"When I e-mail my doctor, she gets back to me within 15 minutes" said Phyllis Taxiera. "It's great. It's a wonderful thing."

Taxiera's doctor is part of a growing number of physicians who take e-mail questions from their patients. Her physician, Doctor Orly Avitzur, is also a medical adviser at Consumer Reports. She's been taking e-mail questions from her patients for the last five years.

Dr. Avitzur says that allowing patients to e-mail her has benefited everyone. But there's certain protocol to follow. First keep it simple.

"IF it's a complicated issue that will take your doctor more than five minutes to read and respond to, it's probably best that you make an appointment to come in." said Avitzur

Also, keep in mind some conditions can't be managed well via computer, including most new health problem sand ANY medical emergency.

"As a doctor, there's nothing worse than reading a day-old e-mail describing a medical crisis. In fact, the fear of missing a medical emergency is one reason many doctors won't use e-mail." said Avitzur

"I think more people should try to do it, more doctors should get on the bandwagon." said Taxiera

Consumer Reports says more and more physicians are adopting email in their practices...about 25% of all doctors say they've emailed patients at one point or another.

So remember, keep questions to your doctor short and simple and relief could be just a mouse-click away.