John Fortney, PhD
Personal Statement
I am a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and the Director of the Division of Population Health. I am also a Core Investigator at the HSR&D Center for Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, and the Director of the VA Virtual Care QUERI Program. For the last 35 years, my research has focused on access to care. I have published a framework for conceptualizing access to care in the digital age that incorporates virtual care technologies. I have conducted clinical trials to test the effectiveness of virtual care technologies to facilitate the delivery of evidence-based mental health services in rural primary care clinics. I have also conducted implementation trials to test the effectiveness of strategies to promote the uptake of virtual care technologies by primary care patients and providers. My research has been supported by NIMH, NIAAA, PCORI, and VA HSR/QUERI.Education
Mental Health Services Research, VA HSR&D Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research , 1993-1995
PhD, Geography, University of Iowa, 1992
BS, Geography, Middlebury College, 1984
Department Affiliations
Scholarly Expertise
- Access to health care
- Bipolar Disorder
- Collaborative Care / Integrated Care
- Depression
- Health disparities
- Health services and health policy
- Implementation science
- Low resource settings
- Measurement-based care
- Patient-centered outcomes
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Pragmatic clinical trials
- Primary care
- Randomized controlled trial
- Rural mental health
- Telemedicine
- Telepsychiatry/psychology
- Telepsychiatry/telepsychology
- Veterans
- Sequenced Treatment Effectiveness for Posttraumatic Stress (STEPS)
- Monitoring mood symptoms in young adults at-risk for bipolar disorder
- Bipolar disorder measures in clinical care
- NORTH: Developing a mobile health intervention to support treatment seeking in early psychosis
- Collaborating to Heal Addiction and Mental Health in Primary Care (CHAMP)
- Study to Promote Innovation in Rural Integrated Telepsychiatry (SPIRIT)
Recent Publications
Facilitating use of mobile health in mental health care: Perspectives of patient, caregiver and provider in Nigeria.
(2026)
Glob Ment Health (Camb) 13(): e22
Olayemi BA, Fatodu T, Adefolarin A, Olujimi O, Fortney JC, Gureje O, Kola L
(2026)
Glob Ment Health (Camb) 13(): e22
Olayemi BA, Fatodu T, Adefolarin A, Olujimi O, Fortney JC, Gureje O, Kola L
Health care access from the rural perspective: A narrative review.
(2026 Jan)
J Rural Health 42(1): e70119
Kaboli P, Blaine A, Mares J, Fortney J, Ono S, O'Shea AMJ
(2026 Jan)
J Rural Health 42(1): e70119
Kaboli P, Blaine A, Mares J, Fortney J, Ono S, O'Shea AMJ
Economic cost of strategic implementation approaches to increase uptake of digital therapeutics for substance use disorders in a large integrated health system.
(2026 Jan)
PLOS Digit Health 5(1): e0001145
Wong ES, Dorsey CN, Beatty TC, Bobb JF, Stefanik-Guizlo K, Key DL, Ramaprasan A, Idu AE, Fortney JC, Mogk J, Palazzo L, Caldeiro RM, King D, McWethy AG, Glass JE
(2026 Jan)
PLOS Digit Health 5(1): e0001145
Wong ES, Dorsey CN, Beatty TC, Bobb JF, Stefanik-Guizlo K, Key DL, Ramaprasan A, Idu AE, Fortney JC, Mogk J, Palazzo L, Caldeiro RM, King D, McWethy AG, Glass JE
Leveraging COVID-19 to modernise depression care for VA primary care populations: protocol for a sequential explanatory mixed method evaluation.
(2025 Dec 15)
BMJ Open 15(12): e094624
Leung LB, Brayton CE, Shepardson RL, Gray CP, Lee ML, Funderburk JS, Fortney JC
(2025 Dec 15)
BMJ Open 15(12): e094624
Leung LB, Brayton CE, Shepardson RL, Gray CP, Lee ML, Funderburk JS, Fortney JC
Implementing a suicide risk management protocol as part of a multisite clinical trial: Findings and lessons learned.
(2025 Dec 8)
Clin Trials
Chase E, Moreira N, Blanchard BE, Rouvere J, Ferro L, Bechtel JM, Moore DL, Vakoch D, Law KC, Unützer J, Fortney JC
(2025 Dec 8)
Clin Trials
Chase E, Moreira N, Blanchard BE, Rouvere J, Ferro L, Bechtel JM, Moore DL, Vakoch D, Law KC, Unützer J, Fortney JC
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