Meri Istiroti, group coordinator of Liv Hospital Group, shares the hospital’s success story since its beginning in 2013 to becoming a leading private healthcare institution dedicated to service, quality, and innovation. She also offers her insights into the Turkish healthcare system and the delicate balance that exists between the public and private sectors.   Since this is the first time we are meeting Liv Hospital, can you briefly introduce the hospital and its scope of services? I have been in the health management industry for over 28 years and have opened 16 projects in my career, Liv Hospital in Istanbul being my 14th. My mission for the Liv Hospital was to create a more competitive hospital, leveraging specialty the services that chain hospitals cannot provide. Once a group begins to grow as a chain, it is difficult to maintain a certain degree of quality. Liv Hospital operates at a boutique level in terms of service, patient satisfaction, and clinical results. We started our first hospital here in Istanbul and expanded our presence to Ankara and Karadeniz. We are part of MLPCare Health Group which consists of the Medical Park and Liv Hospital brand. In total, MLPCare Health group have 31 hospitals in the group across 18 cities. It is the largest healthcare group in Turkey, however, we work separately in medical disciplines and marketing strategy. Liv is not a public hospital; we are only in partial agreement with the government reimbursement system in the oncology and radiology intervention areas. We work on a sophisticated level in choice disciplines; for example, our stem cell department where we provide research data of the field is unique in Turkey. Liv Hospital is a pioneer not only in this area, but also in cancer, brain, spine, and specialized tumor treatments. We have also been licensed by 52 clinics as a subspecialist in these areas.   You carried a very successful track record in the healthcare management industry before joining Liv Hospital six years ago. What was the challenge you identified at the moment that convinced you to embark on this new adventure? The reason I joined Liv was to help launch the new hospital line which could offer more therapeutic services in Turkey. This was very difficult because the industry was already being dominated by brands like Memorial and American hospitals. It was forecasted that Liv Hospital would not survive in this harsh environment; however, not only have we survived but we have thrived. Our marketing strategy is built on medical results. The building is beautiful, but in the future, newer and more aesthetic hospitals will be built. However, what does not change is the operational culture and medical achievement. I joined the project in 2012 while the hospital was under construction. Six months later, the hospital was finalized and the name Liv was chosen, which stands for Leading International Vision. Knowing we wanted to operate in the medical tourism segment, we selected a name which would be memorable to international patients. We started to receive patients in January 2013 and launched our services to international patients one month later. Since then, Liv Hospital has been very popular in dealing with multidisciplinary, high-risk cases; we are not only operating in the simple segment of aesthetic services. We decided to tackle high-risk cases from countries where diagnosis may not be done properly or treatment is not possible due to a lack of infrastructure.   What are a few of the key accomplishments realized by Liv Hospital since its foundation in 2013? After three years of operation, we opened the Istinye University Hospital; a goal we had set from the beginning. In 2016, our academics created the medical faculties of the hospital and this year we are welcoming our third generation of students in the medical school. Our primary areas are in health sciences, nursing, and medical studies, however, we have over 30 faculties in total. Liv Hospital also strives to be a pioneer in priority diseases areas. Liv Hospital is also accredited by the Ministry of Health and every year we go through a screening program to ensure our operations are up to par. We are the only hospital to achieve disease-based accreditations, the first in robotic surgery, and we are moving forward to finalize this high standard in other areas as well.   Under the current healthcare system, patients can visit private hospitals and have the costs reimbursed by the government. Do you see this sustainable in the coming years?

To sustain the system, the current dynamics will have to change