Physicians who use handheld computers to access evidence-based medical information while caring for patients will now have the opportunity to earn continuing medical education (CME) credit for their efforts. The American College of Physicians- American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM) announced its participation in a pilot program with the American Medical Association (AMA) to provide AMA PRA category 1 CME credit to physicians using PIER(TM), ACP-ASIM's evidence- based clinical decision support tool, integrated with TouchWorks clinical software from Allscripts Healthcare Solutions.

During the 18-month pilot program to investigate ways to award CME credit, ACP-ASIM will use TouchWorks to monitor physician use of PIER (Physicians' Information and Education Resource) during patient encounters. The results will help determine standards for awarding CME credit to physicians who seek point-of-care evidence-based answers to clinical questions.

The AMA and ACP-ASIM said they hope to encourage physicians to use evidence-based medicine in regular practice. During the pilot program, the AMA will award up to 10 AMA PRA category 1 credits to physicians who access ACP-ASIM's PIER using the TouchWorks wireless handheld application from Allscripts Healthcare Solutions. ACP-ASIM and the AMA will review physician activity from PIER and TouchWorks to determine appropriate equivalencies for evidence-based medicine learning and CME.

PIER offers peer-reviewed, evidence-based guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of disease, and links to articles and patient information across nearly 300 disease-specific modules. More than 500 physician-experts develop PIER guidance statements based on a rigorous review of current medical evidence.