How Vial Works
Vial aggregates public federal, state, and regulatory records to generate independent Trust Scores for longevity and wellness providers. Here's what we check and how.
How we score
Provisional vs canonical scores
Some providers wear a Provisionalbadge on their Trust Score. That's our way of saying we've done a first-pass read but haven't finished the deep scan yet.
A provisional score is built from a provider's website and public business records. It's useful as a starting point, but it hasn't been run through Vial's canonical scan. That scan pulls thousands of signals from major federal and state agencies such as the FDA, OIG, DEA, and NPI, to name a few, plus pharmacy partner verification through LegitScript and PCAB.
A canonical score has been validated against all of those. When the scan finishes successfully, the Provisional badge comes off and the score gets two pieces of metadata: Score Confidence (how much underlying data supports the number) and Score Updated At (when we last checked against public records).
We show provisional scores instead of hiding them because a partial signal beats a blank profile. If a provider has no physician on record and no named pharmacy partner, that's worth knowing before you sign up. The badge tells you which scores we're still verifying.
We are independent.
Vial does not accept payment to improve provider scores. Providers cannot buy a higher Trust Score. Our methodology is applied equally to every provider in our directory. The Trust Score is never for sale.
Sources
Primary Verification Sources: FDA, OIG, NPI, DEA, PCAB, HIPAA
Used to validate provider legitimacy, licensure, regulatory standing, and operational history.
Signals
Supplementary Transparency Signals
Used to assess operational transparency and consumer-facing practices. These signals supplement but do not replace primary verification data.
Scoring
How Vial Calculates Trust Scores
Strong compliance signals across multiple verification categories
Meets core verification standards with some gaps
Limited compliance data available or gaps in key categories
Insufficient verification data or grey market classification
Each provider is evaluated across multiple compliance signals spanning federal registration, enforcement history, accreditation, data breach history, federal exclusion status, business reputation, and domain longevity.
Signals are weighted by severity and recency. Negative signals — such as active federal enforcement actions or OIG exclusions — carry significantly more weight than supplementary signals. The absence of a public record does not necessarily indicate provider risk.
Not all signals contribute equally to Trust Scores. Automated analysis is supplemented by periodic manual evaluation and provider-submitted corrections.
Limits
What Vial Does Not Do: Limits of Public-Record Verification
Vial does not independently audit providers, conduct physical inspections, or issue certifications. All data is sourced from publicly available federal, state, and third-party records. A high Trust Score reflects strong public compliance signals - it is not a guarantee of quality or safety. Always consult with a healthcare professional before beginning any protocol.
Corrections
Provider Corrections & Appeals
Providers may submit corrections or supporting documentation for review via the verification process. Submission does not guarantee score changes. Vial reserves the right to maintain scores based on publicly available data.
Review
Human Evaluation
Automated data collection and scoring is supplemented by periodic manual evaluation. Providers who have claimed their profile may flag data inaccuracies for human evaluation.
Classification
Market Tiers
Every provider in the directory is assigned a market tier that reflects their regulatory posture.
Providers operating within FDA-approved frameworks. Prescriptions issued by licensed physicians. Compounds dispensed by licensed pharmacies. Subject to state and federal oversight.
Vendors selling compounds labeled "research use only" without physician oversight. Not FDA-approved for human consumption. Included in our directory for transparency and consumer education.
Have questions about our methodology?
We're committed to transparency. Reach out and we'll explain our reasoning.
corrections@getvial.com