As Best Buy continues its push into healthcare, senior care remains a strong focus—and could make Best Buy the leader in the space.

At a recent investor conference, Best Buy executives said that in five years they hope to provide health monitoring services to 5 million seniors, a five-fold increase, according to a recent Washington Post article. Monitors can range from home sensors to neck pendants. These services are essential to Best Buy’s goal of reaching $50 billion in annual revenue by 2025, according to “Best Buy sees growth in health care technology for elderly.”

Meanwhile, a recent report from global financial services firm Morgan Stanley outlines more reasons that Best Buy could have an outsized impact on senior care. A Senior Housing News article, “Why Best Buy Could Disrupt Senior Care More Than Rivals Like Amazon,” summarized the findings.

Medicare Advantage (MA): As providers become payers under new MA rules, Best Buy could begin to work more closely with MA plans. Insurers could offer Best Buy health products to their beneficiaries—and save money. Best Buy may also be able to target providers with MA plans, build scale, and possibly share savings with national and regional managed care groups and medical professionals, the article said.

Recent Investments in Consumer Health Electronics: In the past two years, Best Buy has acquired GreatCall, which develops smartphones, smartwatches, medical alert devices, and devices for seniors; Critical Signals Technologies, which offers remote patient monitoring; and BioSensics, which makes wearable sensors.

It has launched Assured Living, which offers remote-monitoring equipment for seniors aging at home, and has partnered with TytoCare, which makes a medical examination device that enables a quick diagnosis from a doctor. Best Buy also plans to add high-tech fitness spaces in more than 100 stores.

Stores and Geek Squad: Best Buy has a strong brick-and-mortar presence with nearly 1,000 stores, compared to Apple’s 272. Best Buy’s 20,000+ “Geek Squad” employees could assist senior living residents with technology.

Best Buy’s Potential in the Senior Living Space

Morgan Stanley predicts that Best Buy’s rapid expansion will give it a competitive advantage over Amazon, Apple, and Walmart. Senior Housing News also shared quotes from the report: “These points lead us to believe that Best Buy is at the edge of a significant, untapped white space opportunity in healthcare…. We believe Best Buy has a durable competitive advantage in senior care, its niche in the healthcare services market.”

CAST agrees but believes that Best Buy’s aspirations can only be reached if it manages to strike the right strategic partnerships with not only payers, like Medicare Advantage and Managed Care Plans, but also care providers. Care providers could serve as aggregate marketing channels, but more importantly, they could provide supportive care services to older adults when needed. 

“Partnerships with care providers are key to supporting older adults’ independence, and consequently the success of Best Buy’s strategy, in my humble opinion,” says Majd Alwan, Ph.D., senior vice president of technology at LeadingAge and executive director of CAST. He added, “Such partnerships would not only help Best Buy achieve its sales goals, but also maintain its competitive advantage over others. We’d be happy to explore how LeadingAge, CAST, and our members could help them meet their goals.”