A new Austin-based app wants to change how you talk to your doctor. Medici allows medical issues to be handled remotely, empowering patients to skip an unnecessary trip to the office and consult with their own physician via telecommunication instead.

"We like to think of [it] as WhatsApp for your doctor, your vet, and your therapist," says Medici founder and CEO Clinton Phillips, who previously launched 2nd.MD, an app that connects patients to medical specialists.

While telemedicine isn't new, Medici offers a new approach, securely connecting patients with their own family doctors, specialists, veterinarians, and therapists via a HIPAA-compliant app. "Medici is the only company that is trying connect your own doctors with you," says Phillips, "as opposed to similar platforms that connect you to an external panel of professionals."

Users can text, send pictures, or video chat about a variety of issues. The cost for a digital consultation is $20-$30 dollars, around the average insurance co-pay for a doctor's visit. From that, Medici take a small transaction fee.

From a doctor's point of view, the benefits of Medici include a history of consultations, access to pertinent information, and simple functionality for prescribing medication, all in one place.

The app launched in Austin — its first market — last month, with approximately 50 area professionals on board.

The team will test a few more cities before continuing the rollout. "I suspect that we will be able to roll out multiple states at a time, if not the rest of the nation," says Phillips, who hopes that the app will be available in multiple countries by 2017.

Doctor and patient versions of Medici are available for free download on iPhone and Android devices.