Week In Review

Legislation has been introduced in both chambers to reauthorize funding for the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and the Geriatrics Academic Career Awards (GACA). In the Senate, Senators Susan Collins and Tim Kaine introduced the Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act (S. 2699). In the House, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky introduced the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness (EMPOWER) for Health Act (H.R. 4262). We are asking for your help to garner co-sponsors for both bills, which are instrumental to our collective efforts to ensure that older Americans have access to a workforce with the knowledge and skills to provide care that is age-friendly and informed by geriatrics principles. The GWEPs and GACAs were last authorized in 2020 as part of the CARES Act and are set to expire at the end of this month.

This week, AGS submitted comments on two proposed rules – the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) rule and the CY 2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule. In our letter in response to the MFPS, AGS thanked CMS for maintaining the Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM) codes and for the proposal to create new add-on codes that would facilitate providing behavioral health integration services as part of APCM. We also applaud the proposal to expand use of the complexity adjustment add-on code G2211 to include evaluation and management (E/M) services furnished in the patient’s home or residence. Our detailed comments, linked here, address specific proposals included in the CY 2026 MPFS. 

AGS also submitted a separate letter focused on the request for information on the prevention and management of chronic disease. Per the Trump Administration’s Executive Order, “Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission,” better receipt of recommended prevention services and effective management of chronic disease is a top priority for CMS. AGS is appreciative of CMS’ recent efforts to recognize the resources required to furnish primary care and to meet the complex needs of patients with chronic conditions. In our response to CMS, we provide feedback on ways in which CMS can better support the prevention and management of chronic disease. Our letter to CMS can be found here.

In a third comment letter also submitted this week, AGS shared feedback on the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule. Our comments were in response to the RFI on expanding the method to control for unnecessary increases in the volume of covered hospital outpatient department services to on-campus clinic visits. AGS expressed its strong opposition to any such expansion as we believe it could threaten the viability of multi-disciplinary hospital-based geriatric clinics that play a critical leadership role in the constant effort to improve geriatric care. Our letter to CMS on this issue can be found here.

Did you know that updates to the GRS Teaching Slides have been rolling out over the past few months? So far, over 50 slide sets have been revised to reflect the latest GRS12 content, with more on the way!

Designed for faculty, fellows, residents, and students, these slides can be used as stand-alone lectures or to supplement your own materials. Each set includes case studies for group discussion and detailed lecture notes.

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The Junior Reviewer Program at the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) is designed to bring new, fresh voices to the review process; to train high-quality reviewers; and to continue to build a community of aging scholars. The JAGS Junior Reviewer program is a 2-year program for early-stage junior faculty to participate in the journal review process. The program consists of 5 primary components:

1. Mentorship
2. Teaching Sessions
3. Reviewer Training Materials & Exclusive Online Community
4. Feedback on Submitted Reviews
5. Gathering during the AGS Annual Meeting.

If you have any questions regarding this application or the program, please email egallagher@americangeriatrics.org. 

Registration is still open for the AGS/ADGAP Leadership & Life Skills Curriculum (LLSC), offering a unique opportunity exclusively for AGS Fellows-in-Training and Early Career Professional members to develop and enhance skills that are essential for success throughout their career.

Program Dates: September 26, 2025 - July 1, 2026

Program Highlights:

• Self-directed online curriculum
• Engaging audio companions, journal exercises, and supplemental readings
• Interactive workshops with curriculum authors and advisors
• A vibrant online community for networking
• Certificate of Completion for those who successfully complete program requirements

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Board of Directors has approved ABIM’s application for a pilot program to create a pathway to ABIM Board Eligibility in Internal Medicine (see FAQs here). Eligible candidates are internationally trained physicians who have satisfactorily completed an ACGME-accredited internal medicine subspecialty fellowship, either as an “exceptionally qualified candidate” or as a graduate of an ACGME-International program. Once accepted into the pilot, graduates will be able to register starting December 1, 2025, for the Summer 2026 Internal Medicine Certification Examination. The pilot pathway is available to physicians pursuing specialty certifications offered by ABIM, including geriatric medicine. We encourage geriatric medicine fellowship program directors and coordinators to review the pilot program and also the FAQs for the program.

If you have any questions, please contact academicaffairs@abim.org.

• The US Deprescribing Research Network has announced a new Request for Application for Pilot Awards. The maximum budget per award is $30,000 in direct costs (and no more than $50,000 in combined direct and indirect costs). Letters of intent are required and are due by September 19th.
• The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) invites applications for high-impact patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects. Letters of intent must be submitted by September 23rd at 5pm ET. Learn more about the topic themes for this funding opportunity here.

The MyAGSOnline Events Calendar is a valuable resource to discover and register for upcoming events, webinars, and other opportunities. A few upcoming events we'd like to highlight are:

• The Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is offering the 24th annual Intensive Update with Board Review in Geriatric and Palliative Medicine September 16th-19th. This is a four-day clinically-based virtual course in geriatrics and palliative medicine taught by leading experts in both fields providing updates on geriatric syndromes and palliative medicine and the latest research and treatments.
• The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is hosting Geriatric Oncology: Cognition and Communication 2025 September 18th and 19th. This complimentary virtual program and interactive skill-building workshop addresses key communication challenges when caring for older adults with cancer.

Have an opportunity or event you'd like to see listed? Email the details to Jennifer Fisher at jfisher@americangeriatrics.org