Turkish American Chamber of Commerce & Industry - Midwest
Proudly Presents
NEW Medical Tourism Destination
NEW Health Partner to the US
MEDICAL TOURISM
The phenomenon of receiving healthcare abroad has grown over the past several years. Due to increasing healthcare costs at home, more and more Americans and Europeans are traveling abroad seeking medical treatment, which is commonly referred to as “medical tourism.” Medical travel, health tourism, or global healthcare are also commonly used terms for this practice. People are now choosing to receive healthcare in places where they can receive comparable or better quality treatment at lower costs. They prefer shorter or no waiting periods and quicker access. Currently the world medical tourism industry is estimated to amount over $60 billion and is expected to exceed over $100 billion within the next two years.
The Deloitte 2008 Survey of Health Care Consumers predicted that outbound medical tourism will experience an explosive growth over the following three to five years, and now after a year, that is already happening. In 2007, 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for treatment. Estimates for 2008 were 1 million, for 2009 were 3 million and in 2010 over 6 million Americans are expected to travel abroad for medical treatment. According to Deloitte, by 2017 over 16 million Americans could be traveling to other countries for treatment in search of better prices, better quality, better access and better availability.
Among the contributing factors are dramatically rising health care costs, an aging population, increasing number of uninsured and underinsured Americans, higher plan deductibles, higher co-pays, increasing number of employers who are cutting back and eliminating their healthcare programs, and the ease of traveling abroad and communication. Willingness of existing health plans, insurance providers and employers to search for alternative means to reduce costs will further impact medical traveling positively.
Current US statistics show that over 47 million Americans have no medical insurance and over 120 million Americans do not have dental insurance. In search of value and quality, this uninsured population has no choice but to travel to foreign countries to receive lower-cost medical or dental treatment alternatives when they need them. 18% of the remaining insured population (i.e. of 250 million) are either underinsured or do not qualify for certain treatments which results in substantial out-of-pocket costs when a procedure is done in the US. For this population the outbound medical tourism represents an opportunity to save on huge out-of-pocket expenses. Medical care abroad can save up to 90% of the cost of comparable care in the US. Even for those who are properly insured, the cost of a procedure abroad including air fare and hotel accommodation could add up to a less amount than the plan deductible. According to Economic Times, if 10% of the insured American population were to take the advantage of treatments abroad, then the insurance industry could gain about $14 billion annually.
Recent research shows that elective procedures such as liposuction, orthodontics, lasik, rhinoplasty, breast augmentation as well as complex specialized procedures such as cardiovascular surgery, brain surgery, orthopedic joint (knee & hip) replacements can result in savings of up to 75%- 90% as compared to what they cost in the US and in Europe. Among other procedures for which patients travel abroad are medical oncology, hematological oncology, radiation oncology, Cyberknife, kidney dialysis, prostate operations, organ transplants (heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, small intestine, bone marrow), in vitro fertilization treatments and fertility operations, dental treatments and surgery; eye operations; plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries.
Medical tourism has the potential to offer tremendous benefits to all parties involved including American patients, the healthcare industry, service providers, insurance companies, insurance agents, employers, as well as the foreign countries with comparative cost and quality advantage. It could be the solution to global healthcare crisis. The industry needs well established globally networks and partnerships. If quality, patient safety and follow-up care are given top priority; risks are reduced and well managed; medical tourism facilitators follow certain standards; the industry leaders such as JCI and MTA continue playing their crucial role in ensuring quality of healthcare, educating the industry, and promoting transparency in quality, pricing and patient safety, then medical travel industry could benefit all.
WHY TURKEY?
The Turkish American Chamber of Commerce & Industry - Midwest is proud to organize the Chicago conference on different aspects of Medical Tourism to educate and inform the attendants on current issues as well as introducing Turkey as a new healthcare partner and an emerging medical destination. Turkey is a destination where you will feel at home while experiencing world famous Turkish hospitality. You will be able to combine your medical trip for top quality, affordable health care with a variety of short vacation and tourism opportunities in a culturally and historically rich environment to make it a more relaxing experience. Turkey is ready to be an important player and partner in this rapidly growing industry.
Turkey, bordering eight different countries from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, has a unique and strategic geographical location forming a bridge. For thousands of years it has been the cradle to more civilizations than any other country in the world. Our aim is to increase Turkey's share in the global healthcare market. The event is organized with support from the Turkish Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Turkish Ministry of Health, Turkish Healthcare Tourism Development Council, Turkish American Tourism Council, Turkish Accredited Hospitals Association, DEIK / TAIK (Foreign Economic Relations Council) Healthcare Tourism Committee, Turkish American Doctors Association of Midwest (TADAM), and other local Turkish-American organizations in Chicago. The event sponsor is Turkish Airlines Inc.
With its top quality medical, spa, wellness, and thermal facilities and five-star hotel accommodations in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and other major cities, Turkey has already been attracting patients from Europe and other countries such as England, Holland, Ukraine, Romania, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Russia and Bahrain. Over the last decade or so, the Turkish health industry has been undergoing substantial economic and infrastructure developments and improvements, and Turkey is now ready to play the leading role in the global healthcare industry with its high quality infrastructure. Turkey's JCI accredited medical facilities are affiliated with top tier US providers such as Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins Medicine, etc. They are equipped with the latest technology and hardware and US trained, Board certified, highly qualified and experienced doctors and well trained medical personnel. There are no waiting periods for treatment.
Safety and quality are the most important concerns for medical travelers and accreditation gives consumers confidence with respect to comparable quality of care they receive abroad. Almost all Turkish hospitals have the ISO 2001 quality management certification, and currently, 28 first-class hospitals are American JCI accredited while others are in the process of accreditation. This is the largest number of Joint Commission International accreditation any country has achieved so far. Anadolu Medical Center (Affiliated with John Hopkins International), Acibadem Healthcare Group (Affiliated with Harvard Medical International), Memorial Hospital Health Group, American Hospital, German Hospital, Florence Nightingale Hospital Group, Yeditepe University Hospital, Kent Hospital, MedicalPark Hospital Group, Dunya Eye Hospital, and Dent Istanbul Dental Hospital are among the leading facilities in Turkey.
To learn more about the medical tourism industry potential in Turkey please contact us at info@MedicalTourismInTurkey.org.
