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Waived Testing - Patient/Resident/Client

If a patient/resident/client performs a waived test on his/her own personal testing device, can the results be used for treatment decisions?  

Any examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Yes, if the medical staff/leaders are informed of such a process, understands the risks, and the process is approved in written policy by the organization's leadership. Such a practice bears similarities to use of a reference laboratory. When using a reference laboratory, organizations must verify that the laboratory is compliant with applicable law and regulation. This is evidenced by having a current CLIA certificate and a successful biennial inspection. When using a patient/resident/client's result from self-testing, the healthcare provider does not have the same types of assurance provided by compliant reference laboratories, such as adequate competency, successful quality control or proper equipment maintenance.

The following processes are not specific Joint Commission requirements and are only provided as examples of how organizations have dealt with these concerns in practice. Verify competency by either confirming the patient/resident/client has been previously trained or observing the patient/resident/client perform their first test. Require the patient/resident/client to perform quality control, if available for the meter, each day results are used. Correlate the patient/resident/client's first glucose result with testing by a main laboratory. Confirm all critical and nonlinear instrument values with testing by the main laboratory.
Manual: Home Care
Chapter: Waived Testing WT
First published date: April 11, 2016 This Standards FAQ was first published on this date.
This page was last updated on October 29, 2021
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