Protecting Patient Health Information

One of the most straightforward ways of maintaining that privacy is to make sure that any information that might reveal a patient’s identity is not shared in the first place. That’s why Figure 1 removes any form of protected health information that would serve to identify a patient, such as a person’s name, birthday, any ID numbers, or 17 other potentially identifying points of information.

For a more comprehensive list of identifying information, please review our Content Policy to understand how to best help us maintain a safe and secure platform, and get a complete picture on the kinds of patient health information that may contribute to identifying an individual.

For example, Figure 1 will automatically detect faces in any images that our members post, and place a box over the face to maintain patient anonymity. Afterward, our specially trained team of moderators review each image before it gets posted to make sure that no post goes live with potentially identifying information.

For more information on posting best practices, please refer to our guide on how to edit your post and use de-identifying tools.

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Our Moderation Process

Our moderation process systematically helps members remove these data points while making a post, to ensure that no patient health information is ever compromised. 

For example, Figure 1 will automatically detect faces in any images that our members post, and place a box over the face to maintain patient anonymity. Afterward, our specially trained team of moderators review each image before it gets posted to make sure that no post goes live with potentially identifying information.

For more information on posting best practices, please refer to our guide on how to edit your post and use de-identifying tools.

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Data Security and Encryption

Protecting the anonymity of patients through best practices, automatic de-identifying tools, and making sure our members know what they can and cannot post is one part of maintaining a safe and secure platform. The other is how we store our data to safeguard it alongside our members’ — and their patients’ — privacy.

Data that is transmitted through Figure 1, or that rests in our underlying infrastructure, is encrypted using industry standard protocols. That means that even in the unlikely occurrence of unauthorized access to Figure 1’s data, the information will be incomprehensible to any unauthorized user. 

This encryption helps maintain a secure network for the personal information that we need to collect in order to verify healthcare professionals’ access to Figure 1, such as email addresses, alongside user information about how our members use our platform.

For more information, please refer to our commitment to protect patient privacy.