• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

  • Opinion
  • Health IT
    • Behavioral Health
    • Care Coordination
    • EMR/EHR
    • Interoperability
    • Patient Engagement
    • Population Health Management
    • Revenue Cycle Management
    • Social Determinants of Health
  • Digital Health
    • AI
    • Blockchain
    • Precision Medicine
    • Telehealth
    • Wearables
  • Startups
  • M&A
  • Value-based Care
    • Accountable Care (ACOs)
    • Medicare Advantage
  • Life Sciences
  • Research

Sword Health Launches AI Solution to Predict and Prevent Unnecessary Surgeries

by Syed Hamza Sohail 04/05/2023 Leave a Comment

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

What You Should Know:

  • Sword Health, the world’s fastest-growing platform for treating pain, today announced Predict, the first AI engine using advanced machine learning to identify members who are up to 40x more likely to have surgery, more than 8 months before a decision has been made to operate, to help them avoid unnecessary and costly hip, knee, and back surgeries. 
  • With Predict, Sword can utilize a wide range of healthcare and demographic data to identify, engage and treat members who are at-risk for needing surgery with digital physical therapy, which is proven to reduce surgery intent by 60 percent. 

Using AI to Reduce Unnecessary Surgeries

Predict will dramatically change how companies – including health plans, employers and labor unions – not only avoid costly surgeries and related impacts, such as time off work, but also enable healthy, pain-free living without invasive surgeries and fears surrounding resulting opioid usage.

“AI-powered surgery prevention is a major step forward in our mission to solve pain and reduce costs throughout the system,” said Virgilio Bento, founder and chief executive officer, Sword Health. “In this economic climate of cost efficiency, helping people avoid surgery while reducing costs for employers and plans is the ultimate win-win. Sword has built an end-to-end solution to help more people live pain-free by starting with less invasive and less expensive therapies.” 

Specifically, Sword Predict:

  • DETECTS: Proprietary technology assigns individual risk scores, classifying members based on the probability of an orthopedic or spine surgery. Innovating on traditional claims analysis, Predict uses more data points, especially those focused on early signals of a future potential surgery.
  • ENGAGES: Once identified, Sword’s clinical team reaches out to members and offers opportunities for less invasive, more effective means of therapy. Sword’s personalized programming and support provides individuals a chance to recover when and where it’s most convenient to them. 
  • SUPPORTS: Sword’s “at-risk” member program includes on-demand access to digital therapists and clinicians. Additionally, the program leverages behavioral science techniques, including positive psychology, intrinsic motivation, loss aversion, and planning prompts to boost member outcomes and performance when tailored to member insights.

Sword Health will offer Predict as an optional, clinical-grade service and will adhere to industry standards to protect employee and health plan member privacy.

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

Tagged With: AI, AI Engine, Machine Learning, physical therapy, risk

Tap Native

Get in-depth healthcare technology analysis and commentary delivered straight to your email weekly

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to HIT Consultant

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly.

Submit a Tip or Pitch

Featured Insights

 Selecting the Right EMR: A Practical Guide to Streamlining Your Practice and Enhancing Patient Care

Selecting the Right EMR: A Practical Guide to Streamlining Your Practice and Enhancing Patient Care

Featured Interview

Virta Health CEO: GLP-1s Didn’t Kill Weight Watchers, Its Broken Model Did

Most-Read

Meaningful Use Penalties_Meaningful Use_Partial Code Free_Senators Urge CMS to Establish Clear Metrics for ICD-10 Testing

CMS Finalizes TEAM Model: A New Era of Value-Based Surgical Care

White House Event Unveils CMS Health Tech Ecosystem Initiative

White House Event Unveils CMS Health Tech Ecosystem Initiative

Digital Health Faces Q2'25 Pullback: Funding Falls to 5-Year Low, But AI Dominates and $1B+ IPOs Emerge

Healthcare Investment Shifts in 1H 2025: AI Remains a Bright Spot Amidst Fundraising Decline

Digital Health Faces Q2'25 Pullback: Funding Falls to 5-Year Low

Digital Health Faces Q2’25 Pullback: Funding Falls to 5-Year Low

Beyond the Hype: Building AI Systems in Healthcare Where Hallucinations Are Not an Option

Beyond the Hype: Building AI Systems in Healthcare Where Hallucinations Are Not an Option

Health IT Sector Navigates Policy Turbulence with Resilient M&A

Health IT’s New Chapter: IPOs Return, Resilient M&A, Valuations Rise in 1H 2025

PwC Report: US Medical Cost Trend to Remain Elevated at 8.5% in 2026

PwC Report: US Medical Cost Trend to Remain Elevated at 8.5% in 2026

Philips Launches ECG AI Marketplace, Partnering with Anumana to Enhance Cardiac Care with AI-Powered Diagnostics

Philips Launches ECG AI Marketplace, Partnering with Anumana to Enhance Cardiac Care with AI-Powered Diagnostics

WeightWatchers Emerges from Bankruptcy, Launches New Menopause Program

WeightWatchers Emerges from Bankruptcy, Launches New Menopause Program

CMS Finalizes New Interoperability and Prior Authorization Rule

CMS Proposes 2026 Physician Fee Schedule Rule: Boosting Primary Care, Cutting Waste, and Modernizing Payments

Secondary Sidebar

Footer

Company

  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Reprints and Permissions
  • Submit An Op-Ed
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Editorial Coverage

  • Opinion
  • Health IT
    • Care Coordination
    • EMR/EHR
    • Interoperability
    • Population Health Management
    • Revenue Cycle Management
  • Digital Health
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Blockchain Tech
    • Precision Medicine
    • Telehealth
    • Wearables
  • Startups
  • Value-Based Care
    • Accountable Care
    • Medicare Advantage

Connect

Subscribe to HIT Consultant Media

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly

Copyright © 2025. HIT Consultant Media. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy |