Two major retailers took steps last week to capitalize on the growing home and senior care markets. Walmart disclosed it is expanding Walmart Health locations to two new states. Best Buy said it signed a three-year agreement with Advocate Health, enabling it to capitalize on the health system’s hospital-at-home business.
“We are excited about the momentum of care at home, but it is still a nascent, emerging part of the healthcare industry,” Corie Barry, CEO of Best Buy, said in a fiscal fourth quarter earnings call, according to a transcript. “We are essentially nurturing a start-up within a large-scale organization and leveraging Best Buy’s core assets, including the Geek Squad, to incubate a new business. The revenue contribution is currently very small and will take time to ramp as the care at home space matures and expands over the coming years.”
The company’s strategy is to “enable care at home for everyone,” Barry said, adding that it expects to grow Best Buy Health sales faster than the base business in fiscal 2024.
Current Health, Best Buy’s technology platform that combines remote patient monitoring, telehealth and other services into a single solution, had its best commercial booking year ever last year, and has relationships with five of the top 10 largest health systems in the United States, according to Barry.
Walmart, meanwhile, said it its health arm, Walmart Health, is opening 28 centers in Missouri and Arizona. By the end of 2024, it should have more than 75 Walmart health centers across the United States.
“The new state-of-the-art facilities will be approximately 5,750 square feet, located inside Walmart Supercenters, and will feature Walmart Health’s full suite of health services providing care to busy families,” David Carmouche, MD, senior vice president, said in a Walmart press release. “The range of services include primary care, dental care, behavioral health, labs and X-ray, audiology and Walmart Health Virtual Care telehealth services.”
The move will allow Walmart to further its strategy of serving more seniors. Last September, the company disclosed a new 10-year collaboration with UnitedHealth to provide healthcare to older adults. UnitedHealth has the largest number of Medicare Advantage enrollees — 28% — in the country. The Walmart expansion offers an opportunity to serve more of the MA market.
