McCrum ML, Cannon AR, Allen CM, et al. - In view of the association of care fragmentation at time of readmission after emergency general surgery (EGS) with high mortality, researchers here sought the factors underlying this finding. Using the 2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Readmissions Database, they assessed data of 71 ,944 patients who underwent EGS (mean [SD] age, 59.0 [18.3] years; 53.5% [38,487 of 71,944] female) and were readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Readmission to a nonindex hospital was reported for 10,495 (14.6%) of these cases. An overall higher mortality rate was reported for patients readmitted to a nonindex hospital compared with patients readmitted to index hospitals. Severity of patient illness at readmission primarily explain this excess mortality. As no modifications could be done in severity of patient illness, there is a necessity to create systems that aid in rapid assessment and triage of patients after emergency general surgery to hospitals best equipped to manage their specific condition.