Evaluating the Effectiveness of an AI-Powered Physician Assistant in Improving Patients' and Physicians' Satisfaction in Anaesthesiology Clinics

Patient satisfaction will be evaluated across two domains: (1) effective utilization of waiting time and (2) receipt of patient-centered care during the outpatient visit.

Evaluated post-consultation using a structured survey adapted from the NHS Outpatient Survey: Section A (Wait Time): Wait duration (A1) and wait time utility (A2). Section B (Doctor Interaction): Patient-centered care, consultation duration, listening, and clarity (B2-B7). Section C (AI Assistant - Intervention Arm Only): Perceived listening, trust, and privacy (C1-C6). Section D (Overall Impression): Respect, dignity, and care- quality (D1-D3).

Ordinal items are assigned numerical scores to calculate a composite mean score and domain sub-scores (range: 1.0-5.0). Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction.

Physician satisfaction and workflow efficiency will be evaluated using an end-of-day survey administered to physicians whose patients were recruited into the study. Evaluated using a two-part structured questionnaire:

Section 1 (Comparative Workflow): Binary comparisons across 5 domains (consultation duration, patient engagement, documentation efficiency, cognitive workload, and focus on patient care), with 3-point follow-up sub-questions for favorable intervention responses.

Section 2 (Intervention Utility): 6 intervention-specific items assessing accuracy/trust, workflow efficiency, workload relief, and overall satisfaction (5-point ordinal scales; 1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree).

Daily composite mean scores are calculated from Sections 1 and 2 (range: 1.0-5.0). Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction.

Evaluates total physician consultation duration (in minutes) for each patient during their outpatient clinic encounter.

Consultation time refers to the active time spent by the physician while the patient is inside the consultation room. It encompasses the time taken to inquire about symptoms, conduct physical examinations, prescribe treatments, and provide counseling.

Duration is objectively measured in minutes using manual stopwatch timestamps, initiated the moment the patient enters the consultation room and concluded when the patient departs.

Mean total consultation times will be calculated per patient and compared between the intervention and standard care arms. Lower or more optimized consultation durations reflect enhanced workflow efficiency.

Recorded using objective timestamps across two sequential intervals:

Interval 1: Completion of counter registration to initiation of vital signs measurement.

Interval 2: Completion of vital signs measurement to patient entry into the physician consultation room.

Intervals are combined into a single aggregated total queuing time per patient visit. Lower mean queuing times indicate improved operational workflow efficiency.