Category: External

Dr. Dave is the primary clinical liaison between MassHealth (Massachusetts Medicaid) and Commonwealth Medicine, emphasizing the close working relationship between the organizations. In addition to helping guide the leadership team in the Office of Clinical Affairs, Dr. Dave is a key part of the MassHealth executive team. As chief medical officer, he provides medical, clinical, policy, and strategic oversight of all health care services for MassHealth members and represents the program on clinical matters. Previously Dr. Dave served for the New England Quality Care Alliance as a chief medical officer. He is also a consultant for the palliative care team at Tufts Medical Center and assistant clinical professor of medicine with Tufts University School of Medicine. Prior to that, Dr. Dave served as medical director of geriatrics and Senior Care Options at Tufts Health Plan and he was a primary care physician and consultant geriatrician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After his internal medicine training at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Dr. Dave completed a general internal medicine fellowship at NYU. He completed a fellowship in geriatric medicine at Harvard University and received a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery at Gujarat University in Gujarat, India. 

Emily is a dynamic and accomplished behavioral health leader, with 25 years of experience in clinical service delivery and managed care. Her experience spans programs for Medicaid, Medicare, dually eligible, and commercial members in Massachusetts and nationally. As Chief of Behavioral Health at MassHealth, Emily serves on the MassHealth Executive Team and oversees behavioral health policy and programs across MassHealth. She plays a key role in the implementation of the interagency Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform, which sets forth an ambitious agenda for the Commonwealth to strengthen behavioral health access and integration. Emily earned a B.A. in Sociology and an M.S.W. from the University of Connecticut and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. 

Christine Cernak, RN, BBA is the Executive Director of Integrated Care Management for Southcoast Health System.  Oversight across the areas of care at Southcoast Health and the surrounding community has strengthened her commitment to improving cross continuum collaboration. Chris’ extensive inpatient, ambulatory clinical population health experience, in addition to Lean training is how she has built the foundation to support alignment and connection of disparate work streams. Reduction of gaps throughout the patient and family journey ensures patients are receiving culturally sensitive care in the appropriate location, at the optimal time, quality, and cost. Chris adopted Ping early on and continues to identify opportunities where the platform can better support care collaboration. In her spare time, Chris enjoys time with family, hiking and Public Health studies. 

Cheryl Smith has 25+ years of professional nursing experience. Prior to joining the PPOC, she held leadership positions in specialty areas, including critical care and intermediate care nursing, pediatric outpatient nursing. and special procedures. Ms. Smith was the chair of the clinical policy and procedure committee, co-chair for nursing peer review and co-chair for patient safety and medication management. As a participating member of the Massachusetts State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations (STAAR), Ms. Smith led projects and initiatives focusing on reducing rehospitalization by working across organizational boundaries. These initiatives aimed to improve care transition processes and led to regional and statewide initiatives to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, improve quality care and reduce costs. Ms. Smith has led projects to improve patient outcomes and organizational performance by aligning patient safety and evidence-based practices. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice with a focus in Health System Innovation and Leadership, an MBA from Elms College and holds Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Ms. Smith is also a National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Certified Content Expert.  

Alanna leads the facilitation of population health informatics and clinical/technology integration efforts for the Department of Accountable Care & Clinical Integration at Boston Children’s Hospital. She joined the Boston Children’s team prior to the launch of Massachusetts’ Medicaid reform, helping to implement and design a first of its kind pediatric and young adult Accountable Care Organization (ACO) for some of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable families. Prior to her role as Senior Project Manager at Boston Children’s Hospital focused on pediatric care redesign with enabling technology, Alanna started her career in research, overseeing the implementation and data infrastructure for a set of research studies within the Boston University School of Public Health focused on concussions, brain injury, CTE, and neuro-degenerative diseases. Alanna holds her Master of Public Health from Boston University, with a concentration in health policy and operations management. She currently lives in Boston with her husband, dog, Cannoli, and the rotating mix of cute foster dogs she welcomes into her home. 

Ms. Barber-Dubois began her career in healthcare in 2006 in Boston as an EMT, CPR and Education Coordinator, until earning her paramedic certification in 2010. From 2012 to 2021, Ms. Barber-Dubois held many positions that led her to her current role as Manager of Quality at Manet Community Health Center. She previously served as the Continuous Quality Improvement Manager at Twin City Ambulance in NY, Vermont Blueprint for Health of Quality Improvement Facilitator and Supervisor for Community Health Improvement. In her current role at Manet Community Health Center, Ms. Barber-Dubois oversees a nutrition, care coordination and care management team covering 6 sites in MA. She earned her bachelor’s in Health: Science, Society, and Policy at Brandeis University and Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her free time, Ms. Barber-Dubois enjoys hiking and exploring with her toddler, yelling at the Red Sox and Patriots, blogging and writing.  

Susan Adams, PMP, is the Vice President, Health Informatics for the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, where she oversees the Health Center Controlled Network and Health Informatics team, providing technology and data assistance to community health centers across the Commonwealth.   Her current work focuses on various digital health tools, interoperability initiatives, and collaborations for identifying and addressing disparities in health care for community health centers.  Susan has worked in healthcare technology for 30 years, previously serving as the Chief Information Officer for a large Federally Qualified Health Center where she was responsible for the strategic direction and management of Information Technology, Quality Data & Reporting, Medical Records, and Referrals Departments.  Susan’s strength lies in her ability to think outside the box and use technology and data to improve operational efficiencies.