Building Your Dream TEAM: How to Win at Episode Payment Models

The Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) is less than a year away. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, selected hospitals will be subject to this new Medicare mandatory episodic payment model for specified surgical episodes of care. On January 30, PYA's Martie Ross, Kathy Reep, Jason Hardin, Lee Ann Odom, and Angie Caldwell introduced PYA's TEAM playbook, highlighting what your organization can do now to ensure future success: Understand TEAM rules   Educate leadership, management, and medical staff Use currently available data to identify opportunities Pursue performance transformation to reduce episodic costs Enter into TEAM-compliant collaborator sharing arrangements with physicians and post-acute providers For providers not directly participating in TEAM, the PYA experts discussed broader market impacts of this new program, including changing referral patterns, patient preferences, and commercial payer opportunities.