Write down the actual recommendation
Capture the operation proposed, why it was recommended, which findings support it, and whether a date has already been discussed.
For the person helping them through it
Their Incision Should Be Their Decision™
Someone you love was told they need heart surgery. Help them understand what comes next.
You do not have to become the surgeon—or carry the decision for them. Help keep the recommendation, records, priorities, and open questions clear. If the 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.
Three roles that protect the patient and the decision.
- 01Keep the care movingContinue current instructions and clarify what is urgent.
- 02Gather the right recordWith permission, organize what the reviewers actually need.
- 03Protect their voiceMake the patient’s goals visible without deciding for them.
Be useful without carrying it alone
Five practical ways to help before the decision becomes final.
Family support is most useful when it protects attention, preserves the patient’s priorities, and helps the treating team answer the right questions.
Clarify what is urgent
Ask what needs to happen now, how much time there is to decide, and which symptoms should trigger emergency care.
Protect the patient’s priorities
Make room for what matters to them—recovery, independence, caregiving, work, travel, durability, or avoiding another procedure later.
Help organize the record
With permission, collect the relevant notes, reports, medication history, and actual cardiac imaging without trying to interpret it alone.
Bring better questions back
Use a written second review to organize the unresolved questions for the cardiologist and surgeon who can examine and treat your loved one.
Help with the files, with permission
Your family should not have to build the chart from memory.
Upload what is available. With authorization from the patient or an appropriate legal representative, WHITEGLOVEMD can help identify and request the materials needed for review—including the actual cardiac imaging when relevant, not only the written report.
Recommendation and notes
Cardiology and cardiac-surgery notes, the operation proposed, timing, symptoms, diagnoses, medications, and relevant history.
Reports and actual imaging
Echocardiography, catheterization, CT or MRI, rhythm or stress testing, laboratory results, and the images when relevant.
Patient goals and context
Prior procedures, other conditions, functional status, recovery concerns, caregiving needs, and the outcomes that matter most.
The family’s open questions
What remains unclear about necessity, urgency, approach, risk, alternatives, recovery, or where care should occur.
WHITEGLOVE Heart Team
Two independent reviews. One explanation the family can discuss together.
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist review the same required records and imaging independently before bringing their perspectives together. The goal is not to manufacture disagreement. 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, testing, imaging, medical context, and relevant non-operative or catheter-based options.
WHITEGLOVE Insights™One co-signed, patient-facing reportIndependent review · physician conference · two signaturesWHITEGLOVE Insights™
A shared reference when everyone heard something different.
The report turns the required record into one discussion map: what is known, what is uncertain, and what deserves a direct conversation next.
See a sample reportPrepared for the conversation ahead
The recommendation,
explained for the room.
Decision questionWhat does our family need to understand before the patient decides?
ReasonTimingOptions
What the record says
The diagnosis, symptoms, testing, imaging, and proposed operation are organized into one source-linked picture.
Why surgery is being proposed
The report explains which findings support the recommendation and where uncertainty still remains.
How urgent the decision appears
Timing is placed in context while preserving the treating team’s role in assessing current symptoms and urgency.
Which options deserve discussion
Surgical, catheter-based, less-invasive, medical, or monitoring paths are compared only when relevant.
What risk means here
Procedure-specific considerations, important inputs, and the limitations of any applicable estimate are made visible.
What the family should ask next
The patient’s priorities and the family’s unresolved questions become a practical list for the next treating-team visit.
Exactly how it works
From “someone I love needs surgery” to one clear next conversation.
The first message can come from you. Patient permission governs access to the medical record and who participates after that.
- 01
Message us in your own words
Tell us what your loved one was told, what is already scheduled, and what still feels unclear. No referral or records are required for the first message.
- 02
Confirm permission and the right contact
Anyone can send the first message. Access to protected medical information requires authorization from the patient or an appropriate legal representative.
- 03
Gather and confirm the required case
Upload what is available. With authorization, the records team can help identify and request the relevant records, reports, and actual imaging.
- 04
Receive one co-signed report
A cardiac surgeon and cardiologist review independently, confer, and co-sign the patient-facing 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.
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 the patient wants one live physician conversation.
Both 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.
Support the process. Protect the decision.
Helpful family support has clear boundaries.
With permission, family can help organize records, surface questions, and join one live consultation on the consultation plan. The patient or appropriate legal representative controls access. The treating team remains responsible for examination, testing, prescriptions, treatment, urgent decisions, and ongoing care.
Message Us about whether a review fits- Send the first message and organize questions
- Help gather the required records and imaging
- Keep the patient’s priorities visible
- Join one live consultation on the consultation plan
- Take the patient’s decision away
- Replace the treating physicians
- Examine, diagnose, prescribe, or direct treatment
- Provide emergency or postoperative care
Frequently asked questions
What families ask after hearing “heart surgery.”
Direct answers about urgency, permission, records, physician review, timing, cost, and family participation.
What should I do first when someone I love is told they need heart surgery?+
Help them ask the treating cardiologist or surgeon how urgent the situation is, how much time there is to decide, and which symptoms require emergency care. Keep current care moving. If the treating team says there is time, you can help organize the records and questions for an independent review.
Can I message WHITEGLOVEMD before we have the records or authorization?+
Yes. Anyone can send the first message and describe what the family was told. No referral or records are required for that first step. Access to protected medical information and the review itself require authorization from the patient or an appropriate legal representative.
Can I start a review for my parent, spouse, or family member?+
A family member can help organize the process, but the patient or an appropriate legal representative must authorize access to records and the review. The onboarding process confirms who may act and what documentation is needed before protected medical information is requested or shared.
Can family members join the physician consultation?+
The consultation plan adds one live consultation with one reviewing physician. A family member or support person may join when the patient wants them involved and the appropriate permission is in place.
Who reviews the 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 both service levels.
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.
Should my loved one delay surgery while waiting for a second opinion?+
Do not delay urgent or time-sensitive care to wait for an online review. Ask the clinicians responsible for care whether it is medically reasonable to take time for another review, and continue following their instructions while records are gathered.
If the treating team says there is time
Tell us what your loved one was told. We’ll help make the next practical 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 with authorization