Steadily advancing technology has historically improved medical diagnoses and treatment, and perhaps no other branch of medicine has realized the great strides which are continuing to develop in radiology. While this rapid refinement of data gathering and interpretation is ongoing, a leader in its progress is practicing here in Chattanooga.
Dr. James Busch, one of 10 physicians with Diagnostic Radiology Consultants, is also Director of Informatics for the practice and Chief Executive Officer of Specialty Networks, LLC. The implementation of state-of-the-art technology has become a primary focus for Dr. Busch, who is associated with the practice which includes doctors Brett Austin, Grant Huntzinger, Scott Kemmerer, Andrew Kreek, Garth McPherson, James Morrow, John Nelson, Lawrence Samuels, and his father, Dr. Joseph Busch, one of the practice founders.
“Today, imaging has gone from a film environment to a digital environment,” Dr James Busch explains. “So, you can get images anywhere that you have an internet connection – and these are diagnostic quality images. Our turnaround for a diagnosis is less than an hour, and we can do that all over Tennessee and in Georgia with expansion throughout the Southeast and beyond moving along. Back in the old days, which were really only three or four years ago, a patient would have to wait until a certain radiologist rotated into that center, read the information, the report was transcribed, and an appointment was set up. That could take a week or so for the patient to get the results.”
Information is power, and a chief source of patient anxiety is simply the uncertainty of not knowing their diagnosis. Therefore, the leveraging of available technology provides an enhanced level of service, allowing treatment protocols to proceed more rapidly on the basis of highly detailed and accurate images and data. Radiologists are, therefore, able to view images from multiple locations and evaluate data in greater quantity than ever before. According to Dr. Busch, the transition from film to digital is a relatively new frontier in radiology and requires an infrastructure capable of delivering large computer files in the blink of an eye. From this need for integrated support, the specialty of radiology informatics was born.
“What the transition requires is a knowledge of information technology in order to transmit large files,” said Dr. Busch. “You need them quickly, so you are looking at transmitting the whole file almost instantaneously and reliably. This, in turn, requires a good communications backbone, and we have partnered locally with EPB [Electric Power Board] to build that network backbone.”
In describing partnerships with EPB, AT&T, NextGen, and with Siemens Medical Solutions to develop radiology interpretation software, Dr. Busch conveys the mission of Specialty Networks, LLC, which was conceived to deliver a comprehensive, timely, and efficient diagnostic system. Radiology informatics provides for the implementation of PACS (Pictures and Archived Communications System) and RIS (Radiology Information System) functions along with other key components.
“It is a leading-edge effort,” Dr. Busch remarked. “Three years ago, Diagnostic Radiology Consultants was the first practice in the world to run a fully integrated radiology image interpretation suite, which is RIS and PACS integrated with speech recognition technology and electronic practice management. When these are integrated, not just interfaced, you get efficiency across the enterprise and better quality of care because you can provide subspecialty interpretation from anywhere. Our group has pretty much every specialty in radiology covered, but you can’t be everywhere at the same time, so the system brings the image to the group and the best skilled radiologist in that subspecialty interprets that image.”
Busch stresses that the key to the future of radiology is the coordination of work flow and efficiency, taking advantage of supporting technology, which is becoming more sophisticated all the time.
“Scanners such as MRI and PET/CT are becoming so advanced and generate so much data that sometime in the near future the mind will not be able to interpret all the information on its own,” he commented. “The systems can help screen the data to allow the radiologist to focus on questions like, ‘Is that a real abnormality or one that is clinically significant?’ Data sets are three-dimensional images of an organ or area of the body which can be sliced in any direction at any almost thickness, and these data sets are enormous. Entire data sets of the body can be acquired in as little as 12 seconds, so you have to use computer-assisted software. Digital data sets and computer-aided diagnostic tools are the future of radiology.”
Needless to say, the pioneering work done through Specialty Networks and demonstrated successfully through Diagnostic Radiology Consultants has redefined the gold standard in patient care. Meanwhile, Dr. Busch continues to see patients and perform a variety of interventional radiological procedures. A graduate of the Baylor School, he earned his undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee Medical School, where he finished his internship as well. He also completed residency and a fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Busch has trained specifically in percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, a procedure which utilizes a probe to kill lung cancer tumors with a combination of heat and friction, offering hope to some patients who are not good candidates for surgery. One of a relative few interventional radiologists nationwide who perform the procedure, he receives regular referrals from physicians across the country. Harvard, he says, was a tremendous experience, but returning to Chattanooga provided the opportunity to not only practice with the group his father founded, but also to oversee the progress of Specialty Networks, which has grown 20-fold during the last four years.
His mother, Cam Busch, is a pioneer in her own right as the first practicing art therapist in Chattanooga. She initiated the annual Art for Healing Gala and the Cam Busch Endowed Arts for Health Lecture Series, while working diligently to raise awareness of the potential of art therapies and the arts in healthcare movement nationwide.
An avid soccer player who also enjoys boating along the Tennessee River with his wife, Jennifer, and children Abagaile, 8; Jackson, 5; and Miles, 18 months, Dr. Busch has demonstrated the vision to create a technologically-advanced, comprehensive radiologic diagnostic system which will positively impact future patient outcomes. “The imaging volume is increasing faster than the rate of increase in qualified radiologists,” he notes. “So you need to be more efficient in interpreting exams. The only way to do that is with these systems, which also allow you to interpret exams from places where you are not physically located. At Diagnostic Radiology Consultants we receive exams to interpret from many locations because of our expertise and because of our turnaround time.”
The physicians of Diagnostic Radiology Consultants practice in numerous locations throughout the Chattanooga area, including Tennessee Imaging downtown at Kindred Hospital, Diagnostic Center and PET/CT of Chattanooga on McCallie Avenue, Tennessee Imaging and Vein Center, Chattanooga Bone and Joint, and Erlanger East Imaging all located on Gunbarrel Road; Hutcheson Medical Center and Battlefield Imaging in Fort Oglethorpe; and Plaza Urology Group on Holtzclaw Avenue. For more information on Diagnostic Radiology Consultants and its comprehensive array of services, visit the practice online at
www.drcradiology.com.