Esen Tümer
Number 1 in healthcare sector and One the top 50 successful women CEO in Turkey
Esen Tümer
“New Era is Composed of AI- Tech and Bio-Science Technologies”
Esen Tümer, number 1 in healthcare sector and one the top 50 successful women CEO in Turkey, considers AI is effective in healthcare in areas of early detection, diagnosis, treatment, prediction and prognosis evaluation in diseases such as cancer, neurology and cardiology. ‘hospitals’ magazine met Mrs. Esen Tümer to discuss several issues.
You are selected as Number 1 in the healthcare sector and one the top 50 successful women CEO in Turkey, Would you please brief us about your biography and your experience in the medical field?
First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on producing a high-quality magazine with enriched content, its reputation is quite spread all over the region. It is a pleasure to have an interview with you.
it was a great journey for me to work at top technology companies in the last 25 years.
I studied linguistics at İstanbul University, MBA at UCLA in the USA , followed by much international executive leadership training like Astridge college in the United Kingdom, INSEAD in France, Six Sigma black belt certification in France, Artificial Intelligence and NeuroScience at Harvard University in Boston, IoT training at Colombia University in New York in the USA.
I started my career path at Microsoft, followed by many senior management and executive regional roles in many different geographies and countries. Johnson & Johnson in Cincinnati Ethicon Endo-Surgery in the USA then Turkey, Tyco Healthcare & Covidien, Philips Healthcare, Royal Philips in Middle East Countries and Medtronic in Turkey.
Meanwhile, I had many NGO executive leadership roles; I acted as the President of National Trade Association in Imaging Technologies, representing Turkey in Brussels at EU headquarters, Vice President of PPP Association, VP of Ethics and Compliance Association, Chairwoman of International Cooperation Platform, Advisory Board Member at Acıbadem University Incubation Center, Founder Member of Women in Technology Association, Professional Women Network and Executive Women CEO Club. Founder and President of the Turkish Artificial Intelligence and Technology Association affiliated with AAAI in the USA.
With a proven track record, I was honored to be chosen as number 1 woman CEO in the Healthcare sector including medical devices and pharma sectors by Economist and recognized as one of the Top 50 successful women CEO by Forbes, Capital and Economist magazines in consecutive many years in the whole country within all sectors.
Whatever I do, I do it with passion and the most meaningful part of being recognized by reputable magazines was a gift for me as the mother of 2 beautifully talented children and beyond all it means a lot for me to be a role model for young generations and inspire them to realize their dreams regardless of the barriers in business life.
They say The Future of humankind is Artificial Intelligence Technology and Science, the field that you are working in on a global scale. What is the importance of AI in the healthcare sector?
The new era is composed of AI- Tech and Bio-Science Technologies.
After studying AI Harvard and IoT at Colombia and I have seen the magnificent wave of AI technologies and I decided to be an entrepreneur and I established and AI Technology company in İstanbul and New York where I am also in global angel investment network as an investor as well Mainly in technology domain for startups headquartered in silicon valley in the US.
We have established 2 companies; Essential Evolutions is focusing on AI and Seven Heal is dedicated to Bio-Science Technologies with Antimicrobial, Anti-Viral Smart Textile and wearables with sensors which gained more momentum and became the excellent solution for COVID-19 pandemic challenge where we have global partnerships growing tremendously with success.
In reference to AI in Healthcare; it is touching every sphere of our lives, its impact is truly life-changing. Public and private sector investment in healthcare is expected to reach $ 6.6 billion by 2021, encompassing areas such as healthcare, clinical research, drug development and insurance. AI will definitely prove useful in simplifying clinical decisions especially in the area of radiology. Through imitation of human cognitive functions, it enhances the sector’s availability of both, structured such as image, genetic and electrophysiological data and unstructured data such as clinical notes and medical journals and also analytical techniques through deep machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), respectively.
AI Technology has become an essential part of all sections in hospitals.
Can you tell us about its benefits?
In healthcare, AI is effective in areas of early detection, diagnosis, treatment, prediction and prognosis evaluation in diseases such as cancer, neurology and cardiology.
Through the application of big data analytics, one can gather relevant information from piles of healthcare data, such insight can assist in clinical decisions.
Also, AI helps incorporate self-correcting abilities and facilitates auto updation of medical information in different healthcare devices. Its ability to reduce diagnostic and therapeutic errors, create real-time health risk alerts and predict health outcomes are gaining traction over time.
NLP is particularly helping in translating text to machine-readable structured data, which can thereafter be analyzed by ML techniques.
AI and robotics are encompassing all aspects of our healthcare ecosystem.
It is efficient, quick and cost-effective at the same time.
AI and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) have already created a huge impact by encouraging individuals with a healthy lifestyle and proactive health management.
From your experience, how can you evaluate the medical sector in Turkey?
What are the positive points?
Despite many local challenges in the country in terms of sustainability and financing of the healthcare eco-system, Medical care is exceptionally good in Turkey. Both public and private healthcare is highly accessible for the citizens and ex-pats with private healthcare being extremely affordable in comparison to Europe and the US.
Turkey has undergone rapid social, cultural, and economic changes. The health transformation program (HTP) has improved the Turkish healthcare system made outstanding reforms in health status in the last two decades, especially after the implementation of the HTP.
The Turkish Government is transforming its healthcare sector so that all its citizens have access to quality services. To do this, it is partnering with the private sector on a major program to improve the country’s hospitals and healthcare infrastructure.
How can you evaluate the quality level of private and public hospitals?
The infrastructure of both Public and Private hospitals in Turkey is quite strong that’s why it is one of the top 10 medical destinations in a global scale. In a combination of separate public and private hospitals, Turkey introduced Public & Private & Partnership PPP City hospitals to build integrated healthcare campuses across the country. This in turn led to improved public hospital infrastructure, more efficient operators, and ultimately, better and measurable health outcomes.
What about medical tourism in Turkey?
Turkey is among the top 10 in the health sector in the world with its health infrastructure and quality of tourism potential as a medical tourism destination. Turkey’s hospitals offer the most advanced medical treatments and technology in the world today. In addition to being technologically advanced in medical infrastructure, health tourism in Turkey is in a leading position with many advantages. The main reasons for choosing Turkey as a medical destination are;
- JCI-accredited medical hospitals
- Most advanced Technologies
- Well-equipped hospitals
- Well -trained professionals
- Excellent Care for patients
- High quality of health services
- Fast and efficient health services
- Competitive reasonable prices
- Hospitality and culture
- Geographical location
- Traditional, natural, historical, touristic attractions.
Due to a high level of qualified human resources, especially in medical staff, as well as geographical location, seasonal advantages, quality of health service provision, world-class technological and medical equipment, favorable price advantage compared to Europe. There are great advantages of medical tourism in Turkey.
