Recent evidence of economic evaluation of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology

Health economic evaluation (HEE) is essential for assessing value of health interventions, including artificial intelligence. Recent approaches, current challenges, and future directions of HEE of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology are reviewed.

Majority of recent HEEs of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology were for diabetic retinopathy screening. Two models, one conducted in the rural USA (5-year period) and another in China (35-year period), found artificial intelligence to be more cost-effective than without screening for diabetic retinopathy. Two additional models, which compared artificial intelligence with human screeners in Brazil and Thailand for the lifetime of patients, found artificial intelligence to be more expensive from a healthcare system perspective. In the Thailand analysis, however, artificial intelligence was less expensive when opportunity loss from blindness was included. An artificial intelligence model for screening retinopathy of prematurity was cost-effective in the USA. A model for screening age-related macular degeneration in Japan and another for primary angle close in China did not find artificial intelligence to be cost-effective, compared with no screening. The costs of artificial intelligence varied widely in these models.

Like other medical fields, there is limited evidence in assessing the value of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology and more appropriate HEE models are needed.