Attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of clinicians on AI-assisted digital health interventions for oncofertility education

Background: Fertility preservation counseling is a critical component of cancer care, yet patients often face disparities and barriers to timely, comprehensible information. Digital and AI-enabled educational tools may help expand access and standardize communication, but little is known about how frontline clinical staff perceive their acceptability, utility, trustworthiness, or appropriateness. Understanding these perspectives is essential to ensure emerging technologies promote, rather than exacerbate, inequities in oncofertility care. Methods: This prospective qualitative study will be conducted at two cancer centers representing different tiers of institutions, an NCI-designated and a non-NCI-designated, to capture diverse organizational contexts and care delivery environments. Semi-structured interviews will be completed with multidisciplinary clinical leadership and staff, including directors, oncologists, reproductive endocrinologists, advanced practice providers, oncology nurses, and oncology social workers involved in oncofertility-related communication. Interview guides will draw on patient-centered communication frameworks, human-centered design principles, and implementation-science constructs related to acceptability, utility, trustworthiness, and appropriateness. Sessions will be audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in NVivo using a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic approach to identify patterns related to trust, usability, privacy, accessibility, cultural relevance, and perceived clinical value. Expected Outcomes: This study will generate insights into how clinical teams perceive and would engage with digital and AI-enabled fertility preservation education tools within onco-fertility settings. Findings will underline the factors influencing their acceptability, perceived utility, and trustworthiness across different institutional contexts. The analysis will highlight key design and implementation considerations that can inform the responsible development and deployment of digital tools supporting oncofertility communication across both NCI-designated and non-NCI cancer centers. Implications: Findings will inform the equitable design and implementation of patient-centered, clinician-endorsed, culturally responsive digital health interventions for fertility preservation. Results will guide responsible digital tool adoption in oncology communication workflows and support improvements in patient engagement, care quality, and equity across diverse cancer care settings.