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Blog|Articles|October 20, 2026

15 EHR updates your practice needs to make before Jan. 1

Fact checked by: Chris Mazzolini

New CPT codes, a DEA telehealth deadline and a Dec. 31 risk analysis cutoff all run through your EHR. Here's the year-end checklist.

The American Medical Association's CPT 2027 code set takes effect Jan. 1 with 453 editorial changes, including 299 new codes, 74 revisions and 80 deletions, according to the AMA's announcement. Every one of those changes has to land somewhere in your EHR: pick lists, superbills, order sets, charge rules and the templates physicians click through dozens of times a day.

The code set is only one item on the calendar. Medicare's final 2027 fee schedule is expected in early November. The DEA's temporary telemedicine prescribing flexibilities expire Dec. 31. Practices reporting MIPS Promoting Interoperability have until the same date to complete a security risk analysis that covers 2026. And payers face a Jan. 1 deadline to launch electronic prior authorization. Miss one, and January's claims, prescriptions and attestations pay for it.

Most of the fixes are configuration work someone on your staff can finish in an afternoon if it's scheduled now instead of the week between Christmas and New Year's. Here are 15 to put on the list.


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