How Best Buy's Geek Squad is Boosting RPM Tech Support at Geisinger

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is changing the face of chronic disease management as we know it. Clinicians no longer have to depend on inconsistent and potentially inaccurate data on patients with chronic conditions, as RPM can enable real-time insights into patient health between office visits. However, patient adoption of RPM is fraught with challenges, including a lack of access to needed technology and on-demand technical support.

A newly expanded healthcare partnership is targeting these very issues. Danville, Pennsylvania-based Geisinger and Best Buy Health are expanding a partnership that dates back to 2021, tied to the launch of the health system's RPM-enabled ConnectedCare365 program.

The ConnectedCare365 program was deployed amid a massive surge in RPM use. Between January 2019 and November 2022, RPM claim volume increased by 1,294 percent, according to a report from data analytics company Definitive Healthcare.

The report includes data from various sources, such as the NPI registry and medical claims clearinghouses, gathered and analyzed between December 2022 and January 2023. An analysis of diagnosis categories showed that chronic diseases accounted for the largest shares of RPM claims. For instance, essential hypertension encompassed 51 percent of RPM-related claims analyzed, followed by diabetes mellitus with complications (10.4 percent) and diabetes mellitus without complications (6.4 percent).

Geisinger's ConnectedCare360 program focuses on chronic disease management. Since its inception, the program has enrolled 1,100 patients with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, and diabetes.

"Geisinger's remote patient monitoring program, ConnectedCare365, was designed to leverage remote patient monitoring to improve quality outcomes while decreasing costs," said Karen Murphy, executive vice president, chief innovation officer and founding director of the Steele Institute for Health Innovation at Geisinger, in an email. "Monitoring patients in the home provides the opportunity for clinicians to intervene more quickly when a chronic condition exacerbates."

Best Buy Health's Current Health has helped support the RPM program since its launch. The program provides devices like blood pressure cuffs, body weight scales, thermometers, and glucose meters to patients to monitor their health at home and transmit data to care teams at Geisinger through the Current Health platform.

Under the expanded partnership, Current Health will become the sole technology supporter of the ConnectedCare365 program. According to Murphy, the health system selected Current Health because the vendor shared Geisinger's mission and vision for developing an advanced program for chronic disease management.

The partnership extends beyond technology implementation, aiming to improve RPM patient experience and access through the Geek Squad.

In July 2022, Best Buy Health and Geisinger began deploying Geek Squad agents to deliver, install, and activate RPM devices in a pilot program involving 300 patients.

Best Buy bought the Geek Squad in 2002, rolling it out across the United States and Canada in 2004. Though the Geek Squad's origins were in computer technology support, it grew within Best Buy to provide tech support for appliance repairs, home theater technology, smart home devices, and more.

As Best Buy expanded its healthcare footprint through various moves, including acquiring Current Health, its healthcare provider partners also gained access to the Geek Squad.

"For many patients, especially those who are dealing with the effects of one or more chronic conditions, setting up — let alone troubleshooting — remote monitoring technology can present a major challenge," said Chris McGhee, CEO of Current Health, a Best Buy Health company, in an email. "By using our Geek Squad network, we can deliver a holistic experience that includes more than just getting our specially trained agents to the customer's homes to set up the technology."

Geek Squad agents help set up and test the technology to ensure seamless data transmission, and they teach the patients how to use the technology. They also remain on standby while the patient is in the RPM program to troubleshoot any technical issues patients may face.

In addition, Geek Squad City, Geek Squad's largest repair site located in Kentucky, packages and ships the necessary devices to patient homes and helps collect and process those devices after use.

"Geek Squad City provides a large number of technology-related support and services for Best Buy customers," McGhee said. "In 2022, Geek Squad City repaired more than 500,000 devices. In health, we can utilize Geek Squad City and the logistics and supply chain power behind it."

This type of tech support is urgently needed, as digital health literacy — which refers to an individual's ability to use digital health tools — is critical to the success of RPM.

For instance, research shows that digital health adoption, including provider use of RPM tools, began lagging in early 2022. In the report, released by Walmart in collaboration with Medscape, healthcare professionals noted several barriers to technology adoption, including the lack of patient technology access and low levels of digital health literacy.

In addition, many patients find remote care devices, like wearables, hard to use. A survey conducted in 2022 showed that one in five US patients using medically prescribed wearable devices said their device is hard to use. When asked what resources would be helpful when provided with a new device, most patients said having access to a help desk or a support team would be valuable.

Geisinger aimed to address digital health literacy challenges by deploying the Geek Squad. During the pilot, the health system created patient education and communication resources to detail patient expectations and the Geek Squad's role in ensuring a successful implementation, Murphy said.

Further, the organizations worked through the logistical processes needed to support chronic care patients at home during the pilot program.

According to the health system, the pilot led to a 50 percent reduction in the time between patient admission into the RPM program and when the devices were set up. Previously, it took an average of 96 hours from admission to device setup, but the pilot helped drop that time to 48 hours.

Additionally, the pilot resulted in an 18 percent reduction in technical issues reported.

"We are very excited about the results that came from our initial Geek Squad program and that they support our hypothesis that one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when providing care at home was the logistical aspects," said McGhee.

Following these results, Geisinger and Best Buy Health plan to work together to expand Geek Squad access to other chronic disease management programs across the health system and co-design a suite of technology and services to support healthcare organizations in operating chronic care programs.

As the mantra of 'meeting patients where they are' becomes increasingly dominant in the healthcare industry, partnerships between providers and vendors will likely expand to include services like tech support to mitigate longstanding healthcare access issues.