HIMSS has appointed former health IT consultant and Kaiser Permanente executive Harold “Hal” Wolf III as the organization’s new CEO.

Harold "Hal" Wolf III

Wolf, who has served as an adviser to the board at HIMSS and as vice chair of the board of directors, was most recently the director of The Chartis Group, a healthcare advisory and analytics services firm where he helped healthcare organizations develop “integrated information and digital health strategies,” according to his biography.

Prior to his position at The Chartis Group, Wolf worked in the Kaiser Permanente system for nearly a decade, including more than five years as the senior vice president and chief operating officer at the health system's Permanente Foundation, which represents more than 16,000 Kaiser physicians.  

In an announcement, HIMSS board chair Michael Zaroukian, M.D., said Wolf brings a "powerful combination of broad, deep and relevant knowledge, expertise, experience, energy and accomplishments, along with a deep love of and longstanding commitment to HIMSS."

"His track record of innovation and success spans premier healthcare delivery organizations, digital strategy groups, media companies, global endeavors and more," he added.

Wolf will replace H. Stephen Lieber who announced his retirement in December after 17 years as the CEO of HIMSS. Wolf called the new appointment “a great privilege and honor” and urged the organization to meet the challenge of integrating technology throughout the healthcare ecosystem.