With the development of the tourism sector in the world and in Turkey, the reasons why people travel have also changed, and accordingly, many different forms of tourism have emerged. One of these is health tourism. Health tourism is traveling to a country other than the country where one resides for the purpose of treatment for any reason in order to regain one's health (1). Health tourism has been done since Ancient Greece. It is recorded that Greek patients flocked to the town called Epidauria at that time. In the following centuries, patients seeking healing traveled to places where SPA or sanatoriums were located.
The gradual aging of the population in developed countries and the increase in chronic diseases with old age, resulting in increased treatment expenses and the country's social security. It puts a strain on both the health care systems and the people who pay for treatment services with their own income, and may cause them to choose countries where costs are cheaper to receive treatment. Long waiting times and the fact that surgical interventions for cosmetic reasons are not covered by health security institutions may lead people living in these countries to seek treatment abroad. In addition, some patients may prefer to be treated abroad in a secluded environment for treatments that are not available in their own country or limited by some ethical issues, such as stem cell therapy, or for issues that require privacy, such as gender reassignment or plastic surgery.
Despite all these reasons, the majority of travelers are looking for the most advanced technology, better quality service and want to access healthcare faster. To create an accurate and reliable database in the health tourism market, Mc Kinsey studied more than 20 health tourism centers. As a result of their analysis, they reported the most common reasons for health tourism as the search for the most advanced technology, access to a better than the necessary treatment, faster access to the necessary treatment, less costly access to the necessary treatment and less costly access to the arbitrarily desired treatment (2). p>
As can be seen, the largest segment of medical tourists, with a rate of 40%, consists of patients looking for the most advanced technology in the world. These people keep their research high They do so to find health care in the city and place much less emphasis on the proximity of the potential destination or the cost of treatment. The distribution of these patients is as follows; 38% are from Latin American countries, 35% are from Central Asian countries, 16% are from European countries and 7% are from Canada, and they generally travel to America.
Medical tourists The second largest segment, with 32%, are travelers who are looking for a better treatment than the one in the country they live in, and they generally come from developing countries. When choosing a destination, patients in this group prefer the quality of the treatment they will receive versus factors such as cost, distance and different cultures. In addition, while some patients may ignore the costs up to a certain level, others try to get higher quality service at the best price.
The third largest segment is trying to reach the healthcare service they need faster. They consist of working people, especially those who have long waiting times in orthopedics, general surgery and cardiology branches in their home countries.
Only 9% of medical travelers are patients looking for lower costs. and is the segment with the highest growth potential. Since the costs of the treatments vary significantly in different countries of the world, patients can save significantly depending on the procedure to be performed. 99% of this group consists of patients from America. 30% of the patients in this group travel for orthopedic treatment and 16% for general surgery.
Grouping of Travels for Health Purposes and Applied Treatments
The literature divides travels for health purposes into three groups:
Thermal and SPA-wellness: Health where some complementary medicine applications such as medical massage and peloid are applied along with hot spring waters or hotel services. tourism.
Older age and disabled tourism: A type of health tourism that combines care, rehabilitation and medical treatment of the elderly and disabled people.
Medical tourism: Service from health institutions for the treatment and rehabilitation of international patients. A form of health tourism that takes the form of medical tourism.
The scope of medical tourism Treatments applied in;
Cosmetic surgery
Dentistry
Cardiology/heart surgery
Oncology treatments
Orthopedic surgery
Obesity surgery
Fertility/reproductive system
Organ, tissue and cell transplantation
Eye surgery
Diagnosis and check-up
Main Health Tourism Destinations
India, Thailand, Singapore, USA, Brazil, Malaysia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa and Costa Rica are the leading countries in medical health tourism. The next countries are Hungary, Costa Rica, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, Spain, England, Australia, Cuba, France, Panama, Philippines, Belgium, Caribbean, Germany, Israel, Japan. , Monaco, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Tunisia.
Turkey's Situation in Health Tourism
Medical Tourism:
Turkey has recently become one of the most popular destinations in medical health tourism. Especially in recent years, both public hospitals and the private sector have made the necessary infrastructure investments and improved the hospitals both in terms of physical conditions and technological levels. It has also reached the level of developed countries in terms of trained doctors and healthcare personnel. In recent years, many patients from different countries of the world have preferred Turkey for treatment.
The achievements of Turkish doctors should not be underestimated. Successful surgeries, especially in brain surgery and plastic surgery, are watched by the world. However, most of the patients who come to our country for treatment come for eye surgery.
Many patients also come for heart diseases, aesthetics and dental operations. Tourists coming from England and Germany, as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia and Israel for these reasons, both have a holiday and receive treatment.
Health Tourists Coming to Turkey by Country Distribution:
Countries with Turkish population (France, Netherlands, Germany)
Developing countries that cannot receive adequate medical services due to lack of infrastructure and physicians (Balkan countries , in Central Asia Two Turkish Republics)
Countries where health services are expensive and there are patients who demand services not covered by insurance (America, England, Germany)
Countries with long waiting times (England, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada)
Countries that send a certain number of free patients to Turkey within the framework of bilateral agreements (Libya, Kazakhstan, etc.) (2).
If we list the advantages of our country in terms of health tourism potential; p>
Place in world geography; Convenience in direct transportation
Ease in visa applications
Quality of physicians, nurses and human resources
World-class technological equipment and quality of our hospitals (JCI number)
Our prices ensure competitiveness compared to developed countries
The reflection of the current potential and cultural heritage on healthcare services
Our citizens living in Europe and preferring to receive healthcare services in Turkey
Turkish service concept
Being an Islamic country in terms of Arab and Islamic countries
Health Tourism in Turkey with Statistics
Ministry of Health and the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) data, the number of tourists coming from abroad to public and private hospitals for treatment purposes was 74 thousand 93 people in 2008. This figure quadrupled in 2013 and reached 300 thousand. When those who come for touristic purposes and undergo operations such as hair transplantation and aesthetic intervention are added to these figures, it increases from 300 thousand to 480 thousand.
When we look at the distribution of those who come to Turkey from abroad for treatment purposes by province, tourism regions stand out. and Antalya seems to take the first place. While the number of people coming to Antalya as of 2012 is 87 thousand 162, Istanbul ranks 2nd with 68 thousand 842 people. Izmir, Muğla and Aydın are among our provinces that share the top rankings.
Medical tourists mostly come from Libya, Germany and Iraq, and patients who receive services within the scope of tourist health mostly come from Russia, Germany and Turkey. It comes from England. Generally speaking, it is reported that the countries where international patients come most often are Germany, Libya and Russia.
Medical tourism is included. When we look at the distribution of patients coming to the clinic according to clinics, we see that eye diseases come first. It is recorded that one in every 7 patients comes for eye surgery. The Ministry of Health reports in its report that it does not make an evaluation according to subunits, but when the subunits are taken into consideration, it is known that oncology, cardiovascular and aesthetic surgery are at the forefront.
Joint Commission International (JCI):
It is the oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting agency for healthcare in the United States, evaluating more than 20,000 institutions and inspiring them to achieve excellence in safe and effective care.
Working to transform healthcare into a highly reliable industry, this center provides its participants from leading hospitals and healthcare systems around the world with the most critical aspects of healthcare: safety and quality. It provides guidance in order to document, analyze and trigger future improvements in the fields.
According to the Ministry of Health report, 1 in 4 international patients receive JCI accredited hospitals, 1 in 3 international patients prefer group hospitals consisting of 3 or more hospitals.
Ministry of Health Goals
According to the TÜRSAB report, 2 million international patients are planned to be treated in Turkey in 2023. For this reason, both tourism professionals and the health sector continue their work. As of today, the Ministry of Health's hospital construction with a capacity of 32 thousand beds is still continuing. There are also constructions carried out with public-private partnerships and these are planned to be put into operation in 2016-2017. After the infrastructure works are completed, the income expectation from health tourism is 9-10 billion dollars in 2017-2018 and 20-25 billion dollars in 2023.
If the right steps are taken, the target for 2023 is 2 million dollars. international patients and 20 billion dollars of health tourism income.
Tourism Policies and Marketing Strategies to be Developed
No matter how you look at it, health tourism her
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