The economic impact of AIDS on Oklahoma hospitals.
This study reviewed data on all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported by 19 hospitals in the state of Oklahoma from January 1, 1981, through August 31, 1988, which represented 68% of the 382 cumulative reported cases in the state to that date. The study results indicate that the average lifetime hospitalization costs of caring for an AIDS patient in Oklahoma was $31,544. As a group, these patients represented a statewide cumulative operating margin loss of negative 14% during the study period. The margin for inpatients was -11%, and the margin for outpatients was -42%. The authors suggest that operating margins will increase as care shifts from inpatient to outpatient settings due to improved community support services or better drug therapy which, while prolonging life span, at the same time may cause serious side effects requiring more inpatient care. At the present time, AIDS patients in Oklahoma are 84% white, homosexual or bisexual males, and 15% are from the minority community. As the profile of Oklahoma's AIDS patients begins to conform to the national pattern, affecting more of the uninsured--drug abusers, their sexual partners, teenagers, and children--it can be anticipated that hospital costs for these patients will increasingly be absorbed by public funds.
Lapolla
M
M
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation's Center for Health Policy Research, University of Tulsa 74104.
Turner
M
M
Santee
B
B
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000191:economics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004469:Economics, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009825:Oklahoma