Chris Penson returns to HHSC as chief data officer

Chris Penson has returned to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) as chief data officer to better deploy data across the system to guide policy and operational decisions. 

Penson began the role in October within HHSC’s new Office of Strategic Integration. Under Executive Commissioner Stephanie Muth’s April reorganization, the office coordinates data, planning and major initiatives across divisions and reports directly to her. Penson will lead data strategy, improve data quality and establish standards for managing and sharing information across programs and agencies. 

He will coordinate with the chief information officer, whose organization manages technology systems, infrastructure and security. Penson’s responsibilities focus on making data reliable and accessible for policy development, performance measurement and operational improvements. His role also calls for collaboration with legal, privacy, security, finance and audit leaders. 

In its August 2025 Sunset Committee self-evaluation, HHSC identified inconsistent data quality and disconnected older systems as obstacles to making timely decisions. Staff often must clean and organize information manually before they can use it. The agency also reported gaps in data governance that hinder information sharing across programs. 

HHSC used Fiscal 2024-25 funding to establish a central Snowflake cloud platform for its Performance Management and Analytics System. By August 2025, the platform held more than 2.5 billion rows of program data, including Medicaid, eligibility and procurement records. The agency also developed a data mart combining eligibility and enrollment information from separate systems for real-time reporting. 

Lisa Glenn, previously HHSC’s deputy chief policy and regulatory officer, leads Strategic Integration on an interim basis. The office’s leadership also includes Calvin Green, director of Data, Analytics and Performance, and Misti Hair, director of Transformation and Innovation. Penson joins them as chief data officer. 

Penson previously worked at HHSC from 2014 to 2019 on Medicaid modernization, provider systems and technology integration. He helped agency leaders develop technology investment plans, procurement strategies and modernization road maps. Most recently, he spent more than three years at a firm leading data architecture and analytics modernization initiatives for healthcare and public-sector clients. 

Photo via LinkedIn