Lack of highly qualified specialists or modern medical equipment, lack of financial resources, waiting in line in their own country encourages the majority of citizens to seek timely and high-quality medical care in another country. All conditions have been created in Kazakhstan to provide health care to foreign citizens. However, there are gaps in marketing strategies to promote medical tourism. The purpose of this study was to conduct a cluster analysis of the CIS countries on healthcare organization and morbidity for the subsequent determination of marketing policy to engage potential patients into medical tourism in Kazakhstan. Methods used: quantitative, qualitative and cluster analysis using Statistica v.8 software (StatSoftInc., USA). Because of unavailability of the necessary data, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were not included in the analysis. Since Kazakhstan is considered as a point of destination in this study, its indicators were excluded as well. The results of the study showed that within the CIS territory countries have different disease incidence rates regarding major classes of diseases, levels of healthcare organization, as well as significant differences in transport infrastructure, tourist services, information and communication technologies. This also plays an important role in shaping the marketing strategy of medical tourism. As a result of the analysis, 2 large and 4 small clusters of the CIS countries were developed. The formed clusters show similarities not only in healthcare, but also in cultural and racial characteristics. Each cluster was given a characteristic that, in current realities, can be used in targeted marketing tools. Thus, the obtained data can be used as one of the methods to eliminate major barriers slowing down the development of medical tourism, announced by the Concept for devloping medical tourism in Kazakhstan. Keywords: medical tourism; cluster analysis; export of medical services; CIS countries.

Aim. To analyse the current state of the medical services market in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) in terms of providing medical care to foreign patients.Materials and methods. The dynamics of medical tourism in Nur-Sultan was identified using the method of retrospective analysis. The main clinics providing medical tourism services in the capital city of Kazakhstan were characterised in terms of their advantages over competitor centres.Results. A prerequisite for the development of medical tourism in a certain country is the development of the whole country as a tourist destination. The recognition of a country as a safe destination by international tourism rankings contributes to the confidence of medical tourists in the quality of the services provided. The following advantages of Nur-Sultan determining its potential as a medical tourism destination were identified: access to modern medical technologies and new facilities; a large number of medical institutions accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI); a wide range of medical directions; a convenient geographical location; reasonable costs of medical services; security and political stability; the lack of a language barrier for patients from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).Conclusions. The capital city of Kazakhstan demonstrates a growing trend in the number of medical tourists. The largest number of tourists is currently from the CIS countries: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. It can be considered that, under a proper governmental policy, Kazakhstan’s potential as a medical tourism destination will be realised in the nearest future.

Темпы роста сектора мирового медицинского туризма в настоящее время считаются одними из наиболее высоких по сравнению с другими туристскими сегментами. В мире проходит большое количество научных конференций, посвященных теме медицинского туризма, который породил новую концепцию современного здравоохранения. В условиях глобальной экономической конкуренции его феномен заставляет медицину развиваться более быстрыми темпами. В этой связи авторами был проведен поиск и обзор релевантных источников по вопросу медицинского туризма. С целью отбора и обобщения источников выполнен обзор баз данных. В обзоре представлены сущность, проблемы и возможности медицинского туризма в рамках изученной литературы. К сожалению, вопрос его развития сравнительно мало изучен, что подтверждается небольшим количеством оригинальных исследований. При этом медицинский туризм как феномен глобального здравоохранения растет и, следовательно, требует надлежащего мониторинга, государственного регулирования и развития необходимой инфраструктуры. Ключевые слова: медицинский туризм, медицинские туристы, зарубежные пациенты, лечение зарубежных пациентов, экспорт медицинских услуг. Конфликт интересов. Авторы заявляют об отсутствии возможных конфликтов интересов.