Autonomous Telephone Follow-up After Cataract Surgery

Background Due to an ageing population and increased expectation, the demand for many services is exceeding the capacity of the clinical workforce. As a result, staff are facing a crisis of burnout from being pressured to deliver high- volume workloads, driving increasing costs for providers. Artificial intelligence, in the form of conversational agents, presents a possible opportunity to enable efficiencies in the delivery of care. Aims and Objectives This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness, usability and acceptability of DORA - an AI-enabled autonomous telemedicine call - for detection of post-operative cataract surgery patients who require further assessment. The study's objectives are: to establish efficacy of DORA's decision making in comparison to an expert human clinician; baseline sensitivity and specificity for detection of true complications; evaluation of patient acceptability; evidence for cost-effectiveness; and to capture data that may support further studies. Project plan and methods used Based on implementation science, the interdisciplinary study will be a mixed-methods phase one pilot establishing inter-observer reliability; as well as usability and acceptability. Timelines for delivery The study will last eighteen months: seven months of evaluation and intervention refinement, nine months of implementation and follow-up, and two months of post-evaluation analysis and write-up. Anticipated Impact and Dissemination The project's key contributions will be evidence on artificial intelligence voice conversational agent effectiveness, and associated usability and acceptability. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and at international medical sciences and engineering conferences.