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
Haas CB, Ralston J, Fullerton SM, Scrol A, Henrikson NB. Environmental scan of family chart linking for genetic cascade screening in a U.S. integrated health system. Front Genet. 2022 Aug 11;13:886650. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.886650. eCollection 2022. PubMed
Tuzzio L, O'Meara ES, Holden E, Parchman ML, Ralston JD, Powell JA, Baldwin LM. Barriers to implementing cardiovascular risk calculation in primary care: alignment with the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Am J Prev Med. 2021 Feb;60(2):250-257. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2020.07.027. Epub 2020 Dec 3. PubMed
Berry AB, Lim CY, Liang CA, Hartzler AL, Hirsch T, Ferguson DM, Bermet ZA, Ralston JD. Supporting collaborative reflection on personal values and health. Proc ACM Hum Comput Interact. 2021 Oct;5(CSCW2):1-39. doi: 10.1145/3476040. Epub 2021 Oct 18. PubMed
Bell SK, Bourgeois F, DesRoches CM, Dong J, Harcourt K, Liu SK, Lowe E, McGaffigan P, Ngo LH, Novack SA, Ralston JD, Salmi L, Schrandt S, Sheridan S, Sokol-Hessner L, Thomas G, Thomas EJ. Filling a gap in safety metrics: development of a patient-centred framework to identify and categorise patient-reported breakdowns related to the diagnostic process in ambulatory care. 2022 Jul;31(7):526-540. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2021-013672. Epub 2021 Oct 16. PubMed
Tchesnokova V, Kulasekara H, Larson L, Bowers V, Rechkina E, Kisiela D, Sledneva Y, Choudhury D, Maslova I, Deng K, Kutumbaka K, Geng H, Fowler C, Greene D, Ralston J, Samadpour M, Sokurenko E. Acquisition of the L452R mutation in the ACE2-binding interface of Spike protein triggers recent massive expansion of SARS-CoV-2 variants. J Clin Microbiol. 2021 Aug 11:JCM0092121. doi: 10.1128/JCM.00921-2. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Tuzzio L, Berry AL, Gleason K, Barrow J, Bayliss EA, Gray MF, Delate T, Bermet Z, Uratsu C, Grant RW, Ralston JD. Aligning care with the personal values of patients with complex care needs. Health Serv Res. 2021 Aug 6. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13862. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Henrikson NB, Blasi P, Figueroa Gray M, Tiffany BT, Scrol A, Ralston JD, Fullerton SM, Lim CY, Ewing J, Leppig KA. Patient and family preferences on health system-led direct contact for cascade screening. J Pers Med. 2021;11(6):538. doi: 10.3390/jpm11060538. PubMed
Khan SS, Hoell C, Castillo LM, Connolly JJ, Crosslin DR, Chung WK, Gordon AS, Harr M, Jarvik GP, Kullo I, Larson EB, Leppig KA, Manolio T, Pacheco JA, Ralston JD, Puckelwartz MJ, Smith ME, Wells Q, McNally EM, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ. Practice patterns after return of rare variants associated with cardiomyopathy in the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network. Circ Heart Fail. 2021 May;14(5):e008155. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.120.008155. Epub 2021 May 6. PubMed
Ralston JD, Yu O, Penfold RB, Gundersen G, Ramaprasan A, Schartz EM. Changes in clinician attitudes toward sharing visit notes: surveys pre- and post-implementation. J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Apr 22;1-7. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-06729-1. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Henrikson NB, Scrol A, Leppig KA, Ralston JD, Larson EB, Jarvik GP. Preferences of biobank participants for receiving actionable genomic test results: results of a recontacting study. Genet Med. 2021 Jun;23(6):1163-1166. doi: 10.1038/s41436-021-01111-2. Epub 2021 Feb 18. 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.