By the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Public Affairs

WASHINGTON – A veteran-owned small business is bringing a modern bedside manner to Soldiers in austere environments. Remote Health Solutions, a finalist in the U.S. Army’s xTechSearch 5 competition, is revolutionizing telemedicine for Soldiers by bringing the thorough nature of an in-person doctor visit to a virtual platform.

The challenge with receiving quality care in remote or combat environments is something company CEO, Adam Hardage, knows firsthand from over 20 years of service as a captain in the Air Force and the Army National Guard. While deployed in Afghanistan with the Army in 2011, Hardage experienced symptoms of vertigo and vision loss, but was unable to receive a proper diagnosis while overseas; it wasn’t until he returned to the U.S. that Hardage was diagnosed with and treated for multiple sclerosis.

This experience inspired the founding of Remote Health Solutions, which seeks to provide quality telemedicine care to both the military and commercial organizations. The company runs a national provider network and offers virtual care via a suite of telemedicine devices, known as the Virtual Exam Room. Using VER, an in-network doctor can complete a full virtual exam of a patient; this includes using the device to collect vital signs, medical imaging and more, which gives the provider concrete data to make an accurate diagnosis.

“Technology as it relates to telemedicine is critical to medics in the field,” Hardage said. “With modern technology, such as the VER, one medic can monitor multiple patients at the same time and can have insight to know if a patient needs special care.”

Remote Health Solutions takes the guesswork out of telemedicine because combat medics can conduct a real-time consultation with doctors through VER, and can also share diagnostic patient data via live telemetry to expedite an accurate diagnosis and treatment for Soldiers. The xTech Program recognized the potential life-saving benefits of the technology and awarded Remote Health Solutions over $140,000 in cash prizes as a finalist in xTechSearch 5. xTech, led by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, is an Army program that awards and accelerates transformative science and technology innovations that can solve critical modernization challenges faced by Soldiers.

“Science and technology is a critical part of modern-day warfare,” Hardage said. “xTech is an Army tool that helps young S&T companies develop veracity and credibility to do business with them.”

Since wrapping up xTech in 2021, Remote Health Solutions has been awarded additional Small Business Innovation Research contracts across the military, including one with the Marine Corps and another with the Air Force that is being used to integrate the VER with the Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit. BATDOK is a multipatient monitoring device used by the Air Force.

Hardage knows that comprehensive health care can be a challenge for the Army in austere environments, when doctors and hospitals aren’t readily available. Remote Health Solutions is bringing the efficacy of in-person treatment to a virtual platform to solve this challenge in support of our nation’s military, who deserve access to comprehensive health care whether their mission is stateside or in a warzone.