Residents of Illinois and Indiana can now talk to a doctor 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. This month, the Unity Point Health system began offering "Virtual Care" to anyone with a computer, tablet, or smart phone.
One of the planners is Doctor Bill Chase, a family physician in Norwalk, Iowa. He says it's designed for people with relatively minor conditions such as colds, allergies, and rashes.
"It's definitely more popular when traditional clinics aren't open. We've seen that a lot of people also may utilize it if they're traveling away from their traditional sphere of healthcare, where they might not know the area quite as well."
Doctor Chase also thinks it'll be used by people who can't get away in person, from home or work.
"If you have that pinkeye, and you could connect with somebody through a video and show them a picture of your eye, instead of tracing across town for fifteen or twenty minutes, you could hopefully take of that over your lunch hour, and still be productive for the rest of the day."
He says their slogan is "getting sick is never convenient, but getting care should be."
For Virtual Care, Unity Point has partnered with a company called MDLive that's been offering this service since 2009.A consultation costs 49 dollars or less, depending on a person's insurance coverage.