A method of making diagnostic test strips, the method comprising: marking a first plurality of electrical strip contacts encoding a base code of a machine-readable pattern onto a plurality of diagnostic test strips, the base code comprising information that allows a meter designed to work with the plurality of diagnostic test strips to convert raw signal data from one or more electrodes on the plurality of diagnostic test strips into a meaningful concentration value for an analyte of interest using a lookup table; determining a modified code of a machine-readable pattern, the modified code i) is based on a post-production measurement of one or more strip geometry parameters and/or one or more chemistry parameters of at least one of the one or more diagnostic test strips, ii) indicates an offset to the base code, and iii) is different from the base code of the plurality of diagnostic test strips being produced, wherein the measurement is performed after the plurality of test strips is embedded with the base code, marking a second plurality of electrical strip contacts encoding the modified code onto one or more diagnostic test strips of the plurality of diagnostic test strips, wherein the marking of the modified code onto the test strip instructs the meter to offset the base code of the first machine-readable pattern by a certain amount, and wherein the modified code modifies information encoded by the base code based on a difference in an average value for the plurality of diagnostic test strips of the one or more strip geometry parameters and/or one or more chemistry parameters and a corresponding value for the one or more diagnostic test strips of the plurality of diagnostic test strips. marking a first plurality of electrical strip contacts encoding a base code of a machine-readable pattern onto a plurality of diagnostic test strips, the base code comprising information that allows a meter designed to work with the plurality of diagnostic test strips to convert raw signal data from one or more electrodes on the plurality of diagnostic test strips into a meaningful concentration value for an analyte of interest using a lookup table; determining a modified code of a machine-readable pattern, the modified code i) is based on a post-production measurement of one or more strip geometry parameters and/or one or more chemistry parameters of at least one of the one or more diagnostic test strips, ii) indicates an offset to the base code, and iii) is different from the base code of the plurality of diagnostic test strips being produced, wherein the measurement is performed after the plurality of test strips is embedded with the base code, marking a second plurality of electrical strip contacts encoding the modified code onto one or more diagnostic test strips of the plurality of diagnostic test strips, wherein the marking of the modified code onto the test strip instructs the meter to offset the base code of the first machine-readable pattern by a certain amount, and wherein the modified code modifies information encoded by the base code based on a difference in an average value for the plurality of diagnostic test strips of the one or more strip geometry parameters and/or one or more chemistry parameters and a corresponding value for the one or more diagnostic test strips of the plurality of diagnostic test strips. <EOS>