The cluster method of prioritizing starts starts with the size of need gap but adds a further dimension. The group involved in planning becomes involved in determining the importance of the array of issues before them. The members know the facts and have identified the size of the need gap. They now must determine the importance of the issues com-pared with each other. Using a simple three-step continuum, they are asked to assign to each issue a high, medium, or low value regarding its importance in meeting the health needs of the region. If a region has identified a large number of high priority issues, these high priority rankings themselves must be clustered.