Why Partners HealthCare Rebranded as Mass General Brigham

The new brand identity aims to highlight the system's two prestigious academic medical centers.

Boston-based Partners HealthCare announced a major rebranding campaign last week, with plans to shed the name the nonprofit health system has used since its formation 25 years ago.

After a year of consideration, the board voted unanimously to begin transitioning to a new brand identity, Mass General Brigham, to highlight the system's two prestigious academic medical centers: Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, according to the announcement.

President and CEO Anne Klibanski, MD, said the rebranding is part of an effort to "better articulate what we offer patients and more closely reflect the vision for our system."

"As we build both our system strategy and our new identity, we will focus on how we leverage the full range of capabilities of our world-class clinicians and staff at our academic medical centers, renowned specialty hospitals, our community hospitals and our community sites," Klibanski said in a statement. "Our goal is to have an even greater impact on our patients and the health of the communities we serve locally, nationally and globally."

Some people familiar with the name-change deliberations questioned whether the decision could resolve the system's historical tensions, as Priyanka Dayal McCluskey reported for The Boston Globe.

"It's hard to say how we, the public, or Massachusetts residents are truly better off from the rebranding," Tufts University School of Medicine professor Paul Hattis, MD, JD, MPH, told the Globe.

With the rebranding announcement, Klibanski also outlined five key themes for the system's five-year strategy:

1. To reinforce in the system's status in the minds of patients as "the 'go to' place for care" and "develop cross-academic medical centers of excellence."
    
2. To consolidate and expand the system's impact on health, both nationally and internationally.
    
3. To build on the system's innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics, devices, and data analytics.
    
4. To focus on a value-based model that delivers affordable primary, secondary, and behavioral health care in the community.
    
5. To further serve communities by working to address a leading community health issue.
    

"Introducing our new name and implementing our strategy will require careful planning and collaboration," Klibanski said. "Our next step is to actively engage in a thoughtful process for how we best invest our dollars, always keeping patients and clinical care our top priority."