Patients use Sword Health.
Courtesy: Jian Health
Pain management startup Sword Health on Tuesday announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence solution called Phoenix that allows patients to talk to and get guidance through virtual physical therapy sessions.
Founded in 2015, Sword provides digital tools to help patients manage pain at home and avoid other treatments such as opioids and surgery. The company has used artificial intelligence in its products since launch, but CEO Virgílio Bento told CNBC that Phoenix provides users with a more human experience.
Phoenix aims to replicate the work of nursing professionals. Bento said patients should feel like they have a physical therapist at home. Patients can talk directly to Phoenix about how they’re feeling, and new “experts” can respond, provide feedback and adjust the difficulty and duration of treatment on the fly.
Sword patients attend sessions using the company’s tablets, which track their movements. Bento said Phoenix monitors their progress, and after each session, it summarizes their performance data and sends it to one of Sword’s human clinicians for review.
Bento said Sword’s artificial intelligence is currently able to analyze movement and provide simple feedback, but Phoenix is more conversational. Bento added that Phoenix’s ability to analyze patient data and generate recommendations also helps the company’s clinicians operate more efficiently.
Phoenix will suggest changes for the patient’s next treatment, as well as follow-up messages about their completed treatment. Human clinicians decide whether to accept, reject or edit the suggestions, Bento said. Sword’s clinicians have the authority to decide which exercises are appropriate for patients, so Phoenix does not make any decisions independently.
“This is health care, so you always need final approval,” Bento said in an interview. “We have strong guardrails in how we do things.”
Patients can sign up for Sword if their employer or health plan supports it. Sword has performed more than 3 million AI-powered treatments with patients, according to a news release Tuesday. Bento said the company has been focused on commercial customers but wants to make its solutions available to everyone.
Sword also said Tuesday it raised $100 million in a secondary sale to provide liquidity to current and former employees and early investors. Bento said the company expected to be profitable this year but raised an additional $30 million in the initial sale to update its valuation.
The company has raised a total of $340 million, valuing it at $3 billion, according to a press release. At the end of 2021, it was valued at $2 billion.
Sword said new and existing investors, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, participated in the round. Venture capital firms including Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund and General Catalyst have previously invested in the company.
Sword has been testing Phoenix’s “Thrive” digital physical therapy product on some patients. Bento said the company will continue to roll out Thrive and its other products, including a pelvic health solution called “Bloom,” to more patients in the coming months.
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