Sword Health Launches Foundation to Further its Mission by Providing High-Quality Care to Underserved Communities and Advancing Pain Research
23 Julio 2024 - 8:23AM
Sword Health, the pioneer in AI Care, today announced the launch of
the Sword Foundation, which will further its mission of freeing two
billion people from pain. The Sword Foundation will work to improve
health inequities by bringing the company's innovative AI Care
platform to underserved communities. The foundation will also focus
on advancing the scientific field of pain by providing grants to
support cutting-edge research and technical development to solve
pain.Globally, billions of people suffer from various types of
pain, taking them away from their work and their families and
preventing them from living their lives to the fullest. There are
approximately two billion people who live with joint and back pain
worldwide*1, while there are two billion who are dealing with
either pelvic health or mental health conditions.Sword will partner
with non-profit organizations to provide access to high-quality
care to those who don’t have it, utilizing its cutting-edge AI Care
platform, which combines human clinicians and AI and makes
treatment possible anytime, anywhere. As part of its commitment to
the foundation, Sword will provide its solutions at no cost to
community organizations that represent the underserved to remove
barriers for those who do not have access to quality healthcare in
the U.S. "We created Sword because I experienced first-hand
how high-quality care is not always available to everyone, " said
Virgilio “V” Bento, founder and CEO of Sword Health. “We advance
our mission of freeing two billion people from pain daily in our
business, but it is not just about creating the solutions but also
addressing this crisis more broadly by furthering equal access to
care as well as research in the field of pain, which is why we are
launching the Sword Foundation.”The foundation’s launch partner is
Team RWB, the leading health and wellness community for U.S.
military veterans. Research shows that chronic pain is more
prevalent among American veterans than the general population –
severe pain is 40% greater in veterans than non-veterans.*2 Through
this partnership, Sword will provide its Thrive solution to
selected Team RWB members.“We are fired up to join forces with the
Sword Foundation, extending high-caliber care to our veteran
members. At Team RWB, we often see first-hand the impacts of
chronic pain on the health and wellness of veterans. Together,
through this partnership, we're providing this group of veterans
with support and resources that are ultimately helping them lead
healthier and happier lives,” shared Mike Erwin, Team RWB Founder
and Executive Director. In addition to providing access to
care, Sword is focused on advancing the scientific research around
pain. This year, the Sword Foundation introduced the Horizon Award,
which annually recognizes and celebrates groundbreaking scientific
discoveries in the field of pain. A distinguished panel of leading
experts will serve as the jury, tasked with identifying the most
significant contributions to advancing the scientific knowledge of
pain and improving patient outcomes. The jury includes:
- Steve Cohen, Chief of Pain Medicine at Johns Hopkins
- Pietro Antonio Tataranni, Chief Medical Officer of
PepsiCo
- Manish Oza, Chief Medical Officer of Medical Mutual of
Ohio
- Vijay Yanamadala, Chief Medical Officer of Sword Health, Board
Certified Neurosurgeon, and System Medical Director of Spine
Quality and Surgical Optimization at Hartford Healthcare
- Fabíola Costa, Director of Clinical Research of Sword
Health
The first award was given to Christophe Tanguay-Sabourin with “A
prognostic risk score for development and spread of chronic pain,”
published in Nature Medicine Journal. This novel research work
explores the possibilities opened by AI/ML in the understanding of
human disease, in this case, applied to chronic pain. He was
awarded $10,000 for his project at Sword Vision, the company’s
annual customer conference.“With the Horizon Award, we’re doubling
down on Sword’s commitment to deep research to help solve pain. At
Sword, we’ve seen the impact that research and technology can have
on pain treatment, and we know there are others out there that we
can learn from. This year’s winner has a novel work that opens the
door not only to improving our prediction of who is at risk of
developing chronic pain but also stresses the need to factor in and
tackle psychological factors to avoid pain becoming chronic,”
shared Dr. Vijay Yanamadala, Chief Medical Officer, Sword Health
and President of the Horizon Award jury.For more information about
the Sword Health Foundation and its initiatives, please visit
www.swordhealth.com/foundation
About Sword HealthAs the pioneer in AI Care, Sword Health makes
world-class care available anytime, anywhere, by combining human
clinicians and AI. Starting with physical pain, then pelvic health,
and now a full platform of solutions, Sword is available through
more than 3,000 employers, health plans, and public sector
organizations, saving those clients an average of $3 in healthcare
costs for every dollar invested in Sword. With a mission to free
two billion people from pain, the company has raised more than
$300M from leading venture firms, including Khosla Ventures,
General Catalyst, and Founders Fund. It was most recently valued at
$3 billion and ranked the 26th fastest-growing U.S. company on the
Inc. 5000 list. Learn more at www.swordhealth.com.
References *1. Musculoskeletal health*2 VA research on Pain
Management*3 PT. Source: npj Digit. Med. 6, 121 (2023). doi:
10.1038/s41746-023-00870-3
- Sword Health Launches Foundation to Further its Mission by
Providing High-Quality Care to Underserved Communities and
Advancing Pain Research
Mariana Ascenção
Sword Health
mariana@swordhealth.com