Aruna Ramesh, Mumbai: How often have you had to wait in long queues for a doctor's appointment?

But that could now be a thing of the past if a technology called telemedicine takes off in Mumbai.

Seventy-year-old Kishore Mehta gets his ECG checked by his doctor through telemedicine. But his doctor is nearly 20 kilometers away at the Asian Heart Institute in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai.

All the while that Kishore is chatting with his doctor at the hospital, he can see him and so can his doctor.

The experience gives a whole new meaning to what we call bedside manners.

Telemedicine works through an ISDN line and through Internet connectivity you can consult your doctor or a specialist from a telemedicine clinic.

Be it for follow up, advice, a regular check up or even a second opinion with another doctor facilitating the communication, you can even transfer your data to the doctor.

"Patient's ECG, stress test, eco-cardiogram, angiogram, CT and MRI scans, all can be transmitted," says VC and MD, Asian Heart Institute, Dr Ramakanta Panda.

The best part is you don't have to wait for hours to see your super specialist doctor.

"It takes three hours to go and three to return from the hospital. All that time is saved," says a patient, Kishore Mehta.

Besides Asian Heart, the KEM hospital in the city is also starting a telemedicine facility using satellite technology with support from ISRO.