Hello Ray and welcome !! I was diagnosed with afib in Feb of this year. A EP or Electrophysiologists has completed all of the training of a cardiologist, (medical school, residency, and fellowship), plus an additional couple years of fellowship training in electrophysiology. Electrophysiology entails the diagnosis and treatment of irregular heartbeats, or arrhythmias of the heart, such a afib. Since you have a HMO, you may need to get a referral from your primary care physician. Hope this helped! Take care and best wishes!!

Hi Ray,
I also have health insurance through Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield. My primary care physician did give me a referral to an EP and yes, it's important to get copies of any tests you may have had regarding your afib. I saw an EP 18 months ago after my last afib episode and have another appointment to see him this month.
Good luck!

Ray....Ask your Doc. about CARDIZEM, it controls your BP (no more lisinopril), and keeps your heart in rhythm. Why see a EP?...I have no idea. But a Cardiologist is a good idea.

I had to go to an EP to have my cardioversion. To be honest it only lasted a day and I just stick with my cardiologist now. They also do ablations but I'm not a candidate. Otherwise they're kind of glorified cardiologists.

You got some differing opinions here. So I thought I'd add another one.
An EP specializes in heart rhythm disorders. As someone said they do ablations and general cardiologists do not. I found that my cardiologist was not very comfortable with prescribing antiarrythmic meds (like amiodorone, multaq, flecainide, etc).
If your cardiologist is happy to control your heart rate and leave you in a fib I would recommend you ask for a referral to an EP for sure. If you can get back into regular rhythm and stay there would be the optimum in treatment. An EP is more likely to pursue that. That's not always an option for everyone, and some general cardiologists are very good at managing a fib (some are not).
Someone here mentioned asking for cardiazem. It's a good drug and can be helpful but it does not KEEP your heart in rhythm. It does help slow your heart rate and if your heart is going in and out of a fib it may allow your heart to convert back into rhythm. It is also used to treat high B/P.
So for what it is worth...my advice is to see an EP, at least for a second opinion. Good Luck!

If you have a-fib, you should be referred to an EP. My experience is that when I first was diagnoised with a-fib, I went to a regular cardiologists. I felt he just brushed it off as something that was no big deal. After seeing him for a year, and not feeling any better, I went to see an EP. Boy what a difference. Good Luck

Marikay, thank you for your clairification. I think I sound like a broken record on this site stating that cardizem, sometimes sold as cartia, is NOT an antiarrythmic. It slows the heart rate, but does not help with the irregular heart beat!! I agree that seeing an EP is essential to peace of mind when you have afib. An EP offers a broader expanse of knowledge in the treatment of arrythmias.