Travel Time to Primary Care Physicians Practicing in Arkansas

Primary care physicians (PCPs) are often the first point of contact for Arkansans seeking health care, providing essential services such as preventive care, chronic disease management, and treatment of acute conditions. Access to these providers is critical for maintaining and improving the health of Arkansas communities.

This infographic examines how much time Arkansas patients spend traveling to see PCPs practicing in Arkansas, using data obtained from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s All-Payer Claims Database. Travel times provide insight into healthcare accessibility, particularly in areas where provider shortages exist.

Key findings based on 2022 data include:

• Statewide, the median travel time to a PCP was 17 minutes.
• Among Arkansans seeking care, 30% traveled 30 minutes or more, and 12% traveled 60 minutes or more, to see a PCP.
• In some Arkansas counties, patients traveled more than 10 times longer to see a primary care physician compared to counties with the shortest travel times.
• In Monroe County, residents traveled a median of 61 minutes — the longest in the state — to see a primary care physician in 2022. Although 12 PCPs were licensed in the county, half of them practiced fewer than 11 active days (defined as days when a physician provided evaluation and management services to at least two patients) during the year.

The county with the second-longest travel time to see a PCP in 2022 was Dallas County at 56 minutes. Although 27 PCPs were licensed in the county, only two practiced full-time (150 or more active days) during the year, as can be seen in our interactive dashboard featuring data on the state’s primary care physician workforce.

About the Data

This analysis used data from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s All-Payer Claims Database, licensure files from the Arkansas State Medical Board, and the healthcare provider directory CarePrecise.

Physicians were included in the travel time analysis if they:

• Held a valid Arkansas medical license and a National Provider Identifier.
• Were assigned a primary care specialty (family medicine, internal medicine, general practice, pediatrics, or geriatrics).
• Delivered evaluation and management services to at least two patients on the same day (an “active day”) at least once during 2022.

Specialty assignments were determined using licensure data. CarePrecise was used to supplement missing National Provider Identifier or license information, and manual review was conducted when needed to resolve missing or inconsistent data.

Travel times were estimated by calculating the distance from patients’ residential ZIP codes to the addresses where care was received. Median travel times were then calculated for each county.

Travel times for patients who received care from out-of-state providers were not captured, which may make border counties’ median travel times appear longer than if out-of-state PCPs had been included.