Blood Sugar Meter in 2026: Why You Still Need One Even With a CGM
A lot of people assume that once they get a continuous glucose monitor, the blood sugar meter goes in a drawer forever. That assumption causes more dosing errors than most diabetes educators would like to admit, and the reason comes down to how each device actually measures glucose with insurance.
What a Blood Sugar Meter Measures That a CGM Does Not
A traditional blood sugar meter measures glucose directly from a drop of capillary blood, giving an immediate, real time number. A continuous glucose monitoring system, by contrast, measures glucose in the interstitial fluid under the skin, which typically lags blood readings by several minutes. This lag is the exact reason most endocrinologists still recommend a finger stick confirmation before administering insulin during a rapid glucose swing, a detail that rarely makes it into CGM marketing material.