When opening a study in the viewer, when dictating or transcribing a report, or when editing the demographics, it is locked so others cannot edit it simultaneously. The server provides details on a study's lock status in the following ways:
The Lock Indicator to the left of each worklist entry is a green or red icon. Red indicates the study is open by another user. The state changes dynamically as the other user gets and releases the lock. Be aware that the lock indicator does not work across servers. To be useful, all users should be accessing the data in the system from the same consolidation server.
The Open Notice pops up when you click to open a study in the viewer, and the study is currently open by another user. This notice displays the name of the other user. You can either close the window and return to the worklist, or proceed to open the study.
The Break Lock Notice appears when the viewer launches and tries to lock the study. The notice shows the name of the user currently possessing the study lock. You can either open a read-only copy of the study, in which case you cannot make any changes, or steal the lock by clicking the Break Lock button. If you steal the lock currently held by another user, the other user may lose some or all of the changes made. Always notify the other user before you break the lock. The other user's name is displayed in the open notice and the break lock notice for this purpose.