CORRESPONDENCE Evaluating

genomic tests rd ni bl o f n k t availability of genomic tests. This environment has created diagnostic testing also directs the majority of health care Lin et al. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2012, 12:117 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/12/117required for regulatory approval [2]. Generating andAve, Portland 97227, OR, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the articlea number of issues to determining the most appropriate point in time to adopt a new test in clinical practice which cannot be determined solely by availability, marketing, or regulatory approval. Medical testing, in general, lags behind therapeutics in the understanding and application of rigorous evidence-expenditure [1]. A focus on the net benefit of testing to patients (and a population of patients) is common to all stakeholders in medicine, and thus should be the unify-ing goal for any test evaluation framework. Despite the importance of medical testing in patient management, the profit margins for the development of new tests are often low, compared to new pharmaceuti-cals, so there may be little incentive for diagnostic test developers to support clinical testing beyond that * Correspondence