The American Board of Internal Medicine has appointed Dr. Richard Baron, currently group director of seamless care models for the Innovation Center at the CMS, as its next president and CEO. Baron, 59, will take over the role from Dr. Christine Cassel in June. Cassel will become CEO of the National Quality Forum in July.

Baron is no stranger to the organization, having served as chairman of the ABIM board of directors in 2008 and treasurer of the board in 2007. He is also a trustee for the ABIM Foundation.

He brings with him nearly 30 years of general internal medicine and geriatrics experience, and eight years as chief medical officer for a not-for-profit Medicaid HMO. He is a Master of the American College of Physicians.

“Not only did he lead a cutting-edge clinical practice—adopting EMRs and being recognized as a 'medical home' well before most U.S. practices—he also has an amazing ability to shape healthcare policy,” Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the ABIM board of directors, said in a news release.