, the attribute is classified into three groups of “patient and family members of the patient (hereinafter referred to as patient/family), “nursing/care” and “medical care”. 
     The facility name is the name of a medical facility to which a user belongs. It is voluntary to register the facility name. For example, when the user is a patient or a family member of a patient, the facility name is null. 
     The display parameter is a parameter that determines the display size of each area in a patient information reference window  234  (see  FIG. 18 ). 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example of the patient information table T 2 . The patient information table T 2  is provided to manage patient information on patients with respect to each patient. In the patient information table T 2 , a patient ID, information on a link to a basic information table T 21  of the patient with the corresponding patient ID, information on a link to a baseline table T 22  of the patient with the corresponding patient ID, information on a link to a timeline table T 23  of the patient with the corresponding patient ID and information on a link to an access restriction table T 24  of the patient with the corresponding patient ID are stored with a link to each other. 
     The patient ID is an identification information of a patient. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the basic information table T 21 . The basic information table T 21  is provided with respect to each patient to store patient basic information. In the basic information table T 21 , the name, gender, birth date, address, telephone number and the like of a patient is stored. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an example of a baseline table T 22 . The baseline table T 22  is provided with respect to each patient to store reference information of a patient. In the baseline table T 22 , an item name of reference information, a content, a file path, a user ID of a user who registered the corresponding reference information, an attribute of a user who registered the corresponding reference information and a registration date are stored with a link to each other. When reference information is represented by characters and numbers (hereinafter referred to as character/number information), it is stored in the “content” field. When reference information is in the form of a file (hereinafter referred to as file information), information indicating the storage location of the file in the file storage  162  is stored in the “file path” field. 
     The patient basic information that is stored in the basic information table T 21  may be included in the reference information that is stored in the baseline table T 22 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an example of the timeline table T 23 . The timeline table T 23  is provided with respect to each patient to store time-series information of a patient. In the timeline table T 23 , an item name of time-series information, a content, a file path, a user ID of a user who registered corresponding time-series information, an attribute of a user who registered corresponding time-series information, a registration date are stored with a link to each other. When time-series information is character/number information, the content of the time-series information is stored in the “content” field. When time-series information is file information, information indicating the storage location of the file in the file storage  162  is stored in the “file path” field. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates an example of the access restriction table T 24 . The access restriction table T 24  is provided with respect to each patient to define access restriction to patient information. The access restriction table T 24  includes an “accessible user” field and also includes a “patient/family” field, a “nursing/care field” and a “medical care” field as “accessible range restriction”. 
     In the “accessible user” field, a user ID of a user accessible to the patient information of corresponding patient is stored. Such accessible users may include physicians, nurses, caregivers, patients and family members of patients as members of the team for the home care of a corresponding patient. 
     The “accessible range restriction” defines the registrant attribute of accessible patient information with respect to each attribute of users (who reference the information). 
     Specifically, in the “patient/family” field, the registrant attribute (patient/family, nursing/care and/or medical care) of patient information that is accessible for users with an attribute of “patient/family” is specified. 
     In the “nursing/care” field, the registrant attribute (patient/family, nursing/care and/or medical care) of patient information that is accessible for users whose attribute is “nursing/care” is specified. 
     In the “medical care” field, the registrant attribute (patient/family, nursing/care and/or medical care) of patient information that is accessible for users whose attribute is “medical care” is specified. 
     In the access restriction table T 24 , information (accessible range restriction) that indicates the accessibility to the patient information of a patient (patient ID) who is linked to the access restriction table T 24  in the patient information table T 2  is defined with respect to each attribute. That is, the storage  16  functions as a third storage, which stores the patient information table T 2  and the access restriction table T 24 . 
     In the file storage  162 , file information of documents, photographs, images (X-ray images, etc.) and the like of patient information is stored. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates the folder structure of the file storage  162 . 
     In the file storage  162 , dedicated patient folders F 1 , F 2 , . . . are created for respective registered patients. In each of the dedicated patient folders F 1 , F 2 , . . . , a baseline folder and a timeline folder are created. In the baseline folder, patient information that is classified as reference information is stored. In the timeline folder, patient information that is classified as time-series information is stored. In the baseline folder and the timeline folder, folders of respective types of information are created. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates examples of possible registrable patient information with respect to each attribute of registrants (users who registers patient information). In  FIG. 10 , a variety of patient information is classified as reference information (baseline information) or time-series information (timeline information), each of which is further classified as character/number information or file information. In  FIG. 10 , patient basic information is included in baseline information. 
     When there is an access to the data management apparatus  10  from a user terminal  20  with a login account (user ID and password) of a certain user, the hardware processor  11  references the user management table T 1  in the storage  16  so as to make a determination as to whether the user is a registered user. When the combination of the user ID and the password input on the user terminal  20  is registered in the user management table T 1 , the hardware processor  11  provides the home care cooperation service of the home care cooperation system  100  to the user having the user ID. 
     The hardware processor  11  retrieves the patient information of a target patient and the attribute linked to this patient information from the storage  16 . Specifically, the hardware processor  11  references the patient information table T 2  to specify a baseline table T 22  and a timeline table T 23  that are linked to the patient ID of the target patient. Then, with regard to the reference information of the target patient, the hardware processor  11  references the specified baseline table T 22  to retrieve a content or a file path and an attribute with respect to each item. When it is file information, the hardware processor  11  further retrieves a file from the file storage  162  based on the file path. With regard to time-series information of the target patient, the hardware processor  11  references the specified timeline table T 23  to retrieve a content or a file path, an attribute and a registration date with respect to each item. When it is file information, the hardware processor  11  further retrieves a file from the file storage  162  based on the file path. 
     The hardware processor  11  generates a display data for displaying the patient information of the target patient in a single screen on the display  23  of the user terminal  20  in which the screen is divided into respective areas of the reference information and the time-series information with respect to each attribute. 
     In this process, the hardware processor  11  retrieves the attribute of the user who currently uses the home care cooperation system  100  from the user management table T 1 , retrieves information (accessible range restriction) indicating the accessibility to the information of the target patient for users with the retrieved attribute from the access restriction table T 24  linked to the patient ID of the target patient, and restricts the contents to be displayed on the display  23  of the user terminal  20  based on the retrieved information indicating the accessibility. 
     The hardware processor  11  generates a display data for displaying the presence or absence of the time-series information of the target patient along a timeline. Specifically, based on the item names and the registration dates that are retrieved from the timeline table T 23  linked to the patient ID of the target patient, the hardware processor  11  puts a mark indicating the presence of time-series information at the position of the registration date on the timeline with respect to each item. 
     In response to an operation on a user terminal  20  by a user, the hardware processor  11  changes the display size of the areas in the single screen in which the reference information and the time-series information are respectively displayed. That is, the hardware processor  11  functions as a changer. 
     Further, in response to an operation on a user terminal  20  by a user, the hardware processor  11  changes the display size of the areas for the respective attributes in the single screen. That is, the hardware processor  11  functions as a second changer. 
     Configuration of User Terminal 
       FIG. 11  illustrates the functional configuration of the user terminals  20 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , each of the user terminals  20  includes a hardware processor  21 , an operation section  22 , a display  23 , a communication section  24 , a RAM  25 , a storage  26  and the like, which are connected to each other through a bus  27 . 
     The hardware processor  21 , which is constituted by a CPU and the like, integrally controls the processing operation of the components of the user terminal  20 . Specifically, the CPU reads out a variety of processing programs stored in the storage  26 , develops them in the RAM  25  and performs a variety of processing in cooperation with the programs according to operation signals input on the operation section  22  and order signals received through the communication section  24 . 
     The operation section  22 , which includes a keyboard with cursor keys, character input keys and a variety of function keys, and a pointing device such as a mouse, outputs an operation signal input by means of a key operation on the keyboard or a mouse operation to the hardware processor  21 . Alternatively, the operation section  22  may be constituted by a touch panel laminated on the display  23  and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the position of a touch gesture with a finger of the user or the like to the hardware processor  21 . 
     The display  23 , which includes a monitor such as an LCD, displays a variety of windows according to a display signal input from the hardware processor  21 . For example, the display  23  displays a variety of web pages based on display data for displaying the variety of web pages received from the data management apparatus  10 . 
     The communication section  24 , which is constituted by a network interface and the like, sends and receives data to and from an external device that is connected through the communication network N such as a LAN, a WAN or the Internet. Further, the communication section  24  may perform wireless communication by using a mobile network or the like to send and receive data to and from an external device such as the data management apparatus  10  that is connected to through the communication network N. 
     The RAM  25  forms a work area for temporality storing a variety of programs read out from the storage  26 , input and output data and parameters in a variety of processing that is performed and controlled by the hardware processor  21 . 
     The storage  26  is constituted by an HDD, a non-volatile semiconductor memory or the like. In the storage  26 , a variety of processing programs, and parameters and files necessary for executing the programs are stored. For example, a web browser program for providing a function as a web browser and the like are stored in the storage  26 . 
     Operation in Home Care Cooperation System 
     Next, the operation in the home care cooperation system  100  will be described. 
       FIG. 12  is a ladder chart of patient registration processing that is performed by the data management apparatus  10  and a user terminal  20  of the home care cooperation system  100 . This processing is performed to register a patient who is cared at home. The processing in the data management apparatus  10  is achieved by software processing of the hardware processor  11  in cooperation with a program stored in the storage  16 , and the processing in the user terminal  20  is achieved by software processing of the hardware processor  21  in cooperation with a program stored in the storage  26 . 
     First, in the user terminal  20 , in response to an input of a URL for accessing to the data management apparatus  10  through a web browser on the operation section  22 , the input URL is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24 . 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to a reception of the URL for accessing to the data management apparatus  10  from the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 , a display data for displaying a login window is sent to the user terminal  20 . The display data for displaying a variety of web pages including the login window, which is sent to the user terminal  20  by means of a web server function of the data management apparatus  10 , includes HTML data, a style sheet, image data, a script for making the user terminal  20  perform predetermined processing, and the like. 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the login window through the communication section  24 , the login window is displayed on the display  23 . The login window includes input boxes for a user ID and a password. In the login window, in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of inputting a user ID and a password, the input user ID and the password are sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24  (Step S 1 ). 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to a reception of the user ID and the password through the communication section  14 , user authentication is performed (Step S 2 ). Specifically, the user management table T 1  as illustrated in  FIG. 3  is searched for a record that matches the received user ID. When the password of the record matches the received password, it is determined that the user authentication succeeded. When the user authentication succeeded, the home care cooperation service is provided according to an operation on the web browser of the user terminal  20 . When the received user ID is not found in the user management table T 1  or the received password does not match the password of the retrieved record, it is determined that the user authentication failed. 
     Next, in the user terminal  20 , in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of registering a patient, a patient registration order is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24  (Step S 3 ). 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to a reception of the patient registration order from the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 , display data for displaying a patient registration window is sent to the user terminal  20 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the patient registration window through the communication section  24 , the patient registration window is displayed on the display  23  (Step S 4 ). The patient registration window includes input boxes for patient basic information (name, gender, birth date, address, telephone number, etc. of a patient). In the patient registration window, in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of inputting patient basic information of a patient to be registered, the input patient basic information is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24  (Step S 5 ). 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to an acquisition of the patient basic information through the communication section  14  (Step S 6 ), the hardware processor  11  references the basic information table T 21  of the medical information DB  161  to make a determination as to whether the same patient is already registered (Step S 7 ). 
     When the same patient is already registered (Step S 7 , Yes), the patient registration processing ends. 
     In Step S 7 , when the patient is not registered yet (Step S 7 , No), the hardware processor  11  registers the patient in the patient information table T 2  of the medical information DB  161  (Step S 8 ). Specifically, the hardware processor  11  adds a new record to the patient information table T 2  and stores a newly created patient ID therein. Then, the hardware processor  11  creates a basic information table T 21 , a baseline table T 22 , a timeline table T 23  and an access restriction table T 24  of the newly registered patient, and stores information indicating links to the tables T 21  to T 24  in the patient information table T 2  along with the patient ID. Further, the patient basic information input from the user terminal  20  is stored in the basic information table T 21  of the newly registered patient. 
     The access restriction defined in the access restriction table T 24  may be set either during the patient registration processing or after the patient registration processing by another medical personal or the like. 
     Then, in the data management apparatus  10 , the hardware processor  11  creates a dedicated patient folder for the newly registered patient in the file storage  162  and further creates a baseline folder and a timeline folder in the dedicated patient folder (Step S 9 ). 
     Then, display data for displaying a patient registration result (succeeded or failed) is sent to the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the patient registration result through the communication section  24 , the patient registration result is displayed on the display  23  (Step S 10 ). 
     Then, the patient registration processing ends. 
       FIG. 13  is a ladder chart of patient information upload processing that is performed by the data management apparatus  10  and a user terminal  20  of the home care cooperation system  100 . This processing is performed to register patient information. The processing in the data management apparatus  10  is achieved by software processing of the hardware processor  11  in cooperation with a program stored in the storage  16 , and the processing in the user terminal  20  is achieved by software processing of the hardware processing  21  in cooperation with a program stored in the storage  26 . 
     For example, when a patient is discharged from a hospital, a letter of introduction, a discharge summary and the like are uploaded. After starting the home care, new information is daily generated as a result of a home visit, nursing, care and the like, which is uploaded and accumulated. 
     The processing in Step S 11  and Step S 12  is the same as that in Step S 1  and Step S 2  in  FIG. 12 , and the description thereof is omitted. 
     Then, in the user terminal  20 , in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of selecting a patient, a patient selection order is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24  (Step S 13 ). 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to a reception of the patient selection order from the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 , display data for displaying a patient list window is sent to the user terminal  20 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the patient list window through the communication section  24 , the patient list window is displayed on the display  23  (Step S 14 ). 
       FIG. 14  illustrates an example of the patient list window  231 . The patient list window  231  includes a list of patients in which information on each patient is displayed in single line. In the patient list window  231 , a patient name  31 , a file icon  32 , a schedule icon  33 , a detail button  34  and the like are displayed with respect to each patient. 
     In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a click on a file icon  32 , a file management window  232  (see  FIG. 15 ) of the patient corresponding to the clicked file icon  32  is displayed. 
     In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a click on a schedule icon  33 , a window for managing the schedule related to the patient corresponding to the clicked schedule icon  33  is displayed. 
     In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a click on a detail button  34 , an edit window  233  (see  FIG. 16 ) for inputting character/number information of patient information of the patient corresponding to the clicked detail button  34  is displayed. 
     The patient who corresponds to the clicked file icon  32  or detail button  34  in the patient list window  231  is set as a target patient whose patient information is to be registered. 
     Then, in the user terminal  20 , in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of an order to upload the patient information, a patient information upload order is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24  (Step S 15 ). 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to a reception of the patient information upload order from the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 , display data for displaying an upload window is sent to the user terminal  20 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the upload window through the communication section  24 , the upload window is displayed on the display  23  (Step S 16 ). 
     When the information to be registered is file information, a file management window  232  as illustrated in  FIG. 15  is displayed as the upload window. The file management window  232  includes a folder display area  41  and a file selection area  42 . 
     In the folder display area  41 , the folder structure in the dedicated patient folder of the target patient in the file storage  162  is displayed. In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a left click of a mouse with the mouse pointer over a folder, the clicked folder is selected. In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a right click of a mouse with the mouse pointer over a folder, a menu is displayed. A new folder can be created by clicking the right button of a mouse over a baseline folder or a timeline folder and selecting an item in the displayed menu. 
     By an operation on the operation section  22  of dragging a file to be uploaded from among files displayed on another window and dropping it in the file selection area  42  on the display  23 , the dropped file is uploaded to the folder that is selected in the folder display area  41 . Based on the folder selected in the folder display area  41 , a determination is made whether the file to be uploaded is classified as reference information or time-series information. 
     When the information to be registered is character/number information, an edit window  233  as illustrated in  FIG. 16  is displayed as the upload window. The edit window  233  includes input boxes for items of patient information. The edit window  233  includes a baseline input area  51  and a timeline input area  52 , and information is classified as reference information or time-series information based on the input area to which the information is input. By inputting information in a corresponding input box and pressing a save button  53 , the input information is uploaded to the data management apparatus  10 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of an upload operation on the upload window (Step S 17 ), the patient information to be uploaded is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24 . When the patient information is file information, the upload operation corresponds to a file drop operation on the file management window  232 . When the patient information is character/number information, the upload operation corresponds to inputting information in input boxes and pressing the save button  53  in the edit window  233 . 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to an acquisition of the patient information to be uploaded through the communication section  14  (Step S 18 ), the hardware processor  11  classifies the patient information to be uploaded as reference information or time-series information and saves it along with the attribute of the registrant and the registration date (Step S 19 ). Specifically, a baseline table T 22  or a timeline table T 23  that is linked to the patient ID of the target patient is specified in the patient information table T 2  of the medical information DB  161  based on the classification of the uploaded patient information, and the patient information (item name and content, or item name and file path) is stored in the specified baseline table T 22  or timeline table T 23  as well as the user ID of the registrant and the registration date. Further, the attribute that corresponds to the user ID of the user who is currently using (logged in) the home care cooperation system  100  is retrieved from the user management table T 1  of the medical information DB  161  and is stored as the registrant attribute in the baseline table T 22  or the timeline table T 23 . 
     When the patient information is file information, it is saved in the file storage  162  in a folder that was selected in the file management window  232  (at the storage location indicated by the file path). 
     Then, in the data management apparatus  10 , display data for displaying the upload result (succeeded or failed) is sent to the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the upload result through the communication section  24 , the upload result is displayed on the display  23  (Step S 20 ). 
     Then, the patient information upload processing ends. 
       FIG. 17  illustrates a ladder chart of patient information reference processing that is performed by the data management apparatus  10  and a user terminal  20  of the home care cooperation system  100 . This processing is performed to reference patient information. The processing in the data management apparatus  10  is achieved by software processing of the hardware processor  11  in cooperation with a program stored in the storage  16 , and the processing in the user terminal  20  is achieved by software processing of the hardware processing  21  in cooperation with a program stored in the storage  26 . 
     The processing in Step S 21  to Step S 24  is the same as that in Step S 11  to Step S 14  in  FIG. 13 , and the description thereof is omitted. 
     Then, in the user terminal  20 , in response to an operation on the operation section  22  of selecting the name of a patient to be referenced in the patient list window and making an order to reference the patient information, a patient information reference order is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24  (Step S 25 ). 
     For example, when any one of the patient names  31  is selected in the patient list window  231  as illustrated in  FIG. 14 , a patient information reference order corresponding to the selected patient name  31  is sent to the data management apparatus  10 . 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , in response to an acquisition of the patient information reference order through the communication section  14  (Step S 26 ), the hardware processor  11  references the patient information table T 2  of the medical information DB  161  to specify the access restriction table T 24  that is linked to the patient ID of the patient to be referenced. Then, the hardware processor  11  references the access restriction table T 24  of the patient to be referenced and makes a determination as to whether the user ID of the currently logged-in user is included in those of the users with access permission (Step S 27 ). 
     When the user ID of the currently logged-in user is not included in the users with access permission (Step S 27 , No), the patient information reference processing ends. 
     In Step S 27 , when the user ID of the currently logged-in user is included in the users with access permission in the access restriction table T 24  of the patient to be referenced (Step S 27 , Yes), the hardware processor  11  references the patient information table T 2  of the medical information DB  161  to specify a baseline table T 22  and a timeline table T 23  that are linked to the patient ID of the patient to be referenced. Then, the hardware processor  11  references the specified baseline table T 22  and the timeline table T 23  to retrieve the patient information (reference information and time-series information) of the patient to be referenced and the attribute of the user who registered the patient information (Step S 28 ). Specifically, when the patient information is character/number information, the item name, the content and the attribute of the registrant are retrieved from the baseline table T 22  or the timeline table T 23 . When the patient information is file information, the item name, the file path and the attribute of the registrant are retrieved from the baseline table T 22  or the timeline table T 23 , and the corresponding file is retrieved from the file storage  162  according to the retrieved file path. When the patient information is time-series information, the registration date is also retrieved from the timeline table T 23 . 
     Then, the hardware processor  11  retrieves the attribute corresponding to the user ID of the currently logged-in user from the user management table T 1  of the medical information DB  161  (Step S 29 ). 
     Then, the hardware processor  11  references the access restriction table T 24  of the patient to be referenced to retrieve the accessible range restriction for users with the attribute of the currently logged-in user (Step S 30 ). Specifically, information is retrieved from the “patient/family” field, the “nursing/care” field or the “medical care” field corresponding to the attribute of the currently logged-in user in the access restriction table T 24  of the patient to be referenced. 
     Then, the hardware processor  11  generates display data for displaying a patient information reference window in which the contents to be displayed of the patient information retrieved in Step S 28  are restricted to the accessible range of the currently logged-in user based on the retrieved accessible range restriction (Step S 31 ). Then, the display data thus generated is sent to the user terminal  20  through the communication section  14 . 
     In the user terminal  20 , in response to a reception of the display data for the patient information reference window through the communication section  24 , the patient information reference window is displayed on the display  23  (Step S 32 ). 
     Then, the patient information reference processing ends. 
       FIG. 18  illustrates an example of the patient information reference window  234  that is displayed on the display  23  of the user terminal  20 . The patient information reference window  234  includes a patient identification information display area  61  and a patient information display area  62 . 
     In the patient identification information display area  61 , information for identifying the patient is always displayed. 
     The patient information display area  62  is divided into three areas of the upper, middle and lower columns, which are respectively allocated as a patient/family area  63 , a nursing/care area  64 , and a medical care area  65 . Further, the patient information display area  62  is divided into left and right areas, which are respectively allocated as a baseline display area  66  and a timeline display area  67 . 
     In the patient/family area  63 , patient information that was registered by users belonging to the “patient/family” is displayed. 
     In the nursing/care area  64 , patient information that was registered by users belonging to the “nursing/care” is displayed. 
     In the medical care area  65 , patient information that was registered by the users belonging to the “medical care” is displayed. 
     When there is an access restriction, information that is not permitted to be accessed is not displayed according to the attribute of the currently logged-in user. 
     In the baseline display area  66 , items of the reference information at the time when a patient started to be cared at home is displayed. In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a click on any one of the item names, the hardware processor  11  of the data management apparatus  10  generates display data for displaying the content corresponding to the clicked item name in another window. For example, when an item name  68  “patient basic information” is clicked, which is in the area where the baseline display area  66  and the patient/family area  63  overlap each other, a patient basic information window  235  as illustrated in  FIG. 19  is displayed on the display  23 . In the patient basic information window  235 , patient basic information that was registered by users with an attribute of “patient/family” is displayed. 
     Since the baseline display area  66  is further divided into the patient/family area  63 , the nursing/care area  64  and the medical care area  65 , it is easy to understand which information was registered by a user with a certain attribute. 
     In the timeline display area  67 , the presence or absence of information is displayed at corresponding dates on the timeline with respect to each item of the time-series information that is daily generated as a result of home care, nursing and care. The time window and the start date of the displayed timeline can be changed. 
     Specifically, a mark is displayed with respect to each item at the position corresponding to the date when the item of information was registered. In response to an operation on the operation section  22  of a click on any one of such marks, the hardware processor  11  of the data management apparatus  10  generates display data for displaying the information that was registered at the date corresponding to the position of the mark. For example, when a mark  69  on April 21 in the item “vital signs” is clicked, which is in the area where the timeline display area  67  and the medical care area  65  overlap each other, a vital sign window  236  as illustrated in  FIG. 20  is displayed on the display  23 . In the vital sign window  236 , vital signs that were registered by users with an attribute of “medical care” are displayed. 
     Alternatively, such information may be automatically displayed when the mouse pointer is placed over a mark. 
     Also regarding the timeline display area  67 , since it is further divided into the patient/family area  63 , the nursing/care area  64  and the medical care area  65 , it is easy to understand which information was registered at a certain date by a user with a certain attribute. 
     The display size of the patient/family area  63 , the nursing/care area  64  and the medical care area  65  is adjustable by an operation on the operation section  22  of vertically shifting the boundary between the patient/family area  63  and the nursing/care area  64  or the boundary between the nursing/care area  64  and the medical care area  65 . 
     The display size of the baseline display area  66  and the timeline display area  67  is adjustable by an operation on the operation section  22  of horizontally shifting the boundary between the baseline display area  66  and the timeline display area  67 . 
     In response to an operation on the user terminal  20  of changing a boundary position of the areas, the coordinate of the changed boundary (e.g. the coordinates of the upper-left and lower-right corners of the area) is sent to the data management apparatus  10  through the communication section  24 . 
     In the data management apparatus  10 , the hardware processor  11  saves the coordinate of the changed boundary in the user management table T 1  of the medical information DB  161  as a display parameter along with the user ID of the user who made the adjustment. 
     After the adjustment, when the same user uses the home care cooperation system  100 , the areas in the patient information reference window are displayed in the saved arrangement according to the display parameter stored in the user management table T 1 . 
     As described above, in the home care cooperation system  100  according to the embodiment, patient information is displayed in a single screen in a classified manner as reference information or time-series information, and the respective areas are further divided according to attributes. This enables displaying patient information in an easy-to-understand manner while indicating the classification of the patient information and the source of each item of the information. 
     For example, since the reference information and the time-series information are displayed in a single screen, it is possible to understand each information in a short time without screen transition between the reference information and the time-series information. 
     Further, the reference information and the time-series information are further classified according to the attribute of the registrant. For example, since information registered by another physician is displayed in the same area as information registered by a primary care physician, it is easy to reference patient information. 
     Since information at the start of home care and information generated after the start of the home care are displayed in divided respective areas, it is easy to understand the history of the patient information of a home care patient. 
     By changing the display size of the area in which the reference information is displayed and the area in which the time-series information is displayed in a single screen or changing the display size of the areas for the respective attributes in the single screen, it is possible to change the display manner to be easier to understand for a user who references the patient information. 
     The contents to be displayed can be restricted according to the attribute of the user who currently uses the system. 
     The above description of the embodiment merely illustrates an example of the patient information display system according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Suitable changes can be made in the detailed configuration and the detailed operation of the apparatuses of the system without departing from the features of the present invention. 
     For example, the above-described embodiment is an example in which the predetermined time point corresponds to the time point when a patient started to be cared at home. However, the predetermined time point is not limited thereto. 
     In the patient information reference window, the direction of dividing the window according to the attributes and the direction of dividing the window into reference information and time-series information are not limited to the illustrated example. 
     Further, the above-described embodiment is an example in which the patient information reference processing is configured such that item names or marks indicating the presence or absence of information are displayed first when the reference information and the time-series information of a patient to be referenced are displayed on a user terminal  20 , and the contents thereof is displayed in another window. However, the contents of the reference information and the time-series information may be directly displayed in the patient information reference window. 
     The patient information reference processing may also be configured such that only the latest information of each item is displayed in the timeline display area  67  of a user terminal  20  from among the time-series information of a target patient. In this configuration, the hardware processor  11  of the data management apparatus  10  generates display data for displaying only the latest information of each item on the display  23  of the user terminal  20  from among the time-series information of the target patient. Specifically, regarding the time-series information of the target patient, the hardware processor  11  specifies the timeline table T 23  that is linked to the patient ID of the target patient in the patient information table T 2  and references the specified timeline table T 23  to extract only the record on the latest registration date with respect to each item. Then, based on the extracted records, the hardware processor  11  lays out the latest information of each item in the display area for the time-series information to generate the display data. Therefore, it is possible to readily understand the latest information of the patient. 
     Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-124031 filed on Jun. 23, 2016, including description, claims, drawings, and abstract the entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.