When it comes to flu, it may be best to 'phone it in'

Get plenty of rest.

Drink plenty of water.

See your doctor.

That's the usual mantra when it comes to colds and flu, but some health care providers are taking a second look at the third point.

It makes sense -- flu is spread from person-to-person, so why increase the chances it has to be transmitted? If everyone in a community makes contact with a few health care providers, the chances are good those professionals will become sick themselves, and transmit the illness to other patients.

"If you're really feeling crummy, and you have the symptoms of influenza, your chances of having influenza are very, very high -- over 90 percent," Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, told ABC News.

"Doctors are saying I don't need to do a test because sometimes the test is negative even if you have influenza.

Instead, doctors in Tennessee and elsewhere are asking some patients with flu-like symptoms to stay home, check in remotely via telephone or computer and have someone else who is healthy, pick up any needed medicine at the pharmacy.

Tests can determine whether children actually have the flu virus, but they're wrong 25 percent of the time in adults because adults don't have as much of the virus in their bloodstreams when they're sick.

Schaffner said the approach avoids the cost of the test and doctor visit, as well as avoiding the spread of the virus to other people in the waiting room.

The influenza virus is highly infectious and can be spread to people withing three feet of a sick patient when that patient coughs, sneezes or talks.

Telemedicine is nothing new, it's been around as long as the telephone and ham radio -- perhaps even telegraph? -- but the widespread availability of audio and video links over the Internet continues to open up possibilities.

Flu is a serious disease, but telemedicine can offer another important barrier to dangerous diseases such as Ebola, MRSA and others.

It also offers an advantage for patients who feel uncomfortable in a doctor's office, who suffer "white-coat syndrome" and who might not have access to a clinic.

Besides telemedicine, new smartphone apps, smart watches and other technologies are being developed every day to make better healthcare available to more and more people at a lower cost.