Just as automobiles and electronics became globally competitive over the past few decades, high-quality healthcare now has also become available around the world. In fact, did you know that this year an estimated five million patients will cross borders for a medical procedure? And another 15 million will travel to a foreign country for wellness, spa treatments, traditional and preventive medicine.
It may come as a surprise to patients and healthcare consumers that Turkey ranks high as a global healthcare hub, in good company with established medical tourism destinations such as India, Thailand and Singapore. Centrally located West and East, Turkey is in a unique position to serve Americans and Western Europeans as easily as Middle Easterners and Eastern Europeans.
In our research for Patients Beyond Borders, now the leading consumer reference guide for medical tourism, I've journeyed to Turkey twice in the past year, visiting hospitals, talking with doctors, interviewing international patients. It's clear that in Turkey, medical tourists can find world-class wellness facilities, along with nearly every imaginable medical procedure—all at a fraction of the prices typically charged in the United States and Europe. The nearly 100,000 patients who visited Turkey last year have discovered this, and Turkey expects to attract more than 1 million medical travelers by 2015!
Turkey has long welcomed vacationers with its history, culture, scenery, and cuisine. Thus, an expansion of traditional Turkish hospitality into the healthcare sector is a natural. Turkey has recently gone through a comprehensive healthcare restructuring: new investments and government support have raised the quality of the nation's health services,
the high-price of care on their own shores.
Patients with diagnosed medical conditions can find what they are looking for in Turkey, ranging from bone marrow transplantation to in vitro fertilization. Other sought-after specialties include cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, genetic testing, neurosurgery, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and dentistry.
Many medical travelers seeking elective surgery they cannot afford at home will find the price is right in Turkey. For example, a rhinoplasty ("nose job") in Turkey costs, on average, about a third of what it costs in the United States, knee replacement priced at $43,000 in the United States may cost around US$12,000 in Turkey, including the hospital stay.
The leading healthcare groups are located in Turkey's three largest cities—Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. They offer "one-stop" service to foreign patients, covering all arrangements from the day of request to the day of departure. Hospital staffs handle everything from setting up initial consultations to booking accommodations.
Turkey also attracts health-conscious travelers who want to maintain and promote wellness through comprehensive checkups, health screenings, and health-promoting spa experiences. Turkey is a natural venue for wellness travel; its thermal spa resorts and mud baths attract about a half-million visitors annually.
I'm so impressed with Turkey's healthcare offerings that I have written a special Turkey Edition of the Patients Beyond Borders series. In it, I profile eleven Turkish hospitals and hospital-groups that are ready to serve the medical traveler. Is that you? Whether you are seeking a health-promoting week at a luxury spa or a long-postponed hip replacement toe expensive to undergo at home, Turkey may well be the best healthcare destination for you.
For more information, international patients from USA can visit
www.medicaltourisminturkey.org or can contact with www. keyglobalheathcaresolutions.com for health care arrangements in Turkey from USA.
Turkish Airlines offers international and domestic flights to all of Turkey's major health travel destinations, and has recently launched its medical tourism program, which offers airfare discounts of up to 25% over the system prices from US and % 20 from other destinations to inbound medical tourists and waives the penalty ) on date of change.
