Best Buy’s Current Health acquisition signals it’s elbowing into mainstream healthcare

The news: Best Buy is acquiring remote patient monitoring (RPM) company Current Health—a move that’ll help it carve out a bigger spot in the future of home healthcare.

How we got here: This isn’t Best Buy’s first foray into digital health—it acquired two other healthcare companies before:

• It acquired GreatCall in 2018 for $800 million and Critical Signal Technologies in 2019.
• Best Buy also has a partnership with telehealth company TytoCare for its remote medical exam kit, in-home healthcare startup Workpath for in-home blood draws, and ScriptDrop for medication delivery.

A key differentiator: Unlike its previous acquisitions, Current Health brings in health system clients—which could be a gamechanger for Best Buy’s attempt to elbow into mainstream healthcare.

• Not to mention, it can lean into its existing consumer electronics supply chain to leverage it for RPM devices and solutions (like wearables).
• Moreover, its Current Health acquisition will help it potentially link up with traditional healthcare players, like health systems.
• Current Health’s health system customer roster grew 400% during the pandemic—and includes big names like Mount Sinai, Geisinger Health, and the UK’s National Health Service.

What’s driving Best Buy to healthcare? Namely, a way to pry open new revenue streams.

While Best Buy ranks as a top ecommerce retailer in 2021, its revenues (which come mainly from its consumer electronics sales) have stayed relatively stagnant, averaging around $43 billion annually over the last decade with little variation from year to year.

As the likes of Amazon and Walmart continue to threaten Best Buy’s consumer electronics business, focusing on RPM can help Best Buy diversify its revenue streams and plant a flag in the quickly growing digital health market.

What this acquisition means for Best Buy’s future: Its Current Health acquisition should drive its senior-focused healthcare push forward, in particular.

• For example, it's been gradually building out its RPM-integrated virtual care ecosystem for home healthcare.
• And with a stronger RPM business, it opens doors for partnerships with providers and telehealth companies down the road—especially as more and more virtual care models integrate RPM.

Go deeper: To learn more about how remote patient monitoring is taking root across US healthcare, check out our Remote Patient Monitoring report.