When testing confirms heart disease but shows no imminent threat of heart attack, our experts say the best approach is a long-term commitment to lifestyle changes plus drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, ease chest pain, and prevent blood clots. After three to six months of therapy, if you still have troublesome symptoms, you could consider more invasive options.

If testing reveals severe blockages, angioplasty or bypass surgery might be warranted. But even then you should weigh your heart-treatment options. If the doctor recommends angioplasty, ask why that's preferable to bypass. If he or she suggests bypass, ask about angioplasty. If you're not satisfied, consider getting a second opinion. Bypass is often called for when the heart's main artery or three other major arteries are occluded; angioplasty might be an option if one or two vessels are blocked.

When choosing a bypass surgeon, there's reliable data to draw on, as our ratings show. While many hospitals and cardiologists track similar data for angioplasty, that information is not publicly available. One indicator of physician quality is the number of procedures he or she performs. Look for an interventional cardiologist who performs at least 75 angioplasties a year and a hospital that does at least 400. To avoid a physician or practice that churns out too many, ask whether the doctor's and hospital's procedures undergo regular peer review.

But you need to know about more than just volume. "Consumers can ask whether a practice participates in our registry, which indicates the hospital can benchmark their performance against a national standard," says Frederick Masoudi, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver and senior medical officer for the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data Registry. Masoudi says the data is being reorganized into a more accessible format and is expected to be released within the next two years.