How digital care offers more inclusive health benefits for a diverse workforce

Inclusive health benefits are no longer optional

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.

Inclusive health benefits allow every employee easy access to care

Inclusive health benefits ensure that every employee, regardless of location, identity, socioeconomic status, or schedule, can access the same standard of care. For benefits leaders, inclusivity comes down to three principles:

• Accessibility: Employees can use the benefit regardless of geography, mobility, or schedule.
• Comfort and privacy: Care environments that respect diverse identities and reduce stigma.
• Equity of outcomes: Every group sees measurable improvement, not just those with the easiest access.

When benefits are inclusive, they achieve higher engagement, stronger health results, and better ROI for employers.

The sizable financial returns of more inclusive benefits

Inequity is expensive. The U.S. spends $505 billion each year on MSK disorders, with nearly $91 billion wasted on low-value interventions like unnecessary surgeries¹. Many of those costs arise because employees cannot access or complete preventive care.

Equity is also central to workforce strategy. A distributed, hybrid workforce demands benefits that travel with employees. At the same time, younger generations expect employers to deliver on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) commitments in their benefit offerings.

Inclusive health benefits reduce claims costs, improve employee satisfaction, and demonstrate cultural leadership in a competitive market.

Sword Health’s gives your members 24/7 access to expert care

Sword's AI Care Platform gives members personalized plans through one connected system where every interaction builds on the last. That means care continues in one conversation thread across conditions, instead of the member having to start any time they have a new symptom or condition to work through.

One continuous healthcare conversation: The member is supported 24/7 in one continuous conversation with Phoenix and a clinical specialist. Phoenix delivers always-on, personalized care within governed protocols, while clinicians provide oversight and make clinical decisions. Every interaction builds on the last.

Clinical memory is always improving care: Every time a member sees a new provider, starts a new program, or describes a new symptom, they start from zero. Healthcare forgets. Sword doesn't. Every interaction builds a clinical memory that travels with the member across every condition, program, and care decision they ever have.

One system with 24/7 access across programs: Members can engage in multiple programs at once, each informed by a shared clinical understanding. Pain care can adjust based on a member's mental health struggles. A women’s health symptom can inform a member's cardiometabolic care plan for connected healthcare, stronger program adherence, and stronger outcomes.

AI Care that works anytime, anywhere

Members can begin care in an average of 6.3 days from enrollment, compared to weeks of waiting for traditional in-person care². Sessions are guided virtually, with 42 percent occurring outside normal business hours and 23 percent on weekends². This flexibility allows employees to complete care without taking time off work or rearranging family schedules..

Care from home is discrete and private

For employees managing sensitive conditions such as pelvic floor dysfunction or chronic pain, privacy is essential. Sword’s virtual care model provides discreet, individualized support that employees can engage with on their own terms. This reduces stigma and increases participation among groups that might otherwise avoid seeking care.

Increased engagement rates come with better access

Members receive everything they need at home, including their personalized care plan accessible through the Sword app, and FDA-listed devices like the Bloom Pod. They are supported by a licensed clinician who monitors progress and adapts care plans. The simplicity of setup, combined with at-home convenience, drives an 81 percent completion rate¹⁰, nearly double the industry average for in-person PT

Sword scales easily for diverse and distributed workforces

Because Sword’s programs are entirely digital, they scale across geographies and workforce types. Whether an organization is centralized in one region or distributed globally, every employee has equal access to care and the same high-quality outcomes.

How digital healthcare removes access barriers

Digital care eliminates the logistical hurdles of in-person therapy. Sword members, for example, average just 3.8 days to their first PT call and 6.3 days to start treatment². Nearly 42% of sessions occur outside business hours and 23% on weekends, ensuring care fits into employees’ lives².

Inclusive MSK care by design

Sword's AI Care offers privacy and flexibility that empower populations who may hesitate to seek in-person care, including women’s health concerns, veterans, or people managing sensitive conditions. With virtual access, care becomes discreet, stigma-free, and personalized.

Measurable outcomes across diverse populations

Sword’s AI Health Equity Report shows consistent results across Social Deprivation Index levels, proving that outcomes hold steady regardless of socioeconomic status³. This evidence demonstrates that digital care not only improves access but also ensures equity in clinical results.

Clinical proof of equity in digital MSK care

Digital care’s ability to deliver equitable outcomes is more than theory, it is validated in peer-reviewed studies:

• Rural populations: Engagement and outcomes are equivalent for rural and urban participants⁴.
• Racial and ethnic minorities: Improvements in pain and function were consistent across groups in a 12-week digital rehabilitation program⁵.
• Older adults: Digital care delivered significant pain relief and functional gains in older populations⁶.
• Lower socioeconomic status: Outcomes were consistent across income levels, addressing long-standing inequities in care access⁷.
• Different body weights: Members with obesity and severe obesity achieved meaningful pain reduction and functional recovery⁸.
• Veterans: Remote MSK care improved rehabilitation access and recovery outcomes in veteran populations⁹.

Together, these studies confirm what benefits leaders want to see: inclusive health benefits that work in practice, not just in principle.

How HR leaders can implement inclusive benefits

• Audit current benefits for equity gaps: Are rural, minority, or lower-income employees excluded by geography or cost?
• Select vendors with equity evidence: Look for published studies and transparent reporting by population.
• Prioritize access and comfort: Ensure care works outside standard business hours and protects privacy.
• Measure outcomes by subgroup: Hold vendors accountable for equitable results across demographic cohorts.

Develop an inclusive employee benefits plan for a competitive edge

The most valuable benefit programs are those that every employee can use. Digital MSK care makes inclusive health benefits a reality: they extend high-quality care into every home, deliver consistent results across populations, and reduce costs for employers.

Now is the time to act. Learn how Sword Health can help you design inclusive health benefits that close equity gaps, improve workforce wellbeing, and deliver measurable ROI.