OHDSI Analytic Use Case Generator
Free research tool

OHDSI Analytic Use Case Generator

Turn a clinical idea into a well-formed observational research question, then get a quick read on whether it could run as an OHDSI network study. Fill in the blanks, review the feasibility scorecard, and build a set you can download.

Clinical characterization Population-level effect estimation Patient-level prediction
How to use this tool

This generator helps you phrase an observational research question in the standard OHDSI form and get a fast, structured read on whether it could run as a network study. Work left to right, then collect and download what you build.

The three use case families

Clinical characterization — describes a population: who they are, what treatments they receive, and how often an outcome occurs. The descriptive foundation, and usually the most feasible starting point.
Population-level effect estimation — asks whether an exposure changes the risk of an outcome, on its own (safety surveillance) or against a comparator (comparative effectiveness).
Patient-level prediction — estimates the probability that a specific person will have a future outcome, given what is known at an index date.

Steps

  1. Choose an analytic use case. Pick the type that matches what you want to learn. A one-line hint explains each.
  2. Fill in the blanks. Type your condition, drug, outcome, comparator, or time window. The question assembles live on the right, with each filled slot highlighted in its family color and empty slots shown in [brackets].
  3. Assess network feasibility. Set each drop-down to your best estimate. The scorecard updates as you go — a banded meter, a next-step recommendation, and specific watch-outs and strengths tied to your answers. The sliders start at a moderate, pregnancy-aware baseline; adjust them to your study.
  4. Add to collection. Save the finished use case. Build as many as you like; each keeps its own question, design skeleton, OMOP domains, and feasibility read.
  5. Download. Export the whole set as a formatted HTML report, save and reload later as JSON, or print. Your collection also autosaves in this browser.

Reading the feasibility score

Strong candidateDraft a protocol and take it to an OHDSI workgroup or study-a-thon.
Feasible with planningTighten phenotypes and run data diagnostics on a few sites first.
Feasible but constrainedPilot on your own data and resolve the flagged constraints.
Low feasibility as scopedReshape the question — often a characterization framing is the feasible first step.

Watch-outs (▲) flag design risks to plan around; strengths (✓) confirm what already works in your favor. The read is a heuristic to guide scoping — it does not replace phenotype validation or formal protocol review.

1

Choose an analytic use case

2

Fill in the blanks

Mad Libs- style
3

Assess network feasibility

Adjust to your best estimate
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Research question

Study design skeleton

Likely OMOP CDM domains

Network-study feasibility

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    Build several, then download them together below.

    Your collection

    0 use cases
    No use cases yet. Build one above and press Add to collection.

    The analytic use case structure — clinical characterization, population-level effect estimation, and patient-level prediction, with each type's Mad Libs-style template — is adapted from the OHDSI Save Our Sisyphus (SOS) Challenge (OHDSI, 24 Jan 2023) and the Book of OHDSI. The feasibility read is a structured heuristic based on your own inputs — a starting point for scoping conversations, not a substitute for formal protocol development, phenotype validation (e.g., CohortDiagnostics / PheValuator), or review by an OHDSI workgroup.