OpenSDE: A strategy for expressive and flexible structured data entry

Purpose : This description focuses on the expressiveness and flexibility of OpenSDE: an application that supports recording of structured narrative data. Methods : OpenSDE enables data entry with (customizable) forms based on trees of medical concepts. The relevant scope for data entry can be tailored per medical domain by construction of a domain-specific tree. OpenSDE is intended for structuring narrative data to make these available for both care and research. Results : The OpenSDE application is currently in use at several departments in our academic hospital, including radiology, neurology, pediatrics, and child psychiatry. OpenSDE is available for all in open source. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.