Optimizing Surgical Care for Older Adults: An Inside Look at the ACS Geriatric Surgery Verification Program

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Science, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Education

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, we explore practical tips for caring for older adults in the clinical setting through a case-based discussion highlighting common perioperative challenges and strategies for success. We also take a deeper dive into the American College of Surgeons Geriatric Surgery Verification Program, including its goals, impact, and how clinicians can get involved in advancing surgical care for the aging patient population.

Take Home Points:

The older adult population is the fastest growing patient population and it is important we focus on patient-centered care for this population, as this is a population that almost all of us will engage with.
If you or your hospital isn’t prepared to get verified yet, there are still small processes that can be implemented that can make an impactful difference on your patients.
Geriatric Surgery Verification is at the cutting edge of quality improvement. Like other verification programs (trauma, bariatric) patients will soon seek out these centers that can best address their personal needs.

Hosts:

Agnes Premkumar, MD - General Surgery Resident at Creighton University, @agnespremkumar
Nicole L. Petcka, MD – General Surgery Resident at Emory University, @npetcka2022

Guests:

Marcia M. Russell, MD - Professor of Surgery and Vice Chair for Quality and Safety at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Caroline Smolkin, MD - General Surgery Resident at Northwell and American College of Surgeons Clinical Scholar

Resources:

American College of Surgeons Geriatric Surgery Verification Program: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/accreditation-and-verification/geriatric-surgery-verification/

Katlic MR, Wolf J, Demos SJ, Rosenthal RA. Making a Financial Case for the Geriatric Surgery Verification Program. Ann Surg Open. 2024 May 13;5(2):e439. doi: 10.1097/AS9.0000000000000439. PMID: 38911623; PMCID: PMC11191881.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38911623/

Remer SL, Zhou L, Cohen ME, Russell MM, Rosenthal R, Ko CY. Discharge to Post-Acute Care as a Benchmarking Metric for Elderly Surgical Patients. J Am Coll Surg. 2025 Aug 14. doi: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000001495. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40810404.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40810404/

Jones TS, Jones EL, Richardson V, Finley JB, Franklin JL, Gore DL, Horney CP, Kovar A, Morin TL, Robinson TN. Preliminary data demonstrate the Geriatric Surgery Verification program reduces postoperative length of stay. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Jul;69(7):1993-1999. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17154. Epub 2021 Apr 7. PMID: 33826150.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33826150/

*** UNC Surgery is inviting you to participate in a national survey designed to understand general surgery residents’ perspectives on core curriculum content, structure, & delivery. The results of this survey will inform the development of a standardized general surgery education curriculum.
SURVEY LINK: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJztQwgB1rJXpCtvboHprGB_gmHGG4UzY1HITAHRmMx9FcRQ/viewform

Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.
If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://behindtheknife.org/listen
Behind the Knife Premium:
General Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/general-surgery-oral-board-review
Trauma Surgery Video Atlas: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/trauma-surgery-video-atlas
Dominate Surgery: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Clerkship: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-clerkship
Dominate Surgery for APPs: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Rotation: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-for-apps-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-rotation
Vascular Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/vascular-surgery-oral-board-audio-review
Colorectal Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/colorectal-surgery-oral-board-audio-review
Surgical Oncology Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/surgical-oncology-oral-board-audio-review
Cardiothoracic Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/cardiothoracic-surgery-oral-board-audio-review
Download our App:
Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/behind-the-knife/id1672420049
Android/Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.btk.app&hl=en_US

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Behind the Night, the Surgery Podcast, relevant and engaging content designed to help you dominate the day. UNC is conducting a research study to understand what general surgery residents really want from their program's adactor curriculum and they need your help.
0:30.8	If you're a general surgery resident, take five minutes to tell us how you study and what you think your program should be teaching or improving.
0:37.9	Survey link is below in the show notes. Thanks for helping shape the future of surgical education,
0:42.0	and as always, dominate the day. Hello and welcome to Behind the Knife. I'm Nicole Petka,
0:47.2	and I'm joined here by Agnes Prem Kumar. We're both Behind the Night's Surgical Education Fellows
0:51.4	and excited to be here. In today's episode, we'll be discussing
0:54.8	surgical care for the older adult. It's a broad topic, but we hope to provide a quick look into the
0:59.5	unique challenges and considerations to remember while caring for this vulnerable patient population.
1:04.9	So we'll also discuss a new verification program by the American College of Surgeons, as titled
1:09.2	The Geriatric Surgery Verification
1:11.0	or the GSV program. Much like obtaining trial of verification, hospitals can be distinguished
1:16.3	as a center for excellent geriatric care. And we're so pleased to be joined by Dr. Karen Smolkin,
1:21.7	who's a general surgery resident working with the ACS and a GSV program, and Dr. Marsha Russell,
1:27.4	who's the chair of the ACS committee on the geriatric surgery,
1:30.9	and she's heavily involved the creation and the implementation of the GSV program.
1:35.3	So without further ado, let's get started.
1:38.4	How did you both get interested and involved in this topic?
1:41.7	So I actually got involved with this as a research resident. Dr. Clifford Coe was my
1:47.8	mentor at the time and I was interested in outcomes research and he had a grant from the National
1:54.0	Institute on Aging to look at quality issues for older adults undergoing surgery. And at that time,
2:00.4	my grandparents were having some health issues, and my grandfather actually
2:04.4	had an urgent cabbage, and my grandmother had fallen and broken her hip.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.