Practice Information
Cardiologist in Encinitas & San Diego, CA
Welcome. This is my personal site. If you found me through Google, an article you were reading, or a friend's recommendation, this page is for you. The content here is meant to give you a clear sense of who I am, how I think about cardiology, and what it's like to be my patient. For anything operational — like booking an appointment, billing or insurance questions, prescription refills, or contacting my clinical team — please reach my practice, San Diego Cardiovascular Associates, at (760) 944-7300.
Meet Dr. Damian Rasch, D.O.
I'm a board-certified invasive cardiologist practicing in Encinitas and seeing patients from across San Diego County. My focus is preventive cardiology, diagnostic cardiac catheterization, and AI-enhanced cardiac imaging. I hold staff privileges at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas and Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, and I'm a member of San Diego Cardiovascular Associates, the largest independent cardiology group in North County.
The patients I see range from people in their thirties who want to get ahead of a family history of heart disease, to athletes worried about palpitations, to adults in their seventies managing atrial fibrillation, valve disease, or heart failure. What ties them together is wanting a cardiologist who explains what's actually going on, listens to the questions they didn't quite know how to ask, and builds a plan around their life rather than a generic checklist. That's the kind of care I try to deliver every visit.
Cardiology Services I Offer
Preventive Cardiology & Cardiac Risk Assessment
Prevention is the cornerstone of my practice. Through risk assessment, advanced lipid and inflammation testing, coronary calcium scoring, and lifestyle counseling, I help patients identify cardiovascular risk early and build strategies to lower their risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. Many serious cardiac events can be prevented entirely when risk is identified five to ten years before symptoms appear.
Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization
As an invasive cardiologist, I perform diagnostic cardiac catheterization at Scripps Memorial Hospital. The procedure allows direct visualization of the coronary arteries and accurate measurement of intracardiac pressures, which together give a definitive answer when noninvasive testing leaves the picture incomplete. If a blockage or other finding calls for an intervention, I coordinate that handoff to an interventional cardiology colleague.
Echocardiography & Stress Testing
Cardiac ultrasound and stress testing are the workhorses of cardiac diagnostics. My office and Scripps both use modern imaging equipment to evaluate heart function, valve disease, and coronary artery disease. I use these studies to screen for conditions like concentric remodeling, valve abnormalities, and ischemia.
Atrial Fibrillation Management
Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common arrhythmias I treat. Management starts with stroke-risk assessment and the right anticoagulation choice, then balances rate control against rhythm control depending on your symptoms, age, and other heart disease. When ablation or Watchman is on the table, I coordinate closely with cardiac electrophysiology.
Heart Failure Management
I care for patients with both reduced and preserved ejection fraction. Modern heart failure care has changed dramatically in the last five years, and the right combination of guideline-directed medications can substantially reduce hospitalizations and improve how you feel day to day.
Hypertension Treatment
Most blood pressure problems are not "just high blood pressure." Resistant hypertension, white-coat hypertension, masked hypertension, and secondary causes each require a different approach. I work with you on lifestyle, medication choice, and home monitoring to find the plan that actually fits your life.
Cholesterol Management
Lipid management has gotten a lot more nuanced than the old "your LDL is high, take a statin." Apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein(a), and inflammation markers all factor in. For high-risk patients, newer therapies including ezetimibe, PCSK9 inhibitors, and twice-yearly inclisiran are real options. The right choice depends on your overall risk picture, your kidney function, and what you can stick with.
Conditions I Treat
I diagnose and manage the full range of adult cardiovascular conditions, including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular arrhythmias, heart failure (both HFrEF and HFpEF), hypertension, hyperlipidemia, valve disease (mitral, aortic, tricuspid), aortic disease, left ventricular hypertrophy and remodeling, syncope and presyncope, palpitations, and chest pain syndromes. If your concern isn't on the list, it's still worth a conversation. The job of a cardiologist is to help you figure out whether your symptoms are cardiac in origin, and if they are, to put together the right plan.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
A first cardiology visit usually runs 45 to 60 minutes. Plan to arrive 15 minutes early so the front desk can verify your insurance and update your demographic information. Please bring your insurance card and photo ID, a current list of all medications including dosages and how often you take them (supplements and over-the-counter products too), any prior cardiac test results you have access to (echocardiograms, stress tests, EKGs, cardiac CT scans, cath reports), and your referral paperwork if your insurance requires it.
The visit itself starts with a medical assistant bringing you back to the exam room, taking your blood pressure in both arms, and running a 12-lead EKG. Then I come in. I take a careful history, examine you, and you walk me through what brought you in. I'll explain what I think is going on, what I want to rule out, and what testing might help clarify the picture. Most plans involve some combination of in-office testing, outpatient testing scheduled at a Scripps facility, and a follow-up visit.
In-office testing typically includes EKG, blood pressure measurements, and basic point-of-care tests. Outpatient testing I commonly order includes echocardiogram (cardiac ultrasound), stress testing (treadmill, nuclear, or stress echo), ambulatory rhythm monitoring (Holter, event monitor, or implantable loop recorder), coronary calcium score, and lab work for advanced lipid panels and inflammation markers. Hospital-based testing at Scripps includes diagnostic cardiac catheterization, advanced imaging like cardiac MRI and cardiac CT, and any study requiring sedation or post-procedure monitoring.
Follow-up cadence depends on your situation. Stable patients may only need annual visits; patients starting new medications or recovering from a cardiac event often come back in two to four weeks. I'd rather see you a little more often early on so the plan gets fine-tuned, than have you guessing at home.
Why Patients Choose Me for Cardiac Care
Preventive-first philosophy
Most of what cardiology can offer is more powerful when applied before damage is done. I take the time to understand your risk profile and build a prevention plan around it, rather than waiting for a problem to declare itself.
AI-enhanced cardiac imaging
I integrate AI-enhanced tools into clinical workflow where they meaningfully improve diagnostic accuracy. This includes computer-assisted interpretation of stress tests, echocardiograms, and coronary calcium scoring, which sharpens risk stratification beyond what traditional reads alone can offer.
Personalized care, not volume
I keep my patient panel intentionally smaller than the typical large-group cardiologist. That means more time with you per visit, faster turnaround on test results, and the same physician handling your care visit-over-visit. You'll know me by name, and I'll know yours.
Scripps Hospital affiliation
When hospital-based testing or admission is needed, I have privileges at Scripps Memorial Encinitas and Scripps Memorial La Jolla (Prebys Cardiovascular Institute). Both are top-tier cardiac centers, and you stay under my care across outpatient and hospital settings.
Insurance & New Patients
I'm accepting new patients. Insurance coverage is handled through my practice, San Diego Cardiovascular Associates, which accepts Medicare and most major commercial plans, including Blue Shield of California, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Health Net, and TriCare West (across PPO, HMO, and EPO where in-network). Many HMO plans require a referral from your primary care physician before scheduling a cardiology appointment.
For specific eligibility, referral coordination, or any insurance question, please call SDCVA directly at (760) 944-7300. They can verify your plan while you're on the line, much faster than I can answer that question from here.
Where I See Patients
SDCVA Encinitas Office
320 Santa Fe Drive, Suite 204Encinitas, CA 92024
Phone: (760) 944-7300
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Closed weekends and major holidays.
The office sits in central Encinitas just off Santa Fe Drive, two blocks east of I-5. Free patient parking is available on-site. To schedule, reschedule, or ask any operational question, call (760) 944-7300 or visit sdcva.com.
Areas I Serve in San Diego County
The office is in Encinitas, but patients come from all over San Diego County. Here's what to expect from each of the communities I see the most patients from.
Encinitas
Home base. The office is on Santa Fe Drive, a few minutes from Moonlight Beach and the 101. Local patients walk in for everything from new palpitations to long-term AFib management. If you're in Leucadia, Cardiff, Olivenhain, or central Encinitas, you're five to ten minutes from the office.
Carlsbad
Most Carlsbad patients are eight to fifteen minutes north on I-5 or the 101. La Costa, Aviara, and Carlsbad Village all sit within easy reach. Common reasons Carlsbad residents come in include preventive cardiology consultations, hypertension management, and second opinions on cardiac findings detected during a physical or imaging study.
Oceanside
Twelve to twenty minutes north on I-5 from the office. With recent changes to North County hospital coverage, many Oceanside patients have looked south for cardiology that's not affiliated with a single hospital system. I commonly see Oceanside patients for post-myocardial infarction follow-up, AFib management, and ongoing heart failure care.
Solana Beach
Five to ten minutes south on I-5. Solana Beach is an active community, and a lot of the visits from here are about palpitations during exercise, athlete cardiac screening, and risk assessment for active adults who want a clear picture of their cardiovascular risk before ramping up training.
Del Mar
Ten to fifteen minutes south. Del Mar patients often come for preventive cardiology, executive cardiac risk assessment, and management of conditions identified during a physical. I see a fair number of Del Mar patients for lipid optimization and coronary calcium-guided risk stratification.
San Marcos
Eighteen to twenty-five minutes east via the 78. The most common reasons San Marcos residents come in are hypertension, diabetes-related cardiovascular risk, and the early evaluation of chest pain or shortness of breath. I work closely with primary care physicians in the San Marcos area for shared management of cardiometabolic disease.
Rancho Santa Fe
Fifteen to twenty minutes east. Common reasons for visits include executive cardiac screening, second opinions on findings from concierge medical practices, and preventive cardiology for adults with strong family history of premature coronary disease.
La Jolla
Twenty-five to thirty minutes south on I-5. Many La Jolla patients prefer the Encinitas office for outpatient care but want their hospital-based testing done closer to home. Since I have privileges at Scripps Memorial La Jolla and at Prebys Cardiovascular Institute, that arrangement works smoothly: outpatient in Encinitas, inpatient or advanced procedures in La Jolla, same physician across both.
San Diego (city, Mission Valley, North Park, and beyond)
Patients from the greater San Diego area typically drive thirty to forty-five minutes north for specific subspecialty consultations, second opinions on prior cardiology recommendations, and access to AI-enhanced cardiac imaging that may not be available at their current practice. The drive is meaningful, so visits often get consolidated on testing days when possible.
See drive times, parking, and area-specific cardiology referral patterns for all 10 communities
Patient Reviews & Feedback
Patient feedback shapes how I think about my own practice, and I'm grateful to the patients who take the time to share their experiences publicly. The platforms below collect verified, attributed reviews. Each one is independently moderated, not curated by me. Most patients consult two or three of these sources before choosing a cardiologist.
-
Google
Reviews tied to my Google Business Profile, the most commonly consulted source for prospective patients in the San Diego area.
Read on Google -
Healthgrades
A widely-used physician review platform with verified patient ratings on appointment ease, wait time, listening, and trust.
Read on Healthgrades -
WebMD
WebMD's physician directory includes verified patient experience scores across communication, office experience, and outcomes.
Read on WebMD -
Vitals
Independent physician ratings covering bedside manner, knowledge, and follow-up, drawn from patient surveys.
Read on Vitals -
U.S. News Health
U.S. News & World Report's physician directory profile, including practice details and patient experience indicators.
Read on U.S. News -
Scripps Memorial
My profile on the Scripps Health physician directory, including credentials and the hospital systems where I hold privileges.
View Scripps profile
I don't republish individual review excerpts on this page. The links above go directly to each platform's public listing so you can read full, unedited patient feedback in its original context.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you accepting new patients?
Yes. New patient appointments are typically available within one to three weeks. To schedule, call my practice at (760) 944-7300 or visit sdcva.com.
Do I need a referral from my primary care doctor?
Most HMO plans require a referral; most PPO plans do not. The fastest way to know for sure is to call SDCVA and have them verify your specific plan. If a referral is needed and you don't yet have a primary care physician, the front office can point you in the right direction.
What should I bring to my first appointment?
Insurance card, photo ID, a current list of all medications and dosages (including supplements and over-the-counter products), and any recent test results or imaging from other providers. Echocardiograms, stress tests, EKGs, and cardiac CT scans are especially helpful if you can bring them on a disc or share them electronically before the visit.
Do you perform cardiac catheterization?
Yes, diagnostic cardiac catheterization. As a board-certified invasive cardiologist, I perform diagnostic cath at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas and Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. If the findings call for an intervention (stenting, for example), I coordinate that handoff to an interventional cardiology colleague.
Which hospitals do you admit to?
Scripps Memorial Encinitas and Scripps Memorial La Jolla, including the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute. Both are equipped with state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization labs and advanced diagnostic imaging.
Can you help with heart palpitations?
Yes. Heart palpitations have many causes, ranging from benign caffeine sensitivity to clinically important arrhythmias. The right workup depends on what the palpitations feel like, how often they happen, and your underlying cardiac risk. A first visit will sort that out and recommend the right next step.
What if my insurance isn't listed above?
Call SDCVA. Coverage networks change frequently and the front office can verify your specific plan in real time, ideally before your visit so prior authorizations get sorted up front.
Are virtual visits available?
For established patients with select follow-up needs, yes. New patient evaluations and any visit that requires hands-on cardiac examination need to happen in person.
Want to be seen?
If you've made it this far and would like to come in, the next step is connecting with my practice, San Diego Cardiovascular Associates. They handle scheduling, insurance verification, and any operational questions, and they'll get you on my calendar.
Or visit sdcva.com to learn more about the practice and submit an appointment request online.