INDIANAPOLIS -- You can do almost everything online – and now in Indiana, you can see a doctor online too.
Jami Sutton told RTV6 she was looking forward to a beach trip until she got a rash "out of nowhere.'
Instead of waiting in line to see the doctor, Sutton logged on to IU Health's Video Visit app.
Family physician Dr. Brock McMillen's staff of 40 medical residents has taken on a number of the video visits.
"What kind of ailments can be diagnosed this way, versus face-to-face? Quite a few," McMillen said. "We do a lot of urinary tract infections, rash, cough, a lot of cold … anything you can think of. We get very creative with trying to examine and really nailing down history."
The program became public at the beginning of this month. Since then, McMillen says the number of callers has doubled.
"I don't run my video visits any different than I'd run my regular visits," he said. "The only difference is, I'm not laying a stethoscope on you, but I'm having you work through a lot of the physical exam stuff and I can sit and watch and interact just in that same interface."
There are limitations. Chest pain, for instance, couldn't be treated by way of video visit. McMillen says he'd instead direct that person to an ER.
McMillen says this technology will be very handy during flu season, when the virus is spread most easily. Patients wouldn't have to come to the office to be seen.
Children under 2 years old must still be seen in person by a doctor and can't do video visits.
