Assessment of the global healthcare industry during COVID-19 pandemic: A content analysis approach

Abstract

Background: Content analysis (CA) is an investigative research tool used in healthcare studies to identify imminent challenges while providing lead time for preparedness measures. The objective of this study is to report on the challenges confronting the global healthcare industry. Methods: This study used the conventional CA “bottom-up” approach to a quantitative data.  CA is a research technique that uses the qualitative research method and word counts to evaluate communication outcomes. A group of executive master’s in business administration (EMBA) and medical students championed the study. Using 13 periodicals as the data sources, researchers conducted online keyword searches for all articles, titles, and abstracts containing the word “healthcare”. The collected data was gathered from five international, four Middle Eastern, and four Lebanese periodicals from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. Results: CA results indicate remarkable domination of keywords “COVID-19 health impact” as a major worldwide theme. Significant differences were noticeable among subcategories but remained related to COVID-19 in particular, social responsibilities, and research and development. Topics such as comorbid illnesses, social responsibility, healthcare logistics, and the well-being of healthcare service providers were among the least covered topics. Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the importance of global media and their coverage of healthcare issues on the types of healthcare topics (e.g., vaccines, drugs…) covered in the Lebanese periodicals in our study. Thus, global healthcare media are the main source for Lebanese periodicals reporting healthcare issues rather than the Lebanese healthcare authorities. Therefore, there is need for the development of a more efficient technology-driven healthcare management system. At the global level, there is a need to develop a step-by-step action-oriented strategic initiative to respond to emerging pandemics.