Palo Alto Pathology

This place PURPOSELY bills with codes that the customer will have to pay instead with codes that will process through your insurance as preventative care. They are a complete and total SCAM. This is because they get more money if they are allowed to charge the full amount for lab rather than what the insurance will cap it off at. This is a horrible excuse for a business and I’m sure what they are doing is ILLEGAL.
Don’t get scammed by them!!!

Received a bill and tried to call to ask questions but it just rings. If they r closed I wouldn’t know bcuz there’s no voice message it just rings. The statement doesn’t show business hours either.

I agree, their billing department is pretty primitive. Its 2015, and not being able to pay online is ridiculous. I tried to pay with my CC over the phone, but they don’t do that either. I have to mail in a check. I don’t even own checks.

Definitely 1 or 2 stars for whoever works in the billing department because all these reviews are clearly billing issues. Anyway. I had the same issue – went in for a preventative exam and got slapped with a huge bill from Palo Alto Pathology, which I paid for. After doing more research and talking with my insurance company, I called PAP to have them re-​bill my visit as a preventive exam so that my insurance could reimburse them and so they could issue me a refund.
I was really nervous that it wouldn’t work due to all the terrible reviews but I spoke with Heather and she was very straightforward and helpful. She told me they’d take care of it and to give them a few weeks. I called back a few weeks later and she told me that they did receive the payment and that a refund check would be issued to me within the next few days. Easy and simple.
The four star rating is purely for the front staff who have to deal with all the billing/​coding/​payment calls they must get.
PLEASE hire a competent biller/​coder though. I’m gonna guess that 99% of these reviews would disappear if that part was just done correctly.

Similar to most of the reviewers here, I have had several issues with coding. I have called Palo Alto Pathology several times, and so has my insurance company, and they have failed to update the coding to what my insurance company needs in order to cover my preventative exam. My insurance company has told me several times that they have failed to use modifiers or identifiers to show that these labs were preventative. After talking with Justin and several others– they have continually told me they would get these claims fixed, but failed to do so. My doctor even called to have two of the exams removed, and after Justin told me they would be, he failed to do that too. Palo Alto Pathology is the worst and I would avoid them, and any company that uses them as a lab. The worst service I have ever encountered.

A few months back my doctors office was being completely rude and unhelpful in getting a bill covered through my insurance. They just kept telling me that they can’t do anything and that they don’t know why I’m asking for help. I reached out to Heather and she got my bill covered for me and was extremely helpful/​pleasant. She even followed up with me to let me know that status of my bill once it had been fully processed.
Thank you for such great customer service Heather!

I agree 100% with John’s review. Heather needs to quit her job if she hates it. How is it fair to have her pass on her bad mood to customers?
I had a preventive visit at my doctor (which obviously is covered at 100%, this is common sense) back in May. I have called numerous times to my doctor’s office, palo alto pathology (lab work) and united healthcare and EVERY SINGLE PERSON that I spoke to said that I will not have to pay. United Healthcare has mentioned that Palo Alto Pathology has submitted claims to them 3 different times, ALL with the wrong codes. How incompetent is that?
And guess what, I got another bill today! I called the Palo Alto Pathology office again, and Heather told me that United Healthcare said that I have to pay a deductible. Deductibles don’t apply to preventive care Heather. I was trying to be nice and stuff, since people tend to work better for you if you are nice, but what I got was her hanging up on me.
Seriously, Heather, can you please quit your job? I have already paid an extra $ 200 3 years ago for the same mistake (which, by the way, I wasn’t aware that I actually did not have to pay that amount until my DOCTOR at Women Caring for Women told me that I shouldn’t have paid).
Sorry if this review doesn’t make sense, it just amazes me how incompetent the staff here is and how they still get paid for not doing their job. There goes my rant, and I guess I should call UHC again and be put on hold for another 3 hours.

Earlier today i went into the Palo Alto Pathology office to make a payment and right when i entered the door everyone was very nice and helpful. I had an issue with my insurance and instead of rolling their eyes and blowing it off like any other over worked and under paid employee would do, Debbie, Yolanda, and Heather all worked together to figure out what the issue was and they were able to get my issue sorted out. Nothing like fast and honest people helping you how ever they can.

My doctor sent my lab to this place in which I received a bill from them. I did not understand the bill so I called them up curious about why I was being charged. In my 25+ years of speaking with medical professionals I have NEVER encountered such a RUDE woman on the phone.
I asked the simple «I don’t understand this bill, do you need payment» so she goes on about some code and they need to re-​code it because some other thing was coded wrong etc… All I want to know is. DO I NEED TO PAY THIS BILL? Not which code is wrong, or why the code is wrong, or which code they should have used. So I didn’t understand so I asked again. do you need me to pay or should I wait for another bill? and I kid you not the woman says to me «I DON’T THINK YOU’RE LISTENING TO ME!» you have to be kidding me. I have never been spoken to like this, ever in my entire
blood is starting to boil as I think about this lady as I write this.
So I asked to speak to her manager. The manager was much nicer but she also used the «This code is wrong etc.» and I was like «Hey, do I need to pay this?! Or shall I wait for another bill that is all I need to know?» and finally she said «Just wait for another bill in the mail, this one is wrong» Done, that’s all I needed, thank you.
The staff here needs to realize you are talking to people who DO NOT WORK IN THE MEDICAL FIELD. I do not understand your technical terms, so please just talk to me normally. Also, you guys mess up, a lot. Apparently you code things wrong, so then us the patients have to take time out of our day to call your RUDE staff and deal with them. Also, your staff lacks good customer service. You are in the customer service field, do not be blatantly rude to people! This is not rocket science here people…
To the manager, your staff needs a wake up call, look at all your reviews, they are terrible!

My gynecologist had sent my routine pap to Palo Alto Pathology and I was surprised to receive a bill for 104.00 in the mail. I then called to tell them that this was my annual routine pap which should be 100percent covered by my insurance. A pretty uninterested woman on the other end told me she would have it adjusted. Which they did do however when I compared notes with my friend who happened to schedule her annual pap on the same day as mine with the same doctor and the same lab, guess what? She too was billed 300.00 for a routine pap by this lab. It seems they may be in the habit of coding their bills incorrectly. My own insurance told me that the bill was coded as non routine so that’s why I still owed a portion. I gave two stars to be fair only because they did send a corrected bill to my insurance company after I brought it to their attention.

I’m sorry to hear about the past reviews, but I just called PAPI, and Debbie was really helpful! She took my credit card information over the phone. It was quick and easy. So PAPI was behind the times for a while. Give them another chance.

I never wrote a single complaint on Unilocal but this one is surely worth it.
I just received a bill from Palo Alto Pathology in an OPENED envelope. My roommate accidentally opened it and now know all the details about my tests. It is UNACCEPTABLE! Who knows how many others could view the letter. It is enough to make a case.
Make sure to talk to your doctor to use other services. I wrote them an angry letter and will see how they are going to handle it.

I couldn’t figure out why the billing department never returned my calls. Now I know it’s because they don’t accept payment over the phone and you actually have to mail in a check. That wouldn’t be so annoying if it was clearly stated on the bill so I didn’t waste my time trying to get someone on the phone for a week.
So, dear billing department, PLEASE (for your sanity and everyone else’s) clearly notate on your statements that CREDIT CARDS ARE NOT ACCEPTED, CHECK OR MONEY ORDERS ONLY and I bet you’ll have a lot less of the negative conversations I’m sure your department has on a daily basis. What a ridiculous and antiquated process!

Every time my doctor sends my lab work to the Palo Alto Pathology Inc. I always end up having problems with my insurance. I pay for PPO insurance, and expected my insurance to pay for the intire bill, I should only be paying $ 25 for copayment. I had a follow-​up visit to my annual, but because of the way the clinic billed my insurance I was billed a $ 630 bill for the two visits. I then proceeded to call my insurance, since the Palo Alto Pathology lab was of no help, my insurance then told me they would correct the bill and to not pay, that the total amount billed to me should only be $ 52. I finally received the adjusted bill and to my suprised, the lab is still billing me $ 230 dollars. Last time I dealt with this lab it took me almost a year to resolve, I have already wasted 4 months of communicating with them and my insurance, and I’m not done. Needless to say, avoid dealing with this lab. It’s gotten to a point where I’m going to have to switch doctors if this is their preferred lab, although I like the office of Nadine Graven, I cannot deal with this lab again.

Would give zero stars if I could. Getting pestered about a $ 25 bill for which they will ONLY accept a check or money order. RIGHT… NO way to pay using my HSA Visa. SO frustrating. When I called, I was told that I could ORDER checks from my HSA account. Amazing.

In a day and age when Medical groups have a hard time collecting payments, I find it baffling that this group was UNWILLING/​UNABLE to accept payment by credit card. They only accept checks or money orders. Is this 1982? I haven’t dealt with a Provider who didn’t offer the option of paying over the phone in at least a decade. I wonder how much time they waste chasing payments when they could make it so easy for everyone.

The only lab/​medical office i have ever been to who doesnt except any major credit cards/​debit cards ! What is the point of having a HSA if I cant make a payment with it. They only except checks /​cash/​or a money order. Please tell me who freaking has time to go get money out of my HSA account then get a money order then mail/​drop off a payment. These ppl can sue me for 71.00! My time is worth more than this and yes i finally made a Unilocal acct just to give this company a piece of my mind!

Stay away from Palo Alto Pathology… Their customer service is so poor especially in the billing department. Rude and not helpful at all. Ask you doctor to send your lab work to a different lab.