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October 22, 2003

Health informatics investigator joins Group Health’s Center for Health Studies

Seattle—James Ralston, MD, MPH, was recently appointed assistant investigator at Group Health Center for Health Studies (CHS), conducting research in health informatics.

A physician specializing in internal medicine, Ralston’s research focuses on the development and evaluation of online health care services for the management of chronic illness. His projects have included studying the impact of allowing patients access to their medical records via the Internet, and the impact of Web-based communication between patients and providers. In addition, Ralston recently completed a fellowship in general internal medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

"I came to Group Health because it’s ahead of all other health care organizations in the development of a patient-centered, integrated information system," says Ralston. Group Health’s new, secure, Web-based system allows individual patients and their doctors online access to the same information from the patient’s medical record, he explains. "Through CHS, I’ll be able to test these tools in a large health care system and evaluate if and how they improve patient care. It’s an opportunity that’s not possible in an academic setting."

CHS Director Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, called Ralston’s arrival "an important milestone in the development of Group Health’s informatics research utility—an effort that will involve many people at CHS and Group Health’s Clinical Information Systems team."

Ralston graduated from UW’s School of Medicine in 1994. He received his master’s degree from UW’s School of Public Health in 2002.

In addition to his research, Ralston will work for Group Health Permanente’s Consultative Internal Medicine Group in Redmond, providing outpatient consultation for Group Health patients with complicated medical conditions.

About Group Health Center for Health Studies

Group Health Center for Health Studies conducts epidemiologic, health-services, and clinical research related to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of major health problems. Funded primarily through government and private research grants, the Center is located in Seattle, Washington.

Group Health is a consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system that coordinates care and coverage. Based in Seattle, the Cooperative serves nearly 600,000 members in Washington and Idaho.

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