More US patients expected to get treatment in Turkey

THY announced at the TACCI-Midwest conference on health tourism that it was offering 25 percent off on flights to US patients who are flying to Turkey for medical treatment. Businessmen at the conference emphasized that Turkey has the highest number of internationally accredited hospitals in the world, a very important advantage in the competition for health tourism. Turkey’s rivals in this area are India, Thailand and Singapore. Turkey’s target is to bring its number of foreign patients to 50,000 a year, from the current 5,000. India’s share in global health tourism is about 14 percent, but experts say Turkey, a flight to which lasts six hours less than one to India, might catch up soon.

THY Chicago Director Rengin YiÄŸitbaşı AkıllıoÄŸlu said Turkey’s 25 percent discount for passengers who seek medical treatment was higher than the 20 percent average offered by Turkey’s rival companies.

Semih Gökart, the deputy medical director of the Hisar Intercontinental Hospital, Turkey’s first hospital to be granted accreditation by the US healthcare organization Joint Commission International (JCI), also stated that they were expecting more patients from the US. Gökart said the hospital was also in the process of signing various international deals. “Under a new deal we are working on, we will be hosting patients from the US. Those who don’t have access to health services in the US because they can’t afford to but are in need of medical care will have the opportunity to benefit from the same services in Turkey at much lower prices.”

Infertility treatment in the US can cost up to $40,000, while that figure is around $3,000 in Turkey. The average cost of a liver transplant in the US ranges between $300,000-400,000. The same operation costs between $100,000 to $150,000 in Turkey. A surgical operation for treatment of obesity costs about $10,000 in the US, whereas the same operation can be done for $1,500 in Turkey.