Public Opinion Strategies Research Of Hospital In The New Media Era

Before the two sessions 2017,people.com.cn carried out an online survey on topics of the most public concern,and the healthcare reform was ranked number three.In the past few years,the rise of new media and the gushing flow of information it lead,together with wakening awareness of civil right owning to improvement of the legal system,sets the background of swiftly growing public opinions on hospitals.Disputes between healthcare workers,patients and hospitals grow dramatically,making the medical service industrial,particularly the hospitals,faces ever growing challenges of public opinion.Henan,a province comparatively short of material prosperity but homes one of the largest population in China and a tremendous medical service market,is sailing into a particularly restless ocean of public opinion on hospitals.It is clear that the research of public opinion management on hospitals in the age of new media using Henan as test ground is both representative and effective.In this paper,a thorough study on public opinion on hospitals in Henan is reported,with suggestions on systematically improving the management strategy proposed,based on a combination of sorting out public media reports,survey among patients and medical workers as well as investigative discussions with management teams of hospitals.After reviewing key concepts and theoretical works,the research starts with consolidating media reports in the recent years.Based on these published public opinion incidents,the characteristics of public opinion on hospitals in Henan are filtered out,including abrupt occurrence and swift transmission,a high degree of interactivity and bias,accompanied by common misreporting.These issues shall be contributed to both external difficulties like the hospitals' weak ties to media outlets and unsettled relationship with patients,and internal weakness such as the immature management systems.Based on surveys among both medical service workers and patients on public opinion on hospitals and especially patient-doctor relationship,significant gaps between the two group are discovered in acknowledging credibility of social medias,interaction during services as well as evaluation on services.Information asymmetry,lack of mutual trust and patients' outdated conceptions onthe patient-doctor relationship posts additional threats to a harmonious atmosphere.With investigation into the practical experiences of three hospitals pioneering on public opinion management in Henan,the secrets of their success as well as lesson on their existing weakness,such as overly conservative operating models,are analyzed.On the grounds of these facts,this paper proposed multiple improvement on public opinion management for hospitals in Henan.On making coordinated interdepartment efforts,the public health branch of local government should take the lead on filtering information flows and motivate front-line workers into cooperation in publicly supporting constructive opinions.On management strategies,all stages of public opinion crisis should be considered into forward planning.On internal management,the emphasis on service quality should be prioritized alongside establishing effective communication between patients and service providers to reduce misunderstanding and friction.On the legislation side,in-time law revision as well as enforcement should be sought for in the fight against fake news and illintentioned publications.