Evaluating Large Language Models for Transparent Quality-of-Care Measurement in Children with ADHD

ImportanceGuideline-concordant care for young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) includes recommending parent training in behavior management (PTBM) as first-line treatment. However, assessing guideline adherence through manual chart review is time-consuming and costly, limiting scalable and timely quality-of-care measurement. ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy and explainability of large language models (LLMs) in identifying PTBM recommendations in pediatric electronic health record (EHR) notes as a scalable alternative to manual chart review. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis retrospective cohort study was conducted in a community-based pediatric healthcare network in California consisting of 27 primary care clinics. The study cohort included children aged 4-6 years with [≥] 2 primary care visits between 2020-2024 and ICD-10 diagnoses of ADHD or ADHD symptoms (n=542 patients). Clinical notes from the first ADHD-related visit were included. A stratified subset of 122 notes, including all cases with model disagreement, was manually annotated to assess model performance in identifying PTBM recommendations and rank model explanations. ExposuresAssessment and plan sections of clinical notes were analyzed using three generative large language models (Claude-3.5, GPT-4o, and LLaMA-3.3-70B) to identify the presence of PTBM recommendations and generate explanatory rationales and documentation evidence. Main Outcomes and MeasuresModel performance in identifying PTBM recommendations (measured by sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and F1-score) and qualitative explainability ratings of model-generated rationales (based on the QUEST framework). ResultsAll three models demonstrated high performance compared to expert chart review. Claude-3.5 showed balanced performance (sensitivity=0.89, PPV=0.95, and F1-score=0.92) and ranked highest in explainability. LLaMA3.3-70B achieved sensitivity=0.91, PPV=0.89, and F1-score=0.90, ranking second for explainability. GPT-4o had the highest PPV [0.97] but lowest sensitivity [0.82], with an F1-score of 0.89 and the lowest explainability ranking. Based on classifications from the best-performing model, Claude-3.5, 26.4% (143/542) of patients had documented PTBM recommendations at their first ADHD-related visit. Conclusions and RelevanceLLMs can accurately extract guideline-concordant clinician recommendations for non-pharmacological ADHD treatment from unstructured clinical notes while providing clear explanations and supporting evidence. Evaluating model explainability as part of LLM implementation for medical chart review tasks can promote transparent and scalable solutions for quality-of-care measurement.