Structure of the Healthcare

The Ministry of Health (MoH) is responsible for developing strategies and policies that foster the provision of healthcare services. The MoH offers primary, secondary, and specialized inpatient and outpatient services to the citizens and residents of the republic of Turkey. Primary health care includes family medicine, which is either private-owned or in health centers owned by the Ministry of Health. Secondary and tertiary healthcare are all under the Ministry of Health, whereas the former (secondary healthcare) is offered in General Hospitals, and the latter (tertiary healthcare) is prevalent in teaching hospitals.

Hospitals in Turkey are categorized based on ownership  (either owned by the MoH, University, Private Sector) and teaching status/type (Teaching, General, Integrated Hospitals).

Financing Healthcare

Universal healthcare is accessible to residents with social security who receive subsidized healthcare. The old social security system in Turkey, in place before 2006, was available in four options:

• Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu (SGK), "4-A plan" managed a National Health Insurance plan accessible to blue-collar public and private sector workers, who had lived in Turkey for at least a year.

• Bag-Kur, "4-B plan”, covered the self-employed, left out by SGK. Bag-Kur does not own health facilities, but contracts public providers including hospitals owned by SGK.

• Emekli Sandigi, "4-C plan" included a  Government Employees Retirement Fund for retired civil servants.

• Green Card, "Yesil Kart" provided healthcare for people earning below threshold income declared by the government.

In 2006, the Social Security Institution was established, for which the Social Insurance Institution, Bag-kur, and Emekli Sandigi were united under one umbrella by Law No. 5502 (Turkey, 2006). Following this, Social Insurances and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 (Turkey, The Government of, 2006) was enacted in 2006 to introduce universal health insurance. Universal health insurance offers access to healthcare to all insured and uninsured individuals living in Turkey.

The green card, which offered its holders access to healthcare, was removed in 2012 and all green card holders were included under the new universal health insurance policy. Private healthcare is accessible by health insurance premiums and out of pocket payments. Turkey is home to large private hospitals and clinics which have made the country a staple for Medical Tourism, especially for cosmetic surgery, fertility treatments, and dentistry.

Investment Opportunities

Lucrative opportunities to invest in Turkey’s healthcare space include but are not limited to:

• Medical Appliances and Equipment

• Pharmaceuticals

• Hospital Management and Training

• Laboratory Equipment and consumables

Start Ups & Technology

There are a number of health-tech startups in Turkey including:

• Doktorsitesi

• Virasoft

• FlyMedi

• Hevi AI

• EvdekiBakıcım

• Inofab Health

These companies leverage emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data, Internet of Medical Things, mHealth (Mobile Health), Health Information Technology, and Virtual Reality (VR)

Challenges

The health sector in Turkey faces challenges toward development. Challenges include but are not limited to:

• The availability of bed capacity and skilled workforce is low compared to the demand

• The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) due to lifestyle factors

• Long waiting times for consultation and treatment in health centers

Solutions

• Awareness campaigns and wide screening have been used as notable methods to motivate the population to maintain a healthy lifestyle in an effort to avoid Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

• The Health Transformation Program (HTP) and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) work together to build more modern healthcare facilities and facilities that will be an answer for growing medical needs and reduce long waiting lines to see the doctor.

• The country is pushing more efforts on medical tourism, which has been a lucrative source of income for Turkey. Due to the low prices compared to other markets, people opt to fly into Turkey to have medical procedures done.