Table 4.

Implementation of the referral and consultation pathway in the intervention group (n = 34).

Indicator	Value
Patients referred within the medical consortium, n (%)	7 (20.6)
In-hospital MDT consultations for chronic refractory wounds, n	10
Inpatient consultations completed, n	6
Home visits (home-based follow-up and wound care), n	12
Remote (tele-) consultations, n	18

These indicators describe the implementation of the chain management protocol and were collected only in the intervention group, because the two-way referral and multidisciplinary consultation pathway constituted an integral component of the intervention. The control group received conventional care without consortium-based linkage, so corresponding indicators are structurally not applicable. Referral is reported as the number of patients; consultations and home visits are reported as the number of service events. These indicators are not mutually exclusive; a patient may receive multiple types of services, and a service may occur more than once for the same patient.