Sir Harry Burns is to chair the study, which will consult NHS staff and patients to ensure targets and performance indicators are producing the best results for patients.
An initial report and recommendations are expected in spring 2017.
Mr Burns, who stepped down as chief medical officer in 2014, said it was vital that staff felt "empowered".
The review of targets was announced by Health Secretary Shona Robison in June.
She said she was "delighted" to welcome Mr Burns to the job, adding: "We want to ensure we have a national measurement framework across the whole health and social care system.
"As I have said before, targets have an important place in our NHS and there are certain standards, such as those in emergency care and cancer, which patients have the right to expect.
"We need to ensure that we also understand how our caring services are performing in a way that takes account of people's experience of different kinds of care, and the extent to which their care is well joined-up."
Sir Harry stepped down as Scotland's top doctor after nine years in the job to focus on fighting health inequalities, taking up a post as professor of global public health at Strathclyde University.
He said: "Ministers are rightly clear that health and social care services must deliver the best possible outcomes for Scotland's people.
"I believe also that health and social care staff want to provide effective and compassionate care to those they serve. It is vital that the information we gather allows those working in health and social care to feel empowered to improve outcomes.
"I am looking forward to engaging positively with people on this important review."
The Scottish government is also planning on reviewing the number, structure and roles of health boards, and  wants GP practices to become more of a community service, involving teams of health professionals and others working together under the guidance of a GP.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the area used to farm the poppy plant, the source of opium, increased by 10% to 201,000 hectares.
But better farming conditions resulted in a higher yield per hectare, increasing overall production.
Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of the substance, which is the main ingredient in heroin.
Growing opium is a crime in the country, but it is still a major cash crop for impoverished farming communities.
The Taliban also taxes poppy production in areas it controls, which is a major source of income for its military activities.
UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov said the figures were "a worrying reversal in efforts".
The opium produced from the poppy plant is used to make some of the most powerful medicinal painkillers, such as morphine.
However, many nations cultivate their own supply for medicinal use, and Afghanistan's production of illicit opium is primarily sued for the illegal drug trade.
The Afghan government has a stated policy of eradicating poppy crops, but the crop is widespread in many government-controlled regions, and officials are often accused of turning a blind eye.
Earlier this year, the BBC's South Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt visited poppy farms in the north-east, where one farmer told him the local government knew about his crop, but "they also know it is the only way anyone can make decent money."
Just 355 hectares (877 acres) of poppies were eradicated by provincial authorities in the last year - down more than  90% since 2015, when almost 4,000 hectares were cleared.
Seven insurgents and one officer died during attacks on eradication teams this year. Seven more people were injured.
The southern region of the country is the most productive area, accounting for 54% of the entire national opium production.
Helmand province, which has seen a resurgent Taliban presence, is the single largest producer, with more than 80,000 hectares of poppy cultivation.
The region was a contested area between the Taliban and Nato-led forces, before the latter withdrew in 2014.
Taliban militants launched a fresh assault on the Helmand regional capital of Lashkar Gah in early October.
A former chief medical officer has been appointed to lead a review of the approach to targets in Scotland's NHS.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Opium production in Afghanistan has increased by 43% in the past year, United Nations officials have said.