From the Editor: More From PepsiCo on their Medical Travel Benefit with Johns Hopkins Medicine  In our last issue of Medical Travel Today we shared news of an exciting new partnership between PepsiCo, Inc. and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Through the arrangement, PepsiCo’s domestic employees and their dependents — nearly 250,000 individuals — will be eligible to travel to the Baltimore facility for cardiac and complex joint replacement surgeries. In speaking about the decision to pursue domestic medical travel, Bruce Monte, Jr., Senior Director, Health & Welfare Plans at PepsiCo, stated, “We don’t feel geography should be an impediment to receiving the finest in medical care. Cardiac surgery and joint replacements are significant, complex and costly enough to warrant travel to a world-class system like Johns Hopkins. These procedures also show a wide variation in quality of care depending on facility. We’re excited that we can offer the best care in the world to our employees and their families across the country.” In an effort to promote the opportunity to employees, PepsiCo has developed a comprehensive communication program to both employees and Human Resource teams. Monte notes, “The benefit was announced during our annual enrollment period this fall as part of the 2012 benefits changes. Communication included HR training, employee meeting presentations and a print enrollment guide mailed to the homes of all employees. We are also featuring the travel surgery benefit in a promotional brochure that employees will receive in early January.” PepsiCo intends to position the benefit as one of the “exceptional extras” that PepsiCo provides employees. Currently, the PepsiCo benefit provides care only at Johns Hopkins’ Baltimore facility, but additional domestic and international care locations are a possibility for the future. Monte states, “PepsiCo’s arrangement with Johns Hopkins is our first foray in this area. As we evaluate the results of this initial program, we will look for opportunities to further develop it—either by adding surgical procedures, expanding to other, premier healthcare facilities, or including PepsiCo employees outside the U.S.  Depending on how we expand the program, working with international healthcare facilities may be an option.” But for now, PepsiCo is very pleased with the choice of Johns Hopkins as a provider. “The decision to go with Johns Hopkins was influenced by its perennial status as a premier facility for cardiac and orthopedic care, as well as the fact that Johns Hopkins is already a well-known name in PepsiCo communities across the country,” says Monte. “PepsiCo has had a relationship with Johns Hopkins since 2003, when we opened our first on-site wellness clinic in Baltimore. Today, Johns Hopkins manages and staffs 36 of our on-site wellness clinics across the country.” About Bruce Monte, Jr.

  Bruce Monte, Jr. is the Senior Director, Health & Welfare Plans at PepsiCo, Inc. In this position, he is responsible for the design and administration of PepsiCo’s U.S. healthcare, insurance and disability plans covering almost 250,000 employees and family members. Before taking on his current role, Bruce served as Senior Director, Retirement Plans, with responsibility for PepsiCo’s U.S. pension, savings and retiree medical programs. Prior to joining PepsiCo in 2005, he spent 17 years as an actuary and benefits consultant with several global HR firms. Bruce graduated with degrees in Chemical Engineering from Yale (B.S., cum laude) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.S.C.E.P.). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute on Health Care Costs and Solutions, of the National Business Group on Health.