Which item is considered a ZPIC priority?

• A. Patient abuse or harm
• B. Routine clerical errors
• C. Minor scheduling delays
• D. Routine data entry corrections

Answer: (A)

ZPIC priorities center on issues that threaten patient safety and indicate potential abuse or fraud in care delivery. Among the options, patient abuse or harm is the strongest priority because it directly affects a patient’s well-being and signals a serious, unacceptable practice that warrants immediate scrutiny and corrective action. The other items describe routine administrative or process issues—clerical errors, scheduling delays, and data entry corrections—that, while inconvenient, do not inherently involve fraud, improper payments, or patient harm and thus are not high-priority triggers for ZPIC investigations.