Artificial Intelligence in the U.S. Military Health System: Forging a New Frontier for Clinical Care and Efficiency

The Military Health System (MHS) has historically been at the forefront of innovation in medicine and science, but it has also historically struggled to implement battlefield innovations or civilian technologies for wider domestic use. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in health care with civilian health systems and institutions at the forefront of these innovations. While these tools have the potential to support resolution of military health's most pressing issues, the MHS is behind its civilian counterparts in advancing AI. Adoption of AI could benefit the MHS in such areas as service member and beneficiary access to care; more precise allocation of medical personnel and resources; improved operations of military treatment facilities; early detection of emerging threats to health; and force multiplication of existing telehealth capabilities. This evolving and highly visible technology also presents challenges in the military context above those in the civilian context, such as additional levels of privacy and security, integration with purpose-built secure systems, and additional regulatory obligations. To address these, the MHS should engage in three lines of effort to advance AI: establishing governance, education and training of medical personnel, and engaging in research, development, testing, and piloting of AI applications. This will require dedicated personnel and resources for a substantial initial outlay to be recouped later through more effective administration and care. By leveraging lessons learned from civilian systems, the MHS can design, adopt, and implement AI solutions to improve care for service members in both domestic and operational contexts, and for their beneficiaries.