{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T10:08:04Z","timestamp":1780654084053,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780617600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"IDIPHISA"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The growing complexity and cost of oncohematological treatments has created an urgent need for standardized methodologies capable of enabling inter-institutional comparisons of healthcare expenditure within homogeneous patient groups. Cancer-related pharmaceutical costs vary substantially depending on tumour type, disease stage, and therapeutic approach, making cross-institutional benchmarking challenging due to heterogeneity in patient populations and clinical practice patterns. Therefore, integrating cost analysis with clinically meaningful patient stratification is essential to improve resource allocation and outcome evaluation. Methods: A multicentre working group comprising four tertiary hospitals in Madrid (Spain) was established to develop and preliminarily evaluate a novel classification system for adult oncohematological patients. A standardized methodology was designed to stratify patients into homogeneous groups (PATONCO categories) based on tumor location, therapeutic objective, and clinically relevant biomarkers. A cost indicator was defined as the average cost per patient per month for each PATONCO category. Data were extracted from pharmacy dispensing systems and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including Kruskal\u2013Wallis and post hoc Dunn tests. Results: A total of 3659 patients were included (3168 oncology; 491 hematology), distributed across 62 programmes (54 oncology; 8 hematology). The PATONCOS tool enabled the identification and validation of a cost indicator (average cost\/patient\/month per category), allowing inter-hospital comparison. Significant differences in costs were observed across most high-prevalence categories, reflecting variability in drug selection within homogeneous patient groups, as documented by the differential use of specific therapeutic agents across centers. The model demonstrated its capacity to detect intra-group homogeneity and inter-group variability, improving the identification of high-cost patient subgroups and supporting benchmarking across centers. Conclusions: The PATONCOS tool provides a novel, clinically oriented stratification methodology that integrates pharmacotherapy, biomarkers, and disease stage with economic evaluation. This approach enables more accurate comparisons of oncology treatment costs between institutions and may support data-driven decision-making in resource allocation. Its implementation may contribute to more sustainable healthcare systems by aligning clinical practice with economic outcomes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15114374","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T08:43:04Z","timestamp":1780648984000},"page":"4374","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["An Innovative Patient Stratification Tool Integrating Clinical and Economic Data for Benchmarking Oncology and Hematology Care: The PATONCOS System"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8177-0351","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raquel","family":"Moreno-D\u00edaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28981 Parla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6273-7487","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alejandra","family":"Melgarejo-Ortu\u00f1o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28981 Parla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2079-8593","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Beatriz","family":"Monje-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario del Henares, 28822 Coslada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2730-6549","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Delgado-T\u00e9llez de Cepeda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28222 Majadahonda, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4173-3927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana Beatriz","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez-Rom\u00e1n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-5240-9657","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Manso-Manrique","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28222 Majadahonda, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5928-2028","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier","family":"Let\u00e9llez-Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beatriz","family":"Candel-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1013-4937","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amelia","family":"S\u00e1nchez-Guerrero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28222 Majadahonda, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0752-9746","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel \u00c1ngel","family":"Amor-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28981 Parla, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-4385-6853","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mario","family":"Garc\u00eda-Gil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8875-1551","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Isabel","family":"Valverde-Merino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmaceutical Care Research Group, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8591-9950","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco Javier","family":"Garc\u00eda-S\u00e1nchez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emergency Room Service, Surgical Prehabilitation Unit, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria Hospital Puerta de Hierro Segovia Arana (IDIPHISA), 28981 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Medical Department, Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8449-5490","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel \u00c1ngel","family":"Calleja-Hern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Service, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, 18014 Granada, 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