Issue:   Meridia, (http://www.meridia.com/) a major health care system in Cleveland, needed deeper understanding of their customer base, specifically customers' perception of Meridia's quality versus competition, and the decision process utilized in choosing a hospital.   Results: Segmented Meridia's customer base into three distinct groups and identified the unique core of their positioning for each segment.  Consumer communication was refined based on these findings. Revealed an opportunity to promote a meaningful and differentiating message to large area employers. Pinpointed a weak link in Meridia's hospital network and developed avenues to address that weakness.   Process: Conducted in-depth interviews with 40 senior executives representing all three customer segments. Utilized a computer-driven, conjoint analysis to better understand the cost/value components of customers' decision-making processes  and to allow the development of a simulation model to assess the acceptability of proposed new product and service ideas.