James D. Ralston, MD, MPH

Biography

James Ralston MD, MPH, is an internal medicine physician and senior investigator in health services and health informatics. His research mission is improving the health and care of patients living with common ongoing illnesses. His current areas of emphasis include understanding and honoring the priorities of patients living with multiple chronic conditions.

Dr. Ralston’s research focuses on developing and evaluating communication technologies that foster continuous care and a closer connection between patients and primary care teams. His commitment to finding effective ways to redesign care spans all stages of research, from project development to complete translation of results into clinical practice.

Examples of Dr. Ralston’s research projects include:

The Valuing Important Things in Active Lives (VITAL) study to improve care for people with multiple chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis. VITAL uses participatory design methods with patients and providers to design and evaluate interactive care plans.
The Seeing Priorities study to build and test a single, trusted tool for individuals with multiple chronic conditions that illuminates connections between personal values and chronic illness management. The tool helps visualize, track, and share what matters most for self-management and care.
Understanding and addressing differences in patient use of online health care services that could lead to care disparities.
Testing online care management of blood sugar control using an electronic health record shared with patients with type 2 diabetes. Control improved in patients receiving online care management in addition to usual care.
Validating and evaluating a clinical tool to identify patients with type 2 diabetes at risk of severe low blood sugar. This national collaboration uses Kaiser Permanente and Veterans Administration electronic health record data and machine learning methods.
Testing innovative engagement methods such as photos taken by study participants to document their values to ensure that patient priorities guide self-management plans and clinical care.
Working with primary care teams and clinics in rural and underserved areas to improve the care of their patients with chronic conditions.

Dr. Ralston is also a University of Washington affiliate professor in health services and biomedical informatics, where he serves on the committees of PhD and master’s degree students.

Research interests and experience

Health Informatics

eHealth; hypertension; diabetes
Chronic Illness Management

Health informatics; hypertension; diabetes; health behaviors; multiple chronic conditions
Behavior Change

Self-management support
Health Services & Economics

Health care disparities

Recent publications

Vasavada A, Triplette M, Palazzo L, Ralston J, Carter-Bawa L, Luce C, Green BB, Gao H, Anderson ML, Su YR, Rogers K, Wernli KJ Is Anybody Out There? Understanding the Reach of Lung Cancer Screening Health Communication Through EHR Patient Portal 2026 May 31 doi: 10.1080/10810730.2026.2679491. Epub 2026-05-31. PubMed

Ralston JD, Anderson ML, Ng J, Bashir A, Ehrlich K, Burns-Hunt D, Cotton M, Hansell L, Hsu C, Hunt H, Karter AJ, Levy SM, Ludman E, Madziwa L, Omura EM, Rogers K, Sevey B, Shaw JAM, Shortreed SM, Speight J, Sweeny A, Tschernisch K, Tschernisch S, Yarborough L Preventing Severe Hypoglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes: Randomized Controlled Trial of Proactive Care With Versus Without Psychoeducation 2026 May 12 doi: 10.1007/s11606-026-10491-7. Epub 2026-05-12. PubMed

Rapson T, Ramirez M, He S, Wong J, Kim HC, Luna I, Yang A, Li J, Fishman PA, Ralston JD, Lyles CR, Khoong EC Identifying Skill and Usability Barriers to Digital Health Tool Use Among Older Adult Patients in US Safety Net Clinics: Mixed Methods Study 2026 May 4;13:e78430. doi: 10.2196/78430. Epub 2026-05-04. PubMed

Shinde MU, Shapiro K, Hou L, Coughlin K, Madow AM, Shebl FM, Bright P, Pocobelli G, Ralston JD, Graham VF, Nolan MB, Binswanger IA, Pratt N, Hua W, Cocoros NM, Perez-Vilar S Identifying COVID-19 Disease Severity in Real-World Data: Implications for Medical Product Effectiveness Studies 2026 Apr;35(4):e70363. doi: 10.1002/pds.70363. PubMed

Green BB, Hansell LD, Hsu CW, Jones T, Luce C, Ralston JD, Munson SA, Davis B, Wright T, Anderson ML Evaluation of an Email Blood Pressure Measurement Outreach Program 2026 Mar;39(3):400-406 doi:10.1093/ajh/hpaf206. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpaf206. Epub 2025-10-15. PubMed

Schuttner L, Staloff J, Theis M, Ralston JD, Rosland AM, Nelson K, Coyle L, Hagan S, Schult T, Solt T, Ritchey K, Sayre G Perceived Connections Between Personal Values and Health in High-Risk Patients with Multimorbidity: A Qualitative Study 2026 Feb;41(3):707-715 doi:10.1007/s11606-025-09448-z. doi: 10.1007/s11606-025-09448-z. Epub 2025-03-04. PubMed

Wernli KJ, Anderson ML, Palazzo L, Luce C, Bezman N, Chin M, Gao H, Ralston JD, Rogers K, Su YR, Triplette M, Carter-Bawa L, Vasavada A, Jordan M, West M, Boler S, Green BB Effectiveness of health communication intervention to improve knowledge on timeliness to return for annual lung cancer screening: The Larch Trial 2026 Feb;169(2):550-561 doi:10.1016/j.chest.2025.07.4111. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2025.07.4111. Epub 2025-09-10. PubMed

Ralston JD, Gleason KS, Bayliss EA, Estacio K, Healy L, Holden E, McCloskey J, Peterson I, Shulman L, Taylor-McPhail T, Uratsu CS, Grant RW Outreach Assessment for Social Health Needs in Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions: Qualitative Study of Patient Experience 2026 Jan;41(2):417-423 doi:10.1007/s11606-025-09650-z. doi: 10.1007/s11606-025-09650-z. Epub 2025-06-25. PubMed

Schuttner L, Theis M, Wong E, Staloff J, McQueen RB, Nelson K, Ralston JD, Coyle L, Hagan S, Schult T, Solt T, Ritchey K, Rosland AM Patient-Centered Prioritization of Health Care Processes for Multimorbidity 2025 Dec;8(12):e2549693. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.49693. Epub 2025-12-01. PubMed

Vasavada A, Palazzo L, Luce C, Sanchez M, Triplette M, Ralston JD, Carter-Bawa L, Green BB, Gao H, Li CI, Anderson ML, Su YR, Rogers K, Wernli KJ "It's coming whether we want it to or not": A qualitative exploration of older adults' comfort with and perceptions of technology and digital health 2025 Nov 19 doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8001649/v1. Epub 2025-11-19. PubMed