Development and Pilot Assessment of an AI-Generated Digital Donor Eligibility Screening Tool in Saudi Blood Banks: A Quality Improvement Study

Background: Manual, paper-based blood donor history questionnaires require blood bank staff to cross-reference lengthy eligibility manuals, which can slow decision-making and introduce inconsistency. Staff-facing digital references have improved workflow efficiency in other healthcare settings, but their use in the Saudi blood donation process has not been explored. Objective: To assess the feasibility and staff acceptability of a searchable digital version of the DHQ eligibility manual developed with AI assistance, and to explore its association with perceived screening time and overall process rating. Methods: This was a two-center, prospective, pre-post quality improvement pilot conducted between April–August 2026: The Saudi National Donor History Questionnaire (DHQ v1.0) and its 52-item eligibility flowchart were converted into a searchable reference and a digital questionnaire that generates an eligibility output. Baseline and post-implementation staff surveys were administered and compared. Results: Twelve responses were obtained at each assessment, the baseline and post-implementation surveys (86% response rate). Perceived time efficiency improved, with 33% of participants reporting the screening process took less than 5 min using the tool, compared with none reporting the same impression before tool use. Overall process rating was unchanged. Perceived tool-specific ratings were favorable across ease of use, speed of retrieval, accuracy, workflow improvement, and satisfaction. Medication-related uncertainty fell from 75.0% to 50.0%. Conclusions: An AI-assisted digital adaptation of an existing paper-based donor eligibility manual was feasible and well accepted by staff. More staff reported shorter per-donor assessment times after implementation; however, this exploratory, self-reported finding needs confirmation in larger studies with objective measures.