UpStream Healthcare, a Greensboro-based startup, has added two Cone executives to its C-Suite,
Steve Neorr will serve as the fast-growing company's chief operating officer, and David Grapey will be the chief medical officer.
Neorr served as Cone Health's senior vice president of population health, and Grapey was chief clinical officer of Cone’s Triad HealthCare Network.
UpStream has been on a hiring blitz recently, adding other core members to its C-Suite, including a chief financial officer, chief technology officer and chief network officer.
Founded in 2017, UpStream is a value-based, risk-bearing health management services organization. The startup enables primary care doctors to maximize the care they provide, particularly to vulnerable groups such as seniors, by embedding nurses and pharmacists in doctors’ offices.
UpStream has experienced tremendous growth in a few short months, in large part due to a $45 million investment from Dragoneer Investment Firm and partnerships with Cone’s Triad HealthCare Network and North Carolina’s Community Care Physician Network. UpStream plans to continue its rapid growth across the state.
The startup directly manages the care of about 30,000 patients – with employees embedded in over 50 practices working with almost 300 physicians. It also oversees the care of about 100,000 seniors in a four-county region in the Triad, ensuring they receive high-quality care.
“I want to personally thank Steve Neorr and Dr. Grapey for their accomplishments during their tenure,” Dr. Mary Jo Cagle, Cone’s CEO, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with them while we build on the past ten years of our community efforts and continue our transformational journey in value-based care to meet the growing needs of seniors in our communities.”
Neorr and Grapey both have leadership experience in advanced value-based care models and worked together previously at HealthTeam Advantage, Cone’s Medicare Advantage company.
"I am simply delighted to have a value-based virtuoso duo in Steve and Dave to lead our operations and clinical programs,” Sanjay Doddamani, UpStream’s CEO and co-founder, said. “They have proven experience successfully leading ACOs and clinically integrated networks in Medicare and Medicare Advantage."
Neorr joined Cone in 2011 and worked with Grapey on a steering committee focused on clinical integration. Their work helped create the accountable care organization Triad HealthCare Network, which is affiliated with Cone. Grapey officially joined Triad HealthCare Network in 2016.
"As a physician, I know first-hand, many of the struggles faced by primary care physicians, caring for older, sicker patients without adequate resources," Grapey said. "Joining UpStream as CMO will give me the opportunity to better support these doctors and their senior patients while providing powerful financial incentives for better quality and outcomes, not only in North Carolina but across the country."
