If you are searching for a cardiac surgeon near me, the path usually started with a cardiologist’s recommendation: severe coronary artery disease that needs bypass, a leaking or stenotic heart valve, an ascending aortic aneurysm, atrial fibrillation surgery, or a congenital heart defect found in adulthood. Heart surgery is one of the most outcomes-data-rich specialties in American medicine. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) maintains public hospital quality ratings, and board certification through the American Board of Thoracic Surgery is the recognized credential. Knowing how to read both, and what insurance covers, will help you and your cardiologist make a confident referral choice.
What a Cardiac Surgeon Is and What They Do
Cardiac surgeons are physicians who completed either an integrated 6-year cardiothoracic surgery residency or a 5-year general surgery residency followed by a 2- to 3-year cardiothoracic fellowship. They are board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS), an ABMS member board. Many also hold additional ABMS credentials in surgery from prior training.
Cardiac surgeons perform coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), heart valve repair and replacement (aortic, mitral, tricuspid, pulmonary), aortic aneurysm and dissection repair, atrial fibrillation surgery (Maze procedure), pericardial procedures, surgical management of heart failure, ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation, heart transplantation, and adult congenital heart surgery. Many cardiac surgery programs also collaborate closely with interventional cardiology on transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), MitraClip, and other structural heart procedures.
When to See a Cardiac Surgeon
Patients are almost always referred by a cardiologist after testing identifies a problem amenable to surgery. Common reasons include multivessel coronary artery disease where bypass surgery has better outcomes than stents (especially in diabetics), severe aortic stenosis or regurgitation, severe mitral regurgitation, ascending aortic aneurysm at or above 5.0 to 5.5 cm, atrial fibrillation refractory to other treatments, advanced heart failure considered for VAD or transplant, and complex congenital heart disease. Patients with peripheral vascular disease undergoing major surgery often have parallel evaluation with a vascular surgeon.
A second-opinion consultation before any non-emergent heart surgery is reasonable and welcomed by most surgeons. The decision between bypass and percutaneous coronary intervention, valve repair versus replacement, or transcatheter versus open valve surgery often involves judgment that benefits from multiple specialist views.
How to Find a Cardiac Surgeon Near You
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons directory at sts.org lists STS-member cardiac surgeons. The STS Public Reporting program publishes hospital and surgeon-level quality ratings (one to three stars) for CABG, aortic valve replacement, and combined procedures. Using the STS rating in conjunction with your cardiologist’s recommendation is one of the better signals available in any surgical specialty.
For specialized procedures, look at program volume. Heart transplant programs, mechanical circulatory support, complex aortic surgery, and adult congenital heart surgery are largely concentrated at academic medical centers and large heart-and-vascular institutes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Care Compare tool also publishes hospital-level cardiac surgery outcomes.
How to Verify Credentials
Verify ABTS board certification at certificationmatters.org or directly at abts.org. The result should show “Thoracic Surgery” certification. Confirm the hospital’s STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participation and rating; programs that participate are voluntarily reporting outcomes against national benchmarks. State medical license verification is available through your state medical board.
Volume matters in heart surgery. Surgeons performing fewer than 50 to 75 cardiac cases per year and hospitals doing fewer than 200 to 300 per year tend to have higher mortality and complication rates in published studies. Three-star STS ratings, high-volume programs, and academic medical centers consistently outperform low-volume programs for complex procedures.
Common Procedures and What to Expect
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains one of the most studied and refined operations in surgery. The surgeon harvests an artery (commonly the left internal mammary artery, considered the gold standard graft) or a vein from the leg and uses it to bypass blocked coronary arteries. Multivessel disease, left main disease, and disease in diabetic patients often have better long-term outcomes with CABG than with stents. Most patients spend 4 to 6 days in the hospital and 8 to 12 weeks in recovery, with cardiac rehabilitation playing a meaningful role in restoration.
Heart valve surgery covers a wide spectrum. Aortic valve replacement is performed surgically (open or minimally invasive) or transcatheter (TAVR), with TAVR now appropriate for many low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients based on randomized trials. Mitral valve repair, when feasible, is generally preferred over replacement and offers better long-term outcomes; high-volume mitral repair centers achieve repair rates above 90% for degenerative disease. MitraClip and other transcatheter mitral interventions are options for patients who are not surgical candidates.
Aortic surgery for ascending aneurysms or dissections is among the most complex cardiac operations. Elective ascending aortic repair at experienced centers carries low mortality, while emergency dissection repair has substantially higher risk. Heart transplantation and ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation are reserved for end-stage heart failure patients and concentrated at high-volume programs. Most cardiac surgeons collaborate closely with interventional cardiologists in “heart team” meetings that bring multiple specialists together to plan complex cases.
Costs and Insurance Considerations
Cardiac surgery is one of the highest-cost areas of inpatient care. Approximate billed charges (not what insurers actually pay) include CABG $75,000 to $200,000+, aortic valve replacement $100,000 to $250,000, TAVR $50,000 to $80,000 procedural cost (with hospital stay typically shorter than open surgery), and heart transplant $1.5 million or more in the first year of care. Medicare and most commercial plans cover medically necessary cardiac surgery, with out-of-pocket costs typically driven by deductible, in-network status, and catastrophic out-of-pocket maximum.
Self-pay pricing and bundled rates are increasingly available at some centers under price-transparency rules. Surgical Medical Travel programs and Centers of Excellence networks negotiated by large employers (Walmart, Lowe’s) pay for travel and care at high-volume centers and often produce better outcomes at lower total cost. Our healthcare costs guide walks through how to compare facility versus professional fees and out-of-network risk.
Telehealth Options for Cardiac Surgery
Cardiac surgery is hands-on by nature, but telehealth has become routine for second opinions, post-op check-ins after the early recovery period, and long-term follow-up. Many large heart programs accept records and imaging electronically and offer video second opinions for non-urgent decisions, especially valve and aortic disease where the right operation choice benefits from multiple expert views.
Pre-op evaluation typically requires in-person assessment by anesthesia and the surgeon, examination of vascular access sites, and direct review of imaging with the surgical team. Our telehealth guide walks through what to look for in a virtual specialist evaluation, including state licensure rules.
Heart Team Decision Making
Many cardiac decisions are made by a “heart team” rather than a single surgeon. This multidisciplinary group typically includes cardiac surgery, interventional cardiology, structural heart specialists, cardiac imaging, anesthesia, and sometimes geriatrics or palliative care for complex elderly patients. The heart team approach is the standard of care for TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) decisions, mitral interventions, and complex coronary disease where the choice between bypass and stenting is not obvious.
For aortic stenosis, the choice between surgical aortic valve replacement and TAVR depends on age, surgical risk, anatomy, and patient preference. Lower-risk patients now have evidence supporting TAVR as an alternative to surgery, though long-term durability data continue to accumulate. For severe coronary disease, the SYNTAX score and other tools help quantify which patients benefit more from CABG than from PCI, with diabetics, multivessel disease, and left main disease often favoring surgery.
Mitral valve disease has its own decision tree. Degenerative mitral regurgitation should generally be repaired rather than replaced when feasible, ideally at high-volume mitral repair centers. Functional mitral regurgitation related to heart failure is increasingly addressed with transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (MitraClip and similar devices) when surgical risk is high. The right answer varies by patient and is a meaningful reason to seek evaluation at a high-volume program.
What to Bring to Your Pre-Op Consultation
Cardiac surgeons want imaging and reports more than narrative history. Bring all echocardiograms (with measurements), cardiac catheterization films and reports, CT angiograms or cardiac MRI, recent stress test or PET results, EKGs from the past year, and operative notes from any prior cardiac or chest surgery. Bring recent labs including complete blood count, chemistry panel, kidney function, coagulation studies, and HbA1c.
List all medications, particularly anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs, since these will be managed carefully around the operative date. Note prior contrast reactions, anesthesia complications, and bleeding history. Bring a family history of cardiovascular disease and any genetic testing if relevant for aortopathy.
When to seek emergency care: Sudden severe chest pain, sudden severe back pain (possible aortic dissection), shortness of breath at rest, fainting, or new severe palpitations are emergencies. Call 911 immediately. Do not wait for a cardiac surgery appointment for any of these symptoms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a cardiac surgeon and a cardiologist?
Cardiologists diagnose and medically manage heart disease and perform catheter-based procedures (stents, ablations, TAVR). Cardiac surgeons perform open and minimally invasive surgery on the heart and great vessels. They work as a team for many patients, especially those with coronary or valvular disease.
What is the STS rating system?
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons publishes one-, two-, and three-star ratings for participating hospitals based on outcomes for CABG, valve surgery, and combined procedures. Three-star programs perform significantly better than expected; one-star programs perform worse. Ratings are publicly available at sts.org/quality-safety.
Should I get a second opinion?
For elective cardiac surgery, a second opinion is reasonable and often valuable. Decisions like valve repair versus replacement, bypass versus PCI, or TAVR versus open surgery have legitimate variation in expert opinion.
How long is recovery from heart surgery?
Most patients leave the hospital 4 to 7 days after CABG or valve surgery. Cardiac rehab usually starts within 4 to 6 weeks and runs 12 weeks. Full recovery typically takes 8 to 12 weeks for return to most activities; sternum healing takes 6 to 8 weeks.
What is minimally invasive heart surgery?
Some operations can be performed through smaller incisions or robotically rather than a full sternotomy. Mitral valve repair, single-vessel bypass, and some atrial fibrillation procedures are commonly done this way. Eligibility depends on anatomy and the specific operation.
The Bottom Line
A cardiac surgeon near you is best chosen with input from your cardiologist, STS hospital ratings, and program volume. ABTS board certification is the credential to verify, and STS three-star or comparable high-volume programs offer the best documented outcomes. Telehealth can support second opinions and post-op care, but the surgery and pre-op evaluation are in person. For elective procedures, taking time to compare programs and get a second opinion is almost always worth the delay.