Best Buy Health to sell Dexcom G7 for diabetes patients

Best Buy will begin selling the Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitoring system online, its foray into selling prescription-based medical devices.

Best Buy Health, which announced the news Monday during this year's HLTH conference in Las Vegas, said it is working with virtual care platform Wheel and pharmacy partner HealthDyne to sell the device used by people with diabetes. Clinicians at Wheel will determine if patients are eligible to purchase the device at wellness.bestbuyhealth.com, and then send prescriptions to HealthDyne, which will ship the device to customers.

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Best Buy said customers will eventually be able to upload prescriptions for the device from other providers. The company said it wants to partner with other manufacturers on glucose monitoring devices.

Financial details were not disclosed.

The Dexcom G7 launch marks the first time Best Buy will offer prescription-based medical devices. Best Buy already sells various medical products at its stores and online, including blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters and electrocardiogram monitors.

Best Buy is ramping up its healthcare strategy and positioning itself as technology support for at-home care. Its three focus areas are wellness at home, aging at home and care at home. Geek Squad employees help patients set up technology in their homes and teach them how to use it. Deborah Di Sanzo, president of Best Buy Health, said in a July interview the retailer is sticking with its technical support roots and isn't planning to directly provide care.

Best Buy is one of several mega-retailers looking to take a slice of the healthcare market. The other companies, which include Walmart, Walgreens and CVS, are taking a more direct approach to healthcare services, investing in brick-and-mortar clinics, physicians, pharmacy services and clinical trials. They are doubling down on primary care, and more recently have sought options for providing multispecialty care. 

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