Initial development of the Systems Approach to Home Medication Management (SAHMM) model

Adverse drug events and medication nonadherence are two problems associated with prescription medication use for chronic conditions. These issues often develop because patients have difficulty managing their medications at home. To guide patients and providers for achieving safe and effective medication use at home, the Systems Approach to Home Medication Management (SAHMM) model was derived from a systems engineering model for health care workplace safety.

To explore how well concepts from the SAHMM model can represent home medication management by using patient descriptions of how they take prescription medications at home.

Twelve patients were interviewed about home medication management using an interview guide based on the factors of the SAHMM model. Each interview was audio-taped and then transcribed verbatim. Interviews were coded to identify themes for home medication management using MAXQDA for Windows.

SAHMM concepts extracted from the coded interview transcripts included work system components of person, tasks, tools & technology, internal environment, external environment, and household. Concepts also addressed work processes and work outcomes for home medication management.

Using the SAHMM model for studying patients' home medication management is a promising approach to improving our understanding of the factors that influence patient adherence to medication and the development of adverse drug events.