CPT® 2026 Professional Edition is the definitive American Medical Association (AMA)-authored resource to help health care professionals correctly report and bill medical procedures and services. Health care professionals want accurate reporting of services rendered and reimbursement. Payers want efficient claims processing. Correct reporting and billing of medical procedures and services begins with CPT® 2026 Professional Edition.

Only the AMA, with the help of physicians and other experts in the health care community, creates and maintains the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set. No other codebook has the accurate, complete official guidelines for the latest and current procedural terminology for procedures and services to help you code and report medical services and procedures properly. The AMA also takes the copyright protection of its content very seriously and is committed to providing the most effective anti-piracy efforts for its authors and readers, such as inclusion of the Amazon Anti-Privacy Sticker, in accordance with current copyright rules and laws.

Recognizing that racism is a barrier to health equity and appropriate medical care—and that images shape what physicians and medical professionals learn to see as “normal”—the CPT 2026 Professional Edition has included 20 new diversity-related illustrations, bringing the total to 81 updated images since the initiative began. These illustrations promote inclusive and equitable representation by reflecting a broader range of skin tones, body types, ages, and genders—ensuring everyone who uses the codebook sees themselves and their patients represented. 

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

The CPT® 2026 Professional Edition codebook covers hundreds of code, guideline and text changes and features:

• CPT® Changes, CPT® Assistant, and Clinical Examples in Radiology citations — provides cross-referenced information to popular AMA resources that can enhance your understanding of the CPT code set.
• A comprehensive index — locate codes related to a specific procedure, service, anatomic site, condition, synonym, eponym or abbreviation quickly.
• Anatomical and procedural illustrations — help improve coding accuracy and understanding of the anatomy and services/procedures discussed. For 2026, two new illustrations will be added to the code set. One will reflect modern medical practice in laparoscopy procedures, and the other to highlight the definition of each of the major coronary segments of the heart.
• Overall codebook table of contents —enable a quick search of the entire codebook’s content for quick access.
• Section table of contents — provide a helpful tool to navigate effectively and quickly through each section’s subsections and their codes.
• Complete list of the additions, deletions and revisions for codes and code descriptors — provide a summary and quick reference of the changes in the 2026 code set without comparing editions.
• Multiple appendices — offer additional information for modifiers; add-on codes; images of vascular families; re-sequenced codes, MAAAs and PLA services, list of artificial intelligence (AI) taxonomy for medical services and procedures described in the code set and classifying those codes into discrete categories of clinician-to-patient services (e.g., visit), clinician-to-clinician services (e.g., consultation), patient monitoring and digital diagnostic services; guidance for classifying various AI applications (e.g., expert systems, machine learning, algorithm-based services) for medical services and procedures into assistive, augmentative, and autonomous categories; and codes used for synchronous real-time interactive audio-only telemedicine services.
• Comprehensive E/M code selection tables — aid physicians and coders in assigning the most appropriate evaluation and management codes.
• Notes pages at the end of most sections and subsections.

CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.