Long Covid & ME/CFS
Sharpa supports people with Long Covid and ME/CFS in Switzerland along the entire care pathway — from assessment to therapy. With one dedicated contact, adapted to your energy limits and based on the latest scientific evidence.
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The challenge
There is no clarity around diagnostics and therapy. Patients drift between GPs, specialists, and waiting lists — without anyone offering a coherent diagnostic and therapeutic pathway.
The trip to the practice alone can trigger Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM) — significantly worsening the patient's state. The healthcare system demands activity; the illness forbids it.
Immunologist, neurologist, cardiologist — each sees a fragment. Findings sit in different practices, in different formats. No one assembles the full picture.
Health insurers currently cover almost no costs. Reimbursement options are little known, and the path to coverage is complex. Patients and their families largely carry the financial burden alone.
Those who coordinate, research, and care carry an enormous burden — often alongside their own job and family. The healthcare system neither sees nor addresses their exhaustion.
Our role
Long Covid is a systemic illness — but care is fragmented. Sharpa connects diagnostics, medical consultation, and therapy into one coherent, coordinated process: from at-home blood draws to telemedical consultations with specialised partner physicians, all the way to scheduling therapy and rehabilitation.
Given the substantial overlap in disease mechanisms and symptoms, Sharpa is also relevant for people with ME/CFS — even when the illness is not connected to a SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID vaccination.
Sharpa does not provide therapy itself. The medical decision lies with the physician. Sharpa ensures that the physician enters every consultation prepared and with the necessary information — and that you don't have to manage logistics, gathering findings, or coordinating appointments.
The name comes from the Nepali Shar Pa: someone who carries the load on the way to the summit and knows the path.
The care program
Each step builds on the previous. You start with a questionnaire — we coordinate everything else. More on the process and costs →
Structured questionnaire on your condition — at your own pace, no time pressure. You can pause the questionnaire at any time and continue later.
at homeHand-grip strength and stand tests, with provided tools where needed. Existing results (lab work, history, etc.) are taken into account, leading to a recommendation for laboratory diagnostics following medical assessment.
at homeBlood draw by a professional at your home. The selected lab parameters reflect the current state of research and complete the assessment dossier for the medical consultation.
at home45–60 minutes with a specialised partner physician — telemedical, based on all available data. Followed by your individual, mechanism-based therapy plan.
at home · telemedicalSharpa remains your dedicated contact throughout the process and coordinates appointments, therapists, and logistics. At home where possible, in specialised facilities where necessary. Progress monitoring and adjustment included — because the integrated orchestration of the process has a decisive influence on success.
coordinatedDocumentation of therapy evidence for your individual case, follow-up diagnostics, and concrete recommendations on the path to reimbursement.
optionalFor caregivers & family members
"I don't know what to do, and I'm afraid we won't make it."
Those who care, coordinate, and organise stay invisible to the healthcare system. Sharpa is here for you too — not as an attachment, but as your own agent.
Sharpa takes over scheduling with physicians and therapy facilities, the consolidation of findings, and communication with the care network. If the patient cannot use the service themselves, Sharpa supports you in arranging all the necessary steps on their behalf.
Next step
Your personal care pathway begins with the questionnaire. Or stay informed — we'll keep you updated.
Begin the questionnaire today — at your own pace, pausable at any time.
The structured Sharpa assessment currently exists only in German and is launching in English shortly. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified the moment it becomes available.
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Frequently asked
Sharpa is a coordination and support care program for people with Long Covid and ME/CFS in Switzerland. We organise the path from diagnostics to therapy — at home, with one dedicated contact, at the patient's own pace. Sharpa is not a medical provider and does not perform therapies itself.
The questionnaire is free. The functional tests and in-depth assessment cost CHF 196. Laboratory diagnostics cost up to CHF 3,000, depending on the scope of diagnostics and the type of blood draw. The medical consultation, including preparation and follow-up, costs CHF 500. Therapy costs typically start at CHF 4,000 and depend on the therapy plan. Sharpa's therapy support is billed at a 15% surcharge. The optional reimbursement dossier costs CHF 480.
In principle, you should expect that costs currently have to be borne privately. On request, Sharpa prepares a reimbursement dossier intended to improve the chances of cost coverage by your insurer.
Yes. Given the substantial overlap in disease mechanisms and symptoms, we view ME/CFS as the most severe expression of Long Covid. From our perspective, our care pathway and treatment principles are also relevant for ME/CFS.
Your data — including the information from your health questionnaire — is processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the revised Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (revFADP). We treat questionnaire responses as special category personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 GDPR and Art. 5 lit. c revFADP.
In concrete terms:
Medical consultations and general communication are also possible from outside Switzerland. However, our diagnostic and therapeutic services can currently only be provided within Switzerland.
After receiving your questionnaire, Sharpa sends you an initial structured overview, and you prepare the further tests and in-depth assessment in Stage 2. This initial structured overview will, where needed, also provide you with a good basis for consultations with other physicians.