Probabilistic emotion and sentiment modelling of patient-reported experiences.

Patient feedback is necessary to assess the extent to which healthcare delivery aligns with public needs and expectations. Surveys provide structured feedback that is readily analysed; however, they are costly, infrequent, and constrained by predefined questions, limiting a comprehensive understanding of patient experience. In contrast, the unstructured nature of online reviews and social-media posts can reveal unique insights into patient perspectives, yet that very lack of structure presents a challenge for analysis.

Revealing patient-reported experiences in healthcare from social media using thedesign-acquire-process-model-analyse-visualise framework.

Understanding patient experience in healthcare is increasingly important and desired by medical professionals in a patient-centred care approach. Healthcare discourse on social media presents an opportunity to gain a unique perspective on patient-reported experiences, complementing traditional survey data. These social media reports often appear as first-hand accounts of patients' journeys through the healthcare system, whose details extend beyond the confines of structured surveys and at a far larger scale than focus groups.