Why Türkiye Is Gaining a Structural Advantage in Health Tourism — and How Sante Privée Responds
Access to timely healthcare has become one of the most pressing challenges for health systems worldwide. In recent years, the issue has shifted from quality alone to a more fundamental question: how long patients must wait to receive treatment.
According to the most recent data published by the OECD in its Health at a Glance 2025 report, prolonged waiting times for planned (elective) surgical procedures remain a systemic issue across many OECD countries. The report highlights that delays are no longer exceptional cases but a structural reality affecting millions of patients.
This evolving landscape has direct implications for international health travel — and it explains why Türkiye has emerged as a preferred destination for patients seeking timely surgical care.
The OECD’s Health at a Glance 2025 report evaluates healthcare system performance across member countries using comparable indicators. One of the key access indicators examined is waiting time for elective surgery, measured from specialist referral to treatment delivery.
In several OECD countries, patients routinely wait three to six months or longer for elective procedures. While life-threatening cases are prioritised, surgeries that significantly affect quality of life — including reconstructive and plastic surgery — are frequently postponed or deprioritised within public systems.
Source: OECD, Health at a Glance 2025, Waiting Times for Elective Surgery.
Historically, health tourism decisions were driven largely by cost differentials. OECD data now shows that time has become equally decisive.
In this context, waiting time is no longer an administrative inconvenience; it is a barrier to care.
The OECD report does not rank countries by “best” or “worst.” However, when the underlying system characteristics are examined, Türkiye stands out in several structural areas directly linked to waiting time reduction.
In many OECD countries, elective surgery is heavily dependent on public healthcare systems operating under capacity constraints. In Türkiye, by contrast:
This dual-system structure significantly reduces bottlenecks — a factor implicitly aligned with the OECD’s access indicators.
OECD data consistently links waiting times to workforce and infrastructure capacity. Türkiye benefits from:
These characteristics allow healthcare providers to absorb international patient demand without displacing local care — a key sustainability factor in health tourism.
One of the most critical OECD indicators is unmet healthcare need due to waiting times. This refers to patients who delay or abandon treatment altogether.
Türkiye’s system — particularly within organised international patient pathways — reduces this risk by offering:
As a result, treatment delays caused by systemic waiting lists are largely avoided.
How Sante Privée Addresses the Waiting Time Challenge in Practice
While national infrastructure creates opportunity, effective organisation determines real outcomes. Sante Privée operates with a model designed specifically to eliminate the inefficiencies highlighted in OECD analyses.
Patient applications are reviewed promptly, and unnecessary administrative steps are removed. Medical evaluations are coordinated directly with specialists, avoiding delays common in fragmented systems.
Rather than default referrals, each case is matched to institutions with available surgical capacity. This prevents patients from entering informal waiting queues.
End-to-End Coordination
Hospital arrangements, scheduling, transfers, accommodation, and interpretation services are managed through a single operational structure. This integrated approach eliminates time loss caused by miscommunication between providers.
Patients receive clear, realistic treatment schedules from the outset. This transparency addresses one of the OECD’s core concerns: uncertainty created by extended and unpredictable waiting periods.
The OECD’s Health at a Glance 2025 report makes one conclusion unavoidable: healthcare access is now measured by time as much as by quality.
Countries able to offer:
hold a measurable advantage in international patient mobility.
Türkiye’s healthcare structure aligns with these criteria — and when combined with professional coordination, this advantage becomes tangible for patients.
OECD data does not promote destinations, but it clearly identifies systemic pressure points. Long waiting times remain a defining weakness across many developed health systems.
Türkiye’s relative strength lies in its ability to deliver elective surgical care without prolonged delays, supported by strong infrastructure and operational flexibility. When structured through a coordinated model such as Sante Privée’s, this advantage translates into timely, predictable, and accessible care for international patients.
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