Best Buy becomes the latest retailer to enter the healthcare space

By Ciara Linnane

Best Buy will start to sell a continuous glucose monitoring system for diabetics

Best Buy Co. Inc. has become the latest retailer to enter the healthcare space with the news Monday that it will soon start offering a continuous glucose monitoring system as its first prescription-based medical device.

The electronics retailer (BBY) said eligible customers will be able to get the Dexcom G7 CGM via BestBuy.com where they will be directed to its new platform Wellness.BestBuyHealth.com to complete the process.

More than 10% of the U.S. population has diabetes according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the company said in a statement.

"With the demand for CGM growing over the past few years, using devices like Dexcom G7, means no fingersticks, real-time glucose monitoring and the ability to make smarter decisions about controlling diabetes," it said.

The company will not be able to accept insurance payment at launch, although customers with HSA/FSA/HRA funds may be entitled to reimbursement, it added.

Best Buy is the latest in a stream of retailers to unveil plans to get into healthcare.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) said in September that it will soon start offering its members access to medical care, including $29 virtual primary-care visits, through its recent deal with online marketplace Sesame.

"We still have 7% of the American population who is uninsured, or have high-deductible health plans, and they prefer to pay cash for their healthcare," Natalie Schibell, vice president of product marketing at health platform Zyter, told MarketWatch's Weston Blasi. "This shift of retail health into primary care are shifting from those episodic appointments, those coughs, sneezes and the flu, now to full-blown primary care."

Others include Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), which acquired primary-care company One Medical this year for $3.9 billion, as part of the company's overall growing healthcare business, which also includes its online drugstore Amazon Pharmacy, and its doctor-patient communication service called Amazon Clinic.

Walmart (WMT) created Walmart Health in 2019, which has set up centers inside some of the retailer's "Supercenter" locations that provide services such as primary care, dental care, behavioral health, labs and X-rays, audiology and telehealth. Walmart, the world's largest retailer by revenue, plans to have 75 of these centers running by the end of 2024. And it is also exploring buying a stake in primary-care chain ChenMed, according to Reuters.

CVS (CVS) has also been trying to expand its retail locations into a more robust healthcare company ever since it acquired health insurer Aetna in 2018 and home-health provider Signify Health for $8 billion in 2023. Signify Health works with doctors, nurses and physicians assistants to facilitate house calls, among other services.

For more, read: Costco to offer members medical-care access. Here are the retailers moving into healthcare.

Best Buy stock rose 1.6% Monday and is down 13% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

Additional reporting by Weston Blasi

-Ciara Linnane

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10-09-23 1240ET

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