Would You Buy Blood Pressure and Glucose Devices At Best Buy – Pilot Program In New Jersey

This may not be a bad idea as I said last year I thought it would be a good idea if Microsoft had a healthcare section in their retail stores as devices that connect to phones and PC become more plentiful out there. You would almost need a “quiet” area though so people could hear as the one Microsoft store I visited was very loud and I thought could use a little acoustic work as the loud games certainly could not be ignored.

The Best Buy folks could certainly help people learn how to connect the devices and questions beyond the software/hardware end that are clinically specific would need to go back to a drug store or doctor to answer, either that or start putting mini clinics in Best Buy to be an all in one convenience. I say that in jest but who knows what we will see next out there in retail. I see devices on the shelves at Fry’s but again it’s just a box you buy and take home with no support or help in that area. BD

New Jersey healthcare facility Meridian Health is working together with their local Best Buy store to assess whether consumers are comfortable buying connected health devices at a big box electronics store, Sandra Elliott, Director of Consumer Technology at Meridian Health told attendees at our event, MobiHealthNews Presents: Everywhere Healthcare in Las Vegas last month.

“We have spent a significant amount of time over the last few months working with Best Buy,” Elliott announced. “Meridian is very comfortable in the understanding that as health system we know a lot about care, but not a lot about retail. Most people will or do feel very comfortable about going to Best Buy and looking at consumer electronics. Given the fact that a number of consumer medical devices are available through other retail stores, we wondered whether Best Buy was a potential opportunity.”

“The reason consumers are more comfortable buying some of these health devices at a Best Buy rather than a CVS or Walgreens in some cases is that they know that the data is valuable, and they want to learn how to connect the device to their PCs or mobile phones or other system. That’s not a question that Meridian Health wants to get involved in answering,” Elliott explained.