Make the most of the new preventive services coverage additions. Have you started filing claims for any of the five new preventive care services which Medicare added to its list in 2011? Read on to find out what Medicare experts have to say on how to code intensive behavioral therapy for cardiovascular disease (CVD) correctly. Understand the Purpose and Frequency Intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) for cardiovascular disease is also known as a CVD risk reduction visit, says Jamie Hermansen, a health insurance specialist with CMS. In general, the visit consists of three components: "A qualified primary care physician or other primary care practitioner in a primary care setting can furnish the exam," Hermansen adds. "Medicare allows for one face-to-face CVD risk reduction visit each year." Note: Report the Correct Code Only one code applies to IBT for CVD, according to Kathy Bryant, deputy director for practitioner services with CMS. Your correct choice is G0446 (Intensive behavioral therapy to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, individual, face-to-face, annual, 15 minutes). The descriptor spells out exactly when reporting G0446 is appropriate: during a face-to-face encounter with a single patient, once per year, for 15 minutes. "Family physicians know and believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," says Kent J. Moore, manager of healthcare financing and delivery systems for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) in Leawood, Kan. "Medicare's expansion of coverage and payment for preventive services like this is good news from a family medicine perspective." Beware of Potential Red Flags CMS keeps a close eye on several factors related to claims with G0446, experts shared during a recent National Provider Call. These include verification that: