Turkey’s popularity as a medical tourism destination is attributed to the high-quality healthcare services offered at more economical prices. According to the MoH, in 2019 approximately 662,000 international patients visited Turkey, contributing nearly $1 billion to the economy. This industry was signicantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but rebounded in 2021
The Republic of Türkiye, commonly known as Turkey, is a transcontinental Eurasian country located mainly in Western Asia, with a smaller portion in Southeast Europe. Turkey shares borders with the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is located off the south coast. The Turks, who form the vast majority of the nation’s population, are the largest ethnic group, while the Kurds are the largest minority.
Ankara is the capital of Turkey, while Istanbul is its largest city and nancial center.
The country is a regional powerhouse and a newly industrialized country, boasting a geopolitically strategic location. Its economy is classied among the world’s emerging and growthleading economies, and it is the twentieth-largest in the world by nominal GDP. Additionally, it is a charter member of the United Nations, an early member of NATO, the IMF, and the World Bank, and a founding member of the OECD, OSCE, BSEC, OIC, and G20.
As one of the founding members of the Council of Europe in 1950, Turkey acceded to the European Economic Community in 1963. In 1995, it joined the European Union Customs Union, and in 2005 started accession negotiations with the European Union. Boasting a rich cultural legacy shaped by centuries of history and the multiple peoples that have inhabited its territory across millennia, Turkey is home to 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is a popular tourist destination.
Turkey’s healthcare sector
Healthcare in Turkey is delivered through a combination of public and private providers. The Ministry of Health (MOH), universities and the private sector all play a role in delivering healthcare services.
There are two options available to foreigners and expats living in Turkey when it comes to health benets; Universal Health Insurance and private health insurance.
The Health Transformation Program was adopted in 2003 in order to bring about change in the healthcare system. The process of EU accession has also provided additional motivation for the implementation of a more efficient healthcare system. By October 2008, the task of harmonizing the benets package was completed and all insured citizens were nally brought under the single insurance umbrella of UHI.
The new health insurance program was introduced as a temporary solution until the adoption of the Health Insurance Certicate (‘Saglik Karnesi’). The Health Insurance Certicate served as a formal document to prove health insurance coverage. The new health information system uses patients’ identity card numbers to make records more easily accessible. There is also a plan to issue employees with credit card-like social security cards. These cards can be easily swiped to provide hospitals and pharmacies with insurance details.
The HTP was introduced in some cities and the aim is to generalize its implementation across Turkey. A Performance-Based supplementary Payment system was initiated to distribute revolving funds to healthcare personnel based on the comparative level of deprivation of their workplace. Preventive care practices are also emphasized as performance criteria.
The proportion of those working full time has increased from 11 percent to 75 percent as a direct result of these implementations (OECD/Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2008).
Medical technologies and Health IT
Turkey is a burgeoning market for medical technologies and healthcare services. This is due, in part, to a population of over 84 million. The Ministry of Health (MoH) is tasked with planning and implementing healthcare policy and is also the largest healthcare service provider in Turkey. According to Turkish Statistics Institute’s Health Expenditure 2020 report, Turkey’s healthcare expenditure increased by 24.3% in 2020. The public sector was responsible for 79% of Turkey’s healthcare-related expenditure. The public and private sector together spent $2.4 billion on healthcare infrastructure investments.
The 2003 healthcare initiative in Turkey aimed to improve access to healthcare for everyone. Through this initiative, the Social Security Institute (SGK) began reimbursing private hospitals that agreed to treat public insurance patients at public reimbursement rates. The MoH also used a public-private partnership model to build new public hospitals and renovate existing ones.
As of now, there are 895 public hospitals, 63 universities, and 575 private hospitals in Turkey that combined provide 237,500 hospital beds. The public-private partnership model was used to construct thirteen new public hospitals, with ve more that are currently under construction. In total, this comprises approximately 10% of Turkey’s total hospital bed capacity.
Today, the majority of advanced medical technologies are present in Turkish hospitals. With 43,488 ICU beds, 75% of which have ventilators, Turkish hospitals are wellequipped to handle many medical needs. The table below provides data on the equipment stock of key medical technologies in public hospitals as of 2020.
Medical Tourism
Turkey’s popularity as a medical tourism destination is attributed to the high-quality healthcare services offered at more economical prices. According to the MoH, in 2019 approximately 662,000 international patients visited Turkey, contributing nearly $1 billion to the economy. This industry was signicantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but rebounded in 2021.
Turkey has sought to increasingly use health IT solutions in the country’s healthcare structure. The MoH employs software developers for many of the health IT tools it uses. Citizens’ healthcare information is recorded in an Electronic Health Record (EHR) and centrally stored on MoH servers. The system produces e-prescriptions and allows pharmacies to claim receivables from the SGK online. The MoH uses its centrally stored healthcare data to forecast the population’s health and to analyze illness patterns.
The vast majority of Turkey’s medical devices are imported, with around 20% coming specically from the United States. In the past, the Turkish government had been able to navigate currency depreciation against the US dollar by keeping reimbursement prices for medical devices stable in Turkish lira. However, this created difficulties for foreign companies who ceased selling or introducing certain products in Turkey altogether.
As a direct result, the SGK increased the reimbursement prices of medical devices by 85% in TL at the beginning of 2022.
To sum it all up, the last few years have seen a rapid reformation of the healthcare system in Turkey. The health transformation program and the European Union harmonization / accession process have been the leading pressures on this reformation. In order to reach the expected quality l e v e l s a n d c o m p l e t e t h e transformation program, future steps must be taken towards overcoming the deciencies in Turkey’s healthcare s y st e m a n d a c c e l e r a ti n g t h e accreditation process of healthcare organizations and their services.
