When Eliot first told me his groin area was swollen, I didn’t hesitate a minute to contact my family doctor. I simply sent Dr. Bruce Yaffe an email repeating what Eliot told me. Within 15 minutes, the good doctor sent an email back saying he wanted to see Eliot immediately. Within two hours Eliot was examined and the verdict was in: a hernia.

I did a Mexican hat dance right on the spot because my imagination had me thinking much worse. Thank goodness for email. I had a direct line to my doctor. Years ago, I waited four days for my doctor to call me back when I had stomach pains. I just couldn’t get him on the phone. The receptionist kept asking me if it was an emergency. It wasn’t, so I just kept on waiting.

Today no one waits. The Internet has trained us all to expect instant gratification. That’s why most of you will be happy to hear about a new Internet service that connects consumers directly to physicians via mobile devices for advice. Now I know a number of you are rolling your eyes because you want to see a doctor face-to-face. To those people I say, there is a time and place for everything. The ability to talk to a doctor in record speed should lead to a general diagnosis and next step precautions. They even provide prescriptions. Weird I know, but this is the direction the world is going.

CNET recently did a story about the telemedicine physicians at American Well, which recently announced a $49 10-minute video chat with doctors online and via mobile phones and tablets in 44 states and Washington, D.C. To better understand how this works and how doctors are able to make diagnoses, be sure to read the story because it spells out legalities, insurances, and how it works.

The American Well app is free and available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.