This award is given to a sports medicine professional whose work and contributions have significantly impacted the field of sports medicine or rehabilitation for athletes.

鈥淚 am humbled to be recognized by the NSCA as the Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation Professional of the Year,鈥� Hanney says. 鈥淭here are many exceptional professionals dedicated to advancing our body of knowledge to help athletes achieve their full potential.鈥�

Morey Kolber, a professor at Nova Southeastern University and former classmate, nominated Hanney for the award.

鈥淢any faculty members may excel at research or service and others are excellent teachers,鈥� Kolber says. 鈥淚t is absolutely rare to find an individual who excels in all three areas, but that is William Hanney.鈥�

Patrick Pabian, program director for 麻豆原创鈥檚 Doctor of Physical Therapy program, also had high praises for Hanney, referring to Hanney as an outstanding faculty member.

鈥淗e has been a longstanding educator, researcher and mentor to students in the areas of orthopedics and sports medicine,鈥� Pabian says. 鈥淲e are very proud of the work he continues to do in conjunction with the NSCA.鈥�

In addition to this recent award, Hanney was also inducted into 麻豆原创鈥檚 Scroll and Quill Society in 2018 for his body of research that aims to improve the accuracy of physical examinations and advance treatment approaches for spinal disorders. He has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed manuscripts that have been published in national and international journals. He is also the recipient of a Research Incentive Award and an Excellence in Research Award.

鈥淭his award is really a recognition for all those that have contributed to the field of sports medicine and rehabilitation,鈥� Hanney says. 鈥淢uch of what I鈥檝e been able to accomplish stems from the efforts of so many before me.鈥�

Kolber says that Hanney鈥檚 creativity and ability to manage projects has been instrumental in Kolber鈥檚 professional success.

鈥淢y professional career would not be where it is today without the mentorship and partnership that I have developed with Dr. Hanney,鈥� Kolber says. 鈥淗e is an inspiration to all physical therapists and embodies the attributes we all wish to develop in our careers.鈥�

The Scroll and The Quill were separate societies in the 1980s at 麻豆原创; the scroll representing research achievement and the quill representing creative achievements such as published books and plays. In 2015, Faculty Excellence revamped the society, honoring legacy members and welcoming new faculty into this prestigious organization.

More than 60 faculty members and guests attended the Oct. 30 reception at the Burnett House.

鈥淭his society is a community of scholars who have continued to advance 麻豆原创鈥檚 transformational impact for at least a decade, inspiring students, fellow faculty and the community,鈥� said Jana Jasinski, vice provost for Faculty Excellence.

The 2018 inductees are:

A research team led by the 麻豆原创 has evaluated how the use of physical therapy to treat acute low back pain 鈥� and the timing of when treatment begins 鈥� impact the use and costs of health care.

The researchers found that patients who started physical therapy within three days of receiving an acute low back pain diagnosis were less likely to use advanced imaging, specialist care and opioids than those who started physical therapy later.

The team鈥檚 findings were published online today in Physical Therapy Journal, the American Physical Therapy Association鈥檚 publication.

鈥淟ow back pain is the cause of significant pain, disability and loss of productivity,鈥� said Xinliang Liu, who led the study as an assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at 麻豆原创. 鈥淒ecisions about treatment have important implications for the health care industry.鈥�

Only a small percentage of patients with acute back pain are referred for physical therapy, according to Liu. And patients with physical therapy begin treatment at different times.

鈥淭here is no consensus about when to refer patients for physical therapy,鈥� said William Hanney, a research team member and assistant professor of physical therapy at 麻豆原创. 鈥淭he timing of physical therapy initiation remains controversial.鈥�

The researchers addressed this controversy by examining insurance claims records for 46,914 patients in New York who had a new onset of acute low back pain from 2009 to 2014. They followed each patient鈥檚 records over one year starting with the date of diagnosis.

Among patients who had physical therapy, those who started treatment within three days of being evaluated (鈥渋mmediate鈥� treatment) were less likely to seek out more costly advanced imaging and specialist care than those who started physical therapy later.

Patients with immediate treatment, about 27 percent, were the least likely to have emergency room visits. Nearly 33 percent of patients who had no physical therapy used emergency room services.

Patients with immediate treatment also were the least likely to fill a prescription for opioid medication (44 percent), followed by patients receiving no physical therapy (48 percent), patients receiving therapy 4-14 days later (54 percent) or 15-28 days later (61 percent).

The authors estimate that immediate referral to physical therapy for acute low back pain potentially could lead to a cost savings of more than $7 billion a year in the United States.

鈥淭he impact of improving treatment of this condition is huge for all stakeholders 鈥� patients, providers, public and private payers and employers,鈥� said Carolyn Watts, the Richard M. Bracken chair and chairman for the Department of Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a health services expert not associated with the study.

鈥淭his study represents the kind of research [that] policy and other decision makers need to create incentives to achieve the results,鈥� she said.

Other members of the research team are Michael Masaracchio from Long Island University, Morey Kolber from Nova Southeastern University, Mei Zhao from the University of North Florida, Aaron Spaulding from the Mayo Clinic, and Meghan Gabriel from 麻豆原创. The study was funded by a grant from the New York Physical Therapy Association.