My former family physician was/is a very wired guy. Very web/tech savvy. That was handy because I could shoot him an email when I had a question and he’d respond. When he hung up his stethoscope, I gave up any notion of finding another doc similarly disposed.

I’m pleased to report that my new doc (who must remain nameless) is equally geeked out. So when he suggested we might try a “virtual office visit,” I was surprised and delighted.

We did a little trial run this morning (not him or me in the photo). I had a few questions and he answered them. It was like sitting in his examining room. Of course, there will be times when he’ll need to lay on hands but for  a lot of doctor-patient communication, video chat works fine.

Is this the future of medicine? Who knows. Certainly not for everyone. But for the right physician and the right patient… it’s a pretty efficient use of resources and time.