In room configurations where there is a rear or side monitor for use by the staff member and a second monitor (or TV) for showing a patient xray images or other information, it is common to have the staff monitor the "main" display and the patient monitor/TV an extension of the "main" display. The "extended" desktop on the patient monitor will only display what it seen by the staff if the window is dragged over to that second monitor. This is better than using the "mirror" function which always displays the information on both monitors at the same time. This is done for HIPAA compliance reasons so as to not accidentally show a patient another patient's PHI.
Sometimes, however, the PC will change which monitor is considered the "main" display. You will know the function has changed if you suddenly see all of the normal desktop icons on the second monitor vice on the main monitor. Another indication is that the main display always has the taskbar icons such as the network icon, speaker icon, and any other applications that run in the system tray (area near the date/time).
To change it so the main display is moved back to the staff monitor, right-click on a blank space of the desktop and in the menu that pops up select "Display Settings". In the area showing your two monitors select the one you want as the main display (if you don't know which is which click on "Identify" and a number will appear on each monitor). Select the one you want and then click on the check box next to "Make this my main display" in the area below the monitor layout. The icons should move back over to the "main" display. Sometimes they don't all move and you have to drag them over manually.
Generally this "problem" happens when the PC does not see one monitor or the other and it temporarily becomes a single monitor workstation. Once the second monitor is detected it is supposed to go back to the last configuration but, as we all know, Windows does not often do what we want it to. Thank Microsoft.
Thank you,
Great Lakes Technology Services