Commercial online service providers, bulletin board services, and the Internet make up the rapidly expanding "information highway." Physicians and their families can use these services for professional and personal communication, for recreation and commerce, and to obtain reference information and computer software. Commercial providers include America Online, CompuServe, GEnie, and MCIMail. Internet access can be obtained indirectly through America Online or directly through specialized access providers. Today's online services are destined to evolve into a National Information Infrastructure that will change the way we work and play.