Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Services
Project Details
The Challenge
The Australian health and medical research landscape currently faces a significant challenge: while vast amounts of valuable health data exist, it is often siloed, difficult to find, and of inconsistent quality. For researchers, this means it is not currently possible to efficiently conduct large-scale, multi-institutional studies. This fragmentation slows down vital research, hinders collaboration, and limits the translation of data into evidence-based medical and policy decisions.
The Response
An opportunity exists to create a cohesive national health data ecosystem through the Australian Health Data Evidence Network (AHDEN). Achieving this vision requires strong foundational services that enable researchers to discover, assess and reuse health data and related resources across the network.
This project will address this need by developing and deploying three core services based on open and interoperable standards:
- The AHDEN OMOP Explorer: Enables researchers to discover datasets available across the AHDEN network.
- The Quality Explorer: Enables researchers to assess and understand the quality, completeness and reliability of available data.
- The Resource Explorer: Provides a catalogue of data mappings, shared code, disease phenotypes and other reusable resources available across the network.
This project aims to improve the accessibility, quality, interoperability and reusability of health data in accordance with the FAIR principles—making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.
Success will be demonstrated through the full deployment and operationalisation of all three services by June 2028, their integration within AHDEN, and their active use by the research community to support collaborative health research and improve evidence-based healthcare and medical decision-making across Australia.
Who will Benefit?
The primary beneficiaries of this project include:
- Health and Medical Researchers at universities, research institutes, hospitals and state health authorities who will gain powerful new tools to conduct their work more effectively.
- Healthcare Providers and Clinicians who will benefit from the translation of research findings into improved clinical practice and patient care.
- Government and Health Policy Makers who will have access to better evidence for shaping national health policy.
- The Australian Public, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of a more efficient and impactful health research ecosystem leading to better health outcomes.
Target Outcomes
The successful delivery of this project will result in the following key outcomes:
- Delivery of an integrated portal for the display of disease phenotypes, data quality, and vocabulary mappings
- Increased speed and efficiency of health research by reducing the time it takes for researchers to discover, access, and analyse relevant datasets
- Enhanced data quality and trustworthiness by providing standardised tools for data partners and researchers to assess and report on the quality of their data
- A more collaborative national research environment by providing the shared infrastructure and tools necessary for multi-institutional studies
- Improved evidence-based decision-making for clinicians and policymakers, driven by more robust and timely research findings.
Timeframe
April 2026 - June 2028
Project Partners
Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC)
Project Updates
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