(text on screen): HealthWise
Narrator: Planning a family. For most couples, it's a time filled with excitement and anticipation.
But for the millions of couples who struggle with infertility, it can be a time filled with stress and disappointment.
Eight percent of the world population has some type of fertility issue.
In the U.S., infertility affects more than six million women.
Many turn to assisted reproductive technology to help make their dream of parenthood a reality.
Gus Haddad, M.D., Medical Director, Houston Fertility Institute: There are many treatments for infertility.
One of the most successful ones is A.R.T. A-R-T: Assisted Reproductive Technology.
The most common procedure under the A.R.T. procedures is IVF, or in vitro fertilization.
It involves taking out the eggs from the female partner's ovaries, fertilizing them with the partner's sperm,culturing these embryos for a few days in a Petri dish in the in vitro lab, and then transferring the embryos back into the patient's uterus.
Narrator: Once a marvel of science, in vitro fertilization, or IVF, has become one of the most common methods of becoming pregnant for couples struggling with infertility.
Use of IVF has doubled in the past decade alone, accounting for over 1 percent of all infants born in the U.S. each year.
And although its popularity is increasing, it remains a life-changing and, often,
highly stressful procedure for couples to go through.
Jimmy Gill, M.D., Founder & Medical Director, Houston Fertility Institute: Infertility's a very challenging emotional journey for most couples. The dream of having a family is what everybody wants.
The problems people face can be varied, and the trick to finding their problem and fixing it can be very technical.
It's costly, it's emotional, it's a struggle.
So, it's difficult to find the right balance between emotion, the physical characteristics of what's causing the problem,
and being able to put it all together and fix the person as a whole.
Narrator: As the use of IVF continues to grow, the medical industry is recognizing the need to create a place where couples go to have a baby, not just a surgical procedure.
Vivere Health, a Tennessee-based health care firm, has set out to do just that.
By partnering with two of the top reproductive specialists in the nation, doctors Jimmy Gill and Gus Haddad,
Vivere Health is hoping to usher in a new age of fertility services with a nationwide network of in vitro fertilization labs and surgery centers.
Joseph Cashia, CEO, Vivere Health: The inspiration behind creating Vivere Health was, one, to meet the needs of couples who are having infertility problems and not so much of a clinical need, but mostly a family need; to invite these people into an environment that wasn't necessarily medically oriented but more family-oriented.
Gus Haddad: Partnering with Vivere Health has been very beneficial to my practice.
They have taken off the management load off my practice.
That way I can focus more on my patients and improve my patient care.
In addition to that, they have supplied me with an opportunity to perform my procedures in a surgery center
rather than in an office setting, where it is a more sterile and cleaner environment, with specialized staff that can take better care of my patients.
Narrator: Named for an Italian word that loosely means "to give life," Vivere Health's plan
is to link the practice to the lab, to the surgery center, all with an ultimate goal in mind:
to offer the best IVF services in the nation, and to help couples successfully start families.
Joseph Cashia: Three of the components we're trying to bring together with our company
is the concept of bringing together the physician practice, the surgery center, and the IVF laboratory.
By doing this for couples who are having fertility problems, we're able to create a seamless sort of procedure
for these couples to do that, that then go to a one-stop, see their physician, have their procedures done,
and have the laboratory taken care of as well.
Narrator: With plans to eventually open 25 clinics across the nation, Vivere Health hopes to be the provider of choice
for couples to have and enjoy the experience of starting a family.
Joseph Cashia: The plan for Vivere Health to help couples truly experience the aspect of creating a family
is to create a whole dynamic that's outside of the traditional medical, sterile procedure that's done in the hospital.
Our centers are very family-oriented, from the waiting room to the suite where the family comes.
It's very comfortable, very laid-back, and very non-medical in descriptive terms.
Gus Haddad: What makes Vivere Health unique compared to other in vitro fertilization centers
is they offer state-of-the-art in vitro labs with very high success rates, highly specialized personnel
to take care of the patients, as well as a clean surgery center environment where the care is provided.
All this provides a great experience for couples trying to start a family.
Kari Schriewer, patient: I've had a wonderful experience. They pay a lot of attention to you as a patient.
And you really get the feeling that they want you to have a child just as much as you do.
They follow up. They call you. It's very much like a family.
It's not a doctor-patient relationship. It's very much like you're a family with them.
Jimmy Gill: I partner with Vivere to help me spend more time practicing medicine and not practicing business.
We went into medicine to see patients and to be able take care of patients.
And the ability about having Vivere manage the business side of it allowed me to pursue that.
And the second part about allowing me to do this is to also partner with other physicians who are also part of Vivere.
It gives us nice consultations. It gives other people we can talk to and confer and run ideas by.
Narrator: With a unique take on the business of babies,
Vivere Health is dedicated to helping fertility practices and families grow.
Vivere Health. It's About Life.
To find out more, please visit VivereHealth.com.
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