Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network: a developing resource for family medicine and public health.

The Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN—pronounced sipsin) started in 2008, with a grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), to study the feasibility of developing a network to collect health information on patients with chronic diseases across the country. This information is intended to be a resource for monitoring chronic disease in Canada, as well as for primary care research. The Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network has been organized as a network of networks, and its board is made up of network directors. As a subentity of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), CPCSSN is partnering with the PHAC and the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The CFPC has been instrumental in both the support and the development of this network. The central office for CPCSSN is at the CFPC’s national office, where its project management, financial oversight, and privacy and knowledge transfer take place.