Last spring, Kim Martinez saw her life flash before her eyes.
The 42-year-old physician’s wife and mother of two felt a lump near her armpit on a Sunday afternoon after church. The timeline that immediately ensued was nothing short of swift and could be credited with saving her life.
Martinez went to Radiology Associates and got a mammogram on Monday and a non-surgical biopsy Tuesday, and she was ultimately diagnosed with stage two breast cancer on Wednesday. After digesting all the information on Thursday, she returned to Radiology Associates on Friday for follow-up scans to see if the cancer had spread to her bones.
“The speed at which they worked me in was amazing, not to mention their thoroughness and accuracy,” says Martinez of the dizzying experience.
Eight days after finding her lump, Martinez was undergoing her first of 16 rounds of chemotherapy over the next six months. Soon, she will complete her final treatment, and she has an excellent prognosis.
“Radiology Associates really put me on the right track to getting better very quickly, and I am so thankful and appreciative for that,” says Martinez of her rapid journey.
Martinez’s experience is not all unusual. It is just one of many stories that Radiology Associates could share.
For more than 65 years, Radiology Associates has been the first line of defense for many in the Coastal Bend. In addition to offering a wide variety of imaging services for both men and women, the mammography team has become the company’s proverbial “pink calling card.”
Each year, Radiology performs and interprets more than 30,000 mammograms. The low-dose X-ray images are the most widely used and most trusted tool in the diagnosis of breast cancer.
As a physician-owned business, Radiology Associates has 15 board-certified radiologists on staff, but four truly “think pink” day in and day out.
“From the very beginning, we really tried to put as much expertise into this program as possible,” says Dr. Burk Strong, radiologist and chairman of women’s imaging at Radiology Associates. “We didn’t want everyone reading mammograms because it requires specialized expertise and extreme attention to detail. Studies have shown that physicians who only read mammography images read them better than anyone else.”
These physicians, supported by a staff of more than 200, live by the motto, “If you don’t see something often, you often don’t see it.”
“Bottom line … we put four amazing people together who were really, really interested in women’s services and mammography, and let them do quite a bit of it,” says Strong, who personally has more than 35 years of radiology experience. “And they have learned to do it extremely well.”
Based on a national average, less than 10 percent of women who undergo a screening mammogram are called back for a more extensive mammogram or ultrasound because items of interest were identified. Radiology Associates has a 5- to 7-percent callback rate.
“We read thousands of images last year, thousands the year before and thousands the year before that,” comments Strong of the sheer numbers at Radiology Associates.
Steeped in a long history of mammography, the women’s imaging team has more than a century of combined imaging experience. Also beneficial to patients is their diversity and depth beyond radiology.
Dr. James Nudelman cared for women with a wide variety of female health and surgical issues as an obstetrician and gynecologist, while Dr. Kenneth Cook was the chief of radiology in two hospital settings over 12 years. Dr. Everett Gayle was a military radiologist for the Army and an anatomic pathologist.
Strong notes his previous experience as a U.S. Navy flight surgeon and emergency room physician is always in the back of his mind when making a diagnosis.
“Our team’s backgrounds often afford them a different, unique perspective,” says Ellis Keitt, administrator for Radiology Associates.
Technology also helps the talented team get the job done. In 2007, the company converted to all-digital imaging after a $2.5 million state-of-the-art investment in digital mammogram equipment.
Digital mammography allows for faster exams, lower radiation, fewer repeats and less discomfort, which all benefit the patient, as well as the mammography team. Digital imaging also allows for higher-resolution images and the ability to look at anatomy from multiple angles.
“You don’t lose clarity of a digital image when you enlarge it, unlike traditional images,” Strong says. “Digital mammography allows us to conduct twice as many images in the same time-frame, and we can do it better with better tools.”
One of those tools is a computer-aided detection (CAD) system. CAD assists doctors in the interpretation of medical images to yield a great deal of information, which the radiologist has to analyze and evaluate comprehensively in a relatively short period of time. CAD systems help scan digital images for typical appearances and highlight areas of concern to assist the radiologist in reviewing the exam.
“Tumors still present the same way, and the body’s anatomy is the same, but the tools are sharper and faster, which results in more accurate interpretations,” Strong says.
Groups of patients who are often misdiagnosed are also benefitting from digital mammography.
“Digital imaging allows us to be more accurate with younger women with denser breasts,” Strong says. Strong notes that making a consistent, ongoing effort to keep up with technology is a core value of Radiology Associates.
“During my early training, ultrasound and CT were just in their infancy, so a lot has obviously changed over the years,” he says. “But we want to make ongoing commitments to technological advancements for our patients.”
Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) makes up a significant portion of Radiology Associates’ business. MRIs are highly sensitive tests for detecting cancers not found in traditional mammography, including small breast lesions.
A computer, a magnetic field and radio waves are used to generate three-dimensional images inside the body. This internal reconstruction allows radiologists to look at suspicious areas from multiple angles.
The mammography team also conducts non-surgical biopsies, which are done on-site at the company’s Southside and Medical Tower locations.
“The real benefit of a non-surgical biopsy is that a patient is in and out in approximately one hour, and we can obtain answers quickly so further plans of treatment can be made,” says Strong of the minimally invasive procedure.
In addition to mammography services, 11 other radiologists in the practice conduct a myriad of imaging services for both women and men. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry bone density exams, ultrasounds, regular MRIs, computed tomography (CT) cross sectional images, positron emission tomography (PET) and nuclear medicine are conducted at the practice’s five office locations throughout the Coastal Bend.
Keitt is the ringmaster who helps direct the 15 doctors and nearly 200 employees on a daily basis. He says Radiology Associates’ business model is clear: The practice concentrates on the female members of a household.
“We feel strongly that women make the majority of the health decisions in any American household,” Keitt says. “If we successfully get the wife in the door, see her and treat her well, we’ll get the rest of the family when they need imaging services down the road.”
Strong chimes in, “If mamma ain’t happy, no one is!”
Keitt mentions the special nuances geared for women to make an otherwise unpleasant medical procedure as comfortable as possible. A personal concierge ensures that patients are informed, while private changing rooms and cotton robes instead of flimsy hospital gowns help make the experience more palatable.
“Our women’s imaging services are unlike any other in the area, and you’ll know it the minute you walk through the door,” Keitt says.
Martinez knows this all too well.
“I cherish each and every moment with my children and husband,” she says, “because life is extra special, especially since my cancer diagnosis.”
For more information visit our website at www.xraydocs.com or call 361-887-7000.
