The January 1, 2026, launch of the CMS Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) represents an exciting opportunity for hospitals to elevate their surgical care delivery. Whether your participation is mandatory or voluntary, TEAM offers a clear pathway to improved patient outcomes, enhanced care coordination, and sustainable financial performance across five key surgical episodes.

Forward-thinking hospitals are already viewing TEAM as more than a regulatory requirement. They see it as a strategic opportunity to strengthen their clinical programs, build stronger community partnerships, and demonstrate leadership in value-based care. With thoughtful preparation and the right approach, your hospital can position itself not just for compliance, but for excellence.

Successful preparation for TEAM involves three interconnected areas: clinical optimization, operational enhancement, and financial planning. When approached systematically, these elements work together to create a robust foundation for episode-based care that benefits patients, providers, and your organization.

Implement evidence-based clinical protocols. Each of the five TEAM surgical procedures (lower extremity joint replacement, surgical hip/femur fracture treatment, spinal fusion, coronary artery bypass grafting, and major bowel procedures) benefits from standardized, evidence-based care pathways. These protocols help ensure consistent, high-quality care while supporting predictable outcomes and efficient resource utilization.

Enhance care transitions and patient experience. TEAM’s 30-day episode window creates natural opportunities to strengthen your care coordination from pre-admission through recovery. Focus on comprehensive discharge planning, clear patient communication, and seamless transitions that support both clinical success and patient satisfaction.

Build collaborative post-acute care relationships. Post-acute care partnerships are essential for episode success. Work closely with skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation centers, and home health agencies to align care protocols, share best practices, and ensure patients receive consistent, high-quality care throughout their recovery journey.

Engage physicians as care partners. Physician involvement in TEAM preparation creates opportunities for meaningful collaboration around care pathway development, quality improvement initiatives, and shared learning. When physicians are actively engaged in the process, they become valuable partners in achieving both clinical and operational goals.

Invest in advanced analytics capabilities. Modern episode-based care requires sophisticated data insights that go beyond traditional reporting. AI-powered analytics platforms can provide real-time visibility into episode performance, helping you identify opportunities for improvement and make informed decisions throughout the care continuum.

Streamline quality measurement and reporting. TEAM’s focus on quality metrics like readmissions, adverse events, and patient-reported outcomes creates opportunities to strengthen your quality programs. Automated tracking systems can help you monitor these indicators consistently while identifying areas where targeted improvements can make the biggest impact.

Enable proactive patient management. Real-time monitoring and predictive analytics tools allow care teams to identify patients who might benefit from additional support or intervention. This proactive approach helps ensure better outcomes while managing episode costs effectively.

Strengthen care coordination across settings. TEAM success depends on effective communication and information sharing across the entire care team. Integrated systems that connect inpatient, outpatient, and post-acute care providers help ensure everyone has the information they need to support patient success.

Assess your current performance baseline. Understanding your historical performance across TEAM episodes provides valuable insights for improvement planning. Comprehensive analysis of your costs, outcomes, and quality metrics helps identify specific opportunities and establishes realistic goals for enhancement.

Select the optimal participation track. TEAM offers different risk and reward levels through its various participation tracks. Careful evaluation of your capabilities, performance history, and improvement potential helps ensure you choose the track that aligns with your organizational goals and positions you for sustainable success.

Leverage hospital conveners for strategic guidance. Hospital conveners bring valuable expertise in navigating complex value-based care models and can provide strategic insights tailored to your specific situation. When paired with AI-enabled analytics solutions, conveners help translate data insights into actionable strategies, guide track selection decisions, and support ongoing performance optimization throughout your TEAM participation.

Develop robust financial management processes. TEAM introduces new financial reconciliation and reporting requirements that, when handled systematically, become routine operational processes. Establishing clear procedures for tracking performance against targets and managing any required payments helps ensure smooth program participation.

TEAM represents an opportunity to strengthen your surgical programs while building capabilities that extend far beyond the five episode types. Hospitals that approach TEAM preparation strategically often find that the improvements they make enhance their overall care delivery, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability.

The key to TEAM success lies in viewing it as an integrated improvement initiative rather than a compliance exercise. When clinical excellence, operational enhancement, and financial planning work together, they create a foundation for sustained success in value-based care models. AI-enabled analytics solutions play a crucial role in this integration, providing the real-time insights and predictive capabilities that help hospitals not only meet compliance requirements but truly thrive by identifying improvement opportunities, optimizing care pathways, and making data-driven decisions that benefit both patients and financial performance.

Starting your TEAM preparation now gives you time to implement changes thoughtfully, test new approaches, and refine your processes before the 2026 launch. This preparation period is valuable for building confidence, engaging your care teams, and establishing the systems that will support long-term success.

Ready to begin your TEAM preparation? Focus on building the clinical, operational, and financial capabilities that will help your hospital excel in episode-based care and create lasting value for your patients and community.