New York, July 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 Health
As 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

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• 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