Bortz was co-chairman of the American Medical Association's Task Force on Aging, past President of The American Geriatrics Society and was Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the
Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation. His research focused on the importance of physical exercise during the process of aging. Bortz wrote 150 scientific articles for research publications such as
JAMA,
Annals of Internal Medicine, and
Journal of Biological Chemistry, as well as articles in The New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, The New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, and Town & Country. Bortz wrote eight books including
We Live Too Short and Die Too Long,
Dare to be 100,
Living Longer for Dummies,
Diabetes Danger,
Next Medicine, and
Occupy Medicine. he was working on his ninth, tentatively titled
Aging is Negotiable. ==Personal life and death==