William Thorwarth Jr., MD, American College of Radiology (ACR) CEO, spoke with HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, in late June to discuss “unnecessary federal regulations and administrative requirements,” according to the ACR.

Cynthia Moran, ACR executive vice-president on government relations, and CMS Administrator Seema Verma also took part in the meeting.

The ACR published a brief Q&A with Thorwarth about the meeting. “Secretary Price has opened the doors at HHS,” he said. “He is looking for input from physicians and other health care providers to guide his leadership. Hopefully, we will see some impact from the way he and Administrator Verma listened and took copious notes during our presentations.”

Point-of-care appropriate use criteria and EHR interoperability were also discussed at length, Thorwarth explained, and he walked away from the meeting “impressed” by Price and Verma’s attentiveness.

“Because of this background as a practicing physician, Secretary Price was especially attuned to the need to get rid of unreasonable regulations and administrative requirements,” Thorwarth said.