By 2030, every baby boomer will be over 65 — making older adults the fastest-growing demographic in American healthcare, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet there are fewer than 7,500 board-certified geriatricians in the country, a ratio of roughly one geriatric specialist per 10,000 older adults. If you’ve been searching for a geriatric doctor near me, that shortage may explain why finding one feels so difficult. Geriatricians are physicians specifically trained to manage the complex, overlapping health needs of aging adults — and their expertise becomes increasingly valuable as health conditions multiply.
Unlike specialists who focus on one organ system, geriatricians take a whole-person approach. They coordinate care across multiple conditions, manage complex medication regimens, and address age-specific concerns like falls, cognitive decline, and end-of-life planning. Our telehealth guide covers how virtual care works broadly, and geriatric medicine has embraced telehealth as a way to stretch limited specialist availability to more patients.
What Does a Geriatrician Treat?
Geriatricians are board-certified in either internal medicine or family medicine, with an additional fellowship year focused on the care of older adults. Their training equips them to handle the unique challenges that aging brings — challenges that standard primary care sometimes misses. A geriatrician’s scope includes:
- Polypharmacy management — reviewing and simplifying medication lists that have grown unwieldy across multiple prescribers
- Cognitive decline and dementia — diagnosis, staging, and management of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
- Fall prevention — assessing fall risk, recommending interventions, and managing osteoporosis
- Frailty and functional decline — evaluating mobility, strength, and independence
- Chronic disease coordination — managing the interplay between conditions like diabetes, heart failure, kidney disease, and arthritis simultaneously
- Advance care planning — helping patients and families make informed decisions about goals of care, living wills, and end-of-life preferences
- Delirium — identifying and treating acute confusion, which is common in hospitalized older adults
The American Geriatrics Society emphasizes that geriatric care is not about treating individual diseases in isolation — it’s about optimizing quality of life when multiple conditions coexist.
When to See a Geriatrician
Not every older adult needs a geriatrician. A healthy 70-year-old managing one or two well-controlled conditions may do perfectly well with a standard primary care physician. But a geriatrician becomes especially valuable when:
- Multiple chronic conditions are interacting in complex ways (e.g., diabetes complicating heart failure treatment)
- The medication list exceeds five to seven regular prescriptions and side effects are a concern
- Memory problems or cognitive changes are emerging
- Falls have occurred or fall risk is increasing
- Functional independence is declining — difficulty with daily activities like bathing, dressing, or managing finances
- Caregivers need guidance on managing a loved one’s declining health
- Decisions about assisted living, nursing care, or hospice need to be made
- The patient is over 75 and their care feels fragmented across too many specialists
A geriatrician often serves as the “quarterback” who consolidates care and ensures that treatments for one condition aren’t worsening another.
Telehealth vs In-Person Geriatric Visits
Telehealth has become a practical tool in geriatric medicine, particularly for patients with mobility limitations or those in rural areas far from geriatric specialists. Video visits work well for medication reviews, care planning discussions, cognitive screening (many validated tools can be administered remotely), and caregiver consultations.
In-person visits remain important for comprehensive geriatric assessments, which typically include gait and balance evaluation, physical examination, and functional testing that can’t be replicated over video. Many geriatric practices now use a hybrid model where the initial comprehensive assessment is done in person, and subsequent follow-ups alternate between in-person and telehealth.
For families caring for elderly parents in different states, telehealth geriatric consultations offer a way to include remote family members in care discussions — something that was logistically difficult before video visits became standard.
Some telehealth-enabled geriatric programs also incorporate remote patient monitoring. Connected devices like blood pressure cuffs, glucose monitors, and weight scales transmit daily readings to the care team, enabling early detection of problems like heart failure exacerbation or medication side effects. This proactive monitoring model is particularly valuable for older adults living independently who might not notice gradual symptom changes on their own.
How to Find a Geriatrician Near You
The American Geriatrics Society’s Health in Aging directory (HealthInAging.org) maintains a searchable database of geriatric specialists. This is often the most targeted starting point.
Your insurance provider directory. Search for physicians specializing in geriatric medicine. Because geriatricians are relatively rare, you may need to expand your search radius beyond your immediate zip code. In-network status is especially important for ongoing care.
Academic medical centers. University-affiliated hospitals almost always have geriatric medicine departments, often staffed by fellowship-trained geriatricians and supported by multidisciplinary teams (social workers, pharmacists, physical therapists). These programs also tend to see complex cases and may offer comprehensive geriatric assessment clinics.
Medicare’s Physician Compare tool. Since the vast majority of geriatric patients are Medicare beneficiaries, the CMS Care Compare tool can help you find geriatricians who accept Medicare in your area.
Geriatric-trained primary care. If no geriatrician is available nearby, look for a primary care physician with a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in geriatric medicine, or one who has significant experience treating older patients. Some family medicine and internal medicine doctors develop de facto geriatric expertise through their patient panels.
Average Cost of Geriatric Care
Most geriatric patients are on Medicare, which shapes the cost landscape significantly:
- Initial comprehensive geriatric assessment: $300 to $600 without supplemental insurance (Medicare covers approximately 80% after deductible); with Medigap or Medicare Advantage, out-of-pocket costs typically run $0 to $50
- Follow-up visits: $100 to $250 billed; Medicare copay is typically $20 to $50 with supplemental coverage
- Annual Wellness Visit: Covered at no cost under Medicare Part B for preventive care
- Cognitive assessments: Often included in the wellness visit or billed separately at $100 to $300
- Care coordination services: Some geriatric practices bill for chronic care management (CCM) at approximately $40 to $80/month, often covered by Medicare
The value proposition of geriatric care often shows up in what it prevents: unnecessary hospitalizations, adverse drug interactions, injurious falls, and fragmented care that leads to duplicated testing. For patients managing high medication costs, our healthcare costs guide covers strategies for reducing prescription expenses.
What to Expect at a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment
A comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is the gold standard first visit with a geriatrician, and it’s far more thorough than a typical doctor’s appointment. Expect the evaluation to last 60 to 90 minutes and cover multiple domains of health: medical conditions and medication review, cognitive screening (using tools like the Mini-Mental State Exam or Montreal Cognitive Assessment), functional assessment (ability to perform daily activities like bathing, dressing, cooking, and managing finances), fall risk evaluation (gait analysis, balance testing, home safety review), nutritional status, and psychosocial factors (depression screening, social isolation, caregiver stress).
The CGA results in a prioritized problem list and an integrated care plan — not just a list of diagnoses, but a coordinated strategy that accounts for the patient’s goals and values. This assessment often reveals medication interactions that other providers have missed, fall risks that can be mitigated, or early cognitive decline that benefits from intervention. Some geriatric programs include a follow-up family conference to discuss findings and care plan decisions with everyone involved in the patient’s support network.
Questions to Ask a Geriatrician
Whether you’re the patient or a family member coordinating care, these questions help establish a productive relationship:
- Can you review all my current medications and identify any that may be unnecessary or interacting poorly?
- What is my fall risk, and what can we do to reduce it?
- Should I be screened for cognitive changes, and how do you approach that screening?
- How do you coordinate with my other specialists?
- What advance care planning documents should I have in place?
- Are there community resources (transportation, meal delivery, adult day programs) you can connect me with?
- How often should we meet, and are telehealth follow-ups an option?
- At what point should we discuss transitioning to assisted living or hospice care?
A good geriatrician will welcome these questions and spend time discussing goals of care — not just disease management. If the physician seems rushed or dismissive of quality-of-life concerns, consider finding a different provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age should you start seeing a geriatrician?
There’s no fixed age. Most geriatricians focus on patients 65 and older, but complexity of care matters more than age alone. A relatively healthy 75-year-old may not need a geriatrician, while a 65-year-old with multiple chronic conditions, cognitive concerns, and polypharmacy could benefit significantly. The trigger is usually complexity, not a birthday.
Is a geriatrician the same as an internist?
Geriatricians are internists (or family physicians) with additional fellowship training in the care of older adults. While all geriatricians are trained in internal medicine, not all internists have geriatric expertise. The additional year of fellowship training focuses specifically on aging, dementia, polypharmacy, falls, and end-of-life care.
Does Medicare cover geriatrician visits?
Yes. Medicare Part B covers physician visits with geriatricians the same way it covers any specialist visit — typically 80% of the Medicare-approved amount after the Part B deductible. Annual Wellness Visits, which include cognitive screening, are covered at 100% with no copay. Medicare Advantage plans may have different copay structures.
Why are there so few geriatricians?
Geriatric fellowship positions consistently go unfilled due to a combination of lower physician compensation (geriatrics ranks among the lowest-paid specialties), limited awareness during medical training, and the perception that geriatrics is less “exciting” than procedure-heavy specialties. The American Geriatrics Society has long advocated for increased fellowship funding and better reimbursement.
What to Do Next
Caregivers play a central role in geriatric care, and a good geriatrician recognizes this. Caregiver burnout is common — the AARP reports that family caregivers provide an average of 24 hours of care per week, and many experience significant emotional and physical strain. A geriatrician can help by simplifying medication regimens, connecting families with respite care and community resources, and having honest conversations about care transitions. If you’re a caregiver feeling overwhelmed, bring this up at the appointment — it’s within the geriatrician’s scope to address caregiver needs as part of the overall care plan.
If an older adult in your life is struggling with multiple health conditions, experiencing cognitive changes, or falling — finding a geriatrician should be a priority. Start with the HealthInAging.org directory or Medicare’s Care Compare tool. If no geriatrician is available locally, consider a telehealth consultation as a bridge, and look for primary care physicians with geriatric credentials or experience. The right doctor can transform fragmented, reactive care into a coordinated plan that prioritizes what matters most to the patient — not just their lab values, but their independence, comfort, and quality of life.