Privacy Policy

Interscope Pathology ("Interscope Pathology") is committed to your right to privacy. Below is information about the privacy and data collection practices for the Interscope Pathology web site with the URL: www.interscopepath.com.

You can visit www.interscopepath.com without telling us who you are or providing any information about yourself. Interscope Pathology only collects the information necessary to respond to your requests for information and/or when you wish to contact us via the following features "Order Supplies", "Contact Interscope Pathology" In these instances, Interscope Pathology may ask for your name, e-mail address, and other appropriate information needed to provide you with these services.

If you choose to give us personal information for any of the purposes above, this information is retained by Interscope Pathology and may be used by Interscope Pathology to support your customer relationship with us. However, Interscope Pathology does not share, rent, or sell its lists to other companies. You will always be able to ask us to remove your name from our mailing lists.

If you want to take your name off an Interscope Pathology mailing list, or wish to update your information (i.e. change your email address), you may do so at any time. Whenever you request, Interscope Pathology will remove your personal information from future emails made by Interscope Pathology. To request having your name removed from future emailing from Interscope Pathology, or to update your information, please let Interscope Pathology know by letter, telephone or email to the addresses or phone number listed below.

There are links to other websites in www.interscopepath.com. Other Internet sites and services have separate privacy and data collection practices. Once you leave www.interscopepath.com, Interscope Pathology has no control or responsibility over the privacy policies or data collection activities at another site. Furthermore, Interscope Pathology does not endorse or sponsor the sites to which it has established links.

Interscope Pathology may from time to time revise its privacy policy. To keep abreast of any such revisions, you should visit this page periodically for any updates. If you have any questions about our privacy policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with www.interscopepath.com you can write, phone or email us at the address below:

Interscope Pathology
21114 Vanowen Street
Canoga Park, CA. 91303

PHONE: (818) 992-7848

Professional Courtesy:

Great caution should be exercised in granting professional courtesy, either directly or in the form of a waiver of co-payments and deductibles. There are no clear-cut guidelines in this area, but pathologists who extend professional courtesy should be aware of several potential pitfalls.

The waiver of co-payments in cases of financial hardship is appropriate when the co-payment acts as a barrier to needed care. However, waiving co-payments or deductibles on a regular basis may be construed as misstating physician charges with implication for insurance fraud and abuse. The failure to regularly bill for co-payments or deductibles for a specific physician or group of physicians, or extending professional courtesy to a referring physician, may also be interpreted as an inducement for a referral and subject to civil penalties by Medicare and Medicaid. Moreover, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) allows for criminal sanctions and grants the Inspector General and the Attorney General the authority to investigate fraud and abuse in claims submitted to private health plans, as well as to government programs.

It is unlikely that the extending of professional courtesy on an isolated basis would be construed as fraudulent, but care and judgment should be exercised.

California Business and Professions Code 655.6

a) It is unlawful for any person licensed under this division or under any initiative act referred to in this division to charge, bill or otherwise solicit payment from any patient, client, customer, or third-party payer for cytologic services relating to the examination of gynecologic slides if those services were not rendered by that person or under his or her direct supervision.

b) Clinical laboratories performing cytologic examination of gynecologic slides shall directly bill either the patient or the responsible third-party payer for the cytologic services rendered by those laboratories. Clinical laboratories shall not bill the patient or surgeon who requests the tests.

c) For the purposes of this section, any person or entity who is responsible to pay for cytologic examination of gynecologic slide services provided to that patient shall be considered a responsible third-party payer.

d) This section shall not apply to any of the following:

1) Any person who, or any clinical laboratory that, contracts directly with a health care service plan licensed pursuant to
Section 1349 of the Health and Safety Code, if services are to be provided to members of the plan on a prepaid basis.

2) Any person who, or clinic that, provides cytologic examination of gynecologic slides services without charge to the patient, or on a sliding scale payment basis where the patient's charge for services is determined by the patient's ability to pay.

3) Health care programs operated by public entities, including, but not limited to, colleges and universities.

4) Health care programs operated by private educational institutions to serve the health care needs of their students.

5) Any person who, or clinic that, contracts with an employer to provide medical services to employees of the employer if the cytologic services relating to the examination of gynecologic slides are provided under the contract.