Jeffrey Merz-Herrala, MD

Dr. Merz-Herrala is a physician in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Emergency Medicine. He provides care on UCSF’s acute pain service, in the pain clinic, and in the emergency department at San Francisco General Hospital, as well as at Bayfront Urgent Care.

He values continuity and collaboration to deliver accurate diagnoses, timely treatment, and coordinated multidisciplinary follow-up. His work integrates rehabilitation, pain pharmacy, pain psychology, and surgical teams when appropriate. He performs nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablations, epidurals, blood patches, neurolysis, and neuromodulation procedures, including placement of peripheral nerve stimulators.

Academically, he focuses on improving care quality and efficiency through system design, informatics, and the safe use of artificial intelligence. His goal is to extend evidence-based treatments to patients who would benefit most while reducing preventable suffering by supporting smooth care transitions across primary care, urgent care, the emergency department, and inpatient settings.