Felix Chen's Online Review Report Card

Ive been seeing Dr. Chen for about a decade, initially consulting him about a lumbar issue. Since then, as Ive grown older Ive racked up a host of other pain conditions, too many and complex to enumerate hereand hes helped me navigate every single one. He has helped me with the usual diagnoses and medication prescriptions/management, and also performed lumbar and cervical facet joint and epidural injections, and nerve blocksoffice and hospital procedures. What I especially appreciate about him: about my multiple coexisting intersecting pain conditions and diseases, he doesnt compartmentalize, piecemeal, or get myopiche steps back and see the bigger picture, and somehow appreciates the enormous difficulty living with all this. He gets the dramatic impact of mobility impairment, and was proactive about referring me to a PT and OT, both of which I benefited from. Hes very thorough, super competent and experienced, deeply invested in treatment outcome, with rich expertise. Every single procedure Ive done with him has been successful with zero complications. There are many physicians out there, and Ive gone around that medical block, been the object of authoritarian egoridden physicians accusations of malingering and the rest. Dr. Chen is the opposite. He is remarkably open and without ego, very warm and caring. Every single office visit I know that Ill be able to go over my concerns and needs, know that hell genuinely listen and come up with a plan of action, a strategy which will give me hope. In my world of relentless chronic pain, hope is my only currency. I live on hopeand he intuits this with ease. He never goes through the motions, never phones it in. He shows up with his wholehearted gentle presence and kind heart. He is empathetic and understanding, unfailingly sensitive. Hes unusually humble and open to my input, e.g. when I come in with an idea for an off label med, hes willing to try it. I also appreciate that he knows and trusts me and my intentions, e.g. doesnt automatically put me in the bin of a drugseeking patient, as doctors have default done in the past. He seems to get that I was that nerdy, squeaky clean high school kid. When I first began to see him, I had only two medical conditions, and was consulting with him for one of them. My health issues have increased in chronicity and severity, and he has never once made me feel as if if was becoming too much for him to deal with, never once intimated that he was overwhelmed with my complexity ... and though Ive become exhausted, he has been the epitome of professional aplomb. Btw., he has a penchant for educating the patient, e.g. whenever I see him, for whatever condition, hell show me my MRI, Xray, or model of the spine ... and explain in infinitesimal detail whatevers wrong with me. Its important to him that I understand what it is thats going on, what procedure hes about to do, the mechanics and process of it. Frankly, at this point, I humor him and listen ... because Im so exhausted and overwhelmed, I no longer care about the detailsmy attitude is, please, just fix me already :) I also have difficulty visualizing three dimensional space and forget the medical jargon. But I do appreciate his efforts to explain, and after all these years, I do think some of it has sunk in, lol. His communique is excellent, e.g. every time Ive emailed him with a question or concern (sometimes from out of the country), he responded in a timely fashion. About scheduling, because hes in high demand, its hard to get a quick appointment; I schedule months in advance. But this is something Ive come to accept, because I know it will be worth my while to wait and when I do go into see him, he will not be rushed and try to get me out of there in 10 minutes. He actively engagesthis is sadly uncommon in medicine these days. He actually listens and bases his response on what I sayhe takes in data I give and composes a suitable strategy on the input his getting. What a concept, huh? This is something I feel like celebrating, because it feels so great :) His assistant, Adriana, I also love: shes warm, caring, and solicitous, on the ball and always efficiently scheduling surgeries. Shes been working with him for many years and knows his processthey make a terrific team, and Im thrilled that she migrated with him after he moved from his private practice in San Mateo. Theyre now at Mills in Burlingame, where theres tons of free parking conveniently in front of the clinic (you dont need parking validation). The hospital/clinic follows the usual COVID protocols of checking temperatures, requiring hand sanitizer, and fresh masks. If I could give six stars here: I lucked out when I first stepped into his office. Im beyond grateful and thankful I get to be a patient of his. Dr. Felix Chen is a rare quality human being where he gives much of himself, and the planet is a better place for him existing.

Dr. Chen found a diagnosis for the pain in my hip and back when no one else could. I am forever grateful to him. He is professional and personable. It takes a while to get your first appointment, but do it. He is worth the wait. A rare find in the pain field.His nurse is also pleasant and accommodating.

This review has been removed for violating our Terms of Service

My experience with this doctor and his staff, Adriana in particular has been overwhelmingly positive. It takes a special kind off man to make a choice to work with people who are suffering debilitating pain and work to find them partial or whole relief and a better quality of life. Dr Chen truly listens and his office staff, including the wonderful Adriana are efficient, effective and partIcularly caring individuals. Who clearly  communicate and work as a team. My back is NOT better. Its fractured, Ive got lumbar disc degeneration. Im basically a barely walking  disaster. The pain is unbearable. Im waiting impatiently for epidural cortisone injection number 2 and looking forward (not at all) to anterior and posterior fusion surgery. I need to first find a neurosurgeon who I feel comfortable with and trust, the way I trust Dr. Chen with my pain management. Not an easy task. The medical system is so broken and dont get me started on insurance companies. The best that anyone can hope for is to find altruistic people who happen to practice medicine. They are few and far between, especially in the  surgical specialties(full disclosure my ex husband  is an orthopedic surgeon). Even doctors who start out with intention to help people, are highly deincentivized by the companies that monitor their practices. Dr CHen treats the whole person and will go out of  his way  to  follow up, check in and think outside the box. Adriana and Dr. Chen worked with me to help me manage working with pain, future travel plans, a temporary handicap placard and the right  pharmaceutical protocol. It makes me sad to read negative reviews about Felix Chens office staff. My experience with them, is that they go far above and beyond their job description to guarantee patient satisfaction. Im difficult to  deal with when my pain flares up ( ask my teenagers) and my guess is that most of Dr. Chens patients are crabby and grumpy and in a lot of pain too. The world needs more  competent,kind  physicians and medical support staff who are there to help people who badly need help to return to the quality of life tHat they had  before their neurological issues began. This doctor is one of the best!

I have seen him twice and am very impressed.  He is patient, he listens and does not rush.  He seems genuinely concerned with my condition and in finding the best solution.

I was referred to Dr. Chen after being “fired” by a neurologist that I had been seeing for years. I didn’t know what to expect and was very apprehensive because I was on a very high dose of medication and had received disdain from many doctors. Dr Chen was very approachable and understanding yet professional. He listened to everything that I said and read my file, he accepted my condition and agreed to take me on as a patient. I have been under his care for a couple of years now and am very happy and grateful for him and his staff. They have literally saved my life with their care and understanding. R.A. In San Mateo.

I am only giving one star because the neck procedure I was scheduled for 6 months ago did not happen today as planned. I was there on time and went through the whole preop nurse thing and she was surprised to find out that I had taken Ibuprofen the day before. I received a call from an (855) number that I did not recognize on Friday May 31st asking me all these name, insurance, and birthday questions without really identifying himself. As a matter of fact, the first time he called there was dead air so long after I said Hello that I hung up the phone thinking it was a robocall. He called back and still waited a long time to respond to my HelloI did not feel comfortable giving him all my info over the phone so I asked him to please have someone call me directly from Doctor Chens office. I finally heard back from someone in the office on June 3rd reminding me to bring ID and proof of insurance from a phone number that came up on my phone as Breast Center Radiology. I asked if this was actually from my Doctors office and they said yes. I asked if a preop nurse was going to call me to go over how to prepare for the procedure. I was told yes and never heard from anyone. I did ask this same person before hanging up if it was OK to use Advil before my procedure and was told since I was not going under general anesthesia that it would be OK. Since I have had a lot of pain in my neck, I was grateful to be able to take my usual 4 Advil before bed. When I went in I also had a couple of sips of coffee before my procedure thinking it was not a big deal as I have had numerous cortisone shots in my knees, and foot before without any worries about an empty stomach or Advil. I guess I forgot the paper they gave me 6 months prior in December 2018 that went over the instructions. I still think it would make sense for a good back office in a Doctors office to send SOME type of reminder via email, text, or even phone call a week before considering how busy he is and the fact that I had to wait 6 months for this appointment. Dr. Chen seemed genuinely upset that he was unable to help me and apologized however this is not acceptable to me and I am sure most people after waiting 6 months with NO communication from the Doctors office until the afternoon before would be upset. I called his office and he is out and the Receptionist took a message as he is probably out all day in surgery but he should have had the schedulers call me immediately after this botched appointment to reschedule ASAP, especially since I told him I do not want to wait another 6 months!UpdateDr Feliz Chen just called me personally to reschedule my procedure for a week from today and got me a prescription for steroids to last me until next Tuesday. My faith in man has been restored. Dr Chen was most gracious and apologetic. Thank you Dr. Chen!

I have seen many doctors concerning ongoing neck issues over the past few years.  I just have to say that Dr. Chen was very thorough and took his time to find out what was going on with me and gave me several good options to help me.  I really was not expecting too much considering I have seen many doctors but was pleasantly surprised and worth the 2 month wait to get this appointment.His office staff was very helpful and patient with me even though I was running late.  I am glad I found this doctor and look forward to a long term relationship to help me manage my neck issues.

Doctor Felix Chen has been treating me for many years. He is very patient, kind and has a great bedside manner. Dr. Chen will listen without rushing you out the door & and is very knowledgeable! He has performed several procedures on me, all very successful. Because of his outstanding service he is difficult to get an appointment with, but definitely worth the time.

I am skeptical of some of the medical professionals who seem not to really care about their patients, showing little patience and empathy.  I did not know what to expect for my first visit with Dr. Chen despite having seen his outstanding reviews on Yelp and elsewhere.All I can say is that I agree wholeheartedly with other reviewers about their compliments for Dr. Chen.  Dr. Chen is truly the very best kind of medical doctors that anyone can hope for.  He listened to my mumbling descriptions and complaints with patience, studied my records and made an accurate diagnosis (different from the one by a different doctor), then spent quality time explaining to me about my problems and possible coping strategies.  He discussed (I mean discuss not prescribe) a number of measures for both shortterm remedy and longterm healing.  I walked out of the clinic feeling better physically, and more so, mentally.  That is healing.He is congenial and thoughtful, with the ability putting people to ease.  I believe he genuinely cares about his patients, a quality, a virtue really, that, in my opinion, is the highest attainment for the medical profession.  Oh by the way, I saw Dr. Chen has a Ph. D., too, which means he knows and perhaps does research!I observed the clinic staff as being quite professional and effective.  I had no issue with them whatsoever.  A medical doctor with both topnotch expertise and embracing sincerity is extremely hard to find and retain nowadays.  I am lucky, like the rest of his patients, to have been taken care by Dr. Felix Chen.