2026 JustCoding Pocket Guide

2026 JustCoding Pocket Guide
Coding guidance & trusted clinical insights, together at last

Coding professionals rely on the ICD-10 manuals and tables to deter¬mine the most appropriate codes to report—but they don’t tell the whole story. The 2026 JustCoding Pocket Guide is an essential reference for coders that includes insight into diagnostic criteria, official coding guidelines, and documentation requirements so inpatient and outpatient coders can accurately validate and code the most common diagnoses.

Co-written by Shannon McCall, director of HIM/coding for HCPro, and Laurie Prescott, industry veteran and former ACDIS director, the guide features tailored coding tips and resources and clinical, regulatory, and coding guidance adapted from the official sources.

The 2026 JustCoding Pocket Guide is broken into three sections, each with tabs, to make the book easy to search. Sections include:

• Official coding guidance: The sections of the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting are broken down into easy-to-understand language along with tips for complying with CMS guidelines.
• Conditions: 60+ common clinical conditions, with information on clinical definitions, diagnostic criteria, treatment protocols, documentation requirements, and appropriate ICD-10-CM codes to use.
• References: A list of CMS-HCCs and their relative values and a list of Comorbid Conditions Offering Impact, which identifies diagnoses that are a common focus of coding record review. This section shows how different codes within a category can map to different HCCs; influence whether the condition provides a CC or MCC, affecting severity of illness and accurate reimbursement ; or impact various quality reporting measures.

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Benefits

The 2026 JustCoding Pocket Guide offers the latest information coders need to know including:

• Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 guidelines
• AHA 2025 Coding Clinic guidance
• Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA)–2 Score criteria, released in October 2025
• Updated critical thinking tips, treatment protocols, and diagnostic criteria
• The latest updates related to social determinants of health

For bulk orders and discounts, please contact us at information@hcpro.com or 800-650-6787.

About the Authors

Laurie Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC, is an experienced CDI subject matter expert, former interim ACDIS director, and former CDI education director at HCPro. While at ACDIS and HCPro, she was also the lead developer and instructor for the CDI Boot Camps as well as a member of the CCDS-O certification committee and the ACDIS Advisory Board; she also frequently spoke on the ACDIS Podcast and at ACDIS conferences and webinars. She is the author of The Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist's Complete Training Guide and the ACDIS Pocket Guide series. Prescott has served in a variety of health systems and settings since joining the nursing profession in 1985 and she developed and implemented a CDI program in 2007.

Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CRC, CCDS, CCDS-O, is the director of HIM and coding for HCPro. She oversees allof the Certified Coder Boot Camp programs. In addition, she specializes in creating custom designed educational programs for Propel Coding membership clients. McCall was one of the original ACDIS Advisory Board members and one of the contributors to the CCDS-O certification exam.