FAQ

No. There is no waiting period in Turkey. It has world-class, high-tech medical equipment. There are many healthcare professionals who are experts in their fields. You can access transactions that are not covered by insurance in your home country easily and affordably. Access to specialized modern medical services, socio-cultural similarity and traditional tourism opportunities are other reasons.

While Turkey ranks first in the world with 52 JCI accredited hospitals, 10 hospitals are accredited by TEMOS. Since the physical conditions and equipment are at world standards, the Turkish Ministry of Health has 87 cooperation agreements in the field of health with 53 countries.

Evaluation is made by your Javelin Health Tourism Consultants and physicians who are experts in their fields, and they are selected with your approval.

Your treatment period is reported as an estimate as a result of mutual negotiations. Your treatment is carried out in the most economical and shortest time possible.

"Health Tourism", which contributes to the diversification of the tourism sector and the spread of tourism to 12 months, has commercial value and is a very important service that has an important place in the economy of the countries providing health tourism services and in creating employment.

Health tourism; is the visit of people to another country other than their country of residence in order to receive both therapeutic, rehabilitative and health-beneficial services regarding their health. A tourist traveling for health purposes is called a 'health tourist'.

All kinds of tourism activities that provide services for a healthy life can be considered as health tourism, but in general, health tourism types are grouped under 3 main headings;
Medical (Medical) Tourism: It is a type of tourism made to find insufficient medical services in its own country or to be treated in a hospital in a different country or to have surgery.

Thermal Tourism: It is a type of tourism that is carried out for rehabilitation and rest in thermal facilities serving in regions where thermal waters are known to be healing for years, for bodily health and spiritual rest.

Tourism for the Elderly and Disabled: Tourism for the Elderly and Disabled; long-term stays with social activities; sightseeing tours and occupational therapy for the elderly; aged care services; rehabilitation services at the clinical hotel; It includes special care and sightseeing tours for the disabled. The service location is generally clinical hotels, recreation areas, resorts and nursing homes.

There may be different reasons why patients travel for treatment purposes. Medical issues such as dental, eye, aesthetics, cardiovascular and joint prostheses, infertility treatment and in vitro fertilization come to the fore in health tourism. In addition to these, the number of patients who make health tourism for simple examinations or for control and examination for a disease is high.
We can list the general reasons for patients to do health tourism as follows:
Scarcity or absence of high-tech healthcare and professional human resources in home country
Long standby time
The fact that health services are expensive in their own countries, the same service can be obtained more affordable in other countries
Desire to receive quality health care
Doesn't want his surgery to be known for any reason in his own country
Having problems with health insurance,
The chronic patients, the elderly and the disabled want to be treated in a different environment,
The desire of people with drugs and different addictions to be in different or more suitable environments,
Desire to take a vacation with treatment
Desiring to benefit from the climatic and geographical characteristics of a country different from his country (such as seeing countries with forests, highlands, different history and culture)
Desire to meet with thermal waters in countries with thermal facilities
Health tourism is very diverse and may have many reasons. The main reason is that patients want to solve their health problems in a different country with better facilities or to receive the same service more economically.

The most preferred countries in the field of health tourism; USA, India, Cuba, Costa Rica, Thailand, Singapore, Colombia, Malaysia, Turkey, Mexico, Germany and South Korea. South and Central American countries generally serve American citizens seeking treatment options outside the United States due to very high treatment costs. Patients who want to receive better medical services from the immediate environment, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, come to Malaysia. There is a movement within European countries. For example, 60% of patients coming to Belgium from abroad come from the Netherlands.
Well, let's look at what features these countries attract health tourists;
Countries such as Germany, the USA, and South Korea have good health care quality and technological equipment.
Thermal tourism in Hungary, elderly tourism in Spain, medical tourism in India are due to the policies of giving importance to tourism and health tourism from the past in these countries.
Since the main source of income for countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Cyprus, Costa Rica is tourism.
Jordan, India, Malaysia, Brazil, Malta; due to foreign capital inflow and using the advantages of doctors trained abroad
Countries such as Jordan, Iran, Malaysia, Brazil due to their geographical and political location advantages.
Countries such as Turkey, Malaysia and Israel, on the other hand, have many advantages; These countries are among the reasons for preference of health tourists due to their geographical location, being a tourism country, using advanced technology in health, providing quality health services, and being economically priced.

For their health, people are no longer just the health opportunities and expenses in their own countries; It acts by researching and comparing treatment and expenses in other countries. Health tourism has become a sector in itself, as there are conscious patients who encounter problems such as the problems of the health sector, congestion in hospitals, long waiting times, high treatment costs, and the quality of the service received, and that they have the opportunity to benefit from the health services of other countries. All health-related procedures, from plastic surgery to in vitro fertilization, from hair transplantation to dental treatment, the accommodation sector, hospitals, thermal health facilities, SPA centers and health cure centers, rehabilitation centers serve health tourism.

12 months of the year contribute to the continuation of tourism in countries with health tourism. In countries that attract tourists with health tourism, natural assets that do not normally have economic value but beneficial to health (such as forest, healing water, mountain) gain the quality of economic products and contribute to the income of the region. Expenditures made by tourists provide income increase. It contributes positively to the images of countries around the world.
Turkey is very suitable for health tourism with its geographical location, health institutions, educated manpower, spas and natural beauties. With both its historical and cultural richness and its level of competence in the field of health, Turkey is among the 10 most popular countries in the world.

Due to its geographical location and cultural heritage, Turkey is in high demand from tourists. When such a great tourism potential is combined with advanced health services, Turkey becomes a remarkable country in this sector.
There are many different places for health tourism in Turkey. Many of our cities serve health tourists either with their cultural heritage, thermal springs or advanced holiday opportunities. The prominent cities in health tourism in Turkey are as follows:

Istanbul
Istanbul stands out with its historical heritage and wonderful Bosphorus, as well as its diversity of hospitals and clinics. It is the focus of attention of tourists coming to our country especially for hair transplantation and dental treatments.

Antalya
For many tourists, Antalya is one of the most suitable places to combine vacation and treatment. Health tourists both enjoy a sea holiday and benefit from aesthetic, dental and eye treatments.

Ankara
Ankara is one of the cities preferred by health tourists both for being the capital city and for its quality hospitals and clinics. In addition, guests who want to relax after treatment can choose to go to the thermal centers in the districts around Ankara.

Izmir
With its geographical location, historical heritage and holiday opportunities, İzmir hosts many health tourists every year. The quality hospitals and clinics it houses also contribute to this number.

Mugla
With the unique holiday opportunities it offers, Muğla is one of the cities frequently visited by health tourists. It is especially prominent in dental treatments and hair transplantation.
Afyon, Nevsehir, Denizli, Yalova

The biggest potential of these cities is to host thermal waters. Many health tourists visit these cities every year to take advantage of the hot springs and healing waters. In addition, the fairy chimneys in Nevşehir and the travertines in Denizli are among the factors that direct health tourists to these cities.

Health tourism can be done as a health facility and health tourism intermediary institution in Turkey. According to the decision taken by the Ministry of Health, any organization that will operate in this sector must have a Health Tourism Authorization Certificate. The conditions of the Health Tourism Authorization Certificate are different for health institutions and intermediary institutions, in other words, health tourism agencies.
The conditions of the Health Tourism Authorization Certificate for health facilities can be listed as follows:
The health facility must have received 85 points or more from the Quality Standards in Health assessment. However, it is important to remember that such an assessment is not made for some health facility types.
An infrastructure must be prepared in which the healthcare facility can send information to the foreign patient module through its own automation system.
The health facility needs to have an infrastructure where health tourists can deposit their deposit payments into the health facility's bank account.
The health facility should have a website where it can provide detailed information about its doctors and treatment methods.
There should be a communication infrastructure within the health facility where health tourists can get information about treatment plans and doctors and share their opinions.
A unit that will serve health tourists on various issues should be established within the health facility.
In addition, you need to prepare consent forms in the language of the patients you host during your health tourism. Although this condition is not checked in the document application, it is checked in routine inspections.

The criteria that health tourism intermediary institutions must meet in order to obtain a Health Tourism Authorization Certificate are as follows:
The intermediary institution must have a group A travel agency certificate.
The intermediary institution must have a health tourism protocol with 3 health facilities.
A call infrastructure that provides services in at least 2 languages, provided that one of the languages ​​is English, must be within the body of the intermediary institution.
Apart from the people working in the call infrastructure, at least 2 people who speak a foreign language must be employed. At least 1 of these people must be fluent in English.
In order for the brokerage firm to operate in the sector, it must have a website that provides services in at least 3 languages, 2 of which are English and Turkish.
Just like in health facilities, intermediary institutions have to comply with certain conditions during the process of health tourism. Examples of these are the protection of patient data within the scope of KVKK and the provision of travel health insurance to all patients to cover their entire trip. These criteria are checked during routine inspections, not during the application process.

Health Tourism Authorization Certificate is given by the Ministry of Health. However, there are some differences in the application processes for health facilities and health tourism intermediary institutions. First, let's examine the process for healthcare facilities.
Health facilities wishing to obtain a Health Tourism Authorization Certificate must first fulfill the criteria mentioned in the previous section. Then, they will have taken the necessary step in obtaining the authorization certificate by applying to the Ministry of Health by filling out the application form published by the Ministry of Health with the documents proving that they meet these criteria.
For intermediary institutions, the first step of the process is to obtain the A group travel agency certificate issued by TÜRSAB. Afterwards, they can obtain the intermediary institution authorization certificate by fulfilling the criteria determined by the Ministry of Health and applying through the relevant institutions.

Health tourism is considered as “Foreign Exchange Earning Service Trade” by the Ministry of Commerce and therefore it is within the scope of government incentives in many fields. The prerequisite for receiving these incentives is to have the Health Tourism Authorization Certificate. The Ministry of Commerce provides incentives in many areas to both health facilities and intermediary institutions. Well, in which areas are government incentives given in health tourism? Let's take a look:

• Registration and Protection Support
• Documentation Support
• Overseas Unit Support
• Employment Support
• Agency Commission Support
• Complication and Travel Health Insurance Support
• Consulting Support
• Promotion, Marketing and Advertising Supports
• Patient Path Support
• Support for Training and Promotion Activities for Health Tourism

As can be seen, government incentives offer extensive opportunities in many areas of expenditure. In addition, some of these incentives can be taken retroactively up to 1 year. The expenditure rates covered by the government incentives listed above can go up to 75 percent.
Before benefiting from government incentives, it is essential to work with an expert institution. The biggest reason for this is that the applications are carefully examined by the ministry and there are frequent situations such as not being accepted due to some nuances. In addition, before applying for government incentives, the health facility or intermediary institution should have a plan B in terms of issues such as a comprehensive planning regarding the payments, deciding which incentive to use and how, and rejection of the application.
The application process for government incentives is carried out through the Support Management System (DYS) offered by the Ministry of Commerce. The documents required for incentives vary according to the nature of the incentive. For example, while incentives for digital advertisements require only detailed advertising information and invoices, incentives for translation services require exam results from various institutions showing which languages ​​the translator can speak.
You can learn subjects such as authorization and incentives in health tourism education, and facilitate the legal processes necessary to establish and expand your business.

Health tourism is a multidisciplinary business that incorporates many disciplines together. It requires a high amount of operational power, knowledge and planning. In summary, this sector is not only providing a treatment to the patient, but also providing a complete health and tourism experience. We can summarize the requirements to be able to make health tourism as follows:

• Obtaining necessary legal permits and documents for health tourism
• Preparing the physical infrastructures within the health facility
• Planning the necessary human resources (such as a patient guide) to serve the patient in their own language
• Understanding the insurance system in the target country and seeking ways to make agreements with insurance companies in that country
• Knowledge of international patient ethics and law
• Gaining knowledge and competence for travel planning and operation
• Creation of the sales team
• Creation of marketing strategies
• Creation and management of digital assets such as social media and websites
• Establishing the infrastructure of communication with the patient for treatment planning, sales and travel planning (such as appointment systems, video call systems)
• Establishing an infrastructure to collect and evaluate metrics such as patient satisfaction and returns
• Carrying out the necessary procedures to provide transfer services throughout the patient's travel
• Doing the necessary things to plan the patient's accommodation procedures

As you can see, health tourism is a challenging task based on designing all contact points of a health tourist and managing this operation.
However, it is possible to simplify this difficult process. By participating in the health tourism training, you can learn the operation processes and management in more detail and use it to grow your business.

The process of bringing patients from abroad depends on the promotions of the country, healthcare facility and intermediary institution in the target country. A health tourism institution that cannot reach its target audience, whether it is a facility or an intermediary institution, will not be able to bring patients from abroad.
There are many methods to reach the target audience in health tourism. One of these methods is digital marketing. With digital marketing activities, you create a presence of your brand on the internet and increase your awareness by using this asset while performing various advertising activities in the target country of your choice.
Another way to reach and persuade the target audience is accreditations and international insurance agreements. Some patients who want to be treated abroad first make a health institution screening from an internationally accredited institution such as JCI. Because this accreditation is one of the prerequisites for some patients to be able to trust the aforementioned health institution. In addition, making agreements with insurance companies in the target country is one of the effective ways to bring patients from abroad. By making an agreement with a single insurance company, you can perform thousands of transactions within your institution.
Conferences and fairs on health tourism are also ways to bring patients from abroad. In these conferences and fairs, you can promote both your health institution and your country, and establish various connections with health facilities, tourism agencies and insurance companies abroad.

It is indispensable for any organization to promote its services, reach potential customers and become a brand, to exist in its sector. Likewise, the importance of promotion, brand and marketing activities is vital in a service sector such as health tourism, which has a global basis. Now, let's take a look at the promotion, marketing and branding activities in health tourism.

Promotion
Promotional activities in health tourism focus on announcing the country, its services, technological opportunities and tourism potential in the target country. Various advertising activities, conferences and fairs are carried out to increase the awareness of the country in the sector. Associations, government organizations and agencies that are most interested in health tourism take part in promotional activities. Promotion activities aim to become a partner in the competition with a holistic approach to the sector, as opposed to going into details.

Branding
A brand is a concept in people's minds. This concept does not occur overnight. Gradually, it settles in people's minds as a result of various promotional activities and services provided in the sector. For example, Thailand is one of the most prominent countries in health tourism. This potential of Thailand is known in many developed countries. What should be noted here is that Thailand itself is directly associated with health tourism, not a specific institution or treatment method of Thailand. This is where the power of branding comes into play.

Marketing
Marketing is the work done to promote the services and the brand and increase its awareness. It is divided into many subclasses. The prominent types in health tourism are digital marketing, conventional marketing, B2G marketing and B2I marketing. While B2G and B2I marketing methods try to reach the target audience indirectly by using conferences, fairs and international agreements, digital and conventional marketing focuses on reaching the target audience directly through advertisements using tools such as websites, social media, television and radio.
Promotion, branding and marketing activities in health tourism can increase the growth of your business tremendously. In health tourism education, you can learn how to grow your business thanks to these activities.

After reaching the target audience with promotional and marketing activities in health tourism, the next step is to make sales transactions. Sales transactions in health tourism are generally carried out through the call centers of health facilities and health tourism agencies. In addition, potential customers can make the first contact through social media or the infrastructures on the website.
In order for the sales phase to be healthy, a correct flow must first be created. In particular, it should be determined in advance that potential customers from social media and website channels should be returned quickly and which stage will be taken afterwards. In addition, in the interview with the call center, what to do in cases where the patient is not satisfied with the information given and wants to see a doctor should be planned in advance. In addition, automatic appointment infrastructures should be added to the website of the institution, so that patients can be contacted with the call center or doctors as soon as possible.
One of the most important factors that determine the success of the sales stage is the knowledge and experience of the sales team and pre-created sales scenarios. Thanks to the sales scenarios, the call center team understands which questions they need to answer more clearly, and the flow of the sales talk is also determined. It also ensures that medical terms are used in the right place at the right time and in a way that truly informs the patient.
The point to be considered when creating a sales process is to provide the necessary information to potential customers completely. In addition, misleading statements about price should be avoided, and a fixed price policy should be followed if possible. Because no one would be satisfied with a surprise fee that they will encounter during their health tourism trip to another country.

Health tourism is a constantly developing and rapidly growing sector. Every year, new countries, new health institutions and agencies are included in the sector. Although it seems that there is no problem for now, there are, of course, risks threatening health tourism.
Perhaps the biggest of the risks threatening health tourism is the poor quality health facilities established with low investments and focusing on saving the day. These facilities try to provide various treatments at cheap prices in clinics that we can call under the stairs. Health tourists, who prefer such facilities because of the low price, also start to look at health tourism negatively due to the bad service they receive. Gradually, the reputations of countries are destroyed.
Another problem that threatens health tourism is legal differences. In malpractice cases, lawsuits filed in another country may not reach a conclusion for long periods of time. Another problem is cultural differences between countries. Health tourists traveling to countries with a culture very different from the one they are accustomed to may change their perspective towards health tourism in the event of a possible bad experience and tell this to the people around them when they return to their own country. With the strong effect of word of mouth, the reputation of the mentioned country in health tourism will be destroyed in a short time. As the number of countries that share this fate increases, the concerns about health tourism increase and health tourism may start to shrink.
Along with the increasing competition, smear campaigns between countries and institutions are also one of the risks threatening health tourism. Damage to the reputation of another country or another institution located in the same country may cause such events to grow in the long run and damage the reputation of the sector.