Figure 1 app is like an 'Instagram for doctors'

Call it socialized medicine for the digital age. Figure 1, a new smart phone app lets doctors and other medical professionals from all over the world swap pictures and info about their cases. The app as has been described as "Instagram for doctors," a phrase its founder and chief medical officer, Dr. Joshua Landy, doesn't think captures its intent. "The task at hand is helping health care professions discuss complex cases that are both therapeutic and diagnostic," Landy said. Launched in 2013, Figure 1 has been downloaded "hundreds of thousands of times," Landy said. Most users are board-certified physicians, medical students, registered nurses and other medical professionals whose credentials, Landy said, are verified through a stringent internal vetting system.