Arkansas, like other states, faces a shortage of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers. Primary care physician (PCP) shortages in particular have been associated with higher rates of preventable emergency department visits. Conversely, greater PCP supply has been linked to earlier diagnosis of disease, lower mortality, and lower healthcare spending.
This interactive dashboard examining the PCP clinical workforce in Arkansas is intended to inform policymakers, healthcare leaders, and other stakeholders about the supply, characteristics, and distribution of PCPs so they can make evidence-based decisions regarding provider access across Arkansas communities. The dashboard has been updated to include years 2019 through 2023 using data from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s All-Payer Claims Database, licensure files from the Arkansas State Medical Board, and CarePrecise.
The dashboard provides visualizations at the state, county, and regional levels and includes information on physician demographics and activity status (full time, part time), payer mix, and primary care specialty: family medicine, geriatric medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics. Activity levels are based on claims and do not represent full-time-equivalent workload.
Key findings based on data for 2023, the most recent year available, include:
- There were 2,130 actively practicing PCPs in Arkansas, or 6.9 per 10,000 residents.
- 34% of PCPs practiced less than full time, defined as practicing fewer than 150 active days during the year.
- 27% of full-time PCPs were 60 or older, raising concerns about future supply as many approach retirement.
- Early-career PCPs (under age 45) were more likely to practice fewer than 150 days during the year compared to PCPs age 45 or older (41% vs. 29%).
- The PCP clinical workforce continued to show differences by sex: 65% were male and 35% were female, although the gap was narrower among early-career physicians (56% vs 44%).
- Female pediatricians outnumbered male pediatricians (62% vs. 38%). The reverse was true in internal medicine, where male physicians made up 69% of the workforce.
- Black and Hispanic Arkansans, making up 6% and 3% of the PCP clinical workforce, respectively, were underrepresented relative to their state population shares (15% and 9%, respectively), while Asian PCPs, making up 14% of the PCP clinical workforce, were overrepresented compared to their share of the state population (2%).
A note on physician counts and activity status across geographic levels: The dashboard calculates physician clinical activity separately at each level of geography, so counts will differ between views. In the state view, each physician is classified once based on total statewide activity. Because a physician may practice in more than one county or region, a physician can be counted in multiple counties or regions. As a result, the county or region view will show different total counts. Also, totals may vary between views because a small number of physicians could not be assigned to a specific practice area.
About the Data
The data presented in this dashboard were obtained from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s All-Payer Claims Database (APCD), licensure files from the Arkansas State Medical Board, and CarePrecise. Population estimates used to calculate physician rates were obtained from
To be included in the dashboard, a PCP must:
- Hold a valid Arkansas medical license and National Provider Identifier (NPI).
- Be assigned a primary care specialty (family medicine, geriatric medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics).
- Have delivered evaluation and management services to at least two patients on the same day (an “active day”) at least once during the year. Telemedicine services are included in this analysis and were used when calculating physician clinical activity.
Physician activity levels are based on the number of active days per year:
- Full time: 150 or more active days
- Part time: 50-149 active days
- Limited time: 11-49 active days
- Very limited time: 1-10 active days
Specialty classifications are assigned using a hierarchical approach:
- Taxonomy codes from the APCD.
- Taxonomy codes from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System NPI Registry.
- Specialty information from 2025 licensure data when claims or NPI taxonomy codes are unavailable.
Physicians were assigned to one of four primary care categories — family medicine, geriatric medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics — using the primary care workforce categories and specialty-assignment approach reflected in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration’s Health Workforce Simulation Model. When a physician had both a primary care specialty and a more specialized primary care specialty, the physician was assigned based on the more specialized specialty and excluded as a primary care physician. For example, a physician trained in internal medicine who also reported a cardiology specialty would be counted as a cardiologist and would not be included as a primary care physician
Physician activity reflects only services represented in the claims data. Some PCPs may also practice in settings or perform activities that do not generate claims, such as care provided through the Veterans Health Administration, Social Security disability determinations, or other non-claims-based services. These activities are not reflected in the dashboard.
In cases where NPIs or license numbers were missing, CarePrecise was used to obtain the missing information. Manual review was performed as needed to resolve missing or inconsistent information.
Demographic details were primarily obtained from licensure files.
Payer mix visualizations reflect the distribution of each physician’s patients by primary payer type: Medicaid, Medicare, or commercial insurance. Each bar represents an individual physician and shows the number of patients seen or visits provided during the calendar year. These views are only available at the county level and can be displayed for children (ages 0-18), adults (age 19 and older), or all ages. Suppression rules are applied to prevent disclosure of small numbers. Values less than 11 are suppressed and displayed as 3.
Geographic views on the dashboard are available at several levels:
- Statewide (all physicians meeting inclusion criteria).
- County of service location.
- Marketplace regions used by the Arkansas Insurance Department.
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences regional campuses and training sites.
- Rurality, based on the 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC), which distinguish counties by population size and proximity to metropolitan areas. Urban counties were defined by RUCC codes 1-3. Rural counties were defined by RUCC codes 4-9.
Counts of active physicians and activity classifications may differ between state and county views because activity is calculated separately at each level. For example, a physician may be full time at the state level but part time in a specific county, depending on where the physician’s active days occurred. Geospatial analysis was used to verify location when detailed address information was available. A small number of physicians could not be assigned to a specific county.