Abstract
The objective of this study was to estimate outpatient cost of HIV/AIDs services provided at hospitals.
The cost data for fiscal year 2015 were gathered from seven hospitals; the data consist of hospital
service statistics and financial information. Then, cost per visit was analyzed as cost-to-charge ratio using
a traditional method following the cost guideline of the Ministry of Public Health. The results show that
majority of service cost was of labor followed by material and capital cost, amounting to 52%, 42%, and
6%, respectively. The study found that an average cost per visit of the civil servant medical benefit (CS)
patients was the highest at THB 2,401. An average cost per visit of the universal coverage (UC) patients
was THB 1,778. An average cost per visit of the social security (SS) patients was THB 1,658; and an
average cost per visit of out-of-pocket (OOP) patients was THB 803. In terms of an average annual cost
per person, the study found that the CS patients also had the highest cost at THB 12,305. The second
highest was the UC patients at THB 9,483 per person per year and the third was the SS patients at THB
7,197. The OOP patients incurred the lowest annual cost per person at THB 1,570. However, it should
be noted that these seven hospitals were selected by purposive sampling with limitation on representation.
More hospitals should be involved in further research to represent actual cost by hospital types.
