Consumer electronics retailer BestBuy has signed a three year deal with Atrium Health to sell the devices needed for patients to get hospital care at home.
The three year deal with the North Carolina-based health tech organization will enable a hospital-at-home program and will include home installation.
Members of the company’s Geek Squad, more used to installing surround sound and home theater systems, will go to the homes of patients and set up technology that can remotely monitor the heart rate, blood oxygen and other vitals of a person. They will also train others in the household to use the technology, and the subsequent data will be shared with doctors and nurses through a telemedicine hub.
Atrium will buy healthcare technology from Best Buy and will use the Geek Squad service for both installation and retrieval once a patient has recovered or no longer needs the equipment. Patients will pay Atrium for the service through their health insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid.
For Best Buy, the hospital-at-home program represents the latest push to turn health care into a more meaningful revenue driver. Its health-care expansion comes as sales of other consumer electronics slow.
Best Buy has made major moves into the healthcare industry in recent years. The company has acquired three companies in the space in the last five years: GreatCall, a cell-phone maker which provides emergency response services for the elderly; Critical Technologies, which also creates tech for seniors; and Current Health, a U.K.-based remote patient monitoring company.
Atrium Health began its hospital-at-home service during the pandemic, when hospitals were full and patients had to be treated at home. So far, the company has served over 6,300 patients through the service, which is available to those who are medically stable.