Take two aspirin and call me in the morning: If only prescribing medications were as simple as that.

In reality, the prescription process involves many players and steps. Details must be accurately spelled out, interpreted, and double-checked to ensure patients get the correct drug and dosage.

“Errors can happen at any point, from the initiation of the prescription by the provider to the processing of the prescription by the pharmacy, to the time of administering the medication to the patient,” says Mohsen Bayati, a professor of operations, information, and technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “It can be a mistake related to the medication prescribed or in the directions given to the patient.”

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