What To Consider Before Choosing A Cardiovascular Specialist

What To Consider Before Choosing A Cardiovascular Specialist

Cardiovascular specialists and the care teams that they work with all have different focus areas to treat heart disease. Any to look for a cardiologist who has an expert-level of experience treating and managing your particular heart problem.

To illustrate this point, the focus of this article will be on cardiovascular specialists and care teams that deal with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Your First Stop

No matter what aspect of heart disease you are facing, your primary care physician (PCP) should always be the first resource you turn to.

Your PCP can help you understand the basic breakdown and treatment approaches for your condition. At that point, they will help you make the decision as to whether a specialist should be consulted or not.

It’s possible to manage borderline signs of heart disease with the help of your PCP. However, if the condition have gone beyond the clinically manageable point, you need to be referred to a heart specialist.

CAD is the condition that needs to be monitored by cardiovascular specialists. There are several complications that can arise as you’re undergoing treatment for the various stages of the disease.

The next section of this article will give you an idea of what your complete care team might look like.

Constructing a CAD Care Team

After getting referred to a cardiologist, your PCP’s role changes. They become more of the care manager. Coordinating all of the different appointments and collecting the information from various sources to get a comprehensive picture of both your diagnosis and prognosis.

A PCP isn’t the only doctor involved in your care. Here are some of the various professionals that may handle different aspects of your CAD treatment: