Figure 3.

Relationship between receipt of outpatient follow-up and risk of readmission.

Incremental risk of a 30-day readmission associated with patients who have not yet received follow-up within 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days after discharge, and how that relationship varies according to the patient’s underlying clinical risk. Each of the 7 strata represents patients in clinical risk groups based on 3M Health Information System’s Clinical Risk Groups and accompanying baseline risk of a 30-day readmission.