Application of Telehealth and Artificial Intelligence in Military Health Care: A Promising Combination for the Future

Clinical Snapshot

Key Findings

• P Value: Not reported

• Effect Size: Not reported — no quantitative effect sizes are presented in this narrative review

• Primary Outcome: Qualitative synthesis suggesting that the integration of telehealth and AI in military healthcare can enhance medical readiness, resilience, access to specialist care, diagnostic accuracy, and triage efficiency in operationally constrained environments

• Nnt Or Sensitivity: Not applicable — no diagnostic accuracy metrics, NNT, hazard ratios, or other quantitative measures are reported; the review does not synthesise primary study data

• Confidence Interval: Not reported — no statistical analyses or confidence intervals are provided

Clinical Application

Implementation feasibility is discussed conceptually but not empirically evaluated. Key barriers — including secure communications infrastructure, bandwidth limitations in forward operating bases, training requirements, regulatory approval of AI decision-support tools, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities — are acknowledged but not systematically addressed. Feasibility in low-resource or non-NATO military environments is not considered. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) operates in diverse and geographically dispersed environments across the Indo-Pacific, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions, where telehealth-AI integration could have direct relevance. The Australian Digital Health Agency and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) have established regulatory pathways for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), which would govern AI-enabled clinical decision support tools. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has published telehealth standards applicable to remote and deployed settings. The ADF's Joint Health Command would need to evaluate any AI-telehealth integration against existing clinical governance frameworks. PBS considerations are not directly applicable to military operational medicine, which operates under separate Defence Health Service funding. The paper's NATO-centric focus limits direct applicability without contextual adaptation for ADF doctrine and Indo-Pacific operational environments. Military medical officers, defence force health planners, and emergency medicine specialists working in remote, resource-constrained, or operationally deployed settings. Potentially relevant to civilian mass-casualty, disaster medicine, and remote area health contexts where similar constraints apply.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Military and peace-support operations increasingly depend on medical capability delivered under difficult circumstances: distance, limited number of specialists, disrupted connectivity, and mass-casualty risk. Consequently, military health care systems operate during missions in uniquely constrained and high-risk environments, ranging from remote bases and naval platforms to active combat zones and humanitarian missions. These mission contexts demand rapid, reliable, and scalable medical solutions that can function despite limited personnel, infrastructure, and connectivity. METHOD: By reviewing existing literature and considering several different programs for military health care using telehealth and artificial intelligence (AI), the key performance indicators are explored to evaluate the synergy of telehealth and AI, following its implementation. RESULTS: Telehealth has become an increasingly important component of modern health care and holds the promise of increasing access to (special) health care without moving the patient but the information. Telehealth also enables continuity of care on missions and has already demonstrated its value in extending medical expertise across distance, while AI is evolving rapidly as a powerful enabler of decision support, automation, and predictive analytics in the medical field. As AI capabilities mature, several medical specialties may benefit, particularly in medical imaging, through faster triage, more consistent interpretation, and better prioritization of scarce specialist time. It also contributes to "decision support "while making proposals based on big data, machine learning and AI (e.g., in a Trauma registry). Telehealth provides the communication backbone that preserves these interactions and enables safe use of AI-enabled support in dispersed operations. CONCLUSIONS: The convergence of telehealth and AI in military health care will lead to a strategic capability with increased efficiency and enhance readiness, resilience, access to medical care, and quality of care for military personnel, including faster and more accurate diagnoses and better patient monitoring. Both technologies (AI and telehealth) are expected to continue to advance and play an even larger role in optimizing health care in the military.

References

1. 1.Scheid, P. L., Schvach, H., & Scheid, S. E. (2026). Application of telehealth and artificial intelligence in military health care: A promising combination for the future. Telemedicine Journal and e-Health: The Official Journal of the American Telemedicine Association. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15305627261440761