An informed and collaborative decision-making process between the patient and the healthcare provider in low-risk elective surgery, including spine surgery, depends on the accurate estimation of the out-of-pocket cost of the affordable spine surgery procedure. Over the years, Türkiye has gained an increasing reputation as a treatment destination with its advancement in the healthcare system. Among them are the achievements in spine surgery in terms of surgical outcomes, the loyalty and dedication of the physicians and related healthcare workforce, high levels of services and materials in private and university hospitals, international accreditations of medical service providers and organizations, and conformity with healthcare standards. Additionally, low costs that the patient is able to cover in Turkey have made medical tourism a popular inbound healthcare service, in which healthcare services are bundled with tourism and/or relaxation in packages for commercially insured patients who seek affordable spine surgery medical care.
Low payment levels that the National Health System regulations promulgate for specialists that have signed work agreements enable Turkey to propose low costs. In Turkey, the minimum and maximum fee schedules for medical interventions are set by the Social Security Institute upon the proposals of the Higher Institution of Health and the opinions of the price determination committee subordinated to the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Authority. Patient care services that are not part of the patient’s current diagnosis-related group are not paid through public or private insurance for spine surgery. Since 2003, the payments to specialists from the Social Security Institute have been significantly below the inflation level with the new annual provider implementation, which aims to maintain the wage growth rate while decreasing the duration of the changes on wages. Consequently, providers have been able to seal the gap between OOPs of the service and the contract price using various methods that the regulations do not perceive. The intention of this study was to enhance the patient’s ability to predict OOP costs of affordable spine surgery through the exploration of the items that significantly change the OOP spine surgery cost performed by hospital-employed surgeons, which are not perceived by the factors that influence hospital charges for hospital-employed surgeons.
Low back pain is one of the most important problems in societies in developed countries. The 20-year recurrence rate is between 24% and 80% and rarely lower than 20%. It can cause loss of labor for the patient, work and time losses for the employer, labor losses for insurance for spine surgery companies, and also decrease the quality of life of the patient. At least one-third of the back problems are caused by disc hernia. The disc hernia in the lumbar area develops with a combination of internal damage of the disc and external damage of the annulus fibrosus. It can be in the form of protrusion, extrusion, sequestration, and with an export rate of 1%, cauda equina syndrome, which leads to urinary incontinence or sciatic nerve deficit.
Despite the fact that most patients with low back pain improve after medical treatment, 10% to 30% of them become chronic, with chronic disability. Chronic low back pain syndrome is a serious condition in terms of health and social costs of affordable spine surgery. Chronic low back pain affects the patient’s family and society because it can be debilitating and is related to the other health problems. In a study years ago, it was reported that between 1.7% and 2.5% of the labor forces were disabled because of low back pain and 75% of these people could not continue their jobs. It was stated that 30% to 60% of the prescribed examinations were related to low back pain. The number of working days lost by employees is 30 million in a year and it has been estimated that the costs of this disease are around 50 billion USD. In a study, it was reported that low back pain is the most important factor when it is considered preventable. These costs rise due to the direct costs of management studies and also the indirect costs. Direct costs include hospitalization, surgery, imaging and laboratory tests, physiotherapy programs and some personal costs such as the purchase of products. Indirect costs of affordable spine surgery include labor losses, compensation, disability and pension payments.
As we suggested, Turkey’s potential is more likely in the field of uniting their already existing cost-effective hotel & flight packages and creating structured concierge and travel solutions. Especially for people already familiar with Turkey or not that far geographically from Turkey, and who could trust the health outcomes that hospitals would provide for these package offers. Therefore, these potential destinations would select particular countries with high importance to be able to reach potential tourism patients. During the selection, the following determinants became important: language, customs, trustable medical outcomes, reliable information prior, during and post-surgery, and how willing they were to take the surgery steps in quantity. It would be wise to see strength/announced programs in which countries aim to enhance the country’s patient services.
The Turkish government is quite active in this matter and is focused on developing all stated internal and external facilitations, e.g. foreign policy, environment, airports, city hospitals, logistics, human resources, domestic insurance for spine surgery (to expand to other countries or intend). Spine surgery is not as affordable spine surgery as bariatric/men’s health/eye surgeries in Turkey at the moment, and the hospital’s active collaboration with tourism agencies is not as high as health complexes in the east. However, a full-fledged, potential, rapidly growing medical tourism market will most likely start in the west, accelerate in the south and carry the details that would make Turkish cities adapt to this ‘city-hospital concept’ generally in the long run. In both senses, it is crucial to have high-end city hospitals. City hospitals mean economies of scale and global outreach. The hospitals without the brand seek collaboration, and this holds great potential for both parties – spine surgeons with the required experience may independently visit key countries’ central cities or at least take part in the surgeries there once in a while to attract the nation and perform the tourism surgery in Turkey.
The affordable spine surgery cost of the latest diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitative resources may escalate daily as they become available to healthcare facilities. The completion of this escalation shows how profusely medical technological advancement is conveyed. Points believed to influence the spinal surgery price are advanced medical technology, the extreme notions of doing harm, undue defensive practice, malpractice lawsuits, concurrent professional nursing service, intensivist contact, nominal admission, and nominal use of healthcare facilities’ assets are perceived as escalating spinal surgery price.
In the advanced medical technology era, financial shortages are a danger to the long-run sustainability of healthcare systems. Innovative health technology changes will put the long-run sustainability of our health systems in danger since well-being investments are not contained at stationary levels. The treatment of chronic diseases including spine surgery is recognized as being especially high for developed countries. Spiral bony outgrowths avulsions of two sharp fragments from a completely exostosed process have been noticed in a variety of sides of the lumbar spine. As a total of 202 from 1996, each avulsion was accurately recognizable throughout palliative surgery. Only 2 torsions were technique from this immense series. A classification of evolved stress lumbar marrow injuries caused especially by aquatic resistance exercise is introduced to contribute to the understanding of the pathologic evolution of these injuries.
Treatment related to back pain is one of the problems that people worldwide go to hospitals the most. A wide variety of treatments can be applied for this kind of problem, and surgery is the final stage. When we talk about medullary surgery as a group, this surgery seems very complex due to the structure of the medulla and the support of the backbone. The surgeon should have detailed information about the anatomy, function, and general characteristics of the column in order to prevent even the minor complications that might arise during this major surgery. After the surgery, the expert should have information that will provide the most convenient care to the patient. As these patients present a wide range of problems, the general surgeon seeks general or scientific support to solve problems, and some patients at the center may apply with complications.
The main diagnostic approach to spinal foundation problems is the neurological aspect, the examination of neurological pathology related to the problem, radiology imaging, and laboratory tests. Subsequently, after physiological evaluation, the size and location of the damage can be determined with surgical intervention and a minimally invasive procedure. It is really important for the patient not to be jeopardized by delaying the surgery under the camouflage of the complexity of the surgery. The most important factor affecting our approach in the treatment of spinal disorders today is the more detailed and accurate pre-op studies of patients. The extent and amount of surgery that can be safely performed at the same time as the patient’s spinal problem can be determined by the diagnostic value of the information collected during this period, and the team can also prepare themselves for the postoperative period. In fact, today, it is very important to work with a multidisciplinary team in the examination and treatment stages of the patient with this type of problem. In these patients, the satisfaction of functioning activity increases both before and after the surgery, and after surgery, they are able to get away from this pain and protect it.
It is possible that doctor self-interest or doctor desires to calculate more tariffs and leave its morality out of its place and may affect the surgeon to be more profitable. As well as the more experienced surgeons are more trained to discuss with the patient, provide a convincing explanation, and have political dialogue; more experienced may also be directed to more experienced and expensive robotic surgeries. As such, we can conclude that surgeons who have high levels of expertise will identify the problems and problems that exist in the world in a complex problem-free manner and can provide functional recovery.
Spine surgery cost effectiveness is defined as the degree of efficiency in allocating resources to a specific purpose. In the healthcare system, cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is commonly used to depict the amount of resources spent for a single unit of the value of outcomes. The units depend on demographic differences across studies, but in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) most of the recent studies, including CEA studies, measure effectiveness in healthcare. When healthcare resources are limited but there is an infinite demand, healthcare policy makers are interested in the distribution of more health benefits so that, with limited responsibilities, the highest number of individuals would ultimately receive appropriate and enough healthcare support to improve and maintain their health.
Spinal surgery price analysis is one of the most common tools to provide a CEA framework, including affordable spine surgery and effectiveness, for overall treatment. Often, QALYs are adopted in the study framework. The spinal surgery price value of one QALY gained is then calculated by combining the descriptions of both the time and preference value gained from the available health-related quality of life evaluation data. The QALYs measures health states according to the mentioned utilities or preferences, encompassing both the length and quality of life. The aim is to interpret the transition between health states in large data sets as accurately as possible. If these transitions are measured over time, the changes in overall health conditions represent the efficacy of healthcare. It is important to calculate the spinal surgery price for all treatments that generate health outcomes for overall comparisons concerning spinal surgery price. The current cost-utility comparison is the cost-QALY approach that factors health conditions and their corresponding utilities.
In a 5-star hotel, two plates of food may be significantly more costly than in a 3-star hotel. However, the preferences of the consumers cannot explain the significant differences in the costs. The functioning affordable spine surgery (the operational cost) is substantially higher, and consequently, the profit goal becomes significantly higher in the 5-star hotel. This article does not elaborate on economic theory, but to offer the best quality of the hospital experience with all technical details possibly increases the costs, as in all health services. The added convenience packages increase the satisfaction levels of most of the patients who want to be the most comfortable from the most fundamental satisfiers, such as the accommodation facilities, menu variety, and TV, telephone, and internet services. However, their own financial possibilities are the determinant of the package and hospital selection.
A 5-star hotel with the best means similar to a high-capacity F1 pit stop is the most appropriate metaphor to define the BIKS hospitals which transmit their experience of 10,000 operations to their patients’ comfort received by their patients. Such satisfaction and comfort facilities, which can be defined as the hotel and additional comfort services related to many new needs, increase the costs. The cost increase factor is directly related to the optional services develops the optional packages, including only the fundamental needs, but not a couple of additional comfort facilities in the BIKS Hospital Group. The new field in which the optional needs are met, which are increased with the robot technology, that forcing the patients to balance innovations-, mobile new generation examination devices, and nurse serviceto attach the affordable spine surgery difference. In return for the high satisfaction of the patients who demand a detailed in-room service, the BIKS Hospitals are ready. According to the patient’s needs and demands, doctors, patient relatives, or patients carry out the procedure to accompany and join the IVs and drain cleaning demands. For the first time in Turkey, the patient’s requests for nurse visits at BIKS Hospitals are being prepared. Special support nurse services are required for patients with neurological examinations. Zaren Health provides you with all the facilities for your comfort and offers you a safe treatment method.
Turkey has a unique geographical position between the East and West, which is part of Europe and part of Asia, and this allows it to have certain demographic advantages. Its standards for hospital care almost match those of Western countries, but it provides similar services at an affordable spine surgery. Health-care resource efficiency is high, with the average length of hospitalization for the average surgery costing less. The overall cost of a larger amount of surgical intervention, recovery rooms, and intensive care beds is low despite a decrease in length of hospitalization.
Turkey has become a magnet for health tourism in recent years. Foreign patients are interested in high-standard healthcare at low costs. Aircraft, passengers, and therefore, medical tourists can easily reach the larger cities of Turkey. The costs for a medical tourist can be reached 40-50% less than in Europe. As a result, a very large number of medical centers for health tourism have been opened for patients. It has now become fashionable to come to Turkey for patients who want to go for elective operations. They have the possibility of being with their family members during the healing process. The cost of health care is relatively low, while the quality of health services is high. All these situations naturally lead foreign patients to be interested in health services. Low spinal surgery price, the recovery of functional status, comfort, and the decrease in the length of hospitalization, affects the choice of choosing Turkey as the location of surgery. Tracks that are experienced and mastered in health centers and taken for granted with good results are safe for patients. These tracks are selected by foreign patients when they want to have surgical intervention in spine surgery.
As in all areas of medicine, there is no standard spine surgery model. The cost of affordable spine surgery will vary according to this model and what needs to be done. When the prices given below are calculated according to the five modalities, although one of the least costly surgical methods, only the spinal surgery price within the modalities was determined and the addition to in-hospital, operating room, laboratory, implant, and physician costs was not included. Additional costs for affordable spine surgery such as the cost of the cage, implant, and endoscope will result depending on the patient. Some conditions may not require ongoing in-hospital costs after surgery, and some will also need to be hospitalized after other surgeries. It would be appropriate to find out how much the hospitals charge per person for the services provided during this period before deciding which hospital to go to.
What costs can be demanded for affordable spine surgery surgery in general terms? What is the price of each demanded affordable spine surgery in Turkey? Health tourism in Turkey and the increase in the number of health facilities in recent years have triggered rivalries and aggressive advertising weapons. Prices for some of the services requested have been updated on the websites of some health facilities in order to overshadow all these health facilities that claim to be the best. However, people are not shown the price of the services they demand in the service fee lists of many health facilities.
In recent years, the entire healthcare system has averaged high performance in the provision of medical services. The country has a significant number of physicians who are specialized in performing surgical procedures and diagnoses. The healthcare infrastructure is advanced and fully equipped to handle some of the most complex health issues. Interestingly, more than half a million foreign patients come to the country for medical tourism annually. The cost affordable spine surgery of health services is quite low compared to many developed countries. In fact, treatment may be free if the patient provides the visa and pays very small amounts for transportation and accommodation. As well as the cost of affordable spine surgery advantage and high-quality service, tourists show no differences between patients other than cultural differences. With easy access to visa and low documentation, patients can treat various health problems without waiting for a long time.
The primary ecosystem of global healthcare is affordability. It is the main outcome of globalization in healthcare. Cost of affordable spine surgery advantage has become more important as the needs of countries have increased, the middle class has grown, and the sector has shifted to production and consumption. In emerging markets, where healthcare infrastructure is not yet developed, patients often seek medical treatment in OECD member countries. Owing to the quality of healthcare services, affordable spine surgery prices, high levels of expertise, and global standards, Asia is one of the most important markets for “medical tourism.” In Turkey, health services are of high quality and quite affordable.
We get information on how much such a procedure costs from health insurance for spine surgery regimes as direct costs are not typically disclosed to the patient. Yet, in Turkey, as the coverage of people under insurance for spine surgery plans does not exceed 60%, and the public health sector is both insufficient and inefficient, there is a tradition of direct funding of medical care from the individual or the family. Needless to say, there is no fixed price for surgery, but a multitude of factors determine the cost, and the patient may receive a discounted price if they find the expert surgeon, typically in the private sector, themselves and agree to make a single and cuff payment. As such, it is possible to give an estimate of what the amount of the surgeon’s fee would be, based on surgeon’s estimations.
In terms of estimating the spine surgery cost in Turkey, consider the total spinal surgery price of a single for scoliosis patients, performed in a private hospital in Istanbul. To establish a benchmark, the cost of the surgical operation as well as the expenses for preoperative tests (e.g., X-rays, MRIs, and blood tests) are considered. For these types of surgeries, three types of expenses should be covered: the cost of the affordable spine surgery implants; the surgeon’s fee, which includes the operation fee, the fixed cost component, and the rodge fee; and the hospital fee. The fee of a guide doctor would also be included. The surgery is performed by an expert orthopedic surgeon known for his success in spine surgeries. The name of the surgeon will remain anonymous. The costs include the surgeon’s fee and apply conditions that the patient has preoperatively negotiated privately with him. The hospital fee includes three nights at the private hospital and two meals for the patient inside 24 h after surgery. The cost of the affordable spine surgery implants includes the price of one system of rods, screws, hooks, and connectors. All costs are listed before their summation. The prices are reported in 2020 USD.
Treatment guidelines, policies, and capacities of the training and research hospitals must be checked. The hospital must have enough capacity to ensure access to appointments for outpatient evaluation of future problems. It should be known that access to a specialist doctor will be timely after the surgery in the event of problems. Hospitals need to have experienced staff and a wide referral network. It should be remembered that some surgeries are more dangerous and will have a higher risk of complications in low-volume hospitals. It is useful to choose hospitals and doctors who are multidisciplinary in spine surgery operations. Specialty clinics that combine many different specialties under one roof in Turkey provide solutions for the various problems that can be encountered and are more problem-solving. It is beneficial to prefer clinics that can evaluate the pain in a multidisciplinary approach.
To the best of our knowledge, there was only a detailed economic study on the cost of one of the surgical options of lumbar disc herniations and the other surgical options, including degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis in the lumbar spine, etc. Especially in Turkey, the total spinal surgery price, including TDR and fusion design, was calculated. The cost estimates detailed in this paper use only the information in the literature and opinions of spine surgery professionals. Spine surgery is not standard, but a range of prices is required. Some surgeries are more dangerous and will have a higher risk of complications at low-volume hospitals.
Before deciding to undergo affordable spine surgery in Turkey, you should review the magnitude of the clinical and social satisfaction effects offered by the estimated surgical treatment barrier in relation to Turkish healthcare services. You should also obtain accurate, comprehensive knowledge about the process by which you will obtain these services, from a leading source. We recommend that you closely examine the following questions, among others. Because of the nature of the healthcare industry, there naturally are certain uncertainties in these questions and answers. Use your due diligence to obtain additional information offered by official, competent sources or from expert sources and experts specializing in the area, and take your decision in line with this information. If you have the financial means, you can also travel to and receive free-of-charge information from sources in Turkey.
– Will the specialty or expert who will diagnose and possibly operate on you be one of the few specialists or experts in your country or city (who will be known by few) and also have substantial experience on this subject?
– If required, can you communicate in your native language with the specialty or expert before and after the process, via information documents that are prepared based on a proper diagnosis?
– How can you benefit from health tourism packages that match the necessary physical therapy and follow-up process requirements, possibly including accommodation and transportation?
As with any medical procedure, recovery time varies by surgery and patient. It is quite common for the patient to be ambulatory from the day after the procedure, but your doctor may request more time in the hospital or may request that you stay in the hospital based on the specific circumstances. It is often possible to perform light work from the next day onwards. Mild walking will start as slow paces on the second or third day. However, everyone’s personal circumstances are different. Therefore, it would be appropriate to follow the advice of your physician.
After discharge, the patient walks half an hour per day for 2 weeks, gradually increasing and then returning to normal walking in 1 month. After surgery, the physical condition and muscle endurance of the patient will improve in a very short time. However, avoiding heavy work for 4 to 6 weeks after surgery will help to recover faster.
As for the second question, some of our patients choose to recuperate in Turkey after the procedure. The reasons vary; patients may be advised by physicians to shorten their flight time, to provide preoperative mental support, or to choose a comfortable and peaceful environment for a short time. Additionally, if the patient has chronic pain, they can alleviate this pain with short trips around Turkey, rest, and seaside walks. In this way, your physical condition will recover much faster. If the patient wants it, it would be more accurate to encourage it with an additional cost. Of course, however, it is not mandatory to stay.
Türkiye is one of the popular countries for medical tourism. The cost of many treatments is much cheaper compared to the US or Europe. Back pain is one of the top causes of seeking treatment in a lifetime for many people. Therefore, spine surgeries are currently performed operations. These surgeries are also usually very expensive. There are patients who need spine surgery and cannot obtain the operation in their countries. We previously compiled the spine surgery cost for the US in this column. This time, we focus on the cost of spine surgery in Turkey.
Turkey is one of the popular places for medical tourism due to the fact that the price of the surgery is much cheaper than in other countries, highly expertized and experienced physicians, latest technology medical devices, and several advanced healthcare institutions which are mostly equipped with high-quality facilities. Especially, many of the patients have visited Turkey for plastic, cosmetic, or fertility treatments due to the fact that the cost of these surgeries and treatments is cheaper than in the US or other countries. However, the reduction in cost is also valid for many of the other treatments, including spine surgery, despite the fact that the country is ranked as the US on the price acquisition category. The examined reasons are substantially effective on such a condition, then the cost of the operation is less expensive. Therefore, as in the other operations, the patients who need spine surgery may satisfy their needs by having their treatments in Turkey.
