Analysis of network public sentiment’s characteristics and response of public hospitals after the outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019

Objective To analyze the current situation and characteristics of network public sentiment faced by public hospitals since the outbreak of COVID-19, and to provide suggestions of coping strategies for public hospitals. Methods The data of "trending topic" or "Trending hash tag" of "Wuhan Union Hospital" and "anti-epidemic" were captured on three mainstream new media platforms, namely Sina Microblog, Tik Tok and Headline Today with the help of Data analysis tools of Sina and online data statistical software during the period from December 2019 to February 2020. Content analysis method was used to analyze the occurrence frequency, time distribution and development trend of public sentiment on Internet. Results Under the epidemic of COVID-19, public hospitals faced an exponential growth of network public sentiment. The transmission showed fragmentation of content, instantaneous speed and higher attention to negative information, which brought great challenges for public hospitals. Conclusions The high participation of online discussion of COVID-19 is unprecedented. Public hospitals should attach importance to thework related to network public sentiment, and establish corresponding coping mechanism for response. Key words: Hospitals, public; Network public sentiment; COVID-19; Coping strategies