Today’s healthcare is challenging and can sometimes feel like a scam in the making. It makes you want to avoid it at all costs, literally. But skipping appointments because of the price tag isn’t realistic when it comes to you and your family’s health. What to do?
Affordable and accessible primary healthcare should be a right—but it reads like a classic oxymoron. Can healthcare really be affordable and accessible? What if appointments were available when you needed them? And what if you could get this, and both personal and high-quality care? It’s possible.
Sounds great, but what exactly is primary care? It’s a great question, because it’s often misunderstood. Primary means “of chief importance, first, central, prominent.” Now add the word “care.” Your first and most important source for healthcare should be primary care. Better yet is integrated primary care where you can easily get many types of healthcare services in one place.
Welcome to a new vision for primary care in La Crosse—Viaro Direct Primary Care—a fresh and needed affordable and accessible upgrade to your healthcare right here at home.
Viaro primary care is focused on you. You are a complex individual with unique wellness and disease prevention needs. Your family health history is important and needs to be addressed. Your wellness goals and concerns need to be heard. Your Viaro primary care provider takes the time to get to know you. They coach you on a healthy lifestyle and provide you with illness prevention education. They are passionate about keeping you healthy, not just taking care of you when you’re sick. Viaro’s model is whole health, episodic to chronic and all dimensions of health in-between.
Get episodic care at Viaro. A twisted ankle, a sore throat, or seasonal allergy woes. These are examples of episodic care—those injuries or issues that come on suddenly and typically don’t have a long-term impact on your health. It’s a very important part of primary care. You never know when you need it, but you’re sure glad it’s there.
Manage chronic conditions. The ones you live with. Diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, or asthma are considered chronic conditions. Primary care is the most effective way to manage those diseases that remain with you. Your primary care provider regularly monitors and tracks your condition to keep you in control and healthy. They help you decide when it’s time to see a specialist and keep you up to date on critical cancer screenings. With primary care, you stay informed and stay healthy.
See primary care in your community. Your primary care team has a pulse on what is going on in the community. They keep you up to date on illnesses in area schools or if there is an uptick in flu cases, or more widespread concerns like Lyme disease, West Nile virus, or COVID-19. Care navigators work with you to find resources you may need outside of the clinic for concerns like PFAS or radon. Viaro community relationships are vital to you and your family’s health.
VIARO FACT: Viaro is a Primary Care Clinic that is also family medicine that takes care of all five generations of your family. Just some of the services include well visits, pediatric and adolescent care, women’s care, health screenings such as cholesterol and blood sugar, immunizations, acute non-emergent illness or injury treatment, minor surgical procedures, dermatology, and management of chronic conditions.
Lower your healthcare costs. Staying healthy saves money. Primary care is prevention focused, helping you stay healthy. Treating a chronic illness you could have gotten ahead of, like heart disease, is expensive. People who visit a primary care provider tend to spend less on their healthcare and are healthier. Primary care is also a better alternative than going to the emergency room for your episodic needs.
At Viaro, you are not a number in a vast, impersonal system. You want options. You deserve healthcare that is welcoming and attentive to your needs. You want providers who are passionate about helping you feel your best and committed to taking care of you from head to toe. You need care that addresses your aches and pains, but also guides you through the physical changes in every stage of life.
Watch for the upcoming Health Connect articles in the Get to Know Viaro series. Learn more about La Crosse’s newest primary care team in our beautiful downtown. ViaroHealth takes primary care to the next level. Stay tuned. Don’t miss out.
Heidi Kutz
Education Specialist, ViaroHealth
For questions or comments about this article or for more information about ViaroCare Primary Care clinic, contact the ViaroThrive team at wellness@viarohealth.com