Domain-Adapted Small Language Models for Reliable Clinical Triage

Excerpt

arXiv:2604.26766v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Accurate and consistent Emergency Severity Index (ESI) assignment remains a persistent challenge in emergency departments, where highly variable free-text triage documentation contributes to mistriage and workflow inefficiencies. This study evaluates whether open-source small language models (SLMs) can serve as reliable, privacy-preserving decision-support tools for clinical triage. We systematically compared multiple SLMs across diverse