Clinical factors explain less than 55% of postoperative stay variability

A machine-learning framework quantified the impact of clinical versus nonclinical influences on postoperative length of stay after colectomy. Analysis of 96,081 patients revealed that clinical factors accounted for only 29-54% of length of stay variability. Despite optimizing these variables, significant unexplained variance remained, indicating the influence of nonclinical factors. This study is pioneering in highlighting the limited role of clinical elements and providing hospitals with tools to indirectly assess nonclinical impacts.