Thank you for your letter regarding our article, “Differences in Glucose Values From Point-of-Care Glucose Meters and Laboratory Analysis in Critically Ill Patients.”1 

Our selection, a priori, of glucose differences of more than 20 mg/dL as being significant was based on a clinical judgment. It was not tied to an industry standard related to use of a point-of-care (POC) device for trend monitoring of glucose. Glucose determinations in critically ill patients are used for titration of continuous intravenous insulin infusions based on narrowly defined ranges of glucose values, necessitating a performance level that is more precise than what may be acceptable for trend monitoring.

We agree that the POC device used in this study did perform as described in the manufacturer’s information. The concern we raised based on the results of this study, as well as those raised by other recent publications,2 –4 is related to whether...

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