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  Vista Pathology, PC

  1032 E Jackson St Medford, OR 97504-7027

• 

  Vista Pathology, PC

  PO Box 1000 Medford, OR 97501-0071

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/20/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I saw a local dermatologist in early April of 2024. They sent a tissue sample to an outside lab (Vista Pathology). Sometime in mid-May I received by first billing statement from Vista for an amount of $785.83, which was at least double the amount of any lab charges I had ever received for such services in the past. I made multiple calls to their billing phone (the only number they give); those people were in *******. They were simply interested in me paying, and could/would not refer me to one of Vista's managers. They said I can contact my insurance company to see if they might cover more of the charges, but otherwise either pay them in full OR make 12 payments to pay it off in 1 year's time. After going back and forth with them by phone, i finally wrote a letter, dated and sent July 27 to a PO Box in ******* (where my payment would have gone to). I described my complaints and concerns about their charges. I proposed either sending them a 1 time payment in full if they would reduce the charges to $400, or making monthly payments of what I could reasonably afford to pay it off in full.They continued sending me statements, but never replied. In early October I called the billing office once again; they told me they had no record of my letter, so I copied the letter & re-sent it to the email I'd discovered hiding at the bottom of their statement.I again never heard back from them. Then I received a notice on 12/11 from Collect Northwest, who I called the next day to inform them I was filing a complaint against the creditor. I filed complaints with the *** and the OR **** of Justice ************ seems very unethical (and shoddy business practice) for Vista to have sent me to collections without even attempting to resolve this matter with me. Because my efforts were completely ignored, and because this business makes themselves extremely difficult to contact, I am reluctant to simply pay them what they are asking for, and I'm seeking your help in how to proceed.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/15/2025

  Good afternoon, 

  We have thoroughly researched and reviewed Mr. *********** complaint to the BBB. Thank you for allowing us to respond. We apologize that is has taken a few weeks, but the holidays tend to slow things down with people taking time off. 

  First, we want to express that it is not our intention to frustrate Mr. ********* and we apologize that this has been a drawn-out event for him. I have attached a complete history of our interactions with Mr. ********* via our billing company. Mr. ********* did access our normal route of communication seeking to learn more about his charges. I don't have any record of Mr. ********* contacting Vista Pathology's local number which is available via ****** and is clearly listed on our website. All communications were through our billing company and this is appropriate. Our billing company will also contact us when considering a financial assistance form. This is where the communication broke down. Mr. ********* was given a financial assistance form on 7/25/24, but unfortunately, per his letter from the 7/27/24, he refused to fill out the necessary information to access the form. Contrary to his opinion, the financial assistance form is not just to set up a payment plan. Those forms are sent to Vista Pathology so we can review the situation and decide if the financial hardship is warranted for further discount. He only needed to fill out the form so we could review. 
  
  On our end, someone from our billing company should have followed up with Mr. ********* after he sent his 7/27/24 letter. It is not a letter that I received, but our billing company was in possession of it. It may be that based on his options he listed at the end of his letter, that the billing company assumed he would just start making payments. If Mr. ********* will submit the financial assistance form, we will promptly review his request and I can pull him back from collections to resolve this matter. As explained to Mr. ********** much of this has to do with his insurance and his deductible not being met when the procedure was done. It would be beneficial to know if he ever contacted his insurance company to discuss his deductible. 
  
  Should Mr. ********* decide not to complete the financial assistance form, we can work out a payment plan for the current amount owed with a longer term than one year if that is a better option for him.  

  Thank you, 

  ******** ******, COO

  Vista Pathology Laboratory, LLC

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/19/2025

   
  Complaint: 22704756
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Ms ******** reply sounded very kind and straightforward. However, her attachment is misleading at times, and her reply fails to address some important details about my complaint.

  Firstly, her reply is greater than 50% dedicated to the topic of their financial assistance form. Her claim that I was "given a financial assistance form" is misleading; I was provided with a LINK so that I could access a form, which is very different. If I had the form itself I could have known about their guidelines (such as, perhaps, annual income that would qualify me) and whether or not I should make the effort of filling it out. But that form was inaccessible to me UNLESS I were to start entering personal information about myself. In this day & age, where online information can potentially be hacked and used nefariously by unscrupulous actors, offering such information just to SEE the form is not acceptable to me, which is the reason I did not even bother to access the form.

  The communications attachment including a summary of my dealings with their minimally helpful billing company is also deceiving. Firstly, I never told anyone that I'd planned on contacting my insurance to see if they would "reduce the deductible." I have never heard of any insurance company that would do that for a claim that is already being processed, by the mere request of the insured party. If anyone knows an insurer who would do something like this, please let me know so that I could obtain that company to provide my health coverage. What i DID tell them was that IF they would accept a 400 dollar payment, then  i would contact my insurer to let them know, so that they can update my 2024 deductible to reflect that I paid that amount, and NOT ****************************************** committing insurance fraud, and a call to them so that they could adjust the amount would have been very simple.

  Additionally, I did not receive a voicemail from ****** *******. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that she attempted to contact me. However, leaving someone a VM is not a proper way for a business to conduct themselves in a dispute such as this one. Vista has my mailing address, but chose NOT to send me an official written reply to my letter. They also have my email, but they chose NOT to send me a written letter electronically either. Even if Ms ******* felt it was appropriate to leave me a message on voicemail, one would assume that at the very least - if she never heard back from me - she would have made a 2nd attempt to contact me by phone. Sending me to collections with without a written response to my complaints AND after only a SINGLE attempt to contact me by phone seems (to me, anyways) at the very least a terribly shameful way to conduct oneself when doing business.

  Additionally, I am quoted as having told the billing company that I could pay 400 dollars "take it or leave it," which is unequivocally false. My offere was to pay them 400$ OR to pay off the entire balance little by little, and I clearly gave them the choice to decide which. It was THEIR billing company that told me a payment plan HAD to be paid off in 12 months time, which was financially unrealistic for me: if there were any ultimatums, they were made on the part of Vista, NOT by me. It sounds super generous for Ms ****** to now say that she is willing to set up a payment plan that has longer than a 12 month term, but NOBODY i ever spoke to (and it is VISTA's billing company, so Vista is responsible) that there was any other option but a one year payment plan (they in fact specifically told me that it was NOT an option).

  Most importantly of all, Ms ****** conveniently neglects to even make mention of the primary complaint I made in my letter, that being the proportionally absurd cost of their services, relative to any dermatology & laboratory services I have received in the past. The significance of this in my complaints completely outweighs any discussion being had about payment plans and insurance deductibles. Surely everyone is aware that prices of goods & services have inflated significantly over the past 5 years, but that is just as true for my dermatology provider as it is for Vista. As I had detailed in my letter to Vista, outside charges for lab testing in my past dermatology encounters have come out to approximately 25 to 45% of my total cost burden at the dermatologist. However, Vista's charges for a lab test this time was 100% of what I'd already paid for an office visit, a biopsy/procedure, AND in-house lab testing of that tissue sample. For an outside lab test to effectively DOUBLE my cost burden is something I have never seen before, and this makes me strongly question how ethical it is for a lab to basically be able to charge a consumer whatever they want, without the consumer having ANY say in the matter. I specifically asked them to tell me at what point they believed that I, as a consumer, might have the right to object. Maybe if they had charged me $1000 for this test? what about $1500 or $2000? Could they have charged me for a 2nd test, or for a consultation for a different doctor to look at the slide? At what point should I start assuming that there is something wrong with the picture, when outside labwork has in the past amounted to (at most) HALF of what I had to pay my dermatologist? The potential for fraudulent charging is readily apparent here, and at very least this relatively enormous amount was something that I could have at minimum just SPOKEN to someone about! However that opportunity was never given to me, and even now Ms ****** seems content to discuss any other matter which might support her case about how Vista has handled themselves with this claim, but she makes absolutely no mention of the amount they are trying to charge me. I believe this is ethically wrong and I strongly object to being treated in this manner, and I believe that asking to settle this matter for a reduced amount (that is more in-line with what tests of this type have cost me in the past) is completely appropriate.

  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *********

  Business Response

  Date: 01/31/2025

  I was able to have an open conversation via telephone with Mr. ********* today, 1/31/2025, at 3:45 pm. There are specific points I was able to discuss with Mr. ********* which are the following: 

  1. I explained to Mr. ********* the reason why his physician sent Mr. *********** specimen to Vista Pathology for a second opinion and the benefits of that second opinion. 

  2. I let him know the codes that we charged for, and that special stains were used to produce markers that give a more in-depth analysis of the specimen. 

  3. I then discussed with Mr. ********* how charges are determined. I pointed out that we charge the same CPT code fees to all payers. The payers then looks at what their fee schedule is and if we charged too high, then the insurer will pay the set amount in their fee schedule, and then we are told that we need to write off the difference, which we always do. The amount that is ultimately charged to Mr. *********** **** is the exact amount that his insurance company pays according to their fee schedule and completely explained on his ***. If fee schedules were provided for every insurer, we would be able to charge the exact amount on the insurer's fee schedule. The only difference is that we would not be asked to adjust any amounts off. 

  4. We also discussed that Mr. ********* does not qualify for Financial Hardship because we are not allowed to write off or lower deductible charges or co-insurance. If we were to do so, we would be in violation of our agreement with the insurer. It would not be right that the insurance company pays their part, but a patient does not pay their required deductible. 

  5. We discussed what I am able to do for Mr. ********** which is to authorize an extended payment plan. At this time, he was not willing to take on an extended payment plan. He stated that he is fine with staying in collections for the time being until he knows the outcome or the process with the BBB. I said that is fine, but the offer still stands should he ever want to take me up on it. 

  6. At this point we seemed to meet an impasse, and we ended the conversation in a cordial manner. I did let him know that I would submit my response now with the BBB, but I wanted to see if we could work it out first over the phone. 

  I tried to address all of Mr. *********** concerns, but there are some items that we cannot control - fee schedules for insurance companies, deductibles, and what other physicians in other specialties may charge.  

  If Mr. ********* wishes to contact me to discuss a payment plan, I can be reached at Vista Pathology at **************. 

  Please pardon grammatical errors - a 30-minute time limit to respond leaves little time to proof my work. 

  Sincerely, 

  ******** ******, COO

  Vista Pathology Laboratory LLC

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/10/2025

  I have tried to be reasonable in this dispute with Vista Pathology. The amount they charged me remains paramount in my complaint, but the manner in which they have conducted themselves has reached the point of me becoming far less willing to accept anything they say as factual truth.

  I offered to pay Vista a one-time sum of 400 dollars, which represents about one-half of the cost burden for my entire dermatology services from 3/27/2024. As I have detailed in previous communications, in about 5 past dermatology encounters that were almost identical to this one (office exam, tissue biopsy/procedure, and the dermatologist's lab fee), the additional outside lab charges - in one instance TWO outside labs tests were needed - equaled 25 to 45% of my cost burden at the dermatologist. With inflation and cost of living rising over the years, both the dermatologist's' and the outside lab's charges grew, but as a percentage of the dermatology encounter those outside lab charges have always been somewhere within that range. It is disingenuous for Vista to explain their fees by blaming inflation, since they are obviously not the only segment of our economy that has seen their costs rise. Furthermore, to this point NONE of Vista's agents have bothered to explain how it is possible that their ONE lab test charge has effectively doubled my cost burden, being only a few dollars short of what I'd paid the dermatologist for their services. All they have offered is something to the effect of "these are the prices that were negotiated with the insurers and what they are willing to pay." That sounds nice, but it is basically just saying that they will charge the maximum amount allowed by insurance. The only thing that is perfectly clear from such arguments is that there is obviously NOT any form of State consumer agency that sits-in on such price negotiations with health insurers. Their argument does not address the reasons for the outrageous discrepancy I've pointed out above; all it does is say that as long as the insurer agreed to it, they can charge whatever they want, consumer be damned.

  I had also offered to pay Vista the ENTIRE sum, but their billing agents clearly told me that they would NOT allow me to do so over a greater amount of time than what was being offered (12 months). So I wrote them my letter offering either the 400 dollar payment OR paying them off in a time frame that I could reasonably afford, based on my monthly income and my other normal expenses (only to never receive a reply). Once I realized I'd been taken to collections, I filed complaints about Vista's billing practices and their business conduct with the *** and the *********** of Justice, and then initiated this complaint through the BBB. Only once Vista was privy to my complaints is Ms ****** now willing to come back and offer me a payment plan that can extend beyond a 12 month period.

  That is clearly subterfuge; if a lengthier payment plan were indeed an option, why was I not offered that in the first place? That is a blatantly dishonest manner of dealing with a customer, telling me one thing originally, and then changing their tune later, only when it benefits them. It is a poor if not shameful way to conduct a business, it is frustrating as a consumer, and it served only to waste tons of my time, embitter me, and make me unwilling to succumb to Vista's demands. What's most ridiculous is that I would have been paying them off for the entire amount had they just originally accepted my offer to pay them more slowly, and this discussion would not even be happening right now.

  Given the manner in which Vista has conducted themselves, how would anyone be surprised that I am no longer motivated to agree to Ms. ******** offer to pay them off in greater than one year's time? But let me be clear: if it were only having been lied to or mislead about their payment plan terms, this would have been far less offensive to me. But it's gone well beyond that, because I've been dealt with poorly, misled, or misrepresented in a handful of other ways.

  1. In trying to defend themselves when I complained about their charges, Vista's billing agents told me that my dermatologist ordered the specific test: in other words, "complain to THEM, we just ran the test they asked for." So I consulted with my dermatologist's office, and after a number of calls I was finally able to determine that this was NOT at all true! In reality, the dermatologist sends the sample to the lab with the instruction "rule-out melanoma" and it is the lab that decides the tests that will be run. Is it okay for Vista to blatantly mislead me on the phone, telling me something that is unequivocally false? I think not.

  2. Vista sent me to collections after ONE single missed phone call to address my letter. That it took a manager a while to finally see this letter on their desk is inconsequential; once received, they made only one single attempt to contact me, by phone. They SHOULD have written me an email, or sent me a letter to my home address, but they did nothing officially of that sort. The COULD have attempted to call me a second time, but they did not. Most businesses would have made more of an effort to contact me officially & try to address my complaints, and I am guessing that most businesses might have at the very least notified the consumer about being sent to collections ("Mr ********** we have attempted to call you but you have not called us back. Please get a hold of us at this number and ask for this person so we can discuss your account, otherwise we will be forced to send you to collections"), even though they may not legally be obligated to do so. But all I ever received was one notification on my phone about a missed call from an unknown number (I get at least a few of those per day), and since the voicemail never came through I just waited & waited for Vista to reply to me... and the next thing I ever heard was from a collections agency! In all my years I have never experienced anything like this. It is lazy at best, but I would more appropriately describe this as a completely unprofessional way to run a business (but a great way to drive away customers).

  3. I was misrepresented in this forum as having given Vista and ultimatum of "400 dollars, take it or leave it," which was completely untrue. This is truthfully of little importance to my concerns, but it was somewhat insulting and it speaks to the pattern in which Vista has been dealing with my complaint.

  4. Vista and their agents have tried to steer this discussion to be about whether or not I filled out a financial assistance form, or what my insurance deductible might be, instead of acting honestly and actually addressing my complaint about the magnitude of their charges. Talking about these other things is simply distraction; it is not appreciated, and it again speaks to how they have conducted themselves in this matter.

  5. Finally and most recently, when actually addressing my complaint, Vista to this point has maintained that they are not allowed to reduce the charges, because either or all of the following: (a) the amount was already applied to my deductible. They suggested this cannot be undone, and that lowering the amount I pay would constitute insurance fraud, (b) my insurance (Regence) has already paid Vista their portion of the claim, and it would be unfair for them to have paid, but then for me not to pay my portion, and (c) they are legally not allowed to adjust my claim, because doing so would be "playing favorites."

  To address #5 above, I went ahead and called Regence, and they told me the following: they DID already pay Vista the amount of $116.43, leaving my portion at $785.83, the difference between the total amount Vista charged for this test (about $892) and the amount received from Regence. They clarified that there was nothing illegal, unethical, or wrong with a provider adjusting a claim, and that as long as Vista submitted a corrected claim, they had no problem with it. They told me that Regence would work out how or IF that corrected claim would affect the amount they paid Vista, and that they would contact me about how the corrected claim would affect my 2024 deductible and what I might owe them.

  I am not asking Vista to play favorites. This is a dispute about the amount they charged and how they have conducted themselves in this matter; I am not asking them to give me a break because I'm a nice guy. My dispute is based on the things that I have detailed in this letter, and to marginalize my complaint by describing it as me asking them to play favorites is yet another form of distraction.

  Without even considering Vista's dealings in this complaint, and ONLY considering the amount that Vista is asking I pay them, I say the following: just because an insurance company for whatever reason allows a company to charge an unprecedented amount for a single test, this does not make it right. We ALL pay for this as consumers, whether that be in the form of an insurance deductible OR a whopping monthly premium. I do believe that as a consumer I have the right to protest when a charge for services (which I had no control over, ie. I was not given the option of shopping different laboratory providers and what they charge for their particular services) is outrageously out of proportion to any and all similar lab tests that I have required in the past.

  I'm also arguing that I have even MORE of a right to protest & to ask for a reduction of charges based on how Vista has conducted themselves in this matter. They have demonstrated a clear pattern of deception (willful or otherwise), untruths & misrepresentations, distractions from the argument, telling me one thing and then changing it to something different later when it behooves them to do so, and sending me to collections without having officially responded to my complaints in writing. Vista's employees, such as Ms ******* get paid as managers to spend their time on the phone and write their replies on a forum such as this one. Meanwhile, because Vista was unwilling to agree to a payment plan that was reasonable for me, this whole mess has cost me dozens of unpaid hours (1) making calls (including time on-hold) to Vista's billing agents, Collect Northwest, Regence, my dermatology provider, and the various agencies I needed to contact, (2) investigating my rights as a consumer online, and (3) drafting and submitting my complaints against Vista, including my communications in this BBB forum. Instead of just originally negotiating a payment plan with me, and instead of being honest and straightforward with me from the start, Vista has played a shell game and communicated in a manner designed only to extract what they want from me, and their agents are more than happy to completely disregard their conduct as a business. That is not acceptable to me, nor should it be to anyone.

  I am once again offering Vista a $400 payment, which I believe is fair, being at the VERY TOP of the range that I've specified above. They should revise their charges and submit a corrected claim to Regence. I will certainly be owing Regence money in the end, so it's not as if I will be saving much (if anything) in this process. Despite that, for all of the reasons I've stated above, I believe that this is the most fair and appropriate way to proceed from here, despite my desire to pay them even less, since at this point I don't think they even deserve what I'm offering to pay them.

   

  Business Response

  Date: 02/21/2025

  Mr. *********, 

  We appreciate that this is a significant expense. As mentioned previously, we reviewed what was charged to your deductible and you were charged according to the fee schedule of your insurance company, and we adjusted off any amount that was more than your insurance company's fee schedule. The charge was appropriate. 

  In the interest of resolving this issue, we will accept a one-time adjustment of $400 payable over 12 months. We have withdrawn the previous bill and have rebilled your insurance company. You should receive a new invoice soon. 

  For the future, please be aware that when it comes to a diagnosis, your physician may feel the need to obtain a second opinion, and this does incur additional costs. 

  We consider this matter closed. 

  Thank you, 

  ******** ******

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/24/2025

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, so long as Vista remains true to it's word, as stated in their response.

  I appreciate Ms ******** willingness to settle this dispute in a fair manner. I am alarmed, however, that Ms ****** still considers the original charge to be appropriate; if that is true, then it represents an unprecedented inflation of what laboratories can bill for their services (as I have previously stated, I've had to pay for outside lab charges at least a handful of times over the past 25 years). This makes me strongly question whether I could ever again afford seeing a dermatologist, since they basically require you to agree to biopsies being sent out for additional opinions. That is incredibly sad, since early detection of skin cancer is a pretty important part of one's health care, and I can reasonably assume that I'm not the only person who'd had to endure a crisis such as this one.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/31/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I received a bill 12 months after knee replacement surgery in 9/2022. It was supposedly for pathology services provided by this lab. My doctor is unable to confirm that this is a valid charge. My insurance denied the charge, as my current insurance was not in force at the time of the surgery (it began in 01/2023). At the time of my surgery, I had met my annual out-of-pocket maximum, so I am not responsible for any charges. I wrote a letter and sent it with the bill to the laboratory, explaining that they needed to bill my insurance at the time (Regence) and gave them the insurance policy number and other pertinent information. Today, 10/24/23, I received another bill from them. I want them to stop harassing me and bill my insurance that was in effect at the time, if this is even a valid charge. I have no idea why it took them a year to bill this it the first place.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2024

  After researching information on this patient complaint, there were two DOS. The first DOS was 9/22/2022 and the second DOS was 2/22/2023. We received the insurance update for the encounter on 2/23/2023 and billed the 2/23/2023 DOS with the updated information. We then also billed the 9/22/2022 DOS with the new insurance update. The insurance did not pay, there was only a $14.00 balance and we adjusted it off. There is no remaining patient balance on the 9/22/2022 DOS. The patient's insurance paid the 2/22/2023 DOS. There are no remaining balances. 

  Please note: It is possible that the charges in question could be from the place where the knee procedure was performed. We would need to see a copy of the invoice she has in question. There are two billing components for pathology: 1) Technical charges (preparation of the specimen to be read by a pathologist) and 2) a professional component charge (physician reading the results). Sometimes, if the procedure is done at a hospital - they will perform the technical portion and bill the patient. They will then enlist the services of one of our pathologists to determine the results and Vista will bill for the professional component. There is always a technical component and professional component attached to a pathology case. 

  The bottom line for Vista Pathology is that the patient has a zero balance with us and does not owe anything to Vista. Please let me know if we need to pursue anything further in this case. 

  Respectfully, 

  *****************************, COO

  Vista Pathology Laboratory LLC