These standards apply when the staff of the organization perform the testing with instruments either owned by the organization or by
the individual served. These standards do not apply to waived tests performed by the individual. If staff members are providing
instruction or cueing the individual served, then these standards would also not apply.
When the organization uses the results of testing done by the individual served for clinical decisions, the organization needs to ensure
that the individual served is doing the testing properly so the results are accurate. The organization must also ensure that the
appropriate quality control measures have been used on the testing equipment by the individual. The process is similar to ensuring the
competency of a staff member who performs the test.
Currently, The Joint Commission allows for an organization to use the individual’s results for treatment decisions. When using an
individual’s results from self-testing, health care providers do not have the same types of assurance about quality as they would if they
conducted the waived testing themselves. The following processes are not specific Joint Commission requirements but are provided
only as examples of how organizations have dealt with these concerns in practice:
- Verification of competency by either confirming that the individual served has been previously trained or observing the individual
served perform their first test
- Requiring the individual served to perform quality control, if available for the meter, each day results are used
- Correlation of the individual’s first glucose result with testing by a main laboratory
- Confirmation of all critical and nonlinear instrument values with testing by the main laboratory
- Demonstration of proper equipment maintenance