In this lively and practical conversation, panelists elaborated on the recently announced partnership between Atrium Health, a part of Advocate Health (Atrium), and Best Buy Health. The partnership is designed to leverage technology, empathy and expertise to deliver high-quality care in the home following patients’ transition to a hospital-at-home program.

Session panelists included:

• Deborah Di Sanzo, President, Best Buy Health
• Rasu Shrestha, MD, MBA, Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer, Advocate Health
• Moderator: Stephen Bernstein, Partner-In-Charge of Healthcare Practice Operations, McDermott Will & Emery

Top takeaways included:

• Partnership focus. Atrium, one of the largest academic medical systems in the United States, partnered with Best Buy Health to improve care delivery in the home. The partnership is aimed at creating smoother paths for care, shifting from episodic brick and mortar treatment to care in the home.
• Trust and diligence. The partnership between Atrium Health and Best Buy Health was the culmination of two years of discussions. Trust, communication with common purposes and measurable outcome goals were identified as crucial factors in establishing successful partnerships in healthcare.
• Offering and collaboration. The partnership aims to combine Best Buy’s technological expertise, including the remote patient monitoring (RPM) platform from Current Health, with Atrium’s cutting-edge clinical protocols and hospital-at-home (H@H) program. The collaboration focuses on improving the patient care experience and automating processes to identify and enroll suitable candidates for H@H programs.
• Geek Squad involvement. Best Buy’s Geek Squad plays a role in ensuring the functionality of devices used in home care. Geek Squad’s responsibilities in the partnership parallel its traditional role with Best Buy and include setting up and maintaining the devices when patients are discharged from the hospital and offering customer service and troubleshooting tips.
• Impact and growth. The partnership also addresses capacity issues and drives the growth and expansion of H@H programs. By treating patients at home, the program is seeing signs of successfully freeing up intensive-care unit (ICU) and operating-room resources while still monitoring and treating patients effectively. The collaboration between social workers and nurses in home care, combined with the technological expertise of Geek Squad, is beginning to provide evidence of improved quality of care and patient outcomes, with services being delivered in this manner to some of the most ill patients with multiple chronic conditions.
• Best Buy and Advocate/Atrium are continuing to monitor progress of this joint effort.