John W. Ragsdale III, MD
Family Medicine Doctor, Primary Care Doctor
My Locations
About Me
I am medical director of Duke Family Medicine Center, and my interests include women’s health, quality improvement, and medical education. I am always on the lookout for new and better ways to serve and help our patients. I gain a lot of personal satisfaction from being involved with nearly every aspect of patient care. I am involved in the center’s CenteringPregnancy® prenatal care initiative. I have worked at Duke Family Medicine since I moved to the area in 2008, and I have served as medical director since 2011. I have always enjoyed teaching and believe it is a core value of our practice. When not at work, I am spending time with my spouse, who is also a physician, and my three children. Indeed, life is never boring for me.
- Associate Professor in Family Medicine and Community Health, Family Medicine and Community Health, Family Medicine 2021
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
Clinical Focus and Research
- Prostate Cancer Decision Tool: A Feasibility Study awarded by American College of Preventive Medicine 2018 - 2018
- Berkowitz, Callie, Deborah H. Allen, Jennifer Tenhover, Leah L. Zullig, John Ragsdale, Jonathan E. Fischer, Kathryn I. Pollak, and Bridget F. Koontz. “Knowledge and Preferences of Primary Care Providers in Delivering Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care.” J Cancer Educ 33, no. 6 (December 2018): 1323–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-017-1250-3.
- Dotson, Andrea, Tiffany Covas, Brian Halstater, and John Ragsdale. “Congenital Heart Disease.” Primary Care 51, no. 1 (March 2024): 125–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pop.2023.07.007.
- Gallagher, David M., Anthony J. Viera, William E. Bynum, Poonam Sharma, John W. Ragsdale, Jeffrey Eschbach, and Lalit Verma. “Development of a Community Hospital Medicine Affiliated Inpatient Rotation for Family Medicine Residents-A Collaborative Success.” J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect 12, no. 3 (2022): 5–12. https://doi.org/10.55729/2000-9666.1045.
- Ragsdale, John W., Brian Halstater, and Viviana Martinez-Bianchi. “Prostate cancer screening.,” 41:355–70, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pop.2014.02.009.
- Hull, S. H. A. R. O. N., and John Ragsdale. “Managing conflict,” n.d.
- Shah, Anand, Thomas J. Polascik, Daniel J. George, John Anderson, Terry Hyslop, Alicia M. Ellis, Andrew J. Armstrong, et al. “Implementation and Impact of a Risk-Stratified Prostate Cancer Screening Algorithm as a Clinical Decision Support Tool in a Primary Care Network.” In J Gen Intern Med, 36:92–99, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-020-06124-2.
- Berkowitz, C., D. H. Allen, J. Tenhover, L. L. Zullig, J. E. Fischer, K. I. Pollak, S. K. Smith, et al. “Bridging the Gap: PCP and Patient Needs in Head and Neck Cancer Survivor Care.” In International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, 99:E530–31. Elsevier BV, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.06.1874.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- Merck & Co. USA (not assoc'd with Merck KGaA)
- Veterans Administration