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Fresh healthcare insights
Promoting Regular Physical Movement: A Vital Component of Workplace Safety
Employers are required by law to foster a safe and healthful workplace that is free from serious hazards. But the savvy ones know that continually optimizing workplace safety is about more than following the law. Structured movement programs that encourage regular physical activity can prevent injury, chronic pain, and expensive musculoskeletal claims. The more effectively employers can protect their team from workplace injuries and illness, the more they stand to save on healthcare, workers’ compensation premiums, and fines for safety violations. According to Gallup, 75% of medical costs are accrued due to preventable conditions. Well-executed workplace safety programs increase systematic efficiencies by streamlining safety protocols, and they result in a healthier, more engaged, and more productive workforce.
June 22, 2023 • 7 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Inside Sword: From Advisor to Patient to Advocate
In 2020, Brian Marcotte joined Sword Health’s advisory board, committing to help us achieve our mission to free two billion from pain. As the former President and CEO of Business Group on Health, Brian is no stranger to innovative health and benefit solutions. His pivotal connection to Sword reinforces our mutual drive to transform healthcare systems, and patient access to them, across the globe. But Brian isn’t just a Sword advisor. He’s a member, too. In fact, having enrolled in Sword two years ago, he now believes our “clinical approach to digital physical therapy is superior to any other solution in the market” and he’s passionately advocating for it as a win-win solution for companies and their people. "I had a nagging, chronic back problem for years and tried to manage it through stretching and over-the-counter painkillers. While working out in June of 2021, however, I did something to trigger pain to the point where my range of motion was severely limited; just standing up first thing in the morning was enough for me to catch my breath.
May 8, 2023 • 4 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Making healthcare more equitable
Healthcare providers and employers understand that it’s critically important to recognize and tackle persistent health disparities to improve access and outcomes for everyone. But new requirements from the federal government mean addressing health equity is becoming even more urgent and necessary. Under the new ACO REACH payment model, participants will be required to meet several provisions on promoting health equity, including the creation of a health equity plan and the collection of health equity data to determine social risk factors.
April 26, 2023 • 8 min read
Sword Editorial Team
New clinical studies show Sword improves outcomes and health equity
Sword Health, the world’s fastest growing provider of digital care solutions for muscle, joint and pelvic pain, today announced two new studies that are the first to demonstrate that digital care programs can reduce pain and increase access to treatment for historically underserved patient populations, helping to advance health equity for all. Muscle and joint pain disproportionately affect people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds through higher disease burden. Historically underserved patients report greater rates of chronic pain, and less access to care, often due to lack of services in their communities. Access to healthcare is also a challenge for people living in rural areas, with fewer opportunities for in-person physical therapy and limited access to public transportation. In the first study, "Racial and Ethnic Differences in Outcomes of a 12-Week Digital Rehabilitation Program for Musculoskeletal Pain: Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study" published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, patients were organized by self-reported racial and ethnic groups. Their engagement and outcomes were measured after 12 weeks, compared to baseline.
March 2, 2023 • 5 min read
Sword Editorial Team
How MSK Problems Affect Sleep
We all know that sleep has a profound effect on your health and overall well-being. When pain makes it difficult to get a good night’s rest, it can affect nearly every aspect of your life, from your work productivity to your personal relationships. Research shows that pain and sleep have a bidirectional relationship. Chronic pain disturbs sleep, while sleep quality significantly predicts greater reports of pain. Since sleep is so vital for good health, this is a critical quality of life issue to resolve for people living with pain. This is also a cost-saving issue: Research shows that poor sleep quality costs businesses $1,967 per employee per year in lost productivity.
February 13, 2023 • 5 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Harvard MBA Students Learn from Sword Health's Growth
This week, Sword Health had the opportunity to share our story and business vision with the students of Professor Regina Herzlinger’s “Innovating in Healthcare” course at Harvard Business School (HBS). Students in the class read and discussed a new case study, “Sword Health: Freeing the World From Pain,” about the trade-offs that all digital health companies need to face, whether to cut quality and costs to promote growth, or to keep standards high and grow at a more conservative pace. This makes Sword a useful case study for future healthcare leaders and entrepreneurs like those enrolled in Professor Herzlinger’s course. HBS chose Sword for this case study because the company is described with so many superlatives – Fastest growing company in this space, the most clinical research and patents, the highest engagement rates, the best ROI. In the face of so many decisions to be made, Sword decided to go the route of delivering the most clinically rigorous care.
February 10, 2023 • 2 min read
Sword Editorial Team
5 Stretches for a Frozen Shoulder
Stiff shoulders, restricted shoulder movement, or a sensation of a frozen shoulder can be painful, uncomfortable, and restrictive. If left untreated, chronic pain can develop. Finding relief from pain is critical, but almost always some form of movement is required to start working on recovery. For those who deal with shoulder pain, or any other musculoskeletal (MSK) pain, there can be a fear of movement or a tendency to avoid expected pain. Sometimes we need to embrace "low pain" and start the shoulder moving again, and the following shoulder stretches can help you recover.
January 16, 2023 • 7 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Solving the Epidemic of Unnecessary Surgery
For decades, the U.S. healthcare system has been burdened by medical overtreatment. Every year, millions of Americans with chronic pain undergo tests and procedures which don’t lead to healthier outcomes. This invasive approach pushes them toward complications and spiraling medical expenses. In my role as head of surgery at the Hartford Medical Center and as Chief Medical Officer at Sword Health, this is my mission: to help people find the best, least-invasive way to lead full, active, happy lives. Even physicians acknowledge the problem. A landmark survey of board-certified doctors found that 64.7% believe that at least 15–30% of medical care is unnecessary. The issue is most problematic when it comes to unnecessary surgery. The risks of surgery are already great so operating unnecessarily can be even more devastating. This leads to hospital readmissions, post-surgical pain and injury, and even death. This is not a new problem. As far back as the 1950s, Dr. Paul Hawley, the director of the American College of Surgeons, warned that “the public would be shocked if it knew the amount of unnecessary surgery performed.”
October 27, 2022 • 7 min read
Vijay Yanamadala
How to combat the dangers of inactivity
Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is a fact of life, especially for those who work at a desk, or are of advanced age. Your joints are critical to movement. When those joints are stressed, overused, or injured, you experience any level of MSK pain, whether long term (chronic), or short term (acute). Strain is not the only offender of MSK injury. We understand that backs ache, shoulders hurt, and knees break down as a result of overuse. However, studies show that lack of movement may be the biggest culprit of MSK pain. In the last 20 years, MSK pain has become steadily more prevalent across North America and Europe. Back and shoulder pain is at an all time high. Surgeries continue to increase, despite that outcomes aren’t improving. Yet, over the last 50 (and even 20) years, the average adult is less engaged in daily, active movement. If we’re moving our bodies less, how can we be in more pain? For many of us, working from home means we’re moving less with no commute, no in-person meetings, and less socializing while walking around the office or its surrounds. We are often bound to chairs for long hours and live in a dominantly virtual world.
October 13, 2022 • 7 min read
Megan Hill
Benefits of Active Movement
Since founding, our mission has always been to give people access to a life that’s free from pain. Underlying this mission is the knowledge that living is moving: when something stops moving, it dies. It’s in our human DNA to run, jump, and climb, all for the sake of survival. Thankfully, we no longer outrun predators on a daily basis to survive, but the differences in today’s human body are stark — and lack of active movement is to blame. Other behaviors follow, paving the way to poor diets, little exercise, and the onset of chronic illness. The obesity epidemic has a grip on the world. Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, chronic pain, and cancer are on a steep incline, each of these illnesses exacerbated by a sedentary lifestyle. Today, the average person in the United States or Europe is less active than even fifty years ago. This is a human crisis. COVID-19 has shaped the modern office — for better and for worse. Nearly two years after the pandemic, 6 in 10 Americans work from home, and this number is growing. As more and more people move their offices to their bedrooms, daily, regular movement is harder to come by.
October 6, 2022 • 5 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Opioids, Racial Disparities, and MSK Pain
We at Sword Health are committed, collectively and individually, to freeing the world from pain. But doing so is more than simply making pain disappear. With hundreds of thousands of lives lost, it’s up to us to understand the entire ecosystem of pain and take action. In the 1990s, the medical community pushed a new way of thinking about healthcare: to consider pain the "fifth vital sign." A movement followed that focused on eliminating pain — fast. As with any "vital sign" (temperature, heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure), physicians often take a two-pronged approach to treatment: medication for short-term intervention, and lifestyle changes for long term health.
August 16, 2022 • 6 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Hobbies and Mental Health: The Science Behind It
In our busy lives, finding time for hobbies can seem like a luxury. However, engaging in hobbies such as playing chess, doing puzzles, painting, photography, reading, gardening, knitting - or anything else that brings you pleasure and relaxation - can significantly enhance mental health. This article explores the science behind how dedicating time to hobbies can positively impact mental well-being. The benefits of hobbies on mental health are rooted in several physiological and psychological mechanisms: Stress Reduction: Engaging in hobbies can lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress. When you immerse yourself in an enjoyable activity, the brain shifts focus away from stressors, providing a mental break and promoting relaxation. Activities like painting or reading can induce a state of flow, where you lose track of time and become fully absorbed, further reducing stress.
August 16, 2022 • 3 min read
Sword Editorial Team
For employers
Workplace health advice
How Digital Physical Therapy Improves Employee Retention
Did you know that fear of pain can be more disabling than pain itself? Chronic pain and employee turnover prevention are critically linked, but with the right MSK benefits coverage, employers can help their team members recover from pain to increase workplace productivity. Nearly 28% of people in the workplace will take leave for MSK pain over the course of a year. Patients who suffer the two most common conditions of low back and neck pain have an average return to work of 7 days. Overall, MSK conditions are responsible for 44 missed work days each year on average.
October 24, 2025 • 5 min read
Sword Editorial Team
How to evaluate and select the best digital MSK vendors
Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are one of the most expensive and under-addressed cost centers facing U.S. healthcare providers. MSK disorders affect 1 in 2 Americans and cost over $190 billion per year, more than heart disease, cancer, or mental health conditions. For employers and health plans, MSK claims are often among the top 3 cost drivers. And for members, chronic pain reduces quality of life, drives absenteeism, and often leads to costly downstream interventions. That’s why digital MSK solutions have surged in popularity. The promise is compelling: better access, which drives stronger engagement, delivers better outcomes, and therefore lowers overall healthcare costs.
October 24, 2025 • 6 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Reduce MSK costs with more effective digital MSK care plans
You’ve likely seen numerous digital health solutions that promise to lower medical spend. You’ve probably zeroed in on the top conditions with significant digital solutions in the marketplace: musculoskeletal (MSK), mental health, and diabetes. For most companies, prioritizing MSK care over other digital health solutions will drive the biggest benefits for your employees and your bottom line when it comes to savings. Given the multitude of vendors, platforms, and solutions available, prioritization can be a daunting task. How do you choose from among the thousands of digital health tools? What combination of condition focus and solution selection will drive the best outcomes for your population and the biggest return for your business?
October 24, 2025 • 5 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Tackling the #1 driver of employers’ health costs: MSK
The phrase ‘musculoskeletal disorder’ may not ring a bell — but the feeling might. The term refers to any type of pain in the muscles or joints, from chronic pain to injuries to post-surgical pain. Many of us have suffered from a musculoskeletal (MSK) issue at some point in our lives. In fact, one in two Americans is struggling with an MSK condition right now. And it’s causing economic ripples, especially in the workplace.
January 20, 2020 • 6 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Expert guidance
From the experts: Ask a physical therapist
Ask a PT: when is the best time to do my exercises?
Before I joined Sword Health, I worked in brick-and-mortar clinics. I never worked weekends, and rarely worked past 6 pm. My schedule was great...for me. But for my patients, it was a real challenge. Attending a physical therapy appointment might require leaving work early or slipping out at lunch. Even patients with more flexible schedules would sometimes lament about finding childcare or arranging transportation. A thirty-minute appointment could easily take an hour or even 90 minutes once travel was taken into account. When I was in a clinic, the “best” time for a patient to do their exercises was the time that worked for me, not for them. Sword's virtual model gives our members the power to do their exercises when AND where it's most convenient for them. Now that I work remotely for Sword, I’m able to help our members figure out the best time to do their exercises at home. Now, when my members ask me when they should do their exercises, I tell them - the best time is when you’ll actually do them!
February 11, 2021 • 6 min read
Megan Hill
Ask a PT: Does walking really help with pain?
If you’ve ever stood on the sidelines of a sporting event, you’ve likely witnessed many falls, trips and tackles. Whether the players are small children or professional athletes, the advice from the coach may have simply been to “walk it off.” While that is not always the best solution after an acute injury, walking can be a really effective way to manage chronic pain. Motion is lotion. Movement increases blood flow, which brings nutrients to our tissues. It also helps those that don’t have blood flow, like cartilage. Cartilage lines our joints, absorbing impact. It’s surrounded by a liquid which provides it with nutrients, flowing in and out of it like a sponge. Exercise, like walking, causes loading that fills and squeezes that sponge, particularly in the joints of our legs and spine.
August 13, 2020 • 4 min read
Megan Hill
Ask a PT: What Is Causing My Shoulder Pain?
When your shoulder hurts, it can be difficult to tell exactly what’s gone wrong. You’ve probably heard of pinched nerves and rotator cuff tears. Perhaps you’ve also heard about shoulders being ‘impinged’ or ‘frozen.’ It’s not easy to keep these various shoulder conditions straight, especially when they all cause similar pain symptoms. The first step towards fixing a problem is identifying it. This article, written by a team of Doctors of Physical Therapy, is designed to help you figure out what’s causing your shoulder pain — so you can begin the process of healing it. We will dive into the five most common causes of shoulder pain and how to differentiate them. Cervical refers to the neck, and radiculopathy is pain that radiates to another body part. Hence, cervical radiculopathy: a pinched nerve in the neck, which can cause radiating pain affecting the shoulder. It occurs when the cervical spine becomes damaged due to sudden injury or degeneration over time, and squeezes or puts pressure on a nearby nerve.
November 1, 2023 • 6 min read
Megan Hill
Healthcare contributors
Meet Sword's expert authors
Vijay Yanamadala
Chief Medical Officer at Sword Health
Fernando Correia
SVP Clinical & Regulatory Affairs at Sword Health
Megan Hill
Director, Clinical Specialists
Morgan Hollis
Head of Clinical Strategy, Sword Move
Jennesa Atherton
Head of Clinical Affairs, Sword Bloom
Liz Santo
Senior Clinical Program Manager, Sword Bloom ·
