Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging guide the decisions we make and the work we do as an employer, as a health plan, as a provider of care, and as an organization with responsibilities to the communities it serves. We are driven by this vision:

Everyone deserves access to health care without discrimination. Fallon Health celebrates diversity and inclusion and is committed to providing inclusive services for all. We recognize and support individuals' abilities and rights to fully participate in society and believe that our communities are better served when we commit to providing equitable services. Fallon Health will continue working every day to help people of all ages, income levels, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and health status achieve their health goals.

Our priorities

We are committed to maintaining health equity as a strategic priority, and have built an overarching program to:

  • Work to address social drivers of health on which Fallon Health can have the most direct impact.
  • Strive to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the workforce reflective or Fallon Health's membership and promote a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
  • Collaborate with key interested parties.

What we’re doing to help our members

Fallon Health has an established track record of providing exceptional coordinated care and coverage to meet the unique, diverse, and changing needs of our members.

Health equity strategic plan

We have developed a multi-year Health Equity Strategic Plan and established a formal governance structure to oversee our health equity priorities and hold ourselves accountable.

Some of the organization-wide projects include:

  • Updating policies and procedures
  • Improving our data collection
  • Identifying and assessing disparities among specific populations
  • Establishing ways to receive direct feedback from key partners on our efforts
  • Expanding our ability to provide information to members in their preferred languages and formats
  • Maintaining community partners and provider networks that meet our high standards for providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services
  • Developing workforce awareness and education programs

Fallon Health also collaborates on health equity initiatives with local, state, and national agencies and organizations. These have included providing data for research, contributing to various trade organization and state-sponsored task forces, and participating in the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) health equity learning collaborative.

How our employees are involved

At Fallon Health, we believe our employees’ individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, and unique capabilities allow us to better serve our members, partners, community, and each other.

To cultivate a respectful, collaborative work environment which fosters a sense of belonging, we are:

  • Recruiting to attract and retain diverse and talented teams
  • Continuously monitoring pay equity
  • Orienting and training our workforce on best practices regarding inclusion and overcoming implicit bias around hiring
  • Seeking out employee perspectives and experiences through surveys and our open door policy
  • Encouraging participation in employee resource group activities such as those hosted by our Council for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Regularly surveying employees to identify gaps and developing plans to act
  • Holding ourselves accountable through metrics and policies such as our Inclusive Language, Anti-Harassment and Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action policies.

 

Employee resource groups

In 2023, we marked the fifth anniversary of Fallon Health’s Council for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), an employee resource group (ERG) with the goal of helping our employees better serve people of varying cultures, ages, races, religions, sexual orientations, abilities, and ethnicities.

The group, consisting of approximately 25 employees representing a variety of departments and roles, works to recognize differences and allows individuals to feel respected and valued. It is a platform for employee voices to be heard and for action to be taken.

The Council for DEI organizes opportunities for Fallon Health's workforce to learn about our diverse membership—and each other—in various ways throughout the year. These include:

  • Offering research and development opportunities
  • Guiding employees on topics through cultural resources and education
  • Developing blogs and personal reflections
  • Making recommendations to leadership around changes to holiday schedules
  • Welcoming speakers on important cultural topics and following up with events for employees to reflect on key messages and takeaways
  • Hosting networking days for employees to learn about each other’s roles but also about their diversity and values
  • Participating in community events

Our involvement with the community

Supplier diversity

As we live our mission, it’s important that our supplier base mirrors our workforce, members, and the communities we serve. And we’ve set clear goals to ensure we continue to be a champion for inclusivity.

Our Supplier Diversity Policy

Fallon Health is proud to work with diverse suppliers that are more than 51% owned, controlled, and operated by businesses that are:

  • Minority-owned
  • Women-owned
  • Veteran-owned
  • Disabled-owned
  • LGBTQ+- owned

Fallon Health engages with certified and qualified diverse businesses in the interest of promoting economic growth in our communities. Among those recognized are businesses registered with the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office (SDO).

To learn more, please email purchasing@fallonhealth.org.

Community engagement

We believe engaging with the diverse communities we serve is crucial to the success of achieving our mission and is at the core of who we are as an organization. With the support of a highly engaged and committed workforce, we strive to make a meaningful difference at the grassroots level and beyond. Learn more about Fallon Health's commitment to community engagement .