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Debate continues regarding the significance of this effect.[citation needed] Some reactive patients will react to many other stimuli throughout their daily lives and require treatment. In some cases a lower BP reading occurs at the doctor's office.

blood pressure devices that take readings every half hour throughout the day and night have been used for identifying and mitigating measurement problems like white-coat hypertension. Except for sleep, home monitoring could be used for these purposes instead of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Home monitoring may be used to improve hypertension management and to monitor the effects of lifestyle changes and medication related to BP. Compared to ambulatory blood pressure measurements, home monitoring has been found to be an effective and lower cost alternative.

Aside from the white-coat effect, BP readings outside of a clinical setting are usually slightly lower in the majority of people. The studies that looked into the risks from hypertension and the benefits of lowering BP in affected patients were based on readings in a clinical environment.

When measuring BP, an accurate reading requires that one not drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, or engage in strenuous exercise for 30 minutes before taking the reading. A full bladder may have a small effect on BP readings; if the urge to urinate exists, one should do so before the reading. For 5 minutes before the reading, one should sit upright in a chair with one's feet flat on the floor and with limbs uncrossed. The BP cuff should always be against bare skin, as readings taken over a shirt sleeve are less accurate. During the reading, the arm that is used should be relaxed and kept at heart level, for example by resting it on a table.

Since BP varies throughout the day, measurements intended to monitor changes over longer time frames should be taken at the same time of day to ensure that the readings are comparable. Suitable times are:

immediately after awakening (before washing/dressing and taking breakfast/drink), while the body is still resting,

immediately after finishing work.

Automatic self-contained BP monitors are available at reasonable prices, some of which are capable of Korotkoff's measurement in addition to oscillometric methods, enabling irregular heartbeat patients to accurately measure their blood pressure at home.

Arterial blood pressure (BP) is most accurately measured invasively through an arterial line. Invasive arterial pressure measurement with intravascular cannulae involves direct measurement of arterial pressure by placing a cannula needle in an artery (usually radial, femoral, dorsalis pedis or brachial). This procedure can be done by any licensed medical doctor, nurse, or a Respiratory Therapist.

The cannula must be connected to a sterile, fluid-filled system, which is connected to an electronic pressure transducer. The advantage of this system is that pressure is constantly monitored beat-by-beat, and a waveform (a graph of pressure against time) can be displayed. This invasive technique is regularly employed in human and veterinary intensive care medicine, anesthesiology, and for research purposes.

Cannulation for invasive vascular pressure monitoring is infrequently associated with complications such as thrombosis, infection, and bleeding. Patients with invasive arterial monitoring require very close supervision, as there is a danger of severe bleeding if the line becomes disconnected. It is generally reserved for patients where rapid variations in arterial pressure are anticipated.