Table 4. Types and number of interventions made by pharmacists using the Simpler™ tool.
| Corresponding letter of Simpler™ tool | Number of total interventions | Type of Interventions | Supporting quotes |
|---|---|---|---|
| S (Statin/Cholesterol control) | 4 | Initiate statin | So basically with [the] first patient, he was not on [a] statin, with Simpler™ that’s the first thing I spoke to him about, because he is at high risk (P7A) |
| I (Insulin/glycaemic control) | 7 | Suggestion to initiate metformin | My first patient was not on metformin even though [it] is not contraindicated. (P6M) |
| Initiate insulin | Patients with HbA1c constantly above 7%, I gave suggestions to start insulin. (P1M) | ||
| M (Medication management) | 10 | Patient’s compliance | Yes, it was simply compliance because he was not seeing that this medication is necessary for him and that includes his diabetes medication (P3A) |
| Medication related problems identified | Because blood sugar is not controlled, [the] doctor increased [the] metformin dosage from 1g to 2g but the script is for just immediate-release metformin 1g, 2 tablets at night which is the wrong dose because immediate-release dosing should be 1 tablet twice daily (P5A) I managed to do a quick medication review and found that his lipid dose, fenofibrate, was too high for a patient with creatinine clearance of 45 and I suggested [to the] doctor to change it to 96mg daily rather than 145mg daily. (P5A) |
||
| L (Lifestyle management) | 8 | Diet, foot care, body mass index | … I did a lot was lifestyle, when we talked about lifestyle she had hypoglycaemia so we talked about hypoglycaemia. This other patient has her BMI as 29 so we talked about BMI. She is quite eager so we talked about plate model. (P2A) His diabetes levels weren’t well controlled and when we went through Simpler™, I realised his diet wasn’t very healthy. So, I went through the diet and he also mentioned that he doesn’t check his feet regularly as well because with diabetes you need to get your foot checked regularly so I advised him the importance of checking his foot regularly. (P4A) |
| R (CVD risk reduction strategies) | 3 | Suggestion to initiate aspirin based on Framingham risk score | Based on that, the patient fit the criteria to start aspirin, therefore I advised the patient and recorded the intervention (P1M) |