How to start a health-tourism company in Türkiye
Published 23 October 2026Reviewed 23 October 202613 min read
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Which business are you starting: an intermediary or a clinic?
The regulation recognises two kinds of organisation and sets different rules for each. A hospital, medical centre, polyclinic or private practice that treats patients is a health facility, and the Ministry of Health issues its certificate. A company that advises patients from abroad and their families and arranges the facility, accommodation, transport and transfers is an intermediary (aracı kuruluş), and USHAŞ issues its certificate (Regulation arts. 4 and 5). This page is for the company that organises care without being the facility. If you are opening a clinic, see the authorisation guide.
Ask yourself what you sell. The facility treats the patient and is paid for treatment. You provide advice, organisation, accommodation and transfers. Your revenue model should follow that split; otherwise you will run into trouble both with the certificate and with professional rules.
Company type and set-up: what to watch
The regulation does not name a company type; the application documents require a legal entity. A joint-stock or limited company is the usual route. Which one suits you depends on your partners, capital and growth plans: settle that with an accountant (mali müşavir) and a lawyer.
- Business scope
- What USHAŞ asks forThe trade registry gazette must list health-tourism activity in the company's scope (iştigal konusu)
- What to doPut it in the articles from day one; amending later costs time
- Capital and partners
- What USHAŞ asks forThe registry gazette must show the capital and the partners
- What to doMinimum capital is set in the Turkish Commercial Code; confirm the current amount with the trade registry
- Balance sheet
- What USHAŞ asks forPrevious year's balance sheet approved by an accountant; a newly founded company submits an accountant-approved statement that none exists yet
- What to doChoose your accountant early; the document comes from them
- Authority to represent
- What USHAŞ asks forTrade registry certificate issued within the last 6 months, signature circular, ID copies of representatives
- What to doOrder the certificate close to the application date
- Tax plate
- What USHAŞ asks forRequired
- What to doAgree activity codes with your accountant
What does the authorisation certificate require?
USHAŞ's list of documents for an intermediary has thirteen items. The main ones: proof of HealthTürkiye Portal membership, an application letter, a travel-agency licence or a service contract with an agency, the registry gazette, certificate of authority and signature circular, tax plate, balance sheet, a call-centre contract or the employment notices of call-centre staff, language-proficiency documents, a consent form, a letter naming the responsible staff member and screenshots of your website.
The application path itself (portal membership, document review, on-site inspection, fee and issue) is covered in a separate guide, so we do not repeat it here. Three rules to know: if you do not complete the missing documents within 30 working days the application is treated as rejected; the certificate cannot be transferred; and each branch needs its own certificate. A certificate is cancelled after a year without activity, and a cancelled organisation cannot get a new one for a year.
Travel agency, call centre and staff: what is required?
- Accommodation, transport, transfers
- RequirementProvided through agencies authorised under Law 1618; if you are an authorised agency yourself you may do it directly
- SourceRegulation art. 6/2-a
- Agency contract
- RequirementWithout an agency licence of your own you need a service contract. It must say it takes effect after the certificate is issued, and carry the agency's licence number and the signature circular
- SourceUSHAŞ document list, item 3
- Call centre
- RequirementInfrastructure to serve 24/7 in at least two foreign languages, or a service contract with a call centre that has it
- SourceRegulation art. 6/2-b
- An in-house call centre
- RequirementUSHAŞ's FAQ says at least 3 staff; at least two employees' notices and language documents go with the application
- SourceUSHAŞ FAQ
- Language proof
- RequirementAt least 65 points in a recognised exam, CEFR B2, associate professor title or a degree in foreign-language teaching or a language department
- SourceUSHAŞ document list, item 10
- Responsible staff
- RequirementHealth-tourism staff may not work for more than two intermediaries at once; all staff are registered on the portal
- SourceRegulation arts. 6/2-c and 8/6
- Foreign-language website
- RequirementThe name and title on the site must match the certificate
- SourceRegulation art. 13/2
How do you contract with health facilities?
The regulation does not prescribe the form of the contract between an intermediary and a facility; the rules and your bargaining position do. Two limits are fixed. First, an authorised facility may not take services from an uncertified intermediary (art. 6/1-e); under the inspection forms the facility's health-tourism activity is suspended for three months on the first finding, six on the second, and its certificate is cancelled on the third. So facilities will ask for your certificate before anything else. Second, an intermediary should not work with an unauthorised facility either; check each facility's status in the lists the Ministry publishes.
The split of liability belongs at the centre of the contract. The regulation makes the facility and the intermediary responsible according to the type of service they provide (art. 6/3). Treatment and complications are the facility's; organisation, accommodation and transfers are yours. The duty to hold complication insurance for surgery in an operating theatre lies with the facility (art. 6/1-c); ask for proof in the contract.
What the facility contract should cover
- Both parties' names and certificate numbers, and that the contract depends on the certificates staying valid
- Scope: which treatments, response and appointment times
- Pricing: in whose name and at what price the facility's quote to the patient is issued
- Payment flow: who the patient pays for treatment; deposit and refund terms
- Split of liability and proof of complication insurance
- Patient data: who is controller, what data goes to whom, how long it is kept
- Complaint and incident reporting deadlines
- Termination and what happens to patients already in progress
Insurance and liability: what to think about and when
The regulation mentions only two kinds of insurance: the mandatory complication insurance for health facilities (art. 6/1-c) and optional travel insurance in an emergency (art. 10/4). It does not define a mandatory insurance for an intermediary. Even so, things can go wrong with accommodation, transfers and flights; ask an insurance adviser about travel health cover for patients and companions and about your own professional liability cover. If you suggest travel insurance to a patient, offer it in writing and as optional.
Advertising and website rules
The Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services (12 Nov 2025, no. 33075) governs international promotion in art. 8. In short:
- Who may promote
- RuleAuthorised facilities and intermediaries
- Channel
- RuleA separate website or social media account aimed abroad, stating clearly that you serve health tourism (art. 8/1-a)
- Certificate
- RuleThe certificate is published on the site (art. 8/1-b) and the HealthTürkiye logo is used (art. 8/1-e)
- Audience
- RuleNo targeting people living in Türkiye: do not select the domestic audience and switch off automatic audience definitions (art. 8/1-c)
- Patient stories
- RulePatient stories and reviews may be used on foreign-facing sites, with documented explicit consent and respect for privacy (art. 8/1-ç)
- Prices and offers
- RuleDiscounts, campaigns and competitive prices may be announced on the foreign-facing channel (art. 8/3)
- Intermediary limits
- RuleDo not give the impression of being a facility; say the facility provides the service (art. 8/1-g and ğ)
- Forbidden content
- RuleMedical procedures that are banned or unauthorised in Türkiye cannot be promoted (art. 8/2)
Cost items: what to budget for
These are the amounts we could verify on official pages; for the rest you need your own quotes and USHAŞ's current notices.
- Certificate fee
- What is knownUSHAŞ's application page says the certificate is issued after the fee is paid; it does not state the amount, so ask when you apply
- Re-application (pre-application) fee
- What is known5,750 TL if your application was treated as rejected for incomplete documents and you apply again
- Certificate reprint on a change of company name
- What is known78,000 TL (USHAŞ FAQ)
- HealthTürkiye Portal membership
- What is knownAsk USHAŞ for the terms and the current fee
- Staff
- What is knownAt least the responsible staff member; at least 3 people if you run your own call centre. Cost = number of people x monthly employer cost x 12; calculate it with your own figures
- Call centre
- What is knownA monthly service fee if outsourced; write the two languages and 24/7 into the contract
- Agency
- What is knownThe agency's service fee or commission if you hold no licence of your own
- Website and content
- What is knownForeign-language site, translation and copy written within the advertising rules
- Accountant and lawyer
- What is knownSet-up, balance sheet, contract review
- Software
- What is knownA tool for enquiries, quotes, payment records and trip plans; Klinikbook has a 30-day free trial without a card
A first-year plan: in what order?
This order is a suggestion; your pace with paperwork and USHAŞ's calendar set the dates. The regulation's own deadlines: 15 working days to report missing documents and 30 working days to complete them.
Months 1 and 2: set-up and framework
Incorporate with health tourism in the business scope, choose an accountant and a lawyer, start the HealthTürkiye Portal membership, decide your target markets and main treatment areas.
Months 2 and 3: infrastructure
Prepare the agency contract or your own agency licence, set up or contract the call centre, gather staff and language documents, prepare the foreign-language site with the certificate details.
Months 3 and 4: application
Upload the documents as legible PDFs named as USHAŞ asks and answer deficiency notices fast. In parallel, hold early talks with authorised facilities.
Months 4 to 6: review and certificate
Send the originals, prepare for the on-site inspection (site, staff, call centre) and pay the certificate fee. Until the certificate arrives, prepare but do not arrange care for patients.
Month 6 onward: first patients
Go live with your enquiry form, quote template, payment and trip tracking. Start measuring response time, satisfaction and complaints from day one; USHAŞ reviews performance at least once a year.
How the daily work runs in Klinikbook
Klinikbook is software: it does not obtain the certificate for you, find or send patients, act as a marketplace, take a commission, keep medical records or sell travel. Once you hold your certificate it keeps the daily work in order.
Record your documents
In the compliance centre enter your certificate, your agency licence and the licences of partner facilities and hotels with number, expiry date and file; you get a reminder before they lapse.
Collect enquiries in one place
The enquiry form on your site opens a case with its source and UTM data; the case moves across the board stage by stage, with assignment and a response target.
Follow the quote and the payment
The quote is a PDF in your brand and the patient accepts it in the portal; the deposit and the balance become a payment schedule with due dates. The patient pays the facility or you directly, as you have agreed; Klinikbook never holds the money, it only records it.
Plan the trip
Travellers, flights (in local time), hotel, firm-confirmed transfers and treatment days sit in the case's trip; hotels and transfer firms see only the fields you share.
Manage your sales team's share
Commission plans calculate only the entitlement of your own sales staff and partners; they are not a tool for paying doctors.
Enquiries
Every enquiry is a case, every case sits in a stage
Incoming enquiries land on the board with their source and response target, so you can see at a glance which patient is waiting at which step.
- Enquiry form with source and UTM capture
- Assignment and response target
- Tasks and in-case messages
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to be a travel agency to start a health-tourism company?
No. The 2025 regulation does not require an intermediary to be an A-group travel agency. Accommodation, transport and transfers must, however, be arranged through authorised agencies. If you have no agency licence of your own, USHAŞ's document list asks for a service contract with an authorised agency instead.
Can I arrange patients' care before I have the certificate?
No. Service without a certificate meets a ban on the activity, an administrative fine and a criminal complaint, and authorised facilities may not take services from an uncertified intermediary. Prepare only until the certificate is issued.
How many employees does an intermediary need?
At least one responsible staff member and a 24/7 call-centre service in two foreign languages. If you build your own call centre USHAŞ expects at least 3 staff; if you outsource it, the contract must name the languages and the number.
Who does the patient pay for treatment?
That depends on the contracts you make with the facility and the patient; the regulation does not set the payment flow. Having the patient pay the facility for treatment and invoicing your own service separately makes the split of responsibility clear. Ask your accountant about the tax consequences.
What must I watch when advertising abroad?
Use a separate foreign-facing site or account, publish your certificate and the HealthTürkiye logo, do not target people in Türkiye and do not look like a health facility. The rules are in article 8 of the Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services.
May I pay doctors a commission per patient?
Article 12 of the Medical Deontology Regulation bans physicians and dentists from paying a fee to obtain patients and from taking a fee for sending them. Get a lawyer's written opinion before building any such model.
Does Klinikbook help me get the certificate?
No. Klinikbook does not obtain the certificate or act as an intermediary. Once you hold it, it keeps enquiries, quotes, payment records and trips in order. There is a 30-day free trial and no card is needed.
Run your business in order once you are certified
Enquiries, quotes, payment records and trips in one flow. 30 days free, no card.
Sources
- Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health, no. 32882 (Uluslararası Sağlık Turizmi ve Turistin Sağlığı Hakkında Yönetmelik) — Resmî Gazete, 26 April 2025
- The regulation's current text (for amendments and court stay notes) — Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi, checked 23 October 2026
- Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services, no. 33075 — Resmî Gazete, 12 November 2025
- Documents to be submitted by an intermediary — USHAŞ
- Points to note when applying — USHAŞ
- Intermediary applications: frequently asked questions — USHAŞ
- Medical Deontology Regulation (Tıbbi Deontoloji Nizamnamesi), article 12 — Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi
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