Most providers encourage their patients to check their own glucose at home with a glucose meter and then to bring their meter or glucose log to the appointment to review the results. Often the data are collected for ease of the user, which makes sense from the standpoint of the patient; however, these data are also intended to help the provider to see glucose patterns and make treatment decisions. It is often hard for providers to make sense of or see patterns in glucose readings based on a daily schedule when they are toggling through a glucose meter or a long single-file list of readings. This also takes time, a premium that most providers do not have.
The solution is the glucose meter download station. Most commercially available meters have a cable and software that is free and enables providers to download data from the meter. The program can then display the data in a way that is much easier to interpret. With a quick glance, providers can see how often their patient is testing their glucose, if they are experiencing any hypoglycemia, and any general trends throughout the day or over time. In my office, the medical assistant collects the meter while checking the patient in and will download the data into their electronic medical record.
The location of your equipment can also be important; for example, in my practice we have two computers that are used for glucose meter downloads: one at my medical assistant's desk and one in a central place, like a procedure room, to allow a second download to be completed or to allow another person to download the data if my medical assistant is absent that day. The figure above shows an example of a typical glucose meter download.