December 10, 2002 - PHILADELPHIA and CHICAGO – 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™, 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 innovative 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 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. "A few moments with evidence-based medicine could be worth a few hours of structured educational sessions because of the patient context," said John Tooker, M.D., M.B.A., executive vice president and chief executive officer of ACP-ASIM. "Evidence-based medicine delivered through PIER can have a tremendous impact on health care, and we're excited about partnering with the AMA to promote its use in regular practice."

By delivering evidence-based medicine through the TouchWorks modular electronic medical record, or mEMR™, PIER promotes contextual learning. Using Just Right, Just-in-Time Information™ technology, the weighted clinical database delivers the right bit of information to physicians when they need it most: with their patients.

"The ACP-ASIM and AMA study could shift the continuing education paradigm from a classroom model to learning in the context of patient care," said J. Peter Geerlofs, M.D., chief medical officer of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions. "ACP-ASIM estimates that the average primary care physician has 12 unanswered questions per day. What better way to teach than to answer those questions at the precise moment the physician is engaged in writing orders and making treatment decisions?"

The use of evidence-based medicine helps physicians base their practice on current scientific evidence. The combination of PIER and TouchWorks will help physicians integrate sound medical knowledge into the care and treatment of each patient.

About the American College of Physicians - American Society of Internal Medicine

The American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM) is the nation's largest medical specialty organization and second-largest physician group. Its membership comprises more than 115,000 internal medicine physicians and medical students. Internists are specialists in the prevention, detection and treatment of illnesses that primarily affect adults.

About Allscripts Healthcare Solutions

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ: MDRX) is the leading provider of point-of-care decision support solutions for physicians. The Company's TouchWorks software products enhance physician productivity using wireless PDAs, Tablet PCs, or desktop workstations to automate the most common physician activities including prescribing, capturing charges, dictating, ordering labs and viewing results, providing patient education, and taking clinical notes.