Ascensia Diabetes Care - Contour Next - 7314 - Us - Control Solution, Level 2, Normal, 2.5 Ml For Use With Bayer'S Test Strips. - Box/1

I was an early adopter of blood glucose monitoring and begun home glucose monitoring in 1980. Since that time I've taken well in excess of 100,000 bG tests and have used more than a dozen different blood glucose meters from 5 different manufactuers. Against that background I'd rate this meter as okay but with much room for improvement. On the plus side it accepts a tiny blood sample and reports the result fairly quickly. On the negative side the accuracy of the readings just meets FDA standards of +/- 15%. Math has never been my strong point but is a result might be either 15% above the actual value or 15% below the actual value that's a 30% window of uncertainty. This is a totally unacceptable level of accuracy for the many folks trying to keep their blood glucose in anything like a "normal" range! As a type 1 insulin dependant diabetic I have always aimed at keeping my A1c levels between 5 & 6 so a 30% margin of uncertainty is just not good enough! Worse yet several large scale meter accuracy assessment studies have pointed out that actual in the field test accuracy is closer to a 40% window of uncertainty! That said a recent large scale study rated the Contour Next at the top of the accuracy list. Perhaps my biggest complaint about this meter is the user controls. The vast majority of tests I take are after meals and yet it takes multiple kep presses to highlight and select the "After Meal" menu choice. I also am dissapointed with the way results are reported in the Trends. Fasting/Before Meal/After Meal/Overall simply does not allow folks aiming for tight control enough measuring sticks. I can't remember the name of the organization but there is a group of medical professionals who have come up with a standardized reporting standard which is heads and shoulders above that being used with this meter. I would urge Bayer to adopt it! My biggest complaint about Bayer is that when I've called about a meter problem I've been forced to waste as much as half an hour answering totally ansurd questions that have nothing whatever to do with my problem! One Touch meter support is heads and shoulders above Bayer...one or two simple questions and you receive a replacement meter!

I've owned many glucose meters in the past 16 years and was talking to my Endocrinologist doctor about a cheap and accurate glucose meter that didn't have expensive test strips and he gave me the Bayer Contour Next for free. My last one was a Relion Micro which was a lot more accurate than the "Prime" though the strips were more expensive which I used for several years. A few notes about my new Contour...It's sometimes hard to get the test strip into the slot as if it's sliding over the top or bottom of where it's intended to go. Also, and very important, the strips can range from very cheap to expensive depending on where you buy them. I bought a 200 ct. bulk pack from the internet for $41. No coding and VERY small blood sample needed. Plus instead of wasting a test strip if you don't apply enough blood like my last meter, it gives you the ability to reapply to the same strip which I like with 7,14,30 and 90 day averages of your glucose sugar readings and to mark them fasting, pre or post meals.