This Fortune 100 company is a global leader in engineering, construction, and project management. With over 50,000 employees working in diverse and physically demanding roles, the organization sought to improve care access and reduce costs tied to musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, one of its largest healthcare cost drivers. With a workforce exposed to physically demanding tasks and tight deadlines, the organization faced unique challenges in managing MSK risk at scale.
The problem
Late-stage care was driving preventable costs
Too often, employees received care only after symptoms had progressed. By the time they engaged, their only options were imaging, injections, or surgery. Traditional models failed to identify MSK risk early, leading to expensive and often avoidable interventions that affected productivity and financial performance.
The company needed a better way to flag MSK risk early and reach employees before costs escalated. For a national employer with high-cost members spread across lines of business, these gaps quickly added up.
The solution
Predict enabled early detection and proactive intervention
Sword Predict identified the 4 percent of employees responsible for 80 percent of MSK costs, surfacing high-risk individuals up to eight months ahead of a potential surgery. Through high-touch outreach, Sword’s team enrolled members into virtual PT through Thrive, and when appropriate, offered support via Bloom and Move.
This model helped the company reach at-risk employees earlier and connect them to high-quality care when it could make the most difference.
Healthcare outcomes
Engaging the highest-risk members with better results
Predict-flagged employees had significantly higher pain levels, prescription use, and functional limitations compared to the general population. Through targeted outreach and personalized care, the company improved outcomes for this hard-to-reach group. Predict identified
The following insights highlight just how different Predict-flagged employees were from the general population — confirming that the solution successfully identified those at highest risk and in greatest need of early intervention.
262%
higher use of pain-related prescriptions²
77.3%
higher rate of work impairment²
Financial results
Moving from reactive treatment to proactive cost avoidance
Sword Predict helped the company reduce unnecessary surgeries and high-cost utilization. By flagging risk earlier and guiding members to care that works, the company achieved measurable savings while transforming its approach from episodic care to long-term cost control.
$355K
total projected MSK savings¹
$4,128
saved per high-risk member¹
