Because hospital readmissions are costly indicators of the quality of patient care, the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers’ citywide 7-Day Pledge program aims to reduce readmissions by increasing access to primary care appointments within seven days of hospital discharge. We tested our program to determine whether this connection helped reduce readmissions.

We found that patients attending a primary care follow-up appointment as part of the 7-Day Pledge had fewer 30- and 90-day readmissions compared to patients with less timely or no primary care follow-up. These findings underscore the importance of reducing patients’ and providers’ barriers to rapid primary care follow-up after a hospitalization