Digitally Assisted Clinical Decision-Making in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Comparative Study of 5 Large Language Models

LLMs, particularly DeepSeek-R1, demonstrate substantial capabilities in TCM knowledge assessment and clinical case analysis. Human-AI collaboration significantly enhanced clinical decision-making quality and efficiency while maintaining high physician acceptance. These findings provide compelling evidence for the clinical value of AI-assisted decision-making in TCM, suggesting potential solutions to current challenges in knowledge standardization, clinical training, and health care delivery efficiency. Strategic implementation of AI assistance could significantly enhance the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of TCM care while preserving fundamental principles of individualized treatment.