Principal Investigators: Jeanne Spencer, MD, FAAFP
Memorial Medical Center/The InforMedx Group
1086 Franklin St
Johnstown, PA 15905

Health E Control (HEC) was a Congressionally-directed program of research funded by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technologies Research Center (TATRC) at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The HEC focus was to research consumer-based healthcare, and empowerment of the consumer to make wise health decisions by using Internet-based technologies and information tools. The HEC Program of Research had two independent, but similar, arms of research activity and was conducted from 2005 to 2007 at two sites: Moncrief Army Community Hospital (MACH), Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Memorial Medical Center/Conemaugh Health System (CHS) in Western Pennsylvania. The scope of the research program included a combined intervention of services (consumer health tools, technologies and information) and information systems solutions (web-based online tools and information, web pages, kiosks, and portal technologies). The objective was to conduct an experiment (proof of concept and technology demonstration), of an alternative health care access mechanism (online tools, technologies and information) for specialized services (consumer health information) in both DoD and Memorial Medical Center/ Conemaugh Health System (CHS) facilities".

The HEC Program of Research was created to explore consumer use of web-based healthcare technologies, tools and information, and fulfilled the following tasks:
Task 1. Measured the use of web-based healthcare technologies, tools and information when made easily accessible to the consumer
Task 2. Examined the change in consumer behavior and health status, due to consumer use of web-based healthcare technologies tools and information
Task 3. Evaluated the demonstration, and documented lessons learned and recommendations

HEC was a descriptive study which employed both Quantitative and Qualitative research methods utilizing validated instruments and rigorous research execution which resulted in highly reliable and significant findings. Subjects were a convenience sample of those adult (over 18 years of age), English-speaking Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian beneficiaries who accessed any of the multiple kiosks at various locations on the base at Fort Jackson, SC and in community locations in Western Pennsylvania.