Why is surgery being recommended?
Connect the symptoms, testing, imaging, and anatomy to the operation your team proposed.
You have a recommendation. You still have a decision.
Your Incision Should Be Your Decision™
Told you need heart surgery? Understand the recommendation before you consent.
The recommendation may be right. You should still be able to understand why it was made, how urgent it is, what alternatives may reasonably fit, and what to ask next. Message us about what you were told; if your treating team says there is time, a cardiac surgeon and cardiologist can independently review the required records and imaging.
What happens next: A member of our team will call within 2 business hours. During business hours, a same-day conversation with a cardiac surgeon or cardiologist may be arranged only when clinically appropriate and a physician is available.
- 2
- independent physician reviews
- 1
- co-signed written report
- 24 hr
- only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete
The written review includes both physician reviews and the co-signed written report; it does not include a live physician consultation. One live consultation with one reviewing physician is available at a higher service level.
Start with the questions that protect the decision.
- 01Is this urgent?What needs to happen now—and what can wait?
- 02Why this operation?Which findings support the recommendation?
- 03What else fits?Which alternatives are genuinely relevant to this case?
Before you consent
Five questions turn a frightening recommendation into a decision you can examine.
A useful second opinion may confirm the proposed operation. Its job is to make the reasoning, uncertainty, and reasonable alternatives visible—not to manufacture disagreement.
How urgent is the decision?
Ask what makes the recommendation urgent, how much time you have, and which symptoms require immediate care.
What exactly is the operation?
Clarify the procedure, surgical approach, expected benefit, recovery, and any other work planned at the same time.
What else reasonably fits?
Consider catheter-based, less-invasive, medical, or monitoring paths only when they are relevant to your individual case.
What are the tradeoffs for me?
Put procedure-specific risk, durability, recovery, future options, and care-setting fit into your own clinical context.
Records, handled with you
You do not need to chase every file alone.
Upload what you have. With your authorization, WHITEGLOVEMD can help identify and request the materials needed for review—including the actual cardiac imaging when it is relevant, not only the written report.
Clinical story
Cardiology and cardiac-surgery notes, symptoms, diagnoses, medications, prior procedures, and relevant history.
Cardiac testing
Echocardiography, catheterization, CT or MRI, rhythm or stress testing, laboratory results, and the actual imaging when relevant.
Proposed plan
The recommended operation, timing, planned approach, treating hospital, and alternatives already discussed with you.
Open questions
Conflicting measurements, missing studies, changing symptoms, risk factors, or parts of the recommendation that remain unclear.
WHITEGLOVE Heart Team
Two independent reviews. One decision you can understand.
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist review the same required records and imaging independently before bringing their perspectives together. The goal is not to push you toward or away from surgery. It is to make the reasoning visible.
Cardiac surgeon
Reviews the surgical indication, anatomy, proposed operation, technical options, timing, and perioperative considerations.
Cardiologist
Reviews the diagnosis, imaging, medical context, non-operative or catheter-based options, and longitudinal heart-care perspective.
WHITEGLOVE Insights™One co-signed, patient-facing reportIndependent review · physician conference · two signaturesWHITEGLOVE Insights™
A written map for the conversation ahead.
The report ties its explanation to the required record and gives you practical questions for the clinicians who know and treat you.
See a sample reportPrepared for
Your recommendation,
made understandable.
Decision questionDoes the proposed operation, timing, and approach fit the required records and imaging?
IndicationTimingOptions
What the record says
A clear account of the diagnosis, symptoms, test findings, imaging, and operation proposed.
Why surgery is being considered
The clinical reasoning for the recommendation and which details in the record support it.
Timing and urgency
What the available record suggests about timing, with uncertainty clearly identified for the treating team.
Options and tradeoffs
Surgical, catheter-based, less-invasive, medical, or monitoring paths only when they fit the case.
Risk in context
Procedure-specific considerations, important inputs, and the limitations of any applicable estimate.
Questions for the next visit
A practical list to take back to the cardiologist and surgeon responsible for your care.
Exactly how it works
From “I was told I need surgery” to one clear next conversation.
You bring the recommendation and the questions. The records team helps assemble what the reviewing physicians need.
- 01
Message us in your own words
Tell us what operation was recommended, what is already scheduled, and what still feels unclear. No referral or records are required to send the first message.
- 02
We help identify what is needed
Upload what you have. With your authorization, the records team can help identify and request the relevant reports and imaging needed for review.
- 03
Two physicians review independently
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist review the same required records and imaging independently, then confer.
- 04
Receive one co-signed report
The report is delivered within 24 hours only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete. Time spent gathering missing records is outside the 24-hour window. Both reviewing physicians co-sign the patient-facing report.
Important timing detail
The report is delivered within 24 hours only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete. Time spent gathering missing records is outside the 24-hour window.
Begin with the written review
Choose whether you want a live physician conversation.
Both entry plans include the same two independent physician reviews and one co-signed written report. The difference is live physician time.
WHITEGLOVE Insights™
Two independent physician reviews plus one co-signed written report. No live physician consultation.
Choose this planWHITEGLOVE Consult
Everything in the written review plus one live consultation with one reviewing physician.
Choose this planDirect-pay service. WHITEGLOVEMD does not submit insurance claims. No referral is required.
Independent educational review
A second set of eyes—not a replacement for your treating team.
WHITEGLOVEMD reviews the required records and imaging and explains the decision in writing. The treating team remains responsible for examination, testing, prescriptions, treatment, urgent decisions, and ongoing care.
Message Us about whether a review fits- Examine the required records and imaging
- Explain why surgery was proposed
- Compare reasonable options when relevant
- Produce one co-signed written report
- Replace the treating physicians
- Examine, diagnose, or prescribe
- Order testing or direct treatment
- Provide emergency or postoperative care
Frequently asked questions
What patients ask immediately after hearing “heart surgery.”
Direct answers about urgency, records, the physician review, timing, cost, and what happens next.
What should I do first after being told I need heart surgery?+
Ask the treating cardiologist or surgeon how urgent the situation is, how much time you have to decide, and which symptoms require emergency care. Keep current appointments and follow their instructions. If they say there is time, you can then seek an independent review before consenting.
Should I delay surgery while I get a second opinion?+
Do not delay urgent or time-sensitive care to wait for an online review. Ask the clinicians responsible for your care whether it is medically reasonable to take time for another review. WHITEGLOVEMD does not replace their judgment about immediate treatment.
Who reviews my heart surgery recommendation?+
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist independently review the same required records and imaging, confer, and co-sign one patient-facing WHITEGLOVE Insights™ report. Their surgical and cardiology perspectives are included at every service level.
What records and imaging are needed?+
The exact materials depend on the proposed operation. They may include cardiology and surgery notes, echocardiography, catheterization, CT or MRI, laboratory results, prior operative reports, and the proposed plan. With your authorization, the records team can help identify and request relevant missing materials.
When does the 24-hour turnaround begin?+
The report is delivered within 24 hours only after all required records and imaging are received and confirmed complete. Time spent gathering missing records is outside the 24-hour window.
What is included at each service level?+
The written review includes two independent physician reviews plus one co-signed written report; it does not include a live physician consultation. A higher service level includes the same written review and adds one live consultation with one reviewing physician. Pricing is shared during the complimentary discovery call.
Can the review tell me whether surgery is truly necessary?+
The report can evaluate how the recommendation fits the available symptoms, testing, imaging, anatomy, timing, risk, and reasonable alternatives. It may support the current plan, identify questions, or explain other options. It is educational decision support—not a new diagnosis, treatment order, or replacement for the treating team.
If your treating team says there is time
Tell us what you were told. We’ll help make the next step clear.
You do not need every record—or the right medical words—to begin.
A member of our team will call within 2 business hours. During business hours, a same-day conversation with a cardiac surgeon or cardiologist may be arranged only when clinically appropriate and a physician is available.
No referral · no travel · records help available