Jake Magel, PT, PhD, DSc, OCS, FAAOMPT is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training. His research focuses on the management of patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

As a LeaRRn scholar, Dr. Magel will be mentored by Joel Stevens, DC, PhD, and will be working with a team of clinical, administrative, and technical stakeholders at UPMC. The overall objective of the project is to use University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Center for Rehabilitation Services (CRS) routinely collected data to enhance data-driven decision making for patients with low back pain (LBP). In the US, personal health care spending for spine pain ranks third next to spending on diabetes and heart disease and within the UPMC, spine-related disorders rank third behind cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Physical therapy is a recommended first line of treatment for spine pain and guideline concordant care can reduce costs and healthcare use. Data-driven decisions are necessary to improve delivery of guideline concordant care and patient outcomes. CRS operates more than 70 outpatient clinics in western Pennsylvania. The health system employs more than 200 outpatient physical therapists who manage approximately 15,000 patients with low back pain (LBP) each year. CRS PTs manage patients using the Treatment-based Classification System (TBCS) for LBP. Routinely collected data for these patients includes standard patient demographics, the patients’ LBP classification and their patient reported outcomes.