Avia Clinic Alternative Berlin: What to Do After Closure
The closure of the Avia Clinic in Berlin (officially AIVA Institut) caught many people off guard who had been doing their annual check-ups there for years. If you are among the former patients, you…
Avia Alternative in Berlin: What Are the Options After the Closure?
The closure of the Avia clinic in Berlin, officially known as the AIVA Institute, has caught many people off guard who had relied on it for their annual health check-up for years. Former patients are now facing a very practical question: where can I find an Avia alternative in Berlin with a comparable level of diagnostic depth?
This article provides an overview. It explains what a modern health check-up in 2026 should include and introduces YEARS, a physician-led longevity clinic in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
What was Avia, and why are so many people now looking for an alternative?
For years, the AIVA Institute was an established provider of premium health check-ups in Berlin. With a focus on prevention and advanced diagnostics, the clinic offered an option for people who wanted more comprehensive medical assessment than the standard statutory healthcare system typically provides.
The announced closure on October 31, 2026 now creates a practical problem for many former patients: their annual check-up, the ongoing dialogue with their physician, and a trusted medical point of contact are disappearing.
The search for an “Avia Berlin successor” therefore goes beyond choosing a new service provider. Patients need to build a new relationship of trust and make sure their health strategy can continue without major gaps.
Anyone choosing a new provider now may also want to reassess what has changed in preventive medicine since their last major health check-up. Modern concepts increasingly combine traditional early detection with systematic assessment of risk factors, physical performance, and changes over time.
What actually matters in a high-quality health check-up?
A premium health check-up differs substantially from the standard preventive check-up offered by statutory health insurance in Germany. While statutory screening provides an important baseline, private medical diagnostics can be considerably more comprehensive.
There are, however, major differences in quality between providers. A high-quality health check-up in 2026 should typically include several key elements:
- Depth of biomarker analysis: A standard blood panel captures only a small part of a person’s overall health status. More advanced diagnostics may include markers related to glucose metabolism, cardiovascular risk, and inflammatory processes. Examples include ApoB, Lp(a), hs-CRP, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin.
- Multimodal imaging and functional diagnostics: Ultrasound examinations of the heart, abdominal organs, and thyroid can reveal structural abnormalities. Functional diagnostics such as cardiopulmonary exercise testing, body plethysmography, vascular measurements, and muscle strength testing provide additional information about physical performance and physiological function.
- Physician-led synthesis instead of simple data collection: A large number of measurements has limited value without medical interpretation. A good check-up should not end with a laboratory printout. Findings from laboratory testing, imaging, and functional diagnostics should be assessed together, risks should be prioritized, and sensible next steps should be discussed.
- Quality of the health report: A professional provider should present the results in a structured and understandable way. A detailed report makes long-term documentation easier and allows future results to be compared with previous measurements.
- Transparent billing: In Germany, physician-delivered services billed according to the Gebührenordnung für Ärzte, or GOÄ, provide transparent itemized billing. Depending on the individual insurance plan, private health insurers may reimburse parts of medically indicated services.
A modern health check-up should therefore aim to provide a differentiated picture of current health status and identify relevant risks as early as reasonably possible.
YEARS as an Avia alternative in Berlin: overview of the programs
YEARS is a physician-led longevity clinic located in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The concept combines extensive, data-based preventive diagnostics within a coordinated assessment day.
The clinic is located at Joachimsthaler Str. 34, 10719 Berlin, and offers three diagnostic programs:
- YEARS Core® (€1,900): The entry-level program. During an approximately 6-hour diagnostic day, more than 87 biomarkers are analyzed alongside a broad range of functional examinations. The program is designed to provide a comprehensive medical baseline.
- YEARS Evolve® (€7,600): This approximately 9-hour program extends Core® with additional diagnostics including whole-body MRI, a liquid-biopsy-based analysis, biobanking, and assessments of biological aging markers.
- YEARS Ultimate® (€16,900): This program adds further molecular diagnostics, including genomics, microbiome analysis, and additional biomarker testing.
For many former Avia patients who are used to a comprehensive annual check-up, YEARS Core® may be a suitable starting point.
After the diagnostic day, patients receive a detailed YEARS Health Report and review their results and potential next steps with a YEARS physician.
What does YEARS offer compared with Avia?
A direct one-to-one comparison is difficult because Avia’s complete list of services is no longer publicly available.
However, a broad comparison can be made based on commonly offered elements of premium health check-ups and the current YEARS programs.
Disclaimer: This comparison is based on generally known services offered by premium health check-up providers and the published program components of YEARS.
Common features of premium health check-ups and YEARS Core®
- Comprehensive blood testing
- Cardiovascular diagnostics
- Physician-led review of findings
- Billing of physician services according to GOÄ
- Ultrasound examinations of several organ systems
What YEARS Core® additionally includes
- Extended biomarker testing: Including ApoB, Lp(a), hs-CRP, and markers related to glucose and insulin metabolism.
- Body plethysmography: A comprehensive form of lung function testing that can assess lung volumes and airway resistance.
- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing: This examines cardiorespiratory performance under controlled physical stress. VO₂peak, or maximal oxygen uptake, is one of the key parameters assessed.
- 3D body scan and body composition analysis: Used to document and track physical changes over time.
- Digital skin screening: Documentation and computer-assisted analysis of pigmented skin lesions using specialized dermatological imaging systems.
- Fundus diagnostics: Examination of the retina to assess vascular and structural changes at the back of the eye.
- Neurocognitive testing: Computer-based assessment of different cognitive functions.
- HRV and arterial stiffness: Additional measurements related to autonomic regulation and vascular function.
Patients who want more extensive diagnostics can access additional modules through the YEARS Evolve® program:
- Whole-body MRI
- Liquid-biopsy-based tumor diagnostics
- Biobanking
- Biological aging markers
- Extended laboratory and hormone testing
Whole-body MRI, biomarkers, and modern preventive diagnostics
Medical diagnostics continues to evolve. Some technologies that were previously reserved primarily for specific clinical indications are now also being used in comprehensive preventive health programs.
It is important, however, to distinguish between what is technically possible and what has already been shown to improve clinical outcomes when used for screening.
Whole-body MRI: broad imaging without ionizing radiation
Whole-body MRI can visualize large areas of the body in a single examination without using ionizing radiation.
It may reveal structural abnormalities even in people who have not yet developed symptoms.
At the same time, the clinical benefit of routine whole-body MRI screening in asymptomatic individuals has not yet been conclusively established. One important challenge is the high number of incidental findings, which may lead to additional testing without necessarily producing a meaningful health benefit.
At YEARS, whole-body MRI is therefore used as part of a broader physician-led diagnostic concept rather than as a standalone test.
Biomarkers that can contribute to risk assessment
Certain laboratory markers can provide additional information beyond traditional standard parameters.
ApoB
Apolipoprotein B is a marker of the number of atherogenic lipoprotein particles circulating in the blood. Because each LDL, IDL, and VLDL particle contains one ApoB molecule, ApoB can provide additional information about cardiovascular risk, particularly when conventional lipid measurements are discordant.
Lp(a)
Lipoprotein(a) is a largely genetically determined and independent cardiovascular risk factor. Its concentration usually remains relatively stable throughout life, which is why a one-time measurement can be useful for many people.
hs-CRP
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein is a non-specific marker of inflammation. In certain situations, it can provide additional information for cardiovascular risk assessment.
An elevated result is not specific to any single disease and should always be interpreted within the wider clinical context.
HOMA-IR
HOMA-IR is calculated from fasting glucose and fasting insulin and is used as an estimate of insulin resistance.
The result can provide information about changes in glucose and insulin metabolism, but there are no universally accepted cutoff values. It should therefore be interpreted alongside other metabolic parameters.
Cardiorespiratory fitness as a health marker
Cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the most extensively studied predictors of long-term health.
Large cohort studies consistently show a strong association between higher physical fitness and lower all-cause mortality.
The frequently cited study by Mandsager et al. included more than 120,000 participants and assessed fitness based on exercise-test performance. The study found a pronounced inverse association between cardiorespiratory fitness and long-term mortality.
One important distinction is that this study did not directly measure VO₂max by cardiopulmonary exercise testing in all participants. Instead, it assessed cardiorespiratory fitness based on exercise-test performance.
At YEARS, oxygen uptake is directly assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing. This allows measurement of parameters such as VO₂peak, ventilatory thresholds, and other indicators of exercise capacity.
Liquid biopsy: promising technology with still limited screening evidence
Liquid biopsy technologies aim to detect signals associated with cancer using components found in the blood.
YEARS uses truCheck, a test that analyzes circulating tumor cells and, according to the manufacturer, can provide indications associated with a range of solid tumor types.
These technologies remain under active clinical evaluation.
For use in asymptomatic individuals, it has not yet been demonstrated that multi-cancer blood tests reduce cancer mortality. An abnormal result also does not constitute a cancer diagnosis and requires follow-up using established diagnostic methods.
Liquid biopsy therefore does not replace guideline-based cancer screening such as colonoscopy, mammography, or other individually indicated examinations.
At YEARS, the analysis is used as an additional component within a broader diagnostic concept.
Biological clocks: a research-based tool with potential for longitudinal monitoring
Biological aging cannot be fully captured by a single laboratory value.
Epigenetic aging models analyze specific DNA methylation patterns and calculate scores that may be associated with aging processes, disease risk, or the rate of biological change.
Some of these models are increasingly being used to monitor changes over time.
Their interpretation still requires caution. Different biological clocks measure different aspects of aging, and both technical variability and normal biological variation can influence individual scores.
A change in a calculated “biological age” therefore does not automatically mean that disease risk has changed to the same extent.
These analyses may be particularly useful as standardized longitudinal measurements when repeat testing is performed under comparable conditions.
Private health insurance reimbursement and costs
The prices of the YEARS programs are communicated transparently:
- Core®: €1,900
- Evolve®: €7,600
- Ultimate®: €16,900
Physician-delivered services are billed according to the German Gebührenordnung für Ärzte, or GOÄ.
Whether and to what extent a private health insurer reimburses these costs depends on the individual insurance policy, the medical indication, and the specific services billed.
Full reimbursement therefore cannot be guaranteed.
Privately insured patients should contact their insurer before their appointment if they are unsure which services are covered.
Patients with statutory health insurance usually need to pay for comprehensive private preventive medicine programs themselves unless a specific service is covered or medically indicated under statutory insurance rules.
How to switch to YEARS
Switching from your previous provider to YEARS involves five steps:
- Initial contact: You can arrange a non-binding consultation through the YEARS website or contact the clinic directly.
- Program selection: Your goals, previous diagnostics, and individual situation are reviewed to determine which program may be suitable.
- Appointment booking: A diagnostic appointment is then scheduled at the YEARS clinic in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
- Diagnostic day: Depending on the program, you spend several hours at the clinic. The different examinations are coordinated to take place as efficiently as possible.
- Health Report and medical review: Once all results have been evaluated, you receive your Health Report. The findings and potential next steps are then discussed with a physician.
Executives and other patients seeking a particularly comprehensive health assessment can also choose programs that include more advanced imaging and molecular diagnostics.
YEARS diagnostics are designed to support repeat measurements over time. Regular assessments can therefore help document changes in individual health parameters across several years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is YEARS the direct successor to Avia Berlin?
No.
YEARS is an independent physician-led longevity clinic with its own diagnostic concept.
For former Avia patients who are looking for another comprehensive health check-up in Berlin, YEARS may nevertheless be a suitable alternative.
Which YEARS program is suitable for former Avia patients?
For many former Avia patients, YEARS Core® is likely to be the most natural starting point.
The program combines extensive laboratory testing with imaging and functional diagnostics to establish a broad medical baseline.
The most appropriate program depends on age, individual risk profile, previous testing, and personal goals.
Will my private health insurance cover a YEARS health check-up?
Physician-delivered services are billed according to GOÄ.
Whether individual services are reimbursed by a private health insurer depends on the specific insurance policy and the medical indication.
There is no general guarantee of reimbursement.
Can I bring my previous Avia medical records to YEARS?
Yes.
Previous laboratory results, imaging, and medical reports can be particularly useful because they allow new findings to be compared with historical data.
For biomarkers, blood pressure, body composition, and physical performance testing in particular, changes over time may provide more useful information than an isolated measurement.
This article is intended for general informational purposes and does not replace individual medical advice. The programs offered by YEARS consist of preventive diagnostic services. The scope and medical suitability of individual examinations should be assessed on an individual basis by a physician.
Source
Mandsager K, Harb S, Cremer P, Phelan D, Nissen SE, Jaber W. Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing. JAMA Network Open. 2018;1(6):e183605. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3605.
