Alan Feren

M.D. FACS
My Personal Advocate
Alan

Alan Feren

M.D. FACS
My Personal Advocate
Advocate Location
Mill Valley , CA 94941
Specialty
Medical Guidance
Other Services
Wellness & Lifestyle
TeleAdvocacy Available
Offers FREE Initial Consultation
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*Greater National Advocates Terms of Use Apply
How I Can Help
As a personal patient advocate, I’ll guide you through your health care journey, help you understand any conditions or procedures and how they’ll affect you and your family, and help ask the right questions and decide if you need a second opinion -- so you can get the care that’s right for you.

I have over 50 years of experience: as a practicing physician and surgeon, medical treatment guidelines author, medical director, chief medical officer, and patient education consultant. I’ve also had multiple major procedures, so I’ve lived the realities of the patient experience.

I’ll help answer questions your care team didn’t address or didn’t answer clearly. I’ll help you ask the right questions and understand your options or any alternatives so you can make informed decisions. I can help ensure you get care that respects and meets your personal needs.

I advise on most adult conditions and procedures. However, I do not advise on children’s health (pediatrics), childbirth and women’s reproductive health, cancer care, mental health. I can assist on health insurance denials. for denial assistance, please contact me at https://medicalappealexperts.com.
Important Information About Me
  • I offer a FREE Initial Consultation
  • I offer TeleAdvocacy Service
  • I am insured
  • My geographical area of practice is No geographic boundaries or restrictions
Why I Became A Professional Health Care Advocate
In medical school, I began guiding my extended family through their health journeys. With my parents, even though I lived 2,000 miles away, I played a key role in problem solving and treatment planning with their care teams. I learned how to work with their physicians in a thoughtful and respectful way; and honed my skills as an advocate. Then came my own medical challenges, all of which I have overcome and have remained clinical active and productivce: emergency surgery, multiple failed spine surgeries, cancer, and most recently, a near fatal encounter with a heart rhythm disturbance that required 2 emergent and a follow up procedure to eliminate. Living through all of these experiences, I faced doubts, questions, system obstacles, frustrations, and anxieties along with extended recoveries. Despite these personal challenges, I continued to provide medical guidance for my family, neighbors, friends, and friends of friends - people with whom I did not have a relationship or even knew. Helping people is in my DNA and gives my life meaning and fulfillment.
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Formal Education
Tufts University School of Medicine, M.D., 1970
University of Colorado Medical Center, Surgical residency, 1970-1972
United States Air Force, Kirkland AFB, Medical Corp, Major - 1972-1974
University of California Medical Center, Head and Neck Surgical Residency, 1974-1978
Faith Experience
  • Judaism
Additional Skills
Preparing for and recovering from all types of surgical procedures is a special area of interest, having gone through many procedures personally. These include heart and/or vascular procedures, spine surgery, total joint replacement surgery (hip and knee), prostate surgery (for both benign and malignant [cancer] diseases). In addition, I have very broad knowledge of many chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic and lung diseases (COPD, Asthma), having written understandable and up-to-date patient education based on thorough peer-reviewed medical literature.
Professional Affiliations
Board Certification, Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, 1977
Elected Fellow of the American College of Surgery, 1981
Elected Fellow of the International College of Surgeons, 1983
Vice President, Clinical Care Quality, Good Samaritan Medical Foundation, 1993-1995
Senior Medical Director for Northern California, Blue Shield of California, 1995-2000
Chief Medical Officer, Sutter Health Partners, 2000-2003
HealthLoop, Senior Vice President, Clinical Content, 2014-2017
Conversa Health, Clinical Advisor and Content Specialist, 2017-2021
My Personal Advocate - Independent personalized advocacy - 2021 - present
Medical Appeal Experts (https://medicalappealexperts.com) - independent insurance denial assistance