Legal
Vella Method ("we," "our," or "us") is owned and operated by Brandie Baier, FNP-C, MSN, a licensed nurse practitioner in the State of Arizona. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal and health information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you visit vellamethod.com, contact our practice, or schedule services with us.
As a healthcare practice operating in Arizona, we comply with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Arizona Medical Records Confidentiality statute (A.R.S. § 12-2292), the Arizona Data Breach Notification Law (A.R.S. § 18-552), and other applicable federal and state laws.
We collect information you voluntarily provide, as well as limited technical information collected automatically when you visit our website.
Any health information you provide through our online booking and intake system, during a consultation, or in the course of receiving care is considered Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA and is subject to additional protections under both federal and Arizona law.
Arizona Law
Under Arizona law, all medical records and payment records are privileged and confidential. We may only disclose your medical records as authorized by state or federal law, or with your written authorization.
PHI is handled in compliance with HIPAA's Privacy and Security Rules. For full details on how we use and disclose PHI and the rights you have regarding your health information, please review our Notice of Privacy Practices.
We use Aesthetic Record, a HIPAA-compliant practice management and electronic medical records platform built specifically for aesthetic and regenerative medicine practices, to manage online booking, patient intake, scheduling, clinical documentation, and patient communications.
Aesthetic Record functions as our HIPAA Business Associate, meaning it is contractually and legally obligated under a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to safeguard your PHI in accordance with HIPAA's Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules.
Information you submit through Aesthetic Record's booking and intake forms is transmitted using encryption and stored on Aesthetic Record's secure, HIPAA-compliant servers. We encourage you to review Aesthetic Record's own privacy practices for additional detail on their data handling.
We use the information we collect to:
We do not sell your personal information. We disclose information only as follows:
As permitted by HIPAA, we may use and disclose PHI for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Details are provided in our Notice of Privacy Practices.
We share information with vendors who perform services on our behalf and who have signed Business Associate Agreements requiring them to safeguard PHI in accordance with HIPAA. These include our EMR/practice management platform (Aesthetic Record), our payment processor, our website host, and similar service providers.
We may disclose information when required by court order, subpoena, public health reporting requirements, mandatory reporting laws (such as suspected abuse or neglect), or other lawful process under federal or Arizona law.
We will not disclose your medical records or PHI for any other purpose without your written authorization, as required by A.R.S. § 12-2292 and HIPAA.
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to function properly and to understand how visitors use the site. We are committed to keeping these tools strictly limited and HIPAA-conscious.
If we use website analytics, we configure them to avoid the collection of any information that could be used to identify you in connection with your health, treatment, or appointments. We do not place tracking pixels (such as Meta Pixel, Google Ads conversion pixels, or similar) on pages where you provide health information, and we do not transmit health-related data to third-party advertising platforms.
You may control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect website functionality.
We implement reasonable administrative, physical, and technical safeguards designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your information, consistent with HIPAA's Security Rule and the security obligations imposed under A.R.S. § 18-552. These safeguards include:
No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
In the event of a breach involving your unsecured personal information or PHI, we will provide notification in accordance with applicable federal and Arizona law.
Arizona Law
Arizona requires notification of affected individuals within 45 days of determining that a breach has occurred. As a HIPAA-covered healthcare practice, we also comply with HIPAA's Breach Notification Rule, which requires notification of affected individuals without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 days after discovery, with additional notification to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
If you believe your information may have been compromised, please contact us immediately using the information at the end of this policy.
You have rights regarding your information, including:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the information below. We will not retaliate against you for exercising your rights.
Our website and services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through our website. We do not market to children. If you believe a child has provided us with information through the website, please contact us so we can address it.
Our website may contain links to third-party websites and services, including Aesthetic Record (booking) and Cherry (financing). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before submitting information.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or applicable law. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise any of your rights, or believe your privacy has been compromised, please contact us:
Brandie Baier, FNP-C, MSN — Privacy Officer
Scottsdale & Mesa, Arizona
Phone: (602) 510-1274
Email: Brandie@vellamethod.com
You also have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at www.hhs.gov/ocr, or with the Arizona Attorney General's Office at www.azag.gov.