The initial rebranding efforts began a year ago with a goal to strengthen regional, national and international recognition for the ongoing work of the health care system. The Partners' board voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to approve changing the name of the system to one that it says will more closely aligns with the system's world renowned academic medical centers—Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Founded in 1994 by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Partners HealthCare now includes community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, a physician network, community health centers, home care and long-term care services and other health care entities.

Dr. Klibanski noted, "Introducing our new name and implementing our strategy will require careful planning and collaboration. 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."

Highlights of the firm's strategic plan include:

• Reinforce for patients that the health system is the "go to" place for care and develop cross-academic medical centers of excellence

• Consolidate and expand its national and international impact on health.

• Build on its strong track record for innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics, devices and data analytics for leading patient care and impact on the health of the communities it serves.

• Focus on a value-based model that delivers affordable primary care, secondary care and behavioral health care in the community and makes patient-centered programs and services central to delivering better outcomes for its patients

• Further serve its communities by working to address a leading community health issue.

In addition to its founding members, the health system's members include: AllWays Health Partners, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Martha's Vineyard Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, McLean Hospital, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, North Shore Medical Center, Partners Community Physicians Organization, Partners HealthCare at Home, Spaulding Rehabilitation Network and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Several of Partners' hospitals are teaching affiliates of Harvard Medical School, and Partners is a national leader in biomedical research.