How to get buy-in from finance for digital MSK care

Rising healthcare costs are your CFO’s problem. You know that digital physical therapy holds the solution to sustained increases in return on investment. But how do you convince Finance?

If you’ve found a digital MSK solution that improves outcomes, cuts costs, and drives employee engagement, you’re likely already convinced. But your CFO? They speak another language.

In a world of tightening budgets and escalating premiums, the bar for benefit investments has never been higher. It’s not enough to say a solution “works.” You have to show that it pays, in measurable, repeatable, P&L-shifting ways.

This article is your field guide to making that case clearly, credibly, and quickly. It won’t replace the full strategy, but it will show you how to shift your perspective, speak your CFO’s language, and open the door to a deeper business conversation. And when you're ready to move from guidance to action, our full whitepaper is waiting with the detailed pitch tools, templates, and financial framing that close the deal.

Preventative MSK care has lasting ROI

Musculoskeletal (MSK) issues are one of the top drivers of employer healthcare costs¹. And yet, they’re often framed in benefit pitches as a quality-of-life issue, or something to do with employee satisfaction, pain management, or “holistic care.”

That framing misses the mark for CFOs.The financial reality is that MSK conditions silently drain your company’s bottom line. They drive surgeries, ER visits, imaging costs, absenteeism, and even presenteeism. Together, they account for up to 16% of your total healthcare spend², outpacing diabetes and cardiovascular disease combined.³ And these costs aren’t slowing down.

Without intervention, MSK spending is projected to grow by 7% annually⁴, compounding the already unsustainable growth of healthcare costs.

Key takeaway: MSK is both a clinical burden and a growing financial liability. If you want your CFO’s attention, start there.

Health plans are under increasing cost pressures

Today’s CFO navigates a volatile benefits landscape. U.S. employer healthcare costs are projected to surpass 9% of company revenue by 2031⁵, reshaping how every dollar of benefits spend is scrutinized. That kind of pressure changes how every benefit investment is evaluated. In this environment, even good ideas don’t make the cut unless they check three key boxes:

• Do they control costs in a measurable way?
• Do they reduce financial risk or uncertainty?
• Do they align with business-wide goals like productivity or retention?

That means your pitch for a digital MSK solution can’t sound like a “nice-to-have.” It has to read like a risk-managed investment strategy. Language like “employee satisfaction” or “better experience” won’t win over a CFO. A 3.2x ROI, a performance-tied pricing model, and proven improvements in productivity will.

Key takeaway: Your CFO isn’t against digital healthcare in principle, they’re just wired for risk management. Show them how your plan reduces cost volatility, and you’ll clear the first hurdle.

Tie your business case to tangible outcomes

Now that you’ve reframed MSK care as a financial issue and highlighted your CFO’s core concerns, it’s time to introduce the specific solution. Sword Health’s suite of digital MSK programs give you the data you need to convince your Finance team to invest.

Sword’s proven clinical and financial validation metrics speak for themselves. Here’s your starting point to turn your case from a pitch to a compelling business case:

• $3,177 average annual savings per member by reducing surgeries, ER visits, and imaging⁶
• 3.2× ROI, validated by external actuaries⁷
• 4.4× ROI for high-risk populations using Sword Predict⁷
• 68% improvement in productivity and $2,916 per member in productivity savings annually⁸
• 81% program completion rate, nearly double that of in-person therapy⁹

Key takeaway: Sword offers exactly what your Finance team wants to hear: guaranteed savings, proven ROI, and minimized risk with payments tied to real healthcare improvements. That’s the language CFOs trust.

Quantify prevention to strengthen your business case

CFOs think in terms of avoided cost and risk mitigation. Prevention is the most persuasive argument in digital health’s favor. Traditional MSK care is reactive and treats pain after it becomes a costly event. Preventive MSK care flips the model, tackling issues before they escalate into expensive surgeries or disability claims.

Here’s how to frame that value:

• Surgical avoidance: MSK surgeries average nearly $30,000 each¹⁰. Preventing even a fraction of those delivers compounding savings.
• ER and imaging reduction: On-demand access to digital PT reduces unnecessary emergency visits and MRIs.⁶
• Reduced chronic risk: Early intervention prevents opioid reliance, chronic pain, and associated mental health costs.¹¹
• Scalable prevention: Digital care scales nationally without geographic constraints or additional clinical labor. Every incremental user increases return without increasing cost.

Key takeaway: Prevention is your CFO’s favorite ROI story when you communicate the value with clear data. Quantifiable savings to turn potential improvements into a genuine forecast.

Make your business case for digital MSK care with confidence

You don’t need to be a finance expert to build a compelling CFO proposal, you just need the right framing. That’s exactly what our whitepaper, How to Sell Digital Health to Your CFO, is designed to provide.

• A structured pitch framework grounded in real-world financial data
• CFO-focused messaging templates and ROI benchmarks
• Guidance on how to tie MSK care to strategic workforce goals
• Customizable language to use in your internal proposal

Think of it as your playbook for internal buy-in, the resource that helps you turn insight into influence, and influence into implementation. You don’t have to start from scratch. This whitepaper arms you with the data and structure to move your CFO from interest to approval with speed.

Or, if you're ready to get started now, set up a call with a Sword expert and we can help you start slashing your MSK healthcare costs right away.