Mark McKenzie, CEO, Focused Post Acute Care Partners

The 51st episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. The skilled nursing industry won’t likely see material, system-wide change until the sector’s stakeholders including CMS, operators, payors, as well as residents and their respective advocacy groups, can get on the same page. That’s according to Focused Post Acute Care Partners CEO Mark McKenzie. The industry is ever evolving, he said, and while subtle improvements and strides will likely occur — like the move to private rooms — big changes will take big conversations. McKenzie has tried to make his voice, and the voices of his Texas-based team, heard at both the state and federal levels — especially as the state legislature will convene next year and discuss, among other things, potentially increasing nursing home Medicaid rates. He remains hopeful and believes state officials are more aware and have a much deeper knowledge of the challenges the nursing home industry faces than they did before. Operators in the state receive 154.98 per patient day even though the methodology says they should be making about $275 per patient day. I spoke with McKenzie on what adequate reimbursement looks like in the Lone Star state, the place in skilled nursing for heavily rural operators like Focused Post Acute Care partners, the need to staff up for higher acuity residents and more. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • The importance McKenzie places, and thinks others should also, on heavily rural operators in the skilled nursing sector • Whether CMS's changes to the special focus facility (SFF) program will make operators like Focused Post Acute Care Partners think twice about taking on such buildings in the future • The wins and ongoing challenges McKenzie's executive team faces with staffing