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Hospital associated costs of treating patients with AIDS
R Carlson1, N Dickson, J McDermott
1Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin.
Aim:
To determine the hospital associated costs of caring for patients with AIDS.
Method:
We reviewed the notes of all 40 patients with AIDS admitted to the Auckland Hospital infectious disease unit during 1988. We used the resource utilisation system (RUS) to determine costs.
Results:
Costs were maximal in the month of diagnosis of AIDS (ca $3500/month), falling thereafter to ca $1000/month until they rose again in the last months of life. Total costs were dominated initially by inpatient costs but subsequently by the costs of medicines.
Conclusion:
The hospital costs associated with the care of AIDS patients are not spaced evenly throughout the illness. Extended life will not increase costs proportionately.