Agentic AI in Healthcare and Medicine: A Seven-Dimensional Taxonomy for Empirical Evaluation of LLM-Based Agents
Агентный искусственный интеллект в здравоохранении и медицине: семимерная таксономия для эмпирической оценки агентов на основе больших языковых моделей
2026-01-01
SCID: 54.1/x4b3ja2s
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LLM-based agentsempirical evaluationhealthcare and medicinemulti-agent designseven-dimensional taxonomy
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Abstract (AI)
Large Language Model (LLM)-based agents that plan, use tools and act has begun to shape healthcare and medicine. Reported studies demonstrate competence on various tasks ranging from EHR analysis and differential diagnosis to treatment planning and research workflows. Yet the literature largely consists of overviews which are either broad surveys or narrow dives into a single capability (e.g., memory, planning, reasoning), leaving healthcare work without a common frame. We address this by reviewing 49 studies using a seven-dimensional taxonomy: Cognitive Capabilities, Knowledge Management, Interaction Patterns, Adaptation & Learning, Safety & Ethics, Framework Typology and Core Tasks & Subtasks with 29 operational sub-dimensions. Using explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria and a labeling rubric (Fully Implemented✓,Partially ImplementedΔ,Not Implemented✗), we map each study to the taxonomy and report quantitative summaries of capability prevalence and co-occurrence patterns. Our empirical analysis surfaces clear asymmetries. For instance, the External Knowledge Integration sub-dimension under Knowledge Management is commonly realized (∼76% ✓) whereas Event-Triggered Activation sub-dimenison under Interaction Patterns is largely absent (∼92% ✗) and Drift Detection & Mitigation sub-dimension under Adaptation & Learning is rare (∼98% ✗). Architecturally, Multi-Agent Design sub-dimension under Framework Typology is the dominant pattern (∼82% ✓) while orchestration layers remain mostly partial. Across Core Tasks & Subtasks, information centric capabilities lead e.g., Medical Question Answering & Decision Support and Benchmarking & Simulation, while action and discovery oriented areas such as Treatment Planning & Prescription still show substantial gaps (∼59% ✗). Together, these findings provide an empirical baseline indicating that current agents excel at retrieval-grounded advising but require stronger adaptation and compliance platforms to move from early-stage systems to dependable systems.
Key Findings
1
A review of 49 studies uses explicit inclusion criteria and a labeling rubric to quantify capability prevalence and co-occurrence patterns.
2
Current healthcare agents primarily support retrieval-grounded advising and information-centric tasks, but require stronger adaptation and compliance capabilities for broader clinical action.
3
Event-Triggered Activation and Drift Detection & Mitigation are largely absent, with approximately 92% and 98% of studies not implementing them, respectively.
4
External Knowledge Integration is commonly implemented, with approximately 76% of studies fully implementing it.
5
Multi-Agent Design is the dominant architectural pattern at approximately 82% full implementation, while treatment planning and prescription remain substantially underdeveloped, with approximately 59% not implemented.
6
The paper introduces a seven-dimensional taxonomy with 29 operational sub-dimensions for empirically evaluating LLM-based healthcare agents.
Research Object
LLM-based agents in healthcare and medicine
Research Subject
The empirical distribution, co-occurrence, and implementation gaps of agents’ cognitive, knowledge-management, interaction, adaptation, safety, architectural, and healthcare-task capabilities
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2026-01-01
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References available in scid.ai5
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A survey on LLM-based multi-agent systems: workflow, infrastructure, and challenges2024
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ClinicalAgent: Clinical Trial Multi-Agent System with Large Language Model-based Reasoning2024