scope:

Who Should Use This Guideline?

This guideline was developed for authorized personnel directly involved in the establishment, management, and implementation of a blood glucose (BG) monitoring (BGM) program at sites without support from hospital laboratories. For the purposes of this document, these authorized personnel are referred to as "operators." In settings where there is more than one operator, one individual should be designated to coordinate the testing program. For the purposes of this document, this individual is referred to as the "coordinator." It is assumed that authorized personnel have met the minimum personnel qualifications and training specified by the site coordinator.

Where Should This Guideline Be Used?

This guideline should be used in settings where there is no laboratory support, such as those listed below, to be defined by each institution. All areas of use shall be staffed with personnel who are authorized by the institution to use BGM systems (BGMS).

This guideline is not intended for use in acute and chronic care facilities with on-site laboratory support. Operators monitoring glucose levels in these types of settings should refer to CLSI document POCT12.1

This guideline may be used in a variety of locations, which include but are not limited to:

• Physicians' offices
• Camps attended by people with diabetes
• Mobile emergency medical facilities
• Free-standing dialysis facilities
• Home health care settings (not applicable to individuals with diabetes who do their own testing)
• Visiting nursing programs or home care agencies
• Public health facilities
• Mobile or free-standing clinics (eg, migrant worker clinics, other clinics in remote locations)
• Occupational health facilities
• Pharmacies
• Prisons
• Residential care communities
• Schools and student health facilities
• Urgent care centers
• Day care centers
• Long-term care and skilled nursing facilities
• Group homes

What Is Included in This Guideline?

This guideline provides information related to specimen collection, use of the BG test strips and meters, and the necessary actions to take when abnormally high or abnormally low BG concentrations are found.