Telehealth, sometimes referred to as telemedicine, is the practice of delivering or receiving healthcare services through telecommunications and information technology. This dashboard explores trends in Arkansas telehealth utilization using data obtained from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s All-Payer Claims Database.
For the purposes of this dashboard, telehealth services may include both synchronous and asynchronous services.
Synchronous services occur live between two or more parties and may include:
- Live video conferencing, i.e., live, two-way interaction between a person (a patient and/or caregiver) and a provider using audiovisual telecommunications technology.
- Telephone or audio-only conferencing, i.e., the use of a telephone for live healthcare visits without video.
Asynchronous services do not require live interaction and may include:
- Remote patient monitoring, i.e., the use of digital devices to collect and send patient data and clinical information that is then reviewed by a healthcare provider. Often, the information is collected by the patient outside of a healthcare setting.
- “Store and forward,” which refers to communications that involve contact between two parties (i.e., patient-to-provider) in a way that does not require real-time interaction. Examples include a narrative (i.e., text-based) description, an image, a video recording, an audio recording, or responses to a survey.
Telehealth utilization increased significantly in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency — declared March 13, 2020 — due to rapid expansions in telehealth service coverage in federal and state health insurance plans.
Though the public health emergency officially ended May 11, 2023, and telehealth utilization has declined since its pandemic-era peak in 2020, many flexible policies related to telehealth were extended or made permanent in some form. Our interactive dashboard indicates that telehealth utilization in Arkansas remains higher post-pandemic than pre-pandemic, suggesting an enduring desire to access care through technological delivery models.
About the Data
The data presented in this dashboard were obtained from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database. The dashboard includes member enrollment and telehealth claims data from Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2024.
TELEHEALTH CLAIM IDENTIFICATION
Telehealth claims were identified through:
- Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes.
- Included Codes: 98966, 98967, 98968, 98969, 98970, 98971, 98972, 98980, 98981, 99091, 99421, 99422, 99423, 99441, 99442, 99443, 99444, 99453, 99454, 99457, G0071, G0406, G0407, G0408, G0425, G0426, G0427, G0459, G0508, G0509, G2010, G2012, G2025, G2061, G2062, G2063, G2250, G2251, G2252, Q3014, and T1014.
- Excluded Codes: 99446, 99447, 99448, 99449, 99451, 99452, and 99458.
- Medical claims with one of the following place of service codes.
- Place of service code 02: Telehealth was provided at a location other than the patient’s home.
- Place of service code 10: Telehealth was provided in the patient’s home.
- Modifier codes used in addition to other CPT or HCPCS codes.
- Included codes: G0, GQ, GT, FQ, 93, and 95.
MEASURES AVAILABLE
Unique Patients — the number of unique individuals who had at least one telehealth claim in the selected year.
Percentage of Enrollees — the percentage of individuals with medical coverage who had at least one telehealth claim in the selected year. An individual is considered an enrollee if they had at least one day of medical coverage during the year.
DASHBOARD VIEWS
Trend Lines — displays trends for each measure (overall, by age group, and by sex). Use the left-hand column to toggle between measures and breakout categories.
Demographic Breakouts — displays yearly measures (by age group, by sex, and by enrollee county of residence). Use the left-hand column to toggle between measures and years. Filter by age group, sex, or county of residence by selecting values in the charts. Remove a filter by deselecting the selected value from the chart.
Geographic Views — displays statewide, county, marketplace regions used by the Arkansas Insurance Department, and rurality measures. Rurality is 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.
Suppression rules are applied to prevent disclosure of small numbers. Counts fewer than 11 are suppressed and displayed as “<11.”