The only time I send someone to the ER is when they need something done there that I can't do myself (such as immediate labs, Chest X-ray, etc.). When patients go to the ER themselves, they almost always seem to end up with a CT scan and get sent home on a Z-pak. Documented are crazy exams which they never actually do (i.e. a person comes in complaining of ear pain, and an abdominal and neurological exam are documented, but not an ear exam), and differentials written by computers which are both ridiculous and never really explored (like, no, elephantiasis is not in the differential of that 80 year-old who came in with swollen feet, and if you really considered a DVT or PE, why didn't you even order a D-dimer??). When I ask patients "Did he actually check your reflexes when you came in for an earache?", they usually say no even when the exam is documented. And why order a strep test in the dude with a sore throat and a cough who clearly has a simple cold, if you're going to ignore the negative strep test and send the patient home with a Z-pack anyway?