- Figure 1 is a free knowledge-sharing app that allows medical practitioners to post pictures of their patients and receive real-time advice on diagnosis/treatment options.
- Specialists can provide information about their unique fields, students can learn about rare cases, and all medical practitioners can be exposed to innovative methods of treatments through the online platform.
- Patients are protected by the removal of all identifying information in compliance with privacy laws around the world.
- Figure 1 is used by millions of users in over 190 countries and has helped many patients receive faster, more accurate, and specialized care.
- The app has been called “Instagram for doctors” by the media.
Summary
Figure 1 is a free knowledge-sharing app that allows doctors to share knowledge globally. It was co-founded by Dr. Joshua Landy, Gregory Levey, and Richard Penner in 2013 with a mission to “empower all healthcare professionals to achieve clinical mastery by learning from one another.” The online platform has the largest active network of medical professionals in the world. Each user can post cases of their patients (after removing all identifying information) in order to crowd-source information about potential diagnoses/treatments. This is especially useful when medical professionals are unsure how to proceed or would like a second opinion from a specialist in their field. Other practitioners can provide real-time insight and advice by commenting on cases. The platform is used to make healthcare practitioners smarter, but not in a traditional, textbook-knowledge sense. Instead, Dr. Landy emphasizes the importance of accessing “know-how” in a given moment when diagnosis and treatment are urgent.
The app also allows healthcare practitioners to learn more about innovative technology and treatments. By scrolling through cases and reading comments from other professionals, they are exposed to new methods of care. This knowledge may pique their curiosity and help improve their practice. Figure 1 also allows medical students to analyze and learn from cases they would otherwise not be able to see. In this regard, the app serves as an educational tool for students and professionals, exposing them to rare and specialized cases.
Dr. Landy was inspired to create Figure 1 because many doctors already send emails to colleagues or post on Facebook when they encounter unique cases that fascinate them. Figure 1 allows similar learning through a more confidential, streamlined platform.
Analysis
Applications of Figure 1
Summary
Figure 1 is a free knowledge-sharing app that allows doctors to share knowledge globally. It was co-founded by Dr. Joshua Landy, Gregory Levey, and Richard Penner in 2013 with a mission to “empower all healthcare professionals to achieve clinical mastery by learning from one another.” The online platform has the largest active network of medical professionals in the world. Each user can post cases of their patients (after removing all identifying information) in order to crowd-source information about potential diagnoses/treatments. This is especially useful when medical professionals are unsure how to proceed or would like a second opinion from a specialist in their field. Other practitioners can provide real-time insight and advice by commenting on cases. The platform is used to make healthcare practitioners smarter, but not in a traditional, textbook-knowledge sense. Instead, Dr. Landy emphasizes the importance of accessing “know-how” in a given moment when diagnosis and treatment are urgent.
The app also allows healthcare practitioners to learn more about innovative technology and treatments. By scrolling through cases and reading comments from other professionals, they are exposed to new methods of care. This knowledge may pique their curiosity and help improve their practice. Figure 1 also allows medical students to analyze and learn from cases they would otherwise not be able to see. In this regard, the app serves as an educational tool for students and professionals, exposing them to rare and specialized cases.
Dr. Landy was inspired to create Figure 1 because many doctors already send emails to colleagues or post on Facebook when they encounter unique cases that fascinate them. Figure 1 allows similar learning through a more confidential, streamlined platform.
Analysis
Applications of Figure 1
The potential uses of Figure 1 are vast. In our highly connected world, there is no reason that doctors in the most underserved regions of the world cannot connect with specialized healthcare professionals who have the resources to help provide care. Dr. Landy states, “We have users in the military, in the jungle, and in refugee camps.” For example, Dr. Rogy Masri, a volunteer for Doctors Without Borders in northern Lebanon, uploaded a picture of a patient in a Syrian refugee camp with a skin lesion to Figure 1. Masri, who is not a dermatologist, sought help from his colleagues worldwide, and received immediate advice on the diagnosis.[1] Similar circumstances allowed doctors to virtually diagnose a rare rash among fishermen in Alaska as well as draw a picture of a child’s heart complication described by a nurse on Figure 1.[2] Knowledge-sharing apps like this one have the ability to vastly change the way we provide and manage healthcare, especially for underserved communities.
Challenges in telemedicine
One of the biggest challenges in telemedicine is ensuring patient privacy,[3] but the team at Figure 1 has addressed this in a variety of ways. Before healthcare practitioners upload cases, they must receive patient consent (subject to their jurisdictional and institutional guidelines). The team specifies in their Community Guidelines that users should “apply the same ethical principles you use in your practice to what you post.”[4]Figure 1 also has a Content Policy for Users, which specifies that users must remove all identifying information about their patients, including names, addresses, and phone numbers. Medical practitioners, however, do have their own information, such as the name/location of their practice, on their profile. When a picture is uploaded, the app automatically blocks the patient’s face, and users must manually remove unique features such as tattoos. The only time an image can be used outside the app is if it is selected for the Case of the Week and used for promotional purposes, or if it is shared with medical journals. Figure 1 has made sure to comply with regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and can be seen as a model for how to ensure adequate patient privacy in telemedicine.
The future of telemedicine
Figure 1’s ability to reach millions of medical practitioners in over 190 countries highlights the huge demand and potential for healthcare technology. In terms of future telemedicine and knowledge-sharing innovation, Dr. Landy says, “The most important thing you can do is research in advance to ensure that the solution you envision is a workable solution for your target population.” The healthcare industry can learn from the “user-experience revolution” that has disrupted technology to put users, and patients, at the center. With apps like Figure 1, users can get rapid and reliable diagnoses and treatments for their patients, and learn about innovative, cross-cultural medical practices. For Figure 1, Dr. Landy says, “The benefit goes to the patients. Educating healthcare practitioners saves patients’ lives.”[5] There are many applications for patients with diabetes around the world to receive more specialized care through telemedicine and knowledge-sharing apps, including tracking blood-glucose levels, sharing tips about managing diabetes, or receiving diagnoses from medical practitioners. Figure 1 will continue to be used as medicine becomes increasingly digitized, providing opportunities for faster and more reliable diagnosis and treatment.
[1] Christina Farr, “This Doctor Is Using Telemedicine To Treat Syrian Refugees,” Fast Company, March 9, 2016, https://www.fastcompany.com/3057572/how-this-doctor-is-using-telemedicine-to-treat-syrian-refugees.
[2] “Top Medical Cases of the Year,” Newsroom – Figure 1, accessed July 6, 2017, https://figure1.com/newsroom/the-top-medical-cases-of-the-year/.
[3] Amy Mitchell-Whittington, “AMA Cautions Doctors Using ‘Instagram’ App,” The Sydney Morning Herald, November 25, 2015.
[4] “Community Guidelines,” Figure 1 – Photo Sharing for Healthcare, accessed July 6, 2017, https://figure1.com/sections/guidelines/.
[5] Joshua Landy, Healthcare Teams of the Future, interview by Julia Cohen, August 3, 2017.
