Evaluation of ophthalmology in medical tourism in a public hospital: The case of Alanya

Medical tourism is a sub-branch of health tourism, which is developing for Turkey and the demand is increasing day by day. Ophthalmology department is one of the most preferred treatments in our country by medical tourists. The fact that Turkish physicians have a high number of cases and high post-treatment success rates, as well as being able to receive quality health services at more affordable costs without long appointment times, are the biggest factors in preference. In the study, Alanya which is at the forefront in terms of traditional tourism and developing in terms of medical tourism, was preferred. In the study, the health tourist and ophthalmology health tourist data of our country fort he year 2020 and the health tourist and ophthalmology health tourist data received from Alanya Training and Research Hospital between the years 2017-2021 were examined. Data were collected with document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, and data were presented with descriptive analysis. In 2020, 339,101 health tourists received health services from our country, while 21,012 health tourists (6.1%) received health services from the ophthalmology department. In the health institutions preferred by ophthalmology health tourists for treatment, private health institutions come to the fore. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of health tourists and ophthalmology health tourists increased every year in Alanya Training and Research Hospital. In the period from 2017 to 2021, health tourists; eyelid aesthetic procedures, refractive surgical procedures, glaucoma treatments and cataract surgeries were performed. In the data of the countries of ophthalmology health tourists, it has been seen that Russia takes the first place every year. The advantages of Alanya in terms of both traditional tourism and medical tourism have been evaluated, and suggestions have been made to use the current potential of Alanya in this regard.