As more than 700 hospitals prepare to implement CMS’ Transforming Episode Accountability Model on Jan. 1, Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health is not starting from scratch.
Through TEAM, CMS will hold participating hospitals responsible for the care quality, costs and post-acute coordination associated with five surgical procedures: coronary artery bypass graft surgery, lower extremity joint replacement, major bowel procedure, surgical hip and/or femur fracture and spinal fusion.
Elham Yousef, MD, the chief clinical integration and specialty care officer at Hackensack Meridian, sees TEAM as a “natural extension” of the intentional, proactive care coordination the health system has practiced for years. Dr. Yousef spoke to Becker’s about how the model may influence value-based care for Hackensack Meridian and the industry at large.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How is Hackensack Meridian operationalizing TEAM across such a large system?
Dr. Elham Yousef: Hackensack Meridian Health is approaching CMS’ TEAM as a network surgical care transformation and integration initiative. This is a natural extension of our founding mission: to provide high-quality, coordinated care that is standardized across our entire network.
For years, we have been building the infrastructure for value-based care, so we are not starting from scratch. The diverse geographies, case mixes and physicians mix of our hospitals has required collaboration, alignment and accountability. A critical early decision was to establish a single network governance structure in collaboration with all participating sites and to leverage our existing systemwide clinical, quality and operational councils for driving unified strategies.
By utilizing this collaborative framework, we are intentionally prioritizing communication, collaboration, and co-design with our surgeons, clinical chairs and front-line teams across the full continuum. We ensure that best practices for patient care — from presurgical optimization to post-discharge follow-up — are consistently developed and implemented, allowing us to deliver the same high standard of care whether a patient is in Hackensack, Neptune or any of our other communities. This is about enhancing our already strong foundation of collaboration, not reinventing the wheel.
Q: What specific clinical or operational pain points did you identify early on? How have you worked to address them?
EY: Across healthcare, ensuring a seamless patient journey from hospital to home is a universal priority. At Hackensack Meridian Health, we have been proactively addressing this for years. Rather than waiting for TEAM, we have focused on being a leader in care coordination and innovation. For example, we’ve invested heavily in data analytics to give our care teams real-time insights, which helps standardize care and improve outcomes. We launched a service line-driven CarePathway workgroup to define evidence-based standards and embed them into surgical workflows. Furthermore, our robust care coordination program, along with partnerships that address social needs such as transportation, ensure patients have the support they need after leaving our hospitals. These initiatives demonstrate our long-standing commitment to a fully integrated and supportive patient experience.
Q: Given the downside risk built into TEAM in later years, what’s your approach to financial modeling?
EY: Our philosophy is simple: If you focus on delivering the highest quality, most efficient care, the financials will follow. Hackensack Meridian Health has extensive experience and a successful track record with risk-based models, including our accountable care organizations, which have generated significant savings while improving quality.
Our approach is about proactively creating value. We align our teams by focusing on a shared mission of patient-centered excellence. When our physicians, nurses, and partners are empowered with the correct data and resources to make the best clinical decisions, we naturally reduce complications, prevent readmissions and lower the total cost of care. This model focuses on aligning incentives with what is best for the patient, which has always been our primary goal.
Q: How are you strengthening or establishing partnerships with post-acute providers?
EY: Strong partnerships with post-acute providers are essential to our mission, and this is an area where we have a deep and collaborative history. The TEAM program’s focus on the 30 days after a hospital stay reinforces the importance of these relationships. We view our post-acute partners — whether in skilled nursing, rehabilitation or home care — as extensions of our own care team. Our goal is to collaborate to ensure that every patient receives coordinated, high-quality care throughout their entire recovery journey.
Q: How do you see TEAM influencing the future of value-based care adoption both at
Hackensack Meridian and more broadly?
EY: As a system, our goal is continuous integration — where every decision is informed by data, guided by evidence and aligned with value. The TEAM program validates the direction Hackensack Meridian Health already has been heading for years. It signals a broader industry shift away from fee-for-service payments and toward a system that rewards better health outcomes and coordinated, high-quality care.
For us, TEAM is an accelerator, not a starting point. It reinforces our ongoing investments in population health, data analytics and innovative care models that we use to manage every bundled or population-based arrangement. This program will encourage more health systems to embrace the kind of accountability and patient-centered approach we have long championed. Ultimately, this is a positive evolution for healthcare, propelling the entire industry toward a future where physicians and healthcare providers are aligned in delivering the highest value to every patient, both within and outside the hospital walls. More broadly, I believe TEAM will redefine what readiness looks like in large health systems. It’s not just about risk, it’s about building organizational muscle for sustained, data-driven transformation.
