Analyzing the logic of medical marketization and coverage through semantic network analysis of newspaper articles

There is a lack of research analyzing the formation and change of institutional logics in the Korean healthcare sector. This study examines the major institutional changes that occurred from 1990 to 2018 and explores institutional logics by conducting semantic network analysis on Korean newspaper articles. The analysis identified the 'medical marketization logic' and the 'medical coverage logic' as the main competing logics, and six groups of institutional vocabularies were found to support these two logics. The medical marketization logic has been strengthened primarily during conservative governments, while the medical coverage logic has been strengthened during liberal governments, and large-scale infectious disease epidemics have been shown to be important catalysts for changes in institutional logics. This study contributes to understanding the complexity and dynamics of institutional logics, suggests prospects and possibilities for institutional logic change in healthcare, and suggests directions for future research.