Brian T. Bucher
Rating: 4.6 of 5
( out of 22 reviews )

Brian T. Bucher, MD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Primary Location

Primary Children's Hospital

Pediatric Surgery
100 N Mario Capecchi Drive
Salt Lake City , UT 84113
801-662-2950
Get Directions

St. Vincent Healthcare

SCL Health Medical Group - Fortin Pediatric Specialty Clinic
1232 N 30th St
Billings , MT 59101
406-237-5300
Get Directions

Primary Children's Hospital - Lehi

Pediatric Surgery
2250 N Miller Campus Dr
Lehi , UT 84043
801-662-2950
Get Directions

  • Brian T. Bucher, MD, MS is a board-certified Pediatric Surgeon in the Division of Pediatric General Surgery with specialized training for surgical treatment for infants, children, and teenagers. He is also an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine.

    Dr. Bucher specializes in the following conditions:

    • inguinal hernia
    • umbilical hernia
    • undescended testicle
    • hydrocele
    • cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder)
    • gastrostomy (placement of a stomach tube)
    • appendectomy (removal of the appendix)
    • vascular access (ports and central lines)
    • ulcerative colitis
    • Crohn’s disease
    • gastroesophageal reflux disease
    • chest wall deformities (pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum)
    • pediatric endocrine surgery (thyroid and adrenal tumors/pancreas surgery)

    He will be happy to speak with you and/or your child’s physician for any questions or concerns.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Preventive Medicine
    American Board of Surgery (Sub: Pediatric Surgery)

    Patient Rating

    Rating: 4.6 out of 5
    4.6 /5
    ( out of 22 reviews )

    The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

    The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

    Patient Comments

    Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety. For the convenience of our visitors, some patient comments have been translated from their original language into English while preserving their original meaning as accurately as possible. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    EXTERNAL SITE
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    He communicated great

    PRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER
    Rating: 4 out of 5

    I'm sure he's a very competent surgeon, but he was very rushed and dismissive once he determined my child's problem was not surgical, and did nothing to guide us in the right direction to a solution.

    EXTERNAL SITE
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    It was a short appointment, but he seemed very knowledgeable and kind.

    EXTERNAL SITE
    Rating: 3 out of 5

    Good doc and knows his stuff.

    EXTERNAL SITE
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Wow, Dr Bucher was so knowledgeable and a great listener. I felt like I grilled him with question after question and he never made me feel rushed and was very thorough in his answers. He has been through the same disease as me and that gave me a lot of comfort and peace to have him as my surgeon.

    EXTERNAL SITE
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    Excellent doctor, we are very happy that our daughter was in his hands. [TRANSLATED]

    RIVERTON CLINICS
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    All our questions and concerns were answered. Thank you!

    PRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER
    Rating: 3 out of 5

    Don't rush through patients and listen.

    PRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER
    Rating: 5 out of 5

    He is an amazing doctor. He eased all my worries as he took my daughter into surgery, then came out and explained everything to us how we could understand it. Also, the phone call we got was one that we could understand. I would recommend him to anyone.

  • Brian T. Bucher, MD, MS is a board-certified Pediatric Surgeon in the Division of Pediatric General Surgery with specialized training for surgical treatment for infants, children, and teenagers. He is also an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine.

    Dr. Bucher specializes in the following conditions:

    • inguinal hernia
    • umbilical hernia
    • undescended testicle
    • hydrocele
    • cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder)
    • gastrostomy (placement of a stomach tube)
    • appendectomy (removal of the appendix)
    • vascular access (ports and central lines)
    • ulcerative colitis
    • Crohn’s disease
    • gastroesophageal reflux disease
    • chest wall deformities (pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum)
    • pediatric endocrine surgery (thyroid and adrenal tumors/pancreas surgery)

    He will be happy to speak with you and/or your child’s physician for any questions or concerns.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Pediatrics -Adjunct Associate Professor
    Biomedical Informatics -Adjunct Assistant Professor
    Surgery -Associate Professor
    Academic Divisions Pediatric Surgery
    Board Certification
    American Board of Preventive Medicine
    American Board of Surgery (Sub: Pediatric Surgery)

    Education history

    Undergraduate Chemistry/Molecular Biology - University of Pittsburgh B.S.
    Research Fellow Organic Chemistry - University of Pittsburgh Department of Chemistry Research Fellow
    Professional Medical Medicine - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine M.D.
    Research Fellow Transplantation Surgery - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Research Fellow
    Internship General Surgery - Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University Intern
    Residency General Surgery - Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University Resident
    Research Fellow Surgical Critical Care - Center for Critical Illness and Health Engineering/Washington University Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Postdoctoral Fellowship Pediatric Surgery - Washington University Division of Pediatric Surgery Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow
    Residency General Surgery - Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University Resident
    Chief Resident General Surgery - Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University Administrative Chief Resident
    Fellowship Pediatric Surgery - Department of Pediatric Surgery/Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Clinical Fellow
    Graduate Training Biomedical Informatics - University of Utah School of Medicine Master's
    Certification Computer Science - University of Utah Certificate

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Bartz-Kurycki MA, Green C, Anderson KT, Alder AC, Bucher BT, Cina RA, Jamshidi R, Russell RT, Williams RF, Tsao K (2018). Enhanced neonatal surgical site infection prediction model utilizing statistically and clinically significant variables in combination with a machine learning algorithm. Am J Surg, 216(4), 764-777. (Read full publication)
    2. Bucher BT, Shi J, Ferraro JP, Skarda DE, Samore MH, Hurdle JF, Gundlapalli AV, Chapman WW, Finlayson SR (2020). Portable Automated Surveillance of Surgical Site Infections Using Natural Language Processing: Development and Validation. Annals of surgery, 272(4), 629-636. (Read full publication)
    3. Taylor MA, Bucher BT, Reeder RW, Avansino JR, Durham M, Calkins CM, Wood RJ, Levitt MA, Drake K, Rollins M (2021). Comparison of Hirschsprung Disease Characteristics between Those with a History of Postoperative Enterocolitis and Those without: Results from the Pediatric Colorectal and Pelvic Learning Consortium. European journal of pediatric surgery, 31(3), 207-213. (Read full publication)
    4. Bucher BT, Yang M, Arndorfer J, Frame C, Orton J, Samore MH, Dascomb K (2021). Changes in the accuracy of administrative data for the detection of surgical site infections. Infection control and hospital epidemiology, 42(9), 1128-1130. (Read full publication)
    5. Duncan TL, Ulugia J, Bucher B (2019). Association of gastrostomy placement on hospital readmission in premature infants. Journal of perinatology, 39(11), 1485-1491. (Read full publication)
    6. Rollins MD, Bucher BT, Wheeler JC, Horns JJ, Paudel N, Hotaling J (2021). Healthcare Burden and Cost in Children with Anorectal Malformation During the First 5 Years of Life. The Journal of pediatrics, 240, 122-128.e2. (Read full publication)
    7. Bucher BT, Duggan EM, Grubb PH, France DJ, Lally KP, Blakely M (2016). Does the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program pediatric provide actionable quality improvement data for surgical neonates?. Journal of pediatric surgery, 51(9), 1440-4. (Read full publication)
    8. Short SS, Fenton SJ, Scaife ER, Bucher B (2018). Helmet under-utilization by children during equestrian events is associated with increased traumatic brain injury. Journal of pediatric surgery, 53(3), 545-547. (Read full publication)
    9. Nourian MM, Schwartz AL, Stevens A, Scaife ER, Bucher B (2018). Clearance of tunneled central venous catheter associated blood stream infections in children. Journal of pediatric surgery, 53(9), 1839-1842. (Read full publication)
    10. Short SS, Bucher BT, Barnhart DC, Van Der Watt N, Zobell S, Allen A, Rollins M (2018). Single-stage repair of rectoperineal and rectovestibular fistulae can be safely delayed beyond the neonatal period. Journal of pediatric surgery, 53(11), 2174-2177. (Read full publication)
    11. Schwartz AL, Nourian MM, Bucher B (2019). Retained foreign bodies and associated risk factors and outcomes in pediatric surgical patients. Journal of pediatric surgery, 54(4), 640-644. (Read full publication)
    12. Pruitt LCC, Skarda DE, Rollins MD, Bucher B (2020). Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis in children treated at US children's hospitals. Journal of pediatric surgery, 55(3), 535-540. (Read full publication)
    13. Pruitt LCC, Skarda DE, Barnhart DC, Bucher B (2020). Impact of consolidation of cases on post-operative outcomes for index pediatric surgery cases. Journal of pediatric surgery, 55(6), 1048-1052. (Read full publication)
    14. Pruitt LCC, Bucher BT, Allen CM, Short S (2021). Early ileal pouch anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis in children: Similar outcome to delayed pouch construction despite higher comorbidity. Journal of pediatric surgery, 56(2), 245-249. (Read full publication)
    15. Mason CA, Skarda DE, Bucher B (2018). Outcomes After Laparoscopic Gastrostomy Suture Techniques in Children. The Journal of surgical research, 232, 26-32. (Read full publication)
    16. Pruitt LCC, Swords DS, Vijayakumar S, Ostlund B, Prochazka J, Richards NG, Bucher BT, Skarda D (2020). Implementation of a Quality Improvement Initiative to Decrease Opioid Prescribing in General Surgery. The Journal of surgical research, 247, 514-523. (Read full publication)
    17. Rentea RM, Noel-MacDonnell JR, Bucher BT, Dorman MR, Lautz TB, Pruitt LCC, Oyetunji T (2021). Impact of Botulinum Toxin on Hirschsprung-Associated Enterocolitis After Primary Pull-Through. The Journal of surgical research, 261, 95-104. (Read full publication)
    18. Pruitt LCC, Bucher BT, Russell KW, McCrum M (2021). Impact of Insurance Expansion on Disposition for Pediatric Trauma Patients: A National Trauma Data Bank Cohort Study. The Journal of surgical research, 267, 109-116. (Read full publication)
    19. Pettit RJ, Pruitt LCC, Iantorno S, Bucher B (2021). Variability in Parenteral Nutrition Use in US Children's Hospitals. JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition, 45(6), 1213-1220. (Read full publication)
    20. Shi J, Hurdle JF, Johnson SA, Ferraro JP, Skarda DE, Finlayson SRG, Samore MH, Bucher B (2021). Natural language processing for the surveillance of postoperative venous thromboembolism. Surgery, 170(4), 1175-1182. (Read full publication)
    21. Bucher B (2021). Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Surgical Quality Assessment: Hype or Hope?. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 232(6), 971-972. (Read full publication)
    22. Garlick JW, Olson KA, Downs-Kelly E, Bucher BT, Matsen C (2018). Secretory breast carcinoma in an 8-year-old girl: A case report and literature review. The breast journal, 24(6), 1055-1061. (Read full publication)
    23. Chapman AB, Mowery DL, Swords DS, Chapman WW, Bucher B (2018). Detecting Evidence of Intra-abdominal Surgical Site Infections from Radiology Reports Using Natural Language Processing. AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium, 2017, 515-524. (Read full publication)
    24. Shi J, Liu S, Pruitt LCC, Luppens CL, Ferraro JP, Gundlapalli AV, Chapman WW, Bucher B (2020). Using Natural Language Processing to improve EHR Structured Data-based Surgical Site Infection Surveillance. AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium, 2019, 794-803. (Read full publication)
    25. Bucher BT, Shi J, Pettit RJ, Ferraro J, Chapman WW, Gundlapalli (2020). Determination of Marital Status of Patients from Structured and Unstructured Electronic Healthcare Data. AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium, 2019, 267-274. (Read full publication)
    26. Bucher BT, Ferraro JP, Finlayson SRG, Chapman WW, Gundlapalli A (2019). Use of Computerized Provider Order Entry Events for Postoperative Complication Surveillance. JAMA surgery, 154(4), 311-318. (Read full publication)
    27. Willis ZI, Duggan EM, Bucher BT, Pietsch JB, Milovancev M, Wharton W, Gillon J, Lovvorn HN 3rd, O'Neill JA Jr, Di Pentima MC, Blakely M (2016). Effect of a Clinical Practice Guideline for Pediatric Complicated Appendicitis. JAMA surgery, 151(5), e160194. (Read full publication)
    28. Taylor MA 2nd, Bucher BT, Reeder RW, Levitt M, Avansino J, Durham MM, Calkins CM, Wood R, Drake K, Rollins (2020). Comparison of Maternal Histories and Exposures in Children With Isolated Anorectal Malformation Versus Anorectal Malformation With Genitourinary Anomalies. Cureus, 12(6), e8762. (Read full publication)
    29. Taggart M, Chapman WW, Steinberg BA, Ruckel S, Pregenzer-Wenzler A, Du Y, Ferraro J, Bucher BT, Lloyd-Jones DM, Rondina MT, Shah R (2018). Comparison of 2 Natural Language Processing Methods for Identification of Bleeding Among Critically Ill Patients. JAMA network open, 1(6), e183451. (Read full publication)
    30. Iantorno SE, Ulugia JG, Kastenberg ZJ, Skarda DE, Bucher B (2023). Postdischarge Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pediatric Appendicitis: A Mediation Analysis. The Journal of surgical research, 282, 174-182. (Read full publication)
    31. Iantorno SE, Swendiman RA, Bucher BT, Russell K (2023). Surge in Pediatric Firearm Injuries Presenting to US Children's Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA pediatrics, 177(2), 204-206. (Read full publication)
    32. Iantorno SE, Short SS, Skarda DE, Rollins MD, Bucher B (2023). Decreased incidence of Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis during COVID-19 across United States Children's hospitals. Journal of pediatric surgery, (Read full publication)
    33. Iantorno SE, Bucher BT, Horns JJ, McCrum M (2023). Racial and ethnic disparities in interhospital transfer for complex emergency general surgical disease across the United States. The journal of trauma and acute care surgery, 94(3), 371-378. (Read full publication)
    34. Iantorno SE, Skarda DE, Bucher B (2023). Concurrent SARS-COV-19 and acute appendicitis: Management and outcomes across United States children's hospitals. Surgery, 173(4), 936-943. (Read full publication)
    35. Kiser AC, Eilbeck K, Bucher B (2023). Developing an LSTM Model to Identify Surgical Site Infections using Electronic Healthcare Records. AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science proceedings. AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science, 2023, 330-339. (Read full publication)
    36. Bucher BT, Yang M, Richards Steed R, Fraser A, Finlayson SRG, Hanson H (2022). Geographic Proximity of Family Members and Healthcare Utilization After Complex Surgical Procedures. Annals of surgery, 276(4), 720-731. (Read full publication)
    37. Scaife JH, Bryce JR, Iantorno SE, Yang M, McCrum ML, Bucher B (2024). Secondary Undertriage of Pediatric Trauma Patients Across the United States Emergency Departments. The Journal of surgical research, 293, 37-45. (Read full publication)
    38. Scaife JH, Bryce JR, Iantorno SE, Yang M, McCrum ML, Bucher B (2024). Disparities in Ultrasound Use for Diagnosing Pediatric Appendicitis Across United States Emergency Departments. The Journal of surgical research, 294, 16-25. (Read full publication)
    39. Michelson KA, Bucher BT, Neuman M (2024). Cost and Late Hospital Care of Publicly Insured Children After Appendectomy. The Journal of surgical research, 297, 41-46. (Read full publication)
    40. Kiser AC, Shi J, Bucher B (2024). An explainable long short-term memory network for surgical site infection identification. Surgery, 176(1), 24-31. (Read full publication)
    41. Bryce JR, Iantorno SE, Scaife JH, Yang M, Bucher BT, McCrum M (2025). Secondary Undertriage of Severely Injured Trauma Patients across the US. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, (Read full publication)
    42. Kiser AC, Hemmert R, Myrer R, Bucher BT, Eilbeck K, Varner M, Stanford JB, Peterson CM, Pollack AZ, Farland LV, Schliep K (2025). Validation of administrative health data for the identification of endometriosis diagnosis. Human reproduction (Oxford, England), 40(2), 289-295. (Read full publication)
    43. Scaife JH, Iantorno SE, Bucher B (2024). Rates of Concurrent Computed Tomography Imaging Following Ultrasound for Pediatric Patients With Appendicitis. The Journal of surgical research, 302, 134-143. (Read full publication)

    Review

    1. Alaish SM, Arca MJ, Bucher BT, Cooney C, Diesen DL, Ehrlich PF, Gaines BA, Griggs CL, Javid PJ, Krishnaswami S, Middlesworth W, Wong CL, Edgar (2022). Pediatric surgery milestones 2.0: A primer. Journal of pediatric surgery, 57(12), 845-851. (Read full publication)