Week In Review

As we previously reported in Issue 12 of our Last Week in Washington e-newsletter, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released 2 proposed rules for fiscal year (FY) 2026 that rollback several social determinants of health (SDOH) requirements across the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) settings. Among the changes that CMS is proposing is to remove 4 data elements related to SDOH from the patient assessment tools for SNFs, LTCHs, and IRFs. CMS is also proposing to delete 2 measures on screening for SDOH from the hospital inpatient quality reporting program. 
 

The deadline for comments is June 10th. While AGS is submitting feedback, we want to provide you with information to comment as an individual as well. There are 2 rules you can comment on as seen below with very similar talking points that follow: 
 

FY 2026 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Proposed Rule 
 

Click HERE to comment and utilize the talking points below, which you can add to and personalize –

1. I appreciate CMS’ efforts in recent years to advance the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program and LTCH Quality Reporting Program (QRP), including its adoption of 2 social drivers of health measures in the FY 2023 final rule for the Hospital IQR and 4 new standardized patient assessment data elements—Living Situation (R0310), Food (R0320A and R0320B), and Utilities (R0330)—in the FY 2025 final rule for the LTCH QRP. 
    
2. For our patients in geriatric medicine with complex issues and advancing age, the items in these measures are a critical part of the work of geriatricians that adds value to a health system. 
    
3. We urge CMS to reconsider its proposals and retain measures and data elements about social drivers of health because these data are essential to supporting older adult patients with complex geriatrics conditions. 
    

FY 2026 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule 
 

Click HERE to comment and utilize the talking points below, which you can add to and personalize –

1. I appreciate CMS’ efforts in recent years to advance the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP), including the recent addition of 4 new standardized patient assessment data elements focused on social needs—Living Situation (R0310), Food (R0320A and R0320B), and Utilities (R0330)—that can affect patient health to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) in the FY 2025 SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final rule. 
    
2. For our patients in geriatric medicine with complex issues and advancing age, the items in these measures are a critical part of the work of geriatricians that adds value to a health system. 
    

We urge CMS to reconsider its proposals and to retain measures and data elements about social drivers of health because these data are essential to supporting older adult patients with complex geriatrics conditions.

Click here to read the latest issue of the AGS Vaccine Roundup. This bi-monthly newsletter highlights new resources from the AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative and other partners, recent news, and the latest research in immunizations. To learn more about the AGS Older Adults Vaccine Initiative, visit our website at: vaccines.agscocare.org.

Aurora Health has partnered with the AGS's Acute Care Special Interest Group and Clinical Practice and Models of Care Committee on their Geriatric Models of Care Collaborative.

The Geriatric Models of Care Collaborative provides the opportunity to learn about different geriatric models of care to address the needs of complex older adults through its quarterly webinars featuring new research in geriatrics care and recent Models of Care papers. Geriatricians, nurses, physical therapists, case managers, and social workers across different settings in academic or community hospitals in the United States are encouraged to join.

This quarter's meeting will feature a presentation on: 

CoCare-CI: A Clinical Innovation to Address Behavioral Symptoms in Hospitalized Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment – David Lynch, BMBS

This quarter’s meeting will also feature a brief presentation from Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) grantee, Sandra Zeng, on her work at the University of Hawaii. 

Register here for Wed., June 11th and upcoming meetings.

Serena Chao, MD, MSc, AGSF, will step into a new leadership role as Chief of Geriatric Medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center later this month. As part of her new position, Dr. Chao will also lead the newly established Section for Geriatric Medicine at DHMC. Learn more here.

Linda Fried, MD, MPH, former AGS Board member, will become Director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center. Dr. Fried will take on this role after concluding her tenure as Dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Senior Vice President of Columbia University Irving Medical Center at the close of the academic year.

Congratulations to Drs. Chao and Fried as they embark on these exciting new chapters in their careers!

• The Clin-STAR Visiting Professor Program is designed to expose clinician-scientists and other faculty and trainees, especially those at institutions lacking robust aging/geriatrics research programs, to leaders in aging research.  

• The National Institute on Aging participates in a broad range of funding opportunities, research and development programs, and technical assistance that address innovations in healthy aging as well as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The MyAGSOnline Events Calendar is a valuable resource to discover and register for upcoming events, webinars, and other opportunities. We'd like to highlight the following upcoming events: