OBJECTIVES: A real-world economic evaluation was performed to compare the direct staff cost savings from the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) based telemedicine for post-operative cataract follow-up versus the standard face-to-face-led follow-up for the patients at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (ICH).

METHODS: The study models the impact of using an autonomous voice conversational agent developed to improve clinical efficiency for cataract surgery follow-up. The study evaluates the implementation of AI based voice telemedicine conversation delivered to patients via automated telephone calls for post-operative follow-up when compared to face-to-face follow-up by clinicians in the cataract post-operative standard care. AI telemedicine reduces the planned face-to-face visits and allows staff resources to be allocated to perform other tasks within the ophthalmology setting. A decision-analytic model was developed and tested for the real-world data provided for 97 patients for this analysis from ICH. Only staff costs from the face-to-face follow-up pathway were compared with the staff cost involved when AI based telemedicine was used. Moreover, follow-up of all the post-operative cataract patients by telemedicine may decrease unplanned eye casualty visits leading to improved patient management and resulting in further reduction in the cost of care.

RESULTS: The economic analysis result indicated that there was an average staff cost saving of £35.18 per patient in the AI based telemedicine pathway when compared to the standard care pathway of face-to-face patient follow-up. The advantage of AI based telemedicine was in avoiding face-to-face clinicians’ appointment times for non-complicated cases and avoiding unnecessary hospital visits at ICH. Additionally, it also helps with reduced direct face-to-face visits with clinicians leading to reduce infection control at hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that the use of AI based telemedicine for post-operative cataract follow-up at ICH was cost-effective.