Our Team
Marc Zimmet
President
Marc entered the skilled nursing industry in 1993, at the onset of the national “sub-acute” care movement. Medicare cost report appeals were a key component of a successful short-term rehabilitation program, and Zimmet & Company (the precursor to ZHSG) quickly emerged as a national leader in the space. As skilled nursing facilities transitioned to prospective-payment in the late 1990s, Mr. Zimmet applied his experience from New York State’s participation in the Nursing Home Case-Mix & Quality Demonstration project to develop early reimbursement-compliance management strategies for his clients. He now advises the firm’s diverse client base as the industry faces comprehensive payment and market reform.
In addition to providers, Marc advises industry trade associations, equity investors and lenders, and offers expert witness support in defense of healthcare providers.
Mr. Zimmet is also the founder and Managing Member of Z capital, LLC, the firm’s investment vehicle, with current positions in companies that provide care management technologies, Medicare Special Needs Plan solutions, outsourced case management and hospice care.
Most recently, Marc aligned Zimmet Healthcare with Greystone, a real estate lending, investment and advisory company. He joined as a Managing Director in Greystone’s healthcare lending group in a dual role, as he continues to lead ZHSG and expand the firm’s consulting solutions.
Mr. Zimmet is an active member of many state and national industry associations, and lectures extensively on regulatory and market issues shaping post-acute care. He serves on the Board of Directors of several healthcare provider and ancillary support companies. Marc holds a degree in CPA Accounting from Syracuse University and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from the Zicklin School of Business / Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Sheryl Buchholtz-Rosenfield
Emeritus Director of Clinical Operations
Sheryl joined Zimmet Healthcare in 1996, and has been the partner in charge of the firm’s growing clinical consulting team for nearly 20 years.
As a Board Certified Registered Nurse, Sheryl has devoted her career to serving the post-acute care community, remaining at the forefront of regulatory and payment changes for over 40 years. She is an active participant, speaker and member of many national organizations, including the AHCA/Health Care Compliance Association’s Post-Acute Care Services Care Committee. In this capacity, Sheryl works with representatives nationwide on matters impacting medical review and payment concerns.
Ms. Rosenfield has been a trainer of the MDS since 1990 and is among the nation’s leading resident-assessment experts. She is a founding member of AANAC, a national organization serving over 15,000 professionals associated with the assessment and care processes in skilled nursing facilities.
Sheryl has longstanding relationships with many State and Federal agencies, having worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and various Medicaid agencies on multiple projects. She was appointed to the Technical Expert Panel established to evaluate the impact of the Medicare Prospective Payment System on provider operations and finances. She was a member of the clinical standards and training team for the Federal DAVE project and a Data Monitor for the Federal STRIVE initiative. She also served as an MDS 2.0/3.0 Manual reviewer, and remains highly engaged in improving the resident assessment process and empowering post-acute nurse managers.
Michael Sciacca
Chief Operating Officer
Michael is a licensed physical therapist with nearly 20 years of post-acute clinical management experience. His ten years as a practicing therapist, including several as program manager, serve as the foundation for his resident-centered approach to consulting.
Mr. Sciacca joined Zimmet Healthcare in 2007 as a Clinical Reimbursement Consultant, specializing in therapy program development and performance enhancement for SNFs operating under Medicare PPS and Medicaid CMI payment systems. He was promoted to Director of Therapy Services in 2011 and, after leading the department to 400% growth, was appointed as the firm’s first Director of Operations in 2016.
Michael earned his Masters of Physical Therapy from Quinnipiac University in 2000 and Masters of Healthcare Administration from Hofstra University in 2004.
John Fazzio
Director of Financial Services
Prior to joining Zimmet Healthcare in 1997, John spent 23 years at United Healthcare (formerly Travelers), a Medicare contracted fiscal intermediary. He served thirteen years as Manager of the Audit & Reimbursement Department, in charge of Medicare payment functions for New York State providers. Mr. Fazzio was actively involved in all facets of SNF reimbursement including audits, appeals, rate setting and compliance investigations. John was also a leading participant in several CMS (then HCFA) task forces, designed to improve government reporting systems and associated regulations.
John now manages Financial Services for ZHSG, overseeing provider billing & recovery and cost report preparation on behalf of hundreds of facilities.
Christopher Kennedy
Director of Client Services
Chris serves as Director of Client Services at ZHSG. He began his career in 1994 as a Medicare cost report auditor with United Healthcare, a CMS (then HCFA) contracted fiscal intermediary. In this position, he gained extensive experience in Medicare reimbursement and revenue-cycle management.
Mr. Kennedy joined Zimmet Healthcare in 1998, as the SNF industry began its transition to prospective-payment. His knowledge of Medicare regulations was instrumental in the development of the firm’s now expansive Medicare / Medicaid Reimbursement Audit division. His strength is a “full spectrum,” multi-state understanding of the dynamic SNF revenue cycle from admissions through collections, and every MDS, ancillary service and CMI collection in between.
Chris earned his MBA from Monmouth University in 2004, the same year he was admitted as partner at Zimmet Healthcare.
Vincent Fedele
Director of Analytics
Vincent joined Zimmet Healthcare in 2011 as a “Junior Reimbursement Analyst,” and quickly became an integral member of the firm’s Reimbursement Audit division. As the industry began its transition from “volume to value,” Mr. Fedele was promoted to his current position as Director of Analytics in 2016, charged with leading the firm’s nascent “Risk Management” department.
Vincent’s expertise is merging publicly available data with facility-specific, accretive outcomes to develop (and manage) a provider’s “Risk Profile.” This proprietary ZHSG measure serves to mitigate the provider-exposure endemic to shared savings initiatives and episodic payment models. His “fee-for-service” roots enable Vincent to reconcile the conflicting incentives in a world where volume and value run parallel, to find the resonant balance best suited to the culture and vision of our unique provider clients.
Mr. Fedele lectures extensively on diverse topics associated with SNF reimbursement, risk and compliance. He is a graduate of Boston University and earned his MBA from Rutgers University.
Jay Zimmet
Founder
Jay has over 50 years of experience in the healthcare field, with the last 40 dedicated to managing healthcare consulting companies. He began his career in public accounting and earned his CPA as an audit manager, overseeing Medicare audits for hospitals at a national accounting firm. He then joined New York BlueCross (a contracted Medicare Fiscal Intermediary), where he managed Medicare audit and reimbursement activity for hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies.
Mr. Zimmet began his “single practice” consulting company in the 1970s, advising hospitals on Medicare cost-based and Disproportionate Share reimbursement issues. He co-founded Zimmet & Company with his son Marc in 1993, and guided the young entity through its early growth and evolution to the nationally recognized, “full-service” support concern Zimmet Healthcare is today.
He is active in the firm’s cost reporting division, and oversees financial matters and internal performance benchmarks, while remaining the cultural foundation on which Zimmet Healthcare continues to build.
