Americans prefer Turkey for low-cost health services

Salı, 18 Ağustos 2009 10:39

Those who have lost their jobs and can no longer benefit from health insurance in the United States have discovered Turkey and its offer of health services at reasonable prices.

Turkish health tourism has reached a business volume of $150 million with loss of health insurance accompanying widespread job loss in the United States, more Americans have discovered Turkey’s health tourism to lower their medical expenses.

Americans are contributing an important share among health tourism patients, mainly due to low prices. Turkey hosts around 40,000 people in health tourism annually, creating a business volume of $150 million. The country is preferred by people from European Union member countries, but U.S. citizens have also started to show interest after the global crisis.

The arriving patient profile has changed amid the crisis and the number of American patients has surpassed the number of Europeans, said Health Tourism Turkey Coordinator Gül Soydan.

Many people in the United States have been left without insurance, Soydan said. “If an American chooses to have a complete teeth treatment in the U.S., the cost is $100,000, but it is at most $30,000. Having realized this advantage, U.S. citizens have been flocking to Turkey for health tourism during the first six months of this year,” Soydan said.

Promising portfolio:

However, Selin Yıldırım, deputy-managing director of the World Eye Centers, said a substantial proportion of the patients coming to Turkey for health tourism are still EU citizens, but they expect a significant amount of participation from the U.S. in time.

With this goal, World Eye Centers has launched activities for Turkey’s leading healthcare organizations, Yıldırım said. “The U.S. government has already launched an initiative to provide low-priced health services for citizens. Turkey’s leading health care organizations participated in the U.S.-Turkey Medical Health Tourism Conference held by the Health Tourism Council in Chicago in May.”

Commenting on Turkey’s advantages, Yıldırım said: “Turkey not only has advantages in terms of prices, but it is also much ahead of Europe with its investments in technology. Its technology is used in some advanced hospitals in Germany and the U.S. We are much ahead of Scandinavia, the Balkans and Central Europe.”

Besides the United States, there is also great attention from the Middle East, said Dr. Aycan Aktaş, vice president of Antalya’s Özel Perge Diş Hastanesi, a private hospital specializing in dental health care. “U.S. citizens have particularly started to visit hospitals in Istanbul. Southern cities, such as Antalya, draw increasing attention from the Middle East. Many patients come from Kazakhstan and Iran,” Aktaş said.

More expenses in health tourism:

A person arriving in Turkey for health tourism spends 12 times more than a regular tourist, according to a report announced in June by the health subcommittee of the Turkish Industrialists' And Businessmen's Association, or TÜSİAD.

Medical tourism, which has a global volume of $60 billion, is expected to reach $100 billion by the end of 2010, according to the report. Turkey’s health tourism is expected to cover 36 percent of its overall tourism revenues, which totaled $21.9 billion last year. Around 30,000 to 40,000 tourists arrive in Turkey for health tourism, and the goal is to attain 1 million foreign patients and $8 billion in revenue by 2020, the report said.

As noted in the TÜSİAD report, health tourism can be a strategic area for Turkey, said Dr. Mahir Turan, managing director of the Göztepe Medical Park Hospital in Istanbul. “Turkey may quadruple its business volume in health tourism with a rationalistic strategy. Open-heart surgery, which costs $150,000 in the U.S., is around $12,000 to $15,000 in Turkey.”