Clinical assesement is still the gold standard for patient...

Clinical assesement is still the gold standard for patient management. There are many patients we see and discharge without any testing, although they probably didnt need to be there in the first place and should have gone to a GP.

Many hospital are now introducing/starting up virtual EDs/wards for management of less ill patients and to free up hospital/ED beds. The US is the prioneer for this model. These patient dont even get physically seen and only telehealth - Asking them to come as an outptient to a lab for a fingerprick test would certainly be an easy triage tool - MXa positive, stay at home and take panadol; CRP positive come to a walk in clinic for assessment/antibotics script.

In Aus we always 'safety net' the patient to return if they worsen. Sometimes they do return and you reassess/investigate them then.

Litgation is not a concern in Australia still - In a very simplfied way a decision not to investige/treat must cause harm to the patient and not been a rational decision based on the information available at the time(in this case your clinical assessment), as judged by a panel of peers - although annecdotally you might be correct about the US.