Research and Markets: Understanding Turkey's Regional Health Markets

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gkmhnz/understanding) has announced the addition of the "Understanding Turkey's Regional Health Markets" report to their offering.

A Forensic Analysis With Statistics On National And Regional Health Infrastructure And Provision. An Essential Source Of Highly Detailed Business Data.

Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey is a diverse health market ambitious to improve the lot of its 70 million inhabitants with rising health spend and health reforms. The country still has some way to go to equal its European neighbours and some of its health indicators are more akin to those in emerging economies in Africa and Asia.

Any assessment of Turkey must consider the recent health reforms, rising health spend and the economic and demographic dynamics that are influencing the development of the health market. Identifying opportunities and assessing risk in Turkey's health economy requires being able to see the economic performance and health infrastructure at a regional as well as national level.

Rich in statistics, charts and maps, this new 226-page report from Espicom Understanding Turkey's Regional Health Markets takes you further into understanding the national and regional health environments and their needs.

Highlights

Health reforms are driving improvements

Recent reforms have reorganised and strengthened primary care services. Prior to the implementation of the Family Practitioner Scheme in late 2010, primary care services were provided by health centres, health posts and a number of dispensaries. Since 2011 the main providers of primary and ambulatory healthcare services in Turkey have been family physicians, family health centres and population health centres (in the public sector), doctors' private offices and private clinics.

Under the new scheme, family practitioners (GPs and family physician specialists) are given incentives for providing preventive care. The main disadvantage of the scheme is the lack of a referral system, which enables patients to bypass the primary care level and enter the system at the secondary or tertiary level, if they wish; this means the primary care level is not working as effectively as it should be. However, a new system of co-payment exemptions for primary and higher level care has been implemented as an incentive for people to visit their GP first and to receive a referral to secondary or tertiary care.

Hospital Infrastructure

In 2010, there were 1,397 hospitals in Turkey, of which 65.4% were run by the public sector. The bulk of public sector hospitals were run by the MoH (843 facilities), followed by universities (62 facilities) and municipal (three facilities). The number of MoH hospitals grew strongly until 2007 but has fallen slightly since. A small increase has been noted in the number of university hospitals since 2007. The number of privately run hospitals has continued to expand with growth of 85.1% between 2000 and 2010 and the sector now runs 483 hospitals.

Continuing shortages of medical personnel

Whilst the number of doctors practising in Turkey has risen steadily since 1990, a shortage remains in the country, reflected by the low rate of 1.7 per thousand population. The rate has risen slowly over the years, from 1.6 per thousand population in 2000. Turkey has a very low nurse rate; this stood at 1.3 per thousand population in 2010. This is lower than the physician rate, due to a lack of effective human resources planning and management, which has tended to prioritize physicians and neglect the gaps in nursing care. The uneven geographical distribution of doctors, particularly general practitioners, has been addressed over the last decade. Compulsory service and strict healthcare personnel transfer rules have helped to balance inequalities in deprived areas.

Key Questions Answered By This Report

- How is wealth distributed regionally?

- Which regions produce the highest levels of GDP and does that relate to health spending?

- What role is played by private healthcare?

- What are the implications for industry in the recent primary care reforms?

- How is healthcare organised and delivered?

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gkmhnz/understanding