POS code 50: Federally Qualified Health Center.

The CMS definition

A facility located in a medically underserved area that provides Medicare beneficiaries preventive primary medical care under the general direction of a physician.

That is the description CMS publishes for POS 50, Federally Qualified Health Center, in the Place of Service Code Set and in chapter 26 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual. In the manual’s table it carries the Non-facility rate (NF) designation for payment under the Physician Fee Schedule.

What it means in plain terms

POS 50 identifies an FQHC as the setting of a professional service. FQHCs are a distinct provider type, so check how your claim is billed before assuming a professional claim with POS 50 is the right form.

When it is used

• A service is furnished at an FQHC and reported on a professional claim.
• CMS chapter 13 describes how RHCs and FQHCs are paid for a visit: an all-inclusive rate based on the visit, with the technical component of a diagnostic test outside the scope of the RHC/FQHC benefit. That chapter shows FQHC payment does not simply follow the physician fee schedule, so confirm the claim type with your MAC.

Billing implications (Medicare)

The manual marks POS 50 NF for the purposes of the Medicare physician fee schedule.

The POS code identifies the setting. Whether a service is paid under the FQHC all-inclusive rate or the fee schedule depends on the service and the claim type, not on the POS code alone.

The general rule in section 10.6 of the manual is that the POS code “generally” reflects the actual setting where the beneficiary receives the face-to-face service, with two exceptions: a registered hospital inpatient or outpatient is reported with the hospital code regardless of where the encounter happens. The code goes in item 24B of the paper Form CMS-1500 or the matching field of the 837P.

Look-alike codes

• POS 72: Rural health clinic. A certified facility in a rural medically underserved area.
• POS 49: Independent clinic. A catch-all outpatient clinic code.
• POS 71: State or local public health clinic.
• POS 11: Office.

For every code in one list, with the 02 vs 10 vs 11 telehealth verdict, see the place of service code lookup.

Sources

• CMS: Place of Service Code Set — official code list and descriptions, page database updated May 2, 2024 (retrieved 2026-11-02)
• CMS: Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 26 (Rev. 12779, issued 08-09-24) — sections 10.5 and 10.6, facility and non-facility designations and special considerations (retrieved 2026-11-02)

Every definition and rule above was read from these CMS pages on November 2, 2026. Payers revise code lists, contracts and policies, so confirm anything that affects a claim with the payer. CMS itself tells billers to check each payer (Medicare, Medicaid, private plans) for how it reimburses each code.