What are the drivers of high-cost HIV patients?

We aimed to identify “high-cost” patients with HIV (PWH) and determine drivers behind higher costs. All PWH at the Southern Alberta HIV Clinic, Canada, and active in 2017 were included. Sociodemographic, clinical, and healthcare utilization data were collected. The direct care costs from the payers’ perspective including antiretroviral drugs (ARV), outpatient visits, and hospital admissions were determined for 2017. Patients’ annual total costs were grouped into top 5% (i.e., high-cost), top 20%, middle 60%, and bottom 20%. High-cost patients were older, Caucasian or indigenous Canadian, and more likely acquired HIV from intravenous drug use (all p < 0.05). High-cost patients had lower nadir CD4, more comorbidities, missed more clinic appointments, had more ARV interruptions, and developed more ARV resistance (p < 0.01). The overall median cost of HIV care was US$14,064 [IQR US$13,121–US$17,883] (2017 Cdn$). High-cost patients had a median cost of US$29,902 [IQR US$27,229–US$37,891] and accounted for 14% of total costs and 84% of all inpatient costs. Hospitalizations constituted 58% of costs for high-cost patients. Although heterogeneous, high-cost patients have distinct sociodemographic and clinical characteristics driving their healthcare utilization. Addressing these social determinants of health and using novel ARV administration approaches may preserve health and save costs.