Besides being a place where you can get “Hot Doughnuts Now,” Krispy Kreme is home to an innovative health care program that earned them a 2010 CAI Ovation Award in the large employer category (companies with 500 or more team members).
The Winston-Salem firm started promoting a wellness program for its team members in 2004 as medical claims were climbing and negatively impacting their health insurance renewals. Five years later, Krispy Kreme elevated the program by adding biometrics (the science and technology of measuring and statistically analyzing biological data), a Health Risk Assessment and a requirement for team members to follow their individualized Action Plans.
The action plans in 2009 advised each participant what his or her personal actions should be 
within the next 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. These actions were determined based on the individual’s self reported behaviors and lifestyles on the Health Risk Assessment, as well as the actual scores from their biometric screening.
For example, one action plan might call for a team member to visit his or her personal physician for follow-up tests if their biometrics indicated a possible high risk. If someone was considered healthy and a low risk, their action plan may only be their annual physical and/or age appropriate screenings within 12 months.
Team members can complete the risk assessments on their work time, and they may participate in a Health Coach call during work hours. This is because Krispy Kreme does not want any barriers to participation in their wellness program, or any excuses not to take part in it either.
Those who completed the requirements received what Krispy Kreme described as a very attractive monthly wellness credit. More importantly, the company felt strongly it was able to avoid possible high dollar medical claims through an early detection of conditions in several team members with this revised program.
Roughly 33 percent of Krispy Kreme’s covered team members participated in the program in 2009. As a result, their health insurance renewal rose only 0.8 percent last year, versus the national average of 18 percent.
The Health Risk Assessment for 2009 was paper only. With a wellness vendor change in 2010, Krispy Kreme offered its team members the convenience of online and telephonic risk assessments as well. When the company performed the health screenings again this year, they found significant aggregate improvement on most all of the tests.
The willingness of Krispy Kreme to pursue more options for its health plan for team members, as well as make it as accessible as possible for all to participate, shows its commitment and dedication to making what was already a successful endeavor better for everyone involved. Their Happy and Healthy Wellness program is a model that other companies should consider emulating if they are serious about wanting team members on the job in the best physical condition while at the same time saving money on health care costs.
Photo Source: Wikimedia – Creative Commons
CAI recognizes North Carolina companies for innovative HR/People solutions with Ovation Awards during its annual HR Management Conference in February. If you’d like to be considered please send a 2-3 paragraph description of your program to doug.blizzard@capital.org. The description should summarize the business need, describe how the solution was implemented, and highlight the measurable and/or forecasted business results.
Tags: CAI, CAI Ovation Award, Doughnuts, Health Risk Assessment, healthcare, HR, Human Resources, Krispy Kreme, North Carolina, wellness program, Workplace Insights
