Introduction One of the core facilitators in the successful operation of any health care organization is coming up with the most appropriate strategic mapping techniques. The duty of a strategist is to perceive the competition within the field and be able to handle it (Porter, 2008). Competitive analysis of the service area is necessary to provide a better understanding of the company’s environment (Ginter, Duncan, & Swayne, 2013). Such analysis allows discerning particular issues concerning competitors and service areas. The Importance of Hospital Competition and Strategic Planning Strategic planning is a vital element in any health care organization’s activity. Its core function is to determine the competitors and their strong and weak points. Obtaining such data allows us to predict the strategic actions of the rivals and thus helps to overcome them. Apart from accumulating data on the competitors, strategic management presupposes finding out information about the service area (Ginter et al., 2013). Concentration on service area makes it possible to prevent unexpected situations, decrease the time necessary to answer the rivals’ actions, establish vacant positions in the market, and learn through correlating one’s strategies with the competitors’ (Ginter et al., 2013). Porter (2008) identifies five forces defining strategy: the threat of entry, power of buyers, power of suppliers, the threat of substitutes, and competition among existing organizations. New entrants put the existing competitors under threat as they can change the present capabilities. The impact of buyers lies in their possibility to demand better quality and lower costs. Suppliers have the power to modify the industry’s profitability. Substitutes are dangerous as they may replace the original product or service. Finally, competition among existing organizations restricts production’s profitability (Porter, 2008). However, a recent study by Cooper, Gibbons, Jones, and McGuire (2011) shows that such competition is extremely beneficial for the patients. The Most Appropriate Characteristics of Mapping Strategic Groups in Service Area In the modern health care environment, strategic groups can be mapped according to patient-centered care and the cost of services. Patient-centered care has become an important issue for people when choosing a health care facility (Bertakis & Azari, 2011). By finding out the competitors’ approaches, one can design a plan for his/her organization’s patient-centered care methods which would help to win the service area’s trust. Patient-centered care has grown popularity among customers as it suggests a better attitude and a higher quality of service (Bertakis & Azari, 2011). Such an approach enables customers to take part in the decision-making process, gives them the power to choose services and specialists, and provides the best approaches to treatment. By mapping strategic groups in service areas against the patient-centered care characteristics, the strategist will increase his/her organization’s prospects for encouraging more customers to use their services. Another critical component of mapping the strategic groups is presented by service prices. The current situation in the health care industry requir