Minneapolis-based retail giant Best Buy has announced plans to expand its at-home care offerings through a partnership with Pennsylvania-based healthcare system Geisinger Health. Best Buy and Geisinger plan to co-create a chronic care management package in which Best Buy will supply patient engagement and monitoring, and Geisinger will bring clinical expertise to healthcare organizations.
Geisinger Health comprises 10 hospitals, as well as a health plan with more than half a million members. The health system has 25,000 employees and more than 1,700 physicians. The health system also has 133 primary care and specialty clinic sites and serves 67 counties.
In 2021, Geisinger launched ConnectedCare365, its chronic care management platform, and enrolled patients in remote patient monitoring programs. Patients received devices, such as blood pressure cuffs and glucose meters, to monitor their health at home. The data collected was transmitted to Geisinger through Current Health, a home care and remote patient monitoring platform acquired by Best Buy in October 2021 for $400 million.
Just a year after the Current Health acquisition, Geisinger began piloting a program utilizing Best Buy’s Geek Squad agents to deliver, install and activate the remote care management devices. The agents also taught patients how to use the machines and ensured the data was being transmitted to Geisinger’s care team. The program has served 300 Geisinger patients to date.
Best Buy sells technology products, services and solutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company first stepped into healthcare in 2018, when it acquired emergency response provider GreatCall (rebranded as Lively in 2021) for $800 million. In 2019, Best Buy purchased remote senior monitoring company Critical Signal Technologies for an undisclosed price.
