About aprioris: why this practice exists

Our ambition

We want to provide the appropriate medical service at the right time, in the right place and in the right way: promptly, close to where you are, and to the standard a medical question deserves. That takes two things, and they belong together: medical professionals and structured procedures. Neither one carries the weight without the other.

What aprioris is

aprioris is a medical practice licensed by the canton. Registered nurses treat patients on site under physician oversight; medical responsibility always rests with a physician. aprioris treats common, acute complaints promptly and, where possible, conclusively, and closes the gap between the pharmacy and the doctor’s practice; it replaces neither your GP practice nor emergency care. We treat patients from the age of 16.

How the model works

The registered nurse leads the consultation from the greeting to the written record, working with an extended scope of practice, to a clear method, and within parameters that the physician team sets and keeps updating. Where a finding departs from the expected pattern, a physician joins the consultation directly and decides together with the nurse. Anyone who wishes can speak to the physician themselves.

Every case is reviewed and signed off by a physician, either during your visit or shortly after. What falls within scope in an individual case is decided by the physician team: it defines the conditions and the limits, and is brought into the consultation directly wherever a picture is unusual or not yet standardised.

Who works here

On site you meet experienced registered nurses, in the role of specialists for primary medical care. Behind them works a team of physicians board-certified in general internal medicine. They are reachable during opening hours, join consultations, sign off the reports and run the internal training. That the physician is not sitting in the room is something we say plainly: the presence is organised, not local.

A real need as the starting point

The starting point was not an idea but a demand: people with an acute, everyday complaint and no place that was really meant for it. The health system has grown the way it has grown, and the load it carries is not getting lighter. So we do not simply take the framework conditions as given: where they stand in the way of a sensible solution, we look for the constructive route, with authorities and with health insurers.

Not an additional service, but a conclusive one

We are not here to add further services to the health system. We are here to answer a medical question conclusively, within a defined range, at the place where it is asked. Which conditions belong in that range is decided by the physician team; whether the range is right we keep checking, and we adjust it when everyday practice shows us otherwise.

Interprofessional, without shifting competencies

New routes do not come from one profession giving up its competencies. They come from professions working together, each staying with what it does best. Collaboration and interprofessional work are not a statement of intent at aprioris; they are the reason the model works at all.

The nurse at the centre of the consultation

At the centre of the consultation stands the registered nurse: a profession with deep clinical competence and with the trust of the public. Nurses examine, treat and accompany, under physician oversight and with the physician team behind them. What counts here is unglamorous and has become rare: listening, engaging with the concern, explaining the findings.

Fast only where it holds up medically

We resolve a health question quickly and simply only where that holds up medically. But then we do it properly, with a procedure that stays transparent to you. Someone whose acute question is settled in an afternoon leaves the health system with more confidence than they brought to it; that is the part of our work that reaches beyond the individual treatment.

Quality first

In everything we do, medical quality comes first. That is not a stance you assert, it is one you can read off the procedures: off the medical parameters, off the consultation with a physician, and off the fact that every single case is signed off by a physician.

Safety

The approach has been validated over several years in live operation: thousands of treatments without a safety-relevant incident. The model is accompanied by an expert council drawn from medicine, nursing, research and public authorities. Each location holds its own cantonal licence.

Who stands behind aprioris

aprioris is an independent, privately funded initiative. The aim is that people with common, acute complaints reach the right place quickly, and that every part of the health system stays free for what it does best.

Working with practices and pharmacies

aprioris sees itself as a complement. Referral works in both directions: practices send suitable patients to us, and specialists hand over routine tasks in ongoing treatment closer to where people live. With your consent the report goes to your GP practice, so that your care holds together. Anything that needs specialist care, we refer on, prioritised by urgency and with a written report.