The Patient ID Uniqueness Validation process handles conflicts resulting from the Patient Matching process. If a Patient ID has been assigned to multiple patients, the system assigns a new ID number to each repetition. A new Patient ID is generated when all of the following conditions occur simultaneously:
A study is stored in the Workflow Manager.
The Patient Matching check detects that the study is for a new patient.
A patient with the same Patient ID already exists in the Workflow Manager.
A new Patient ID is generated to preserve Patient ID uniqueness, as defined in the DICOM standard for supporting the patient root model. The newly generated Patient ID is constructed from the original Patient ID, linked with $$$ to a serial number.
For example, a patient with Patient ID 1234 exists in the Workflow Manager. Any new patient (according to the Patient Matching algorithm definition) with the same Patient ID is assigned Patient ID 1234$$$1, or 1234$$$2, and so on. In this way, the original Patient ID is visible to the user and it is noticeable that it was changed by the system.