What is the main issue with using mean length of stay as a facility statistic?

Using mean length of stay as a facility statistic is fundamentally impacted by the influence of outlier values. The mean is a measure of central tendency calculated by summing all values and dividing by the count of these values. When there are extreme values in the data set, such as unusually long or short patient stays, they can skew the mean significantly.

This skewing occurs because the mean does not provide a robust measure of central tendency in the presence of anomalies. For instance, if a facility has several patients who have exceptionally long stays due to complex medical cases, this can elevate the mean length of stay, giving a misleading impression of typical patient experiences.

In contrast, other measures like the median are less susceptible to skewed distributions and can provide a clearer representation of the typical length of stay within a facility. Therefore, relying solely on the mean length of stay can potentially misinform decision-makers and lead to inappropriate conclusions about hospital utilization and efficiency.