Healthcare Insights
New ICD-10 codes for 2026
Each year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) publish reporting guidelines for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), 10th revision, also known as ICD-10-CM. The guidelines are based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual updates to the diagnosis lists.
Each annual ICD-10 update affects far more than diagnosis and procedure codes. New ICD-10 codes can impact reimbursement accuracy, claims acceptance, analytics continuity, risk adjustment, and downstream reporting across clinical, financial, and operational teams. An updated view of the new ICD-10 codes for 2026 helps organizations prepare for coding changes, understand which clinical areas are most affected, and reduce disruption during the transition to the new code set.
What’s new in the ICD-10 code set for 2026?
The 2026 ICD-10 update includes hundreds of new procedure codes and dozens of deleted codes. These updates affect how inpatient procedures are captured and reported for discharges occurring from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026.
In addition to new and deleted procedures, the FY 2026 update introduces new tables and revisions within certain sections of ICD-10-PCS, including Medical and Surgical and New Technology sections. These additions support more granular reporting of modern procedural approaches and device use.
When do the new ICD-10 codes for 2026 take effect?
They are already in effect as of October 1, 2025. A secondary update window exists beginning April 1, 2026, where additional codes (if published) may be implemented for discharge dates on and after that date.
For a full list of ICD-10 codes, including the codes that will be effective in April, visit CMS.gov.
| Code type | Additions | Deletions | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICD-10-CM codes | 630 | 28 | Explore |
| ICD-10-PCS codes | 156 | 27 | Explore |
Fig. 1. Data from CMS.gov. Data accessed January 2026.
The 2026 ICD-10 updates, effective October 1, 2025, introduce meaningful changes across both ICD-10-CM (diagnosis codes) and ICD-10-PCS (inpatient procedure codes), with a continued emphasis on greater clinical specificity and alignment with evolving care delivery.
For ICD-10-CM, the 2026 update adds several hundred new diagnosis codes, while a smaller number of codes are deleted. Many of the new additions focus on improving documentation of chronic conditions, disease status, genetic susceptibility, and patient health factors, including more precise ways to capture remission status, risk indicators, and encounter context.
On the ICD-10-PCS side, the 2026 update introduces over 150 new inpatient procedure codes and removes a smaller set of obsolete ones. Most additions fall within the Medical and Surgical and New Technology sections, reflecting advancements in surgical techniques, device use, and emerging technologies.
There were no revised or modified code descriptions in the 2026 set.
Clinical areas most impacted by the 2026 ICD-10 updates
The updates most heavily impact clinical areas where care delivery is becoming more complex and documentation needs are increasing. On the diagnosis side, chronic and high-acuity conditions, including diabetes, cancer, neurologic disorders, and musculoskeletal disease, see the greatest changes, with new and revised ICD-10-CM codes adding clarity around disease status, complications, and remission.
For inpatient care, the most significant impact is concentrated in surgical and technology-driven specialties, with new codes tied to cardiovascular, neurologic, ENT, and device-related procedures.
How healthcare organizations can prepare for ICD-10 2026
Now that the 2026 ICD-10 updates are in effect, healthcare organizations should focus on stabilizing workflows and optimizing performance. The first priority is to monitor early coding and billing data to identify trends tied to new or revised ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes. Organizations should pay close attention to high-impact service lines to catch documentation gaps, unexpected DRG shifts, or denial patterns early in the year.
At the same time, continued targeted education and reinforcement are important. Even with pre–go-live training, coders, CDI teams, and clinicians often need real-world feedback once new codes are actively in use. Reviewing early audits, sharing examples of common documentation issues, and refining EHR templates can help teams fully capture the increased specificity introduced in the 2026 updates.
How ICD-10 changes affect claims, reimbursement, and analytics
ICD-10 changes have a direct and immediate impact on claims submission and reimbursement because codes drive how services are interpreted by payors.
New, revised, or deleted codes can alter medical necessity logic, edits, and DRG assignment, which means even small documentation gaps may lead to claim denials, delayed payments, or unexpected reimbursement shifts.
When diagnosis or procedure specificity isn’t fully captured, claims may default to less favorable groupings or fail automated payor checks, particularly early in the year as payors update their systems.
New codes can disrupt year-over-year trend analysis, utilization tracking, and population health metrics if not properly mapped. Without careful handling, organizations may misinterpret shifts in volume, acuity, or outcomes as operational changes rather than coding-driven effects.
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