Are you looking to find the a top cardiologist? How do you find the best cardiologist for yourself? First, you have to know what attributes you are looking for in a heart doctor. What makes a good cardiac specialist varies according to whom you ask. Patients tend to prize communication and care, fellow doctors appreciate competence and camaraderie, and medical staff and nurses value cheerfulness. Unfortunately, most heart doctors are admitted to medical school based upon their academic prowess in science. By emphasizing the importance of scientific study before medical school, and then a science-based medical curriculum, most cardiologists have a strong understanding of science but may not be as well trained in the humanitarian aspects of medicine.As a practicing internist and cardiologist and as a patient myself, here are some attributes that I feel are important. First, the doctor must spend sufficient time with the patient. Sometimes it takes patients a while to open up to a doctor and reveal things that they are not totally comfortable talking about. In addition, many times patients do not realize the importance of the symptoms that they are having. I cannot tell you how many times that I have asked patients why they did not tell their other doctors about symptoms or problems that they were having. The most common response that I get is that the doctor never asked them about that symptom. Next, the qualities I have come to value most in a physician are compassion and the ability to listen. We all know there are few things worse than being treated like a disease or illness when you have one. When a doctor can sit there with you and talk to you as a person and not as disease, I think everyone benefits.

Quality health care is sometimes defined as care that delivers the best possible results by using the right decisions made at the right time in the right way for the right patients. In order to find the best or highest quality doctor, patients are often encouraged to go online to look for publicly available information about heart doctors. However, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine appearing in the Sept. 13, 2010 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine: "We found that the types of information widely available to patients for choosing a physician do not predict whether that physician will deliver evidence-based care."

One very interesting finding from the RAND study was that researchers found that three characteristics were associated with better quality medical care: the doctor being female, the doctor being board certified and graduating from a domestic medical school. However, these importance of these factors in the quality of care was relatively small.

Another question that I have wondered about: do you get better care from a cardiologist who is more knowledgeable or is it better to go to a doctor who has more clinical experience? Younger doctors may be more knowledgeable about the latest medical advances but may have less developed clinical judgment because of their relative lack of experience. Conversely, older doctors who have practiced medicine for many years may have more developed clinical judgment but may know less about the latest advances in medicine. 59 studies that addressed the association between experience and health care quality. Most studies found that health care quality actually was less with doctors who had been in practice for many years as they tended to be less current with recent medical advances and also followed standards of care less closely. Systematic Review: The Relationship between Clinical Experience and Quality of Health Care." the 15 February 2005 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (volume 142, pages 260-273).

On the other hand, when you are looking for a cardiologist who performs a particular procedure, it is clear that those doctors who do many of that type of procedure per year tend to have better outcomes than those doctors who perform few procedures. Numerous studies have examined the association of surgeon case volume with clinical outcomes for various procedures and have shown higher surgeon volume to be associated with improved outcomes. This phenomenon has been described for an increasing number of procedures, including coronary artery bypass, angioplasty, gastrectomy, esophagectomy, thyroidectomy, arthroplasty, and aortic aneurysm repair. Hannan EL, Racz M, Ryan TJ, et al. Coronary angioplasty volume-outcome relationships for hospitals and cardiologists. JAMA 1997; 277 (11): 892–898.

Step 1

Decide what qualities in a cardiologist are most important to you . Do you prefer one who is older or younger? Also consider location and how far you want to drive for each appointment? Do you want a heart doctor who has a great bedside manner? Is the training the cardiac specialist received important to you.

Step 2

Ask around. Talk to friends or coworkers. Research on the Internet. Get referrals from your local hospital (however, the hospital will probably only refer you to a physician on their staff). Ask another doctor for a recommendation. Combine the information.

Finally, good luck in your quest for one of the best cardiologists whose care is evidence-based; sensitive and dedicated to the patient – not just disease-oriented; who honors the patent's autonomy, attempting to convey all necessary information to the patient to enable a true doctor-patient partnership.