Measuring accessibility of hierarchical healthcare facilities from the spatio-sentimental perspective

With the acceleration of the population aging trend in numerous countries worldwide, particularly in China, healthcare services become increasingly vital. The accessibility of healthcare facilities is typically influenced by multiple spatial and non-spatial factors, including population size, transportation modes and the reputation of healthcare services. Previous studies have mostly overlooked the perceptions of patients. However, residents’ sentimental perceptions are crucial for accessibility analysis, especially in the prevalent context of seeking medical treatment across provinces and cities. Considering the above factors, a new model named Sentiment-Enhanced two-step floating catchment area (S-E2SFCA) based on the 2SFCA method was proposed in this research, which employs social media dataset and sentiment analysis to measure the accessibility of hierarchical healthcare facilities across cities and provinces, including secondary and tertiary hospitals. The research findings not only demonstrated the effectiveness of integrating social media data in assessing facility capacity from a perceptual perspective but also revealed the current status and existing issues in healthcare facilities accessibility of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region through a case study. These findings could also support the relative regional policy making and promote the balanced spatial distribution of healthcare facilities.