Gaining Acceptance from Health Care Providers There is no
assurance that once a test is developed, approved, and available
for use it will ever be adopted for use by doctors. A new test
must gain acceptance by doctors, a process that can take years.
A crucial element in this process is publication of study
findings and other reporting on the new test in the peer-
reviewed medical literature. Over time, exposure to the test and
data supporting its clinical usefulness from these sources will
increase doctors' confidence and comfort with the new test and
the interpretation of test results. Adoption rates are highest
among doctors who keep up with the medical literature. These
doctors may read about a particular new test in a medical
journal and then ask the laboratory if the test is available.
Because doctors regard the scientific literature as the gold
standard for information about new tests, researchers seek to
have their findings about a newly approved test published in one
of the leading journals, as the tes