Welcome, PIER, A New Physicians' Information and Education Resource

• PIER
• Information services
• Medical informatics applications
• Computers

After more than 6 years of developmental effort and extensive user testing during the past 12 months, the American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal Medicine will unveil a preview version of PIER (Physicians' Information and Education Resource) at the 2002 Annual Session in Philadelphia. PIER is a central element in the College's ongoing efforts to provide high-quality educational and information tools for its members while embracing the new opportunities afforded by electronic media and the Internet.

PIER is an ambitious undertaking, similar in scope and importance to other respected College programs, such as its Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP) and its publication of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines through the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Program (CEAP). Under the editorial direction of Dr. David Goldmann, PIER has now produced about 130 peer-reviewed modules, each written by an authority and peer-reviewed by other experts. Each module addresses a common problem in internal medicine; many more are under development and will be added in the months ahead. The College will be evaluating PIER further in the coming months, and we encourage College members to explore PIER's capabilities by logging on to the College's Web site after the release of the preview version in April (http://πer.acponline.org). Your comments and suggestions will be extremely valuable to the developers as PIER continues to evolve. Eventually, the College will release PIER in a version for handheld computers …