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Billing code 59050: Labor monitoringMedicare rate & RVUs

Reports a consulting physician’s fetal monitoring during labor, including assessment of the tracing and a written report to the care team.

CMS RVU26DEffective Oct 1, 2026109 payment localities

Medicare pays $44.42 for 59050 nationally in a facility.

Medicare rate · 59050

Labor monitoring

Swap in your local Medicare rate.

Work RVUs
0.87
Total RVUs
1.33
Global days
XXX

National rate · 2026

$44.42

Facility setting, before claim adjustments.

See every locality for 59050 → · Billed by an NP, PA or therapist? →

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

On this page 10 sections
  1. Medicare rate
  2. What 59050 covers
  3. By payment locality
  4. Rate map
  5. How it’s calculated
  6. Payment rules
  7. Similar codes
  8. Related codes
  9. Billing questions
  10. Sources

What 59050 covers

A consulting physician other than the attending physician monitors fetal heart-rate and uterine-activity tracings during labor, assesses the findings, and provides a written report. This service may be requested when the laboring patient’s tracing needs an independent clinical assessment, such as evaluation of concerning fetal heart-rate patterns. It is performed in the labor and delivery setting and is distinct from antepartum fetal testing.

Report 59050 when the consultant performs the monitoring service and documents the findings in a written report; use 59051 when the requested service is interpretation only. The record should establish the physician’s consulting role, that the patient was in labor, the tracing assessed, and the resulting interpretation or recommendations. CMS assigns work, practice-expense, and malpractice relative values to the service; the applicable fee schedule rate is displayed separately.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 59050 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

59050 office and facility rates by payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
AlabamaUnavailable$39.72
Alaska*Unavailable$55.32
ArizonaUnavailable$42.93
ArkansasUnavailable$39.15
AtlantaUnavailable$46.42
AustinUnavailable$43.82
BakersfieldUnavailable$42.06
Baltimore/Surr. CntysUnavailable$47.49
BeaumontUnavailable$43.21
BrazoriaUnavailable$42.61

59050 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

MEWIVTNHMTNDMNMINYMARIWAIDWYSDIAILINOHPANJCTORNVUTCONEMOKYWVVAMDDECAAZNMKSOKARTNNCSCDCTXLAMSALGAFLAKHI

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Local rates. Clear comparisons.

Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.

View every state and territory as a table
59050 office rate range by state
State / territoryOffice rate rangeLocalities
AKNo published base rate1
ALNo published base rate1
ARNo published base rate1
AZNo published base rate1
CANo published base rate29
CONo published base rate1
CTNo published base rate1
DCNo published base rate1
DENo published base rate1
FLNo published base rate3
GANo published base rate2
GUNo published base rate1
HINo published base rate1
IANo published base rate1
IDNo published base rate1
ILNo published base rate4
INNo published base rate1
KSNo published base rate1
KYNo published base rate1
LANo published base rate2
MANo published base rate2
MDNo published base rate3
MENo published base rate2
MINo published base rate2
MNNo published base rate1
MONo published base rate3
MSNo published base rate1
MTNo published base rate1
NCNo published base rate1
NDNo published base rate1
NENo published base rate1
NHNo published base rate1
NJNo published base rate2
NMNo published base rate1
NVNo published base rate1
NYNo published base rate5
OHNo published base rate1
OKNo published base rate1
ORNo published base rate2
PANo published base rate2
PRNo published base rate1
RINo published base rate1
SCNo published base rate1
SDNo published base rate1
TNNo published base rate1
TXNo published base rate8
UTNo published base rate1
VANo published base rate2
VINo published base rate1
VTNo published base rate1
WANo published base rate2
WINo published base rate1
WVNo published base rate1
WYNo published base rate1

How the 59050 rate is calculated

Each of 59050’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

How the rate is built · 59050

RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor

Swap in your local Medicare rate.

Work 0.87Practice expense 0.19Malpractice 0.27

1.3300 adjusted RVUs×$33.4009 conversion factor=$44.42

All indexes start at 1.000 (the national rate). Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.

Payment rules and modifiers for 59050

59050 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

Place of service · 59050

Which rate does Medicare pay?

The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).

Non-facility (office) rate · national

—

59050 isn’t priced in this setting.

59050 compared with similar codes

Compare codes

59050 vs 59051 vs 59025 vs 59020: national Medicare rates

Swap in your local Medicare rate.

  • 59050
    Labor monitoring · 0.87 wRVU
    —
  • 59051
    Fetal monitoring · 0.72 wRVU
    —
  • 59025
    Fetal testing · 0.52 wRVU
    $50.44
  • 59020
    Fetal stress test · 0.64 wRVU
    $72.81

How to choose

59051Fetal monitoring
Use 59050 when the consultant performs monitoring and provides a written report. Use 59051 for interpretation only.
59025Fetal testing
59025 is an antepartum non-stress test. 59050 concerns a consultant’s monitoring service during labor.
59020Fetal stress test
59020 reports a contraction stress test for fetal assessment; 59050 reports consultant monitoring during labor.

Codes related to 59050

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Codes related to 59050
CodeHow it relatesNational office range
Used instead
59051Fetal monitoringUse for labor fetal-monitoring interpretation when the consultant provides interpretation only.No office rate
59025Fetal testingAntepartum fetal non-stress testing, rather than consultant monitoring during labor.$44.16–$62.72
59020Fetal stress testA contraction stress test, generally used for antepartum fetal assessment.$63.38–$92.15

59050 billing questions

How does 59050 differ from 59051?

59050 is for the consultant’s monitoring service with a written report. Choose 59051 when the consultant interprets the fetal monitoring but does not provide the monitoring service.

Can the attending physician report 59050?

The code describes labor monitoring by a consulting physician other than the attending physician. The documentation should make the consultant’s role clear.

Does 59050 cover an antepartum non-stress test?

No. It concerns fetal monitoring during labor; 59025 describes a fetal non-stress test, an antepartum testing service.

What documentation supports reporting 59050?

Document that the patient was in labor, the physician served as a consultant, the fetal tracing was monitored, and the findings were communicated in a written report.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
RVUs for 59050PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 6,635 (RVU26D)

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates

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