Assessing the Effectiveness of Large Language Model (LLM)-Enabled Nurse Treatment Planning in 2 Indian Districts

Clinical quality of the consultation, scored by two blinded physician graders using a domain-based rubric (Annexure 1). Each domain is scored 0 (inadequate), 1 (suboptimal), or 2 (optimal). Disease (clinical management: hypertension, diabetes) cases are scored on four domains - quality of history, accuracy of next steps, safety, and comprehensiveness - for a total of 0-8. Symptom (clinical reasoning: fever, breathlessness, musculoskeletal pain) cases are scored on all six domains, adding quality of differential and accuracy of provisional diagnosis, for a total of 0-12. The primary outcome is the absolute total score; results are also reported normalised to 0-100% for concordance with the original registration. The two study arms (nurse+LLM vs. physician standard of care) are compared within each patient.

Patient-reported experience of the nurse+LLM consultation, measured by a brief exit survey covering three domains: communication and understanding, trust and comfort with AI use, and respect and satisfaction (one item per domain; three-point response scale). Responses are summarised descriptively (frequencies/proportions per item and domain).

Qualitative assessment of nurse-reported usability, trust in AI recommendations, workflow impact, barriers, facilitators, and willingness to continue use. Interviews are audio recorded and thematically analyzed. Outcomes will be reported as identified themes with representative quotations and frequency of theme occurrence across participants.