Sword Health unveils AI-powered chatbot for patients to use.

• Phoenix, an AI solution from Sword Health, assists patients in navigating virtual physical therapy sessions.
• The company provides digital tools to assist patients in managing pain at home and reducing the need for treatments such as opioids and surgery.
• Phoenix can adjust the difficulty and duration of the session in real time based on patients' feedback and how they are feeling.

On Tuesday, Sword Health unveiled a new AI solution called Phoenix that assists patients in navigating virtual physical therapy sessions through verbal communication.

Since its inception in 2015, Sword has provided digital tools to assist patients in managing pain from home, thereby avoiding other treatments such as opioids and surgery. The company has been utilizing AI in its products since its launch. However, CEO Virgílio Bento informed CNBC that Phoenix offers users a more human-like experience.

Phoenix is a virtual care specialist designed to mimic the work of a physical therapist, allowing patients to communicate directly with it and receive personalized feedback and adjustments in real-time.

Sword patients participate in sessions using a tablet from a company that tracks their movement. Phoenix monitors their progress and sends a summary of their performance data to one of Sword's human clinicians after each session.

Bento stated that Sword's AI can analyze movement and offer basic feedback, while Phoenix is more conversational. Additionally, Phoenix's capacity to analyze patient data and generate recommendations aids clinicians in operating more efficiently, according to Bento.

Phoenix will provide recommendations for the patient's next session and a follow-up message about their previous session, but Bento's human clinicians will ultimately decide whether to accept, reject or edit those recommendations. Sword's clinicians have the authority to determine which exercises are appropriate for a patient, so Phoenix does not make any decisions independently.

"In an interview, Bento stated that healthcare requires final approval, and they have strict guidelines in place to ensure proper procedures are followed."

Patients can sign up for Sword if their employer or health plan supports it. Sword has conducted over 3 million AI-powered sessions with patients, as stated in a Tuesday release. Bento revealed that the company has been concentrating on business customers but aims to make its solutions accessible to all.

Sword raised $100 million in a secondary sale on Tuesday to provide liquidity to current and former employees and early investors, while Bento forecasts profitability this year and raised an additional $30 million in a primary sale to update its valuation.

According to the release, the company has raised a total of $340 million and is currently valued at $3 billion, up from $2 billion in late 2021.

Some investors who participated in the round did not want to be named, including venture firms like Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and General Catalyst, who have previously invested in the company.

Phoenix has been testing Sword's "Thrive" digital physical therapy product with some patients. Bento stated that the company plans to expand the product to more patients, both within Thrive and across its other offerings, including Bloom, in the coming months.