Method and apparatus for managing multi-patient contexts on a picture archiving and communication system

A method for displaying medical images, said method comprising:

• selecting a container as a context driver;
• selecting a context;
• synchronizing the study context of at least one information container according to the study context of the context driver;
• and
• displaying a visual indicator over an image displayed in an image container wherein the patient context of said image container differs from the patient context of said context driver.

A computer—readable storage medium including a set of instructions for a computer, the set of instructions comprising:

• a first selection routine for selecting a container as the context driver;
• a second selection routine for selecting the context;
• a synchronization routine for synchronizing the study context of at least one information container according to the study context of the context driver;
• and
• a first display routine for displaying a visual indicator over an image displayed in an image container wherein said patient context of said image container differs from the patient context of said context driver.