HIMSS Taps Hal Wolf As New CEO

Harold “Hal” Wolf III has been appointed the new president and CEO of HIMSS, succeeded Steve Lieber, who announced his retirement in December of 2016 after 17 years of service.

Wolf has served in significant roles that have advanced the impact of technology on healthcare, most recently serving as director and National Leader of Information and Digital Health Strategy at The Chartis Group. Prior to that, he ran a consulting group, and spent nearly a decade at Kaiser Permanente, holding the COO role for six years.

According to HIMSS, Wolf has been a key architect in the development of content, research and user interfaces for video on demand and broadband. He has long been an advocate for consumer engagement, contributing his unique approach and insights to the birth of the digital health era, combining traditional enterprise strategies with an end-to-end organizational view, while keeping the patient as the central focus. Among his areas of expertise are integrated care models, mhealth, product development, marketing, distribution, IT and innovation implementation.

“Hal Wolf brings to his new role the powerful combination of broad, deep and relevant knowledge, expertise, experience, energy and accomplishments, along with a deep love of and longstanding commitment to HIMSS,” said Michael Zaroukian, MD, who serves as CMIO and Chief Transformation Officer at Sparrow Health System in addition to being the HIMSS Board Chair. “His track record of innovation and success spans premier healthcare delivery organizations, digital strategy groups, media companies, global endeavors and more.”

While at Kaiser Permanente, Wolf was responsible for the development and implementation of critical care delivery strategies, data management and governance, population care management environments and the implementation of unique innovations and large-scale programs that impacted end-to-end operations. Prior to Kaiser, Wolf worked as CIO for the e-business, corporate systems and wholesale division of Quest Communications/USWest. Previous endeavors include working internationally in the deployment of interactive television services in operations, content and business development; senior business management positions with Time Warner and MTV Networks; and as senior advisor to McKinsey and Company and ADVI, LLC.

“Hal Wolf’s depth of experience and leadership skills will help keep HIMSS at the forefront of innovation in health IT. HIMSS has played a prominent role in the development of health IT globally and continues to be a leading resource for health IT professionals and industries across the world,” said Liz Johnson, CHIME Board Chair and CIO of Acute Care Hospitals and Applied Clinical Informatics at Tenet Healthcare, and CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell, in a statement. Wolf, they added, “has the vision to ensure that health IT contributes to healthcare solutions.”

Wolf has served HIMSS as both an advisor to the board and as a member of the board of directors, recently as vice chair. He also serves as a board member and officer of the International Care Delivery Alliance. Wolf holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Wake Forest University, and a Bachelor of Science in Textile Management from North Carolina State University.

As an advisor, thought leader and consultant, he continues to lead internationally in the realm of health policy and technology adoption to increase access and improve care outcomes. His role and accomplishments on the HIMSS board have shown him to be a powerful voice and advocate for the organization and its mission.

“It is a great privilege and honor to be chosen to lead HIMSS,” Wolf stated. “Across the globe, healthcare is challenged to harness the power of information and technology, to solve for the unique environments of each health system and to support the personalization of care to the individual. In alliance with the growing membership of HIMSS and the expansive capabilities of our organization, our collective task is to enable innovation across the full healthcare ecosystem.”