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Public health expert urges oversight of telemedicine, warns vaccine distribution and Arkansas Works reauthorization loom as legislative priorities

PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE · January 20, 2021
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Summary

Dr. Joe Thompson of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement told the Public Health committee telemedicine use surged during COVID but lacks quality monitoring; he urged prioritizing vaccine distribution oversight and said the legislature will face reauthorization of Medicaid expansion (Arkansas Works).

Dr. Joe Thompson, president of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that the center has used the state’s all-payer claims database to track COVID patterns, telemedicine growth and hospital closures. Thompson said telemedicine monthly visits rose from fewer than 200 before the pandemic to more than 20,000 by April of last year and called telemedicine "a new…

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