On January 1, CMS launched its latest alternative payment model: TEAM, the Transforming Episode Accountability Model. The mandatory program requires hundreds of acute care hospitals to participate in episode-based payments for five common, high-cost surgeries.

TEAM's goal is central to value-based care: improve quality while reducing Medicare spending. But the model has faced industry resistance. Critics argue it puts smaller, less-resourced hospitals at risk and should be voluntary. CMS maintains that the model builds on past voluntary programs and aligns with recommendations from federal partners.

To understand TEAM and what it demands of hospitals, senior writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya talks with Jeff Gleason, M.D., the new chief medical officer of Navvis, a value-based care enablement company. He argues that hospitals that don't prepare now will struggle later.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Hospitals rail against 'inadequate' pay bump, mandatory TEAM participation in IPPS comments
• Hospitals, health systems expect to ramp up value-based care in 2026, 2027
• CMMI to cut participation in payment models, estimates $750M in savings