Today, more than ever in the past, the variables within the health care environment (demand, costs, system deregulation) are undergoing such rapid change that hospital administrators are finding it necessary to develop and implement competitive strategies in order to survive in the increasingly competitive hospital environment. The primary aim of this paper is to answer the following question: Is it possible to transfer strategic management research from other sectors into the hospital industry? The first objective was to identify strategies in hospital management. A questionnaire was designed and sent to hospital CEOs and the data extracted were used to construct the variables needed to identify strategies and perform the subsequent analyses. The second aim was to try to identify groups of organizations using similar strategies and, finally, analyse the impact of these on hospital performance.