In September, OHDSI Austria was launched as the national representative of the international Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) community. The initiative jointly established by the Medical University of Vienna and AIT connects research, healthcare and public administration to make clinical data analysable in line with uniform standards.
Health data are generated in numerous systems and formats. Without a common data model, harmonised vocabularies and standardised methods, analyses remain difficult to compare—both in clinical care and in population-based evaluations across multiple data sources.
OHDSI is an international collaboration platform. Using the OMOP Common Data Model and standardised vocabularies, it creates a common foundation for large-scale, reproducible analyses. National nodes bundle activities within each country and support the introduction and use of OMOP.
As the Austrian point of contact, OHDSI Austria was initiated jointly by MedUni Vienna and AIT. The node coordinates exchange between universities, research institutions, hospitals and authorities, supports the harmonisation of existing datasets to OMOP and closely links Austrian partners to the European structures. “With OHDSI Austria, we are creating a reliable basis for comparable studies across multiple data sources: OMOP as the shared data model, open tools and clearly defined processes. This facilitates reproducible evidence and strengthens the ability of Austrian partners to connect within European projects,” explains Karl Kreiner, AIT digital health expert.
Further information is available at https://www.ohdsi-europe.org/index.php/national-nodes/austria