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:
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.
eHealth; hypertension; diabetes
Health informatics; hypertension; diabetes; health behaviors; multiple chronic conditions
Self-management support
Health care disparities
Karter AJ, Parker MM, Moffet HH, Lipska KJ, Ralston JD, Huang ES, Gilliam LK. Validation of a hypoglycemia risk stratification tool using data from continuous glucose monitors. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e236315. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.6315. PubMed
Tchesnokova V, Larson L, Basova I, Sledneva Y, Choudhury D, Heng J, Solyanik T, Bonilla T, Pham S, Schartz E, Madziwa L, Holden E, Weissman S, Ralston J, Sokurenko E. Increase in the rate of gut carriage of fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli despite a reduction in antibiotic prescriptions. Res Sq. 2023 Jan 12;rs.3.rs-2426668. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2426668/v1. Preprint. PubMed
Schuttner L, Lee JR, Hockett Sherlock S, Ralston JD, Rosland AM, Nelson K, Simons C, Sayre GG. Primary care physician perspectives on the influence of patient values, health priorities, and preferences on clinical decision-making for complex patients with multimorbidity: A qualitative study. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2022 Nov 16;15:2135-2146. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S380021. eCollection 2022. PubMed
Lozano PM, Lane-Fall M, Franklin PD, Rothman RL, Gonzales R, Ong MK, Gould MK, Beebe TJ, Roumie CL, Guise JM, Enders FT, Forrest CB, Mendonca EA, Starrels JL, Sarkar U, Savitz LA, Moon J, Linzer M, Ralston JD, Chesley FD Jr. Training the next generation of learning health system scientists. Learn Health Syst. 2022 Sep 10;6(4):e10342. doi: 10.1002/lrh2.10342. eCollection 2022 Oct. PubMed
Blasi PR, Scrol A, Anderson ML, Gray MF, Tiffany B, Fullerton SM, Ralston JD, Leppig KA, Henrikson NB. Feasibility, acceptability, and limited efficacy of health system-led familial risk notification: protocol for a mixed-methods evaluation. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2022 Aug 9;8(1):174. doi: 10.1186/s40814-022-01142-9. PubMed
Miller-Rosales C, McCloskey J, Uratsu CS, Ralston JD, Bayliss EA, Grant RW. Associations between different self-reported social risks and neighborhood-level resources in Medicaid patients. Med Care. 2022 Aug 1;60(8):563-569. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001735. Epub 2022 May 30. PubMed
Schuttner L, Hockett Sherlock S, Simons CE, Johnson NL, Wirtz E, Ralston JD, Rosland AM, Nelson K, Sayre G. My goals are not their goals: barriers and facilitators to delivery of patient-centered care for patients with multimorbidity. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 May 23:1-8. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07533-1. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Leppig KA, Rahm AK, Appelbaum P, Aufox S, Bland ST, Buchanan A, Christensen KD, Chung WK, Wright-Clayton E, Crosslin D, Denny J, DeVange S, Gordon A, Green RC, Hakonarson H, Harr MH, Henrikson NB, Hoell C, Holm IA, Kullo IJ, Jarvik GP, Lammers PE, Larson EB, Lindor NM, Marasa M, Myer MF, Perez E, Peterson JF, Pratap S, Prows CA, Ralston JD, Rasouly HM, Roden DM, Sharp RR, Singh R, Shaibi G, Smith ME, Sturm A, Thiese HA, Van Driest SL, Williams J, Williams MS, Wynn J, Zawatsky CL, Weisner GL. The reckoning: the return of genomic results to 1444 participants across the eMERGE3 Network. Genet Med. 2022 May;24(5):1130-1138. doi: 10.1016/j.gim.2022.01.015. Epub 2022 Feb 23. PubMed
Schuttner L, Hockett Sherlock S, Simons C, Ralston JD, Rosland AM, Nelson K, Lee JR, Sayre G. Factors affecting primary care physician decision-making for patients with complex multimorbidity: a qualitative interview study. BMC Prim Care. 2022;23(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s12875-022-01633-x. PubMed
McCloskey JK, Ellis JL, Uratsu CS, Drace ML, Ralston JD, Bayliss EA, Grant RW. Accounting for social risk does not eliminate race/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection among insured adults: a cohort study. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Feb 2:1-8. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-07261-y. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Kaiser Permanente researchers develop predictive model to help adults with multiple health conditions.
Newly funded center will elevate equity and community in learning health system research.
Community circulation of ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli increased after 6-year reduction in antibiotic prescriptions
A new study aims to understand trends in digital care communication among teens.
A new federal rule requiring physicians to give patients access to their notes may be easier to follow than physicians expected.