Intravenous blood glucose usually produces results in a few hours to a day or so, and a fingertip glucose meter performs a blood glucose check that produces results in seconds. How long it takes to get the results of a blood glucose check depends mainly on the method used to measure blood glucose. Nowadays, there are two ways to measure blood glucose, one is to go to the hospital to draw blood to measure the venous blood glucose, and the other is to use the fingertip blood glucose meter at home to measure the blood glucose. The results of venous blood glucose taken in hospitals are usually available within a few hours to a day, depending on the hospital and whether or not the blood glucose is taken in conjunction with other tests. A rapid glucose meter measures fingertip blood glucose and produces results in seconds. This is a quick and easy way for diabetic patients to self-manage their blood glucose at home, but fingertip blood glucose is not usually used as a basis for diagnosis and medication adjustment. Diabetic patients should monitor their blood glucose and take treatment under the guidance of their doctors.