More neutral way of saying expensive

Question

I want to re-word the title of a list;

Most Expensive Patients

So it doesn't sound like there is a negative burdensome connotation with the word Expensive i.e. it's not their fault they have the highest costs associated with them. I have tried "Most Costliest Patients" but that too doesn't feel right, is there a word I can substitute for Expensive that is more neutral.

Is it the patients that are expensive or the cost(s) of their treatment? — Arm the good guys in America, Aug 06 '17 at 15:31
Neediest lacks the element of cost and infers a judgement that I am not qualified to make. — Naz, Aug 06 '17 at 16:03
Since you're happy to say it's not their fault they have the highest costs* associated with them,* what's wrong with just assigning them to the *High Cost* category? Or *Resource-intensive* if you want to distance yourself further from "financial" yardsticks. — FumbleFingers, Aug 06 '17 at 16:14
@Edwin: Given one patient about to die from dehydration, and another needing a hip replacement, I'd say the first one was the "neediest" (he *really* needs urgent attention!), even though the cost of his glass of water would be nugatory compared to the cost of the operation (which it wouldn't be the end of the world if it were delayed or even cancelled). — FumbleFingers, Aug 06 '17 at 16:19
You're probably forced into 'those patients whose treatment requires the greatest expenditure', if you're not happy with a less strict formulation. — Edwin Ashworth, Aug 06 '17 at 16:45
@FF Hence the way I couched the response. 'Neediest' interpreted as 'needing the most expensive treatments' would possibly work in some contexts. Obviously, disambiguation would often be necessary. — Edwin Ashworth, Aug 06 '17 at 16:49
Note that "most costliest" is wrong. It's either "most costly" or "costliest," not both. — vpn, Aug 06 '17 at 17:38
Single-word antonym for “cheapest”? if I cast my vote to close it as a duplicate, it will happen immediately. So... let someone either write an answer or VTC with a single non-binding vote. — Mari-Lou A, Aug 06 '17 at 18:58
@Mari-LouA why are you so eager to close? The question is perfectly valid in my opinion. — Stefan, Aug 06 '17 at 20:03
@Stefan I haven't closed anything. I haven't cast any vote to close. I am not eager to close, on the contrary. If I were it would be closed now because I have the dupe-hammer. — Mari-Lou A, Aug 06 '17 at 20:08
Are these your most profitable patients or are they your lowest margin pAtients? — Jim, Aug 06 '17 at 22:48

ab2 · Answer 1 · 2017-08-06T22:39:42.360

the most resource-intensive patients

This is a less crass way of saying the most expensive patients, because it conjures up a mental picture of devoted people spending time with patients rather than money being spent on patients.

The result is the same, of course. All these highly skilled people must be paid for their time. Resource-intensive patients require a lot of attention from doctors, physician's assistants, nurses, technicians, therapists, nursing assistants, dieticians and aides, and also usually require many tests, high-tech monitoring and lots of medicines. All of this is expensive.

The results can be miraculous.

A resource-intensive task is one that requires a lot of resources, often but not always over a limited period of time. Resource, from Dictionary.com:

a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed.

More neutral way of saying expensive

1 Answers1