Berlin, 12 October 2015 International patients are choosing Berlin for their healthcare: In 2014, 11,036 people from outside Germany were treated on either an outpatient or inpatient status at seven major Berlin hospitals that have agreed to participate as a benchmark group. This represents a jump of approximately 3.5 per cent in comparison to 2013 (10,670 patients), a statistic being released by visitBerlin on the occasion of the World Health Summit being held 11 to 13 October in the German capital.

Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin comments: “Berlin offers health care at the highest level and more and more international patients are seeking treatment in our city’s renowned hospitals. We’ve seen a jump of 19 per cent in just the past three years. With our global marketing campaigns, we hope to garner even more attention to the excellent care available here in Berlin.”

Since 2012, a benchmark group of seven Berlin hospitals has been tracking the number of foreign patients coming to the German capital for treatment. The group includes Charité International, the Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Helios Healthcare International, MEOCLINIC GmbH, Paul Gerhardt Diakonie International, the Schlosspark-Klinik and Vivantes International Medicine.

visitBerlin actively markets the German capital as a centre for healthcare. The “Berlin Medical Tourism Guide”, issued in cooperation with Berlin Partner, will appear at the end of October. The guide will offer an overview of the hospitals and providers in Berlin who are especially prepared to meet the needs of international patients.

Berlin: home to top medical conferences

Berlin has established itself as a major location for scientific and medical conferences: 12 per cent of the 62,000 events held in Berlin in the first half of 2015 were related to medicine, science and research.

One of the highlights this autumn will be the World Health Summit being held at the Federal Foreign Office from 11 to 13 October. The summit is considered one of the most important global forums on healthcare strategy. Some 1,300 experts from more than 80 countries are expected, including government ministers, Nobel Prize winners, and CEOs of international companies. Topics being addressed at this year’s summer include “Big Data” and “Climate Change and Health”. More information about the World Health Summit can be found at worldhealthsummit.org.

Other significant medical conferences being held in the coming weeks include the “German Congress of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery” (20–23 October) with 11,000 participants and the “DGPPN Kongress 2015”, the gathering of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy (25–28 November), with 9,000 specialists from Germany and abroad expected.