The following is a guest article by Ross Armstrong, Chief Commercial Officer, Bamboo Health and Thaddeus Fulford-Jones, Co-Founder and CEO, Radial

Hospitals are drowning in data but starving for insight. Data is everywhere in today’s modern environment, but true insight is rare. That gap between information and action will become painfully clear as CMS rolls out its new Transitional Episode-based Advanced Model (TEAM) in January 2026.

The TEAM model is mandatory for 740+ hospitals and covers key surgical bundles, including orthopedic, cardiac, and neurological episodes. But more than a compliance challenge, TEAM is a stress test for hospitals’ ability to act in real time. In this model, success will depend less on the data organizations collect and more on how quickly and intelligently they can use that data.

A New Model Built for Speed

TEAM redefines the pace of value-based care. Instead of the traditional 90-day bundles under earlier programs, TEAM compresses each episode into 30 days, resulting in a threefold acceleration that gives hospitals significantly less time to identify risks, coordinate transitions, and prevent readmissions.

It also introduces rolling baselines and downside risk, forcing hospitals to compete against others in their region, rather than a static benchmark. CMS recalculates target prices annually, meaning a hospital that performs well one year isn’t guaranteed to succeed the next.

The stakes are high. Research projects that hospitals taking a “wait and see” approach could lose an average of $500 to $1,300 per episode. When multiplied across hundreds or thousands of episodes, those losses compound quickly.

To thrive in a world with tighter episode timelines, hospitals can’t rely on retrospective reports or quarterly reviews. They need foresight and seamless ability to see risks and act before minor problems become expensive failures.

The Status Quo Can’t Keep Up

Most hospitals still operate in silos with data in one system, workflows in another, and insights delayed by months. Even the most advanced EHR can’t connect every signal or guide every decision across the full episode of care.

Under TEAM, fragmentation translates directly into financial penalties. Delayed coordination, incomplete coding and poor site-of-care decisions will no longer be operational annoyances but rather revenue losses and care crises.

The historical 90-day bundles created more uncertainty, as organizations struggled to manage patients over the long-term horizon. The 30-day episode in TEAM enables organizations to be intentional about the critical steps of care transitions and post-acute management; therefore, every handoff, discharge and follow-up must be precise.

In TEAM, waiting for a monthly report is like steering by the rearview mirror. Organizations need real-time intelligence and clinical decision support that prompts action before a patient’s trajectory drifts off course.

From Pure Data to Intelligent Action

TEAM rewards hospitals that can move from data to decision in real-time by spotting risk before surgery, guiding site-of-care choices, and coordinating the critical 30-day post-acute window. That leap requires a shift from static reporting to machine learning and user-friendly guidance for dynamic decision-making.

The winning formula for hospitals preparing for TEAM is clarity, not complexity. Insight means:

• Predictive visibility: Knowing which patients are most likely to thrive when being discharged to home or potentially face complications.
• Shared context: Giving every team member the same, real-time episode view.
• Proactive response: Triggering smarter decisions, outreach, or care adjustments to optimize every episode.

In short, creating the shortest distance between knowing and doing.

Hospitals that act now will use 2025 to validate their data pipelines, test pre-op and post-acute workflows, and build confidence before downside risk begins. Those who wait will be forced to learn under pressure and pay the price.

The Cost of Guesswork

The math is unforgiving. Analysts estimate that 60% of hospitals will lose money under TEAM if they maintain business as usual. Those that adopt proactive, data-driven coordination models could gain thousands of dollars per episode, translating to millions of dollars in CMS bonuses and protected margin over the program’s five-year span.

As healthcare enters a new phase of value-based accountability, success will hinge on how quickly organizations can transform information into action. The next generation of high-performing hospitals won’t just report on performance; they’ll anticipate it, manage it, and continually improve it in real-time.

The era of guesswork is ending. The era of intelligent action has already begun.