Fresh health insights
GLP-1 costs, risks, and side effects
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are helping millions of people lose weight. If you are using one of these drugs, or considering them, you already know how effective they can be. But if you are wondering about the cost, the side effects, or the long-term risks, you are not alone. These are some of the most common questions people ask before deciding if GLP-1 medications are right for them. The truth is, GLP-1s work. But the price goes beyond the pharmacy bill. And while they can help the number on the scale drop, they do not guarantee lasting success unless you take steps to protect your muscle and strength. That missing piece is structured movement. It is what helps weight loss become sustainable, safe, and long term.
September 19, 2025 • 9 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Benefits enrollment guide for HR
Benefits enrollment season is one of the most critical times for HR leaders. In just a few weeks, they determine whether employees understand, value, and adopt their benefits. That adoption drives satisfaction, retention, and return on investment throughout the year. But enrollment season is also challenging. Employees often feel overwhelmed by information and disengaged from decision-making. HR teams face tight deadlines, heavy communication demands, and the pressure to justify benefit investments. The good news: with the right planning and programs, enrollment season can run smoothly. Solutions like Sword Health simplify communication, speed onboarding, and maximize employee engagement, helping HR deliver a successful enrollment experience.
September 12, 2025 • 10 min read
Sword Editorial Team
More inclusive health benefits for a diverse workforce
Health equity is no longer just a moral priority, it is a business imperative. Employers are realizing that the effectiveness of their benefits depends not only on what programs they offer but also on who can realistically access them. Too often, traditional care models leave people behind. A parent juggling work and caregiving may not have time for midday appointments. A rural employee may live hours away from the nearest clinic. A veteran or minority employee may not feel comfortable in traditional care settings. These gaps compound, resulting in lower engagement, worse health outcomes, and rising costs. Digital care has the power to change that. By bringing high-quality, clinically validated musculoskeletal (MSK) and women’s health care into the home, anytime and anywhere, employers can offer truly inclusive health benefits that meet the needs of today’s diverse and distributed workforce.
September 19, 2025 • 10 min read
Sword Editorial Team
- WOMENS HEALTHCARE WHITEPAPER
The innovative pelvic health solution with 2.9x ROI
Enterprise employee health benefits plans: How to deliver real ROI at scale
Large employers face an uphill climb to deliver health benefits plans that truly work. Costs continue to rise, yet many traditional solutions struggle to prove they deliver results that matter to finance leaders. Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions illustrate the challenge clearly. They are the top healthcare spend for U.S. employers, ahead of diabetes and cancer combined.¹ The costs extend well beyond medical claims. Chronic pain drives absenteeism, short-term disability, and turnover, all of which drain productivity when companies need their people at their best. Recent research shows that employers in the U.S. waste an estimated $10.3 million every hour on low-value MSK care.² This waste occurs when employees skip early intervention, abandon treatment plans, or rely on fragmented, reactive care pathways.
September 12, 2025 • 8 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Insurance coverage for physical therapy
Most health plans include some level of coverage for physical therapy. But “covered” does not always mean affordable or easy to access. The details in the fine print drive outcomes for employees and costs for employers. Musculoskeletal, MSK, conditions like back, knee, and shoulder pain are among the top drivers of employer healthcare spend. Traditional coverage design often fails to deliver value when members skip care, drop out early, or escalate to surgery. With the right structure, conservative PT becomes a lever for better outcomes and lower total cost. This guide explains how PT coverage and reimbursement work, how referrals and authorizations influence access, and why early conservative care matters for ROI.
September 12, 2025 • 11 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Employer’s guide to reducing healthcare costs: smarter strategies for 2026
Healthcare costs are rising faster than wages, faster than inflation, and faster than many CFOs can plan for. U.S. employers already spend about $1.2 trillion each year on employee health benefits¹. By 2031, large employers could see healthcare costs reach more than 9% of their total revenue². Many organizations feel they’ve done all they can to manage this burden. Common cost-reduction tactics see health plan administrators raise deductibles, increase cost sharing, or narrow networks. But year after year, the same drivers keep pushing spend higher. One driver is especially hidden: musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.
September 12, 2025 • 14 min read
Sword Editorial Team
Innovative employee benefits ideas that deliver strong ROI
In today's fiercely competitive labor market, the perks and benefits an employer offers are often the deciding factor for top-tier candidates. With remote work, global hiring, and salary transparency eroding traditional hiring advantages, benefits have become a key differentiator. But not all benefits are created equal. Employers must distinguish between performative perks and benefits that deliver meaningful, measurable value to both employees and the business. The shift in worker expectations is real and data-backed. According to MetLife's 2023 Employee Benefits Trends Study, 61% of employees say that benefits are the deciding factor in accepting a new job offer.¹ Nearly 73% of workers say they would stay longer at a company that offers high-quality health benefits.²
September 12, 2025 • 9 min read
Sword Editorial Team
- GLP-1 COST SAVINGS WHITEPAPER
The GLP-1 treatment playbook you need for long term success
All about workplace health
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.
September 27, 2022 • 6 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.
August 13, 2020 • 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?
September 19, 2022 • 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
More from Sword: 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, PT, DPT
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, PT, DPT
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.
February 20, 2024 • 6 min read
Megan Hill, PT, DPT
Meet our editors
Sword Editorial Team
Experts in pain, movement, and digital health
The Sword Editorial Team brings together expert clinicians, researchers, and health writers dedicated to clear, evidence-based insights on pain, movement, and digital care. The team is always focused on Sword’s mission to free the world from pain and draws on backgrounds in physical therapy, pelvic health, mental health, behavioral science, and health policy.
Megan Hill, PT, DPT
Director, Clinical Specialists, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Megan specializes in musculoskeletal rehabilitation and chronic pain management. After a knee injury from the Chicago Marathon led her to discover the power of PT firsthand, she dedicated her career to helping others regain strength and movement. Megan holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BA in psychology from Duke University.
Dr. Fernando Correia, M.D.
Founding Team & SVP Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Fernando Correia is a physician specializing in Neurology and a member of the company’s founding team. He leads clinical validation and medical affairs at Sword, with his work driven by his belief that technology and human connection can make high-quality, evidence-based care accessible for all.
