Online service offers medical searches, CME

Stanford University launches a new online service for physicians that combines searches with CME offerings.

By Tyler Chin, amednews staff. June 12, 2000.

Stanford University is launching e-SKOLAR, a for-profit Internet company that will enable physicians to access medical information online while earning continuing medical education credits.

The San Francisco-based company will debut its first product, Stanford SKOLAR MD, in July. The product, a high-speed medical search service, will allow doctors to search for information simultaneously across multiple medical databases, full-text journals, textbooks and clinical guidelines, according to Phyllis Gardner, MD, senior associate dean for education and student affairs at Stanford's School of Medicine.

Stanford developed the service four years ago for its physicians and medical students, who have been using it since 1998.

Because all the information is peer reviewed, physicians can be assured that the information they get will be of high quality. That assurance, plus the speed and indexing features, Dr. Gardner claims, sets Stanford SKOLAR apart from Internet competitors such as Healtheon/WebMD.

Physicians also will be able to earn CME credits for accessing and learning information online (http://www.eskolar.com/). The number of credits available will be based partly on the amount of time they spend learning online, said Paul Lippe, CEO of e-SKOLAR.

In addition to fees associated with developing its CME service, e-SKOLAR also will earn money on subscription fees -- $240 annually per physician. The company is 60% owned by Stanford and the remainder by private investors.