OBJECTIVES: To compare the average antiretroviral medication cost (AAMC), the average total medication cost (ATMC) and the average percentile total medication cost (APTMC) of HIV patients in a physician managed (MDM) and pharmacist managed (PHM) HIV patient groups in correctional facilities from July 2014 until September 2015. METHODS: Data was collected retrospectively from pharmacy administrative claims during the study period. The MDM group and the PHM group were determined based on the availability of pharmacists at the correctional facilities. The HIV patients were randomly distributed based on the prisoner system. The HIV population in each cohort was determined as those patients on any antiretroviral medications from the claim data. The AAMC, ATMC and APTMC of HIV patients from two groups were calculated. T-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for the statistical analysis between two groups. RESULTS: A total of 65 patients were in the MDM cohort and 864 patients were in PHM cohort. The AAMC, ATMC and APTMC per HIV patient were statistically significant lower in the PHM group than the MDM group ($16,043.7±$14,931.8 vs $28,740.7±$12,809.0, p<0.0001; $16,877.6±$17,806.0 vs $33,033.8± $47,261.6, p<0.0001; 96.33±7.92 vs 98.40±1.54, p<0.001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: There was a trend indicating that the pharmacists managed group had a lower medication cost than the physician managed group.  More analysis is needed to examine differences between the groups to clearly articulate the role and interventions of the pharmacists versus the physicians in HIV management in the correctional facilities. In addition, it would be important to identify the areas where pharmacists have the greatest impact.