Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) and one of Türkiye’s leading IT companies are collaborating to develop the first large language model in healthcare and medical tourism.

Supported by TÜBİTAK, the "Large Language Model-Based Patient Guidance Robot Trained with Health Data: HealthGPT" will analyze patient symptoms, direct them to the appropriate healthcare service, enhance the efficiency of the healthcare system, and provide digital consultancy for foreign patients within the scope of medical tourism.

The project, conducted in collaboration with OMU and a leading Turkish IT company, aims to create a locally developed large AI language model trained with health data under the name "HealthGPT."

HealthGPT will function as a digital health assistant, analyzing patients' symptoms and directing them to the most appropriate clinical department. This AI-powered model will help balance hospital patient density, thus improving healthcare services' efficiency. Additionally, the project aims to facilitate medical tourism, enabling international patients to easily access healthcare institutions in Türkiye. Through mobile and web-based applications, foreign patients will be able to obtain information in their native languages and plan their treatment processes.

HealthGPT will be Türkiye’s first large language model developed for healthcare, and it will be trained explicitly with Turkish medical terminology. The project, in collaboration with over 11 private and public hospitals, is set to begin on April 1, 2025, with a demo version expected for testing in August 2025.

"A Revolutionary Tool for the Healthcare Sector"

Providing details about the project, Dr. İsmail İşeri, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Engineering at OMU Faculty of Engineering, stated:

"HealthGPT has been supported by the TÜBİTAK Technology and Innovation Support Programs Presidency (TEYDEB) under the 1505 University-Industry Cooperation Support Program. We have partnered with one of Turkey’s largest IT firms for this initiative. TÜBİTAK recently accepted our project, and we are now developing a groundbreaking AI model for the healthcare sector."

"A Key Role in Medical Tourism"

Dr. İşeri highlighted that the AI-powered system will be integrated with hospital call centers and websites:

"HealthGPT will play a crucial role in patient guidance. When patients visit a hospital’s website or call a medical center, they will interact with AI regarding their symptoms, which will then direct them to the most appropriate clinical department. This will improve patient satisfaction and hospital efficiency, benefiting the entire healthcare sector.

Another significant aspect of the project is its contribution to medical tourism. Through a dedicated mobile and web application, we will enable international patients to connect with healthcare services in Türkiye. This system will function as a guidance mechanism to help foreign patients navigate Türkiye’s healthcare system and receive the necessary treatment."

"We Are Training Our Own Turkish Medical AI Model"

Dr. İşeri emphasized that HealthGPT will be Türkiye’s first AI model explicitly trained for medical applications:

"AI is widely used across industries, and healthcare is one of its most critical applications. As a university and as a country, we are excited to be part of this pioneering project, which we believe will significantly contribute to both the healthcare sector and medical tourism.

One of the most unique aspects of our project is its focus on medical terminology. We will conduct training studies to enhance AI comprehension of medical vocabulary. This means we will develop and train a dedicated Turkish medical AI model, contributing to both Türkiye’s AI ecosystem and the field of health technologies.

Currently, there is no similar AI-driven healthcare model in Türkiye, making this project a pioneering effort. We partnered with over 11 private and public hospitals during the application phase, securing letters of intent. As our product evolves, we will continue to work with these hospitals to bring valuable innovation to Türkiye."

"Our Project Will Run for 24 Months"

Dr. İşeri confirmed that the project will officially launch on April 1, 2025, with an initial demo release expected by August 2025:

"Our project will have an official start date of April 1, 2025, and is planned to run for 24 months. However, different modules of the AI system will be developed in stages, and we aim to introduce demo and test versions progressively. By August 2025, we expect to begin field testing the demo model."