Fully connecting the observational health data science and informatics (OHDSI) initiative with the world of linked open data

Abstract

The usage of controlled biomedical vocabularies is the cornerstone that enables seamless interoperability when using a common data model across multiple data sites. The Observational Health Data Science and Informatics (OHDSI) initiative combines over 100 controlled vocabularies into its own. However, the OHDSI vocabulary is limited in the sense that it combines multiple terminologies and does not provide a direct way to link them outside of their own self-contained scope. This issue makes the tasks of enriching feature sets by using external resources extremely difficult. In order to address these shortcomings, we have created a linked data version of the OHDSI vocabulary, connecting it with already established linked resources like bioportal, bio2rdf, etc. with the ultimate purpose of enabling the interoperability of resources previously foreign to the OHDSI universe.