Official Gazette / November 10-16, 2025

With the amendment made to the Regulation on the Licensing of Health Services, it will now be mandatory to obtain a license from the Ministry to open a private health facility. The Ministry of Health will announce how many licenses will be issued in which province each year. In other words, it will no longer be possible for anyone to open a hospital wherever they want. Licenses will be granted through an auction process and will not be transferable. The Ministry will announce the tender at least 10 business days in advance, and those who win the tender will be required to pay the license fee within 10 business days; otherwise, the deposit paid when entering the tender will not be refunded. Licenses obtained in the tender will be in the nature of a preliminary acceptance. Operating permits and licensing processes will be handled separately. The legislative change, which limits the opening of private health facilities and prevents the trading of licenses, is positive. However, compelling conditions such as preparing for a tender in as short a time as 10 business days, depositing a guarantee, and paying the license fee within 10 business days if the tender is won do not seem realistic or fair. Only large capital owners who are well-versed in bureaucratic processes and are already operating in the health sector can meet these requirements. Under these heavy conditions, it is a dream to expect physicians to come together to obtain a hospital license. Apart from this, the regulation also effectively prevents small or new investors who want to invest in the health sector. In recent weeks, legislative changes that made the conditions for health facilities more difficult and imposed additional obligations had also been made. It seems that within a few years, the major capital holders in the health sector will remain completely without rivals. 

Changes were also made to the Regulation on Promotion and Information in Health Services. A ban on advertising has been introduced in health services, just as it is in the legal profession. Any kind of sharing regarding health will now be limited to information only. Promotion and information that would highlight the promoted institution or be against other institutions have been banned. It will also not be possible to direct patients to a health facility or health professional for health services such as medical assistance, treatment, or check-ups. Directing patients to any kind of alternative treatment other than treatment methods whose accuracy has been scientifically and clinically proven has also been banned. In promotions and posts, so-called specialist titles obtained through certificates and other training, other than main/sub-branch specialty areas, cannot be used. Posts that carry the nature of advertising through expressions of thanks/satisfaction from patients or their relatives towards doctors or health institutions cannot be made. Expressions implying fees, raffles, gifts, discounts, campaigns, or promotions cannot be included in promotion and information activities. No promotion can be made claiming that the device or product used or the service provided is different from or better than that of other health institutions.  The patient's explicit and written consent will be required to use the patient's image, and the patient will always be able to request the removal of these posts. Such posts must be shared without any editing, and before/after posts must use images from the same environment and include the date of the procedure. Promotions made on the internet will be closed to comments, likes, and resharing. Visual content cannot be published as sponsored or by paying a fee.

Health facilities and intermediary institutions that offer international health tourism and hold an authorization certificate issued by the Ministry of Health may, as an exception within the scope of the Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health; conduct sponsored promotion and information activities in languages other than Turkish, provided that there is a separate social media platform/website for abroad, but they cannot conduct promotion activities for people living in Turkey, and the target audience must only be users abroad. Institutions within this scope may include patient comments or expressions of thanks, provided that they obtain the patient's explicit and written consent; and announcements of discounts, campaigns, and competitive prices may be made. 

In addition to imposing administrative fines on physicians/dentists who are in violation and do not practice their profession independently, notifications will be made to the institutions they are affiliated with and their professional chambers to initiate disciplinary investigations.

By Presidential Decree, the delay interest rate applied in case of failure to pay public receivables on time was reduced from 4.5% to 3.7% per month, and the deferral interest rate applied in the installment of public receivables was reduced from 48% to 39% per year.