[OUTSOURCING OF MEDICAL SERVICES FOR SOLDIERS TO CIVILIAN HEALTH FUNDS].

The Israeli Medical Corps provides a great deal of medical services by its own medical personnel and purchases some services from various civilian suppliers, including public hospitals. Although the IDF has bought hospital services since it's early days, few attempts have been made to purchase primary and secondary medical services for soldiers in rear units. This article presents an analysis of the outsourcing project ("Aviv" project) of medical services for rear units which was operating between the years 2010 - 2014. In this project soldiers chose to receive services from one of the four healthcare funds in Israel. The project is analyzed from two perspectives, military and civilian, based on the personal experience of the author who led the implementation of the project while he was the Surgeon General of the Medical Corps and gained additional experience at a later stage during his positions in Maccabi Healthcare Services. Despite the different policies of the medical corps and the healthcare funds that are described in the article, it is advisable to utilize the civilian infrastructure in Israel to provide soldiers with better medical services. Future projects should consider the lessons learned from the Aviv project and adjust the demands of the Medical Corps from the healthcare funds, so that soldiers will receive similar services to their civilian counterparts. Among other recommendations, the author advises that soldiers will pay copayment and will receive broad services, including the basic basket and complimentary health services.