George C. Halvorson was named chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente, headquartered in Oakland, California, in March 2002. Kaiser Permanente is the nation's largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, serving more than 9 million members and generating nearly $50 billion in annual revenue. George Halvorson has won several awards for his commitment to health technology and for his leadership and achievements in advancing health care quality. The development, implementation, and maintenance of Kaiser Permanente's information technology infrastructure represent a multi-billion dollar strategic investment that provides comprehensive care coordination and continually… improving quality of care and service to members. He is the author of five comprehensive books on the U.S. health care system including Health Care Will Not Reform Itself: A User's Guide to Refocusing and Reforming American Health Care.Mr. Halvorson lends his time and expertise to a number of organizations, including the Institute of Medicine, the American Hospital Association, the Commonwealth Fund, and the New America Foundation. He serves on the boards of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, America's Health Insurance Plans, and the Alliance of Community Health Plans. Halvorson chairs the International Federation of Health Plans and co-chairs the 2010 Institute for Healthcare Improvement Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care. He is the 2012 social media chair for the Global Health Policy Forum. In 2009, he chaired the World Economic Forum's Health Governors meetings in Davos.Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Mr. Halvorson was president and chief executive officer of HealthPartners, headquartered in Minneapolis, for nearly 18 years. With more than 30 years of health care management experience, he has also held several senior management positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and Health Accord International.