A cumulative patient profile, or CPP, is the standing summary at the front of a Canadian family practice chart: ongoing problems, history, long-term medications, allergies, immunizations, risk factors, and what’s due, kept current at every visit. Copy the free template, see a long-time patient with diabetes and heart disease in Ontario and a new patient just arrived in British Columbia, and check what four provincial colleges ask for.
For clinicians in Canada.
Blank cumulative patient profile template
FreeCUMULATIVE PATIENT PROFILE Patient: [Name, preferred name, pronouns] Date of birth: [Date] Health card: [Province and number] Contact: [Address, phone, and how the patient prefers to be reached] Emergency contact: [Name, relationship, phone] Substitute decision-maker: [Name, relationship, and the document that names them, or not named] Language: [Preferred language, and whether an interpreter is needed] Most responsible provider: [Family physician or nurse practitioner, and the practice] Last updated: [Date, and by whom] ONGOING HEALTH PROBLEMS [One line each: the problem, the year diagnosed, its status, the latest key measure with its date, and who manages it] PAST MEDICAL AND SURGICAL HISTORY Past illnesses: [Resolved conditions that still matter, with years] Surgeries and procedures: [Procedure, year, and where] Hospital stays: [Year and reason] Pregnancies: [Pregnancies and births, or not applicable] FAMILY HISTORY [Relative, condition, and age at diagnosis, and age at death if they have died: heart disease, diabetes, cancers, mental illness, genetic conditions] SOCIAL HISTORY Home: [Who lives at home, housing, dependants] Work: [Occupation, shift work, exposures at work] Tobacco and vaping: [Never, former with quit date and pack-years, or current with amount] Alcohol and cannabis: [Drinks a week and the most on one day; cannabis, how often and in what form] Other substances: [Type and how often, or none] Activity and eating: [Minutes of activity a week, usual eating pattern] Supports and stressors: [Partner, family, money, recent life events] LONG-TERM MEDICATIONS [Each medicine: name, strength, dose and when, what it's for, who started it, and the start date] Stopped medicines to remember: [Medicine, date stopped, and why] Natural health products: [Vitamins, herbal products, supplements, or none] ALLERGIES AND REACTIONS [Substance, what happened, the year, and whether it is an allergy or an intolerance, or no known allergies] IMMUNIZATIONS [Each vaccine with the date of every dose: Tdap or Td, MMR, hepatitis B, HPV, influenza, COVID-19, pneumococcal, shingles, RSV, travel vaccines] Source: [Clinic record, provincial record, pharmacy, or the patient's own card] RISK FACTORS [Cardiovascular risk with any score and its date, cancer risk from family history or smoking, fracture risk, work exposures, or others] REMINDERS AND PREVENTIVE CARE DUE [Each item: last done, the result, and when it is next due, such as cancer screening, chronic disease checks, bone density, or vaccines] Alerts: [Sick-day medicine rules, medicines to hold before surgery, implanted devices, drugs to avoid] OTHER CARE PROVIDERS [Name or role, clinic, phone, and what each one follows, including the pharmacy] ADVANCE CARE PLANNING [Wishes discussed and the date, documents and where they are kept, or not yet discussed] REVIEW Changes today: [What was added, updated, moved, or removed] Next full review: [Date or visit]
Use it for
Each one follows the template. Use them to judge how much detail every part needs.
Family health team in Ontario, profile reviewed at a diabetes visit
58-year-old man, electrician, married. English. Ontario health card on file. Prefers phone calls. Emergency contact and substitute decision-maker: his wife, named as his attorney for personal care in a power of attorney signed in 2023. Advance care planning: talked through his wishes after his heart attack in 2023; wants full treatment, and his wife knows his wishes. Most responsible provider: his family physician here since 2009.
1. Type 2 diabetes, since 2016: A1c 7.4% in October 2026, target 7.0% or lower. Followed here and by the diabetes education program. 2. Coronary artery disease: NSTEMI in March 2023, drug-eluting stent to the LAD; LVEF 50% on echo, May 2023. No angina since. Cardiologist yearly. 3. Hypertension, since 2014: home average 126/76 in October 2026, target below 130/80. 4. Dyslipidemia: LDL-C 1.6 mmol/L in October 2026, below the 1.8 mmol/L threshold for adding treatment. 5. Diabetic kidney disease, added today: urine ACR 3.6 and 4.1 mg/mmol in August and October 2026, 2 of 3 samples; eGFR 68.
Appendectomy, 1984. Right knee arthroscopy for a torn meniscus, 2011. Right knee pain in 2024, resolved after physiotherapy; moved here from ongoing problems today. Hospital stay of 4 days for the NSTEMI, March 2023. Cardiac rehab completed, September 2023.
Father: MI at 52, died of a second MI at 60. Mother: type 2 diabetes at 61, alive at 84. Brother: hypertension at 50. No colon cancer in the family.
Lives with his wife in a bungalow; two adult children. Works full time, some overtime. Former smoker: 30 pack-years, quit in March 2023 when he had his heart attack. Alcohol 4 to 6 beers a week, no more than 3 on one day. No cannabis. Walks 30 minutes 5 days a week since cardiac rehab.
Metformin 1,000 mg twice a day, since 2016. Empagliflozin 10 mg each morning, started October 20, 2026, by his cardiologist for heart and kidney protection; added today from the cardiology letter. Ramipril 10 mg daily. Bisoprolol 5 mg daily. Atorvastatin 80 mg at bedtime. ASA 81 mg daily, long term. Nitroglycerin spray 0.4 mg under the tongue as needed for chest pain; not used since 2023. Stopped: ticagrelor 90 mg twice a day, finished in March 2024 after 12 months, as planned by cardiology. Natural health products: none. Checked against the pharmacy record today. Allergy: sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, hives over the trunk in 2009. No other known drug allergies.
Influenza and COVID-19, October 14, 2026, at his pharmacy. Pneumococcal conjugate, Pneu-C-20, November 2024. Tdap as his adult dose, 2017; Td booster due 2027. Recombinant zoster vaccine: dose 1 in May 2026, dose 2 given today, so the series is complete. Source: clinic record and the pharmacy’s notices.
Established coronary disease, so secondary prevention targets apply and no risk score is needed. Father with heart disease before 55. 30 pack-years of smoking. Diabetes, now with kidney involvement. Waist 104 cm; BMI 29.8.
A1c, creatinine, potassium, and urine ACR: January 2027. Retinal exam: no retinopathy in April 2026; next April 2027. Foot exam: monofilament normal, October 2026; next October 2027. Colorectal: FIT negative, February 2025; next due February 2027. Lung: low-dose CT through the Ontario Lung Screening Program in March 2026, no suspicious findings; the program has booked his next scan for March 2027. Alerts: sick-day rules, so hold metformin, empagliflozin, and ramipril when vomiting, with diarrhoea, or unable to drink, and restart 24 to 48 hours after eating and drinking normally. Hold empagliflozin for 3 days before planned surgery. Avoid NSAIDs.
Cardiologist at the regional heart clinic: coronary disease, yearly, next visit March 2027. Optometrist: diabetic eye exams. Diabetes education program: nurse and dietitian, last seen October 2026. Community pharmacist: yearly MedsCheck review, last done July 2026.
Reviewed and updated November 10, 2026, by his family physician at a diabetes visit. Added: diabetic kidney disease, empagliflozin, the sick-day and surgery alerts, and zoster dose 2. Moved: right knee pain to past history. Unchanged: allergies and family history. Next full review at his yearly diabetes and heart review in October 2027.
Family practice in Vancouver, first visit, profile built from scratch
34-year-old woman, she/her, software tester, moved from Calgary to Vancouver in September 2026. English. BC MSP coverage begins December 1; her Alberta coverage applies until then. Emergency contact: her partner. Substitute decision-maker: not named yet; she would want her partner, and took home advance care planning information. Most responsible provider: family physician here, from today.
1. Asthma, since age 8. Spirometry in Calgary, 2019: FEV1/FVC 0.68, FEV1 up 14% and 380 mL after a bronchodilator. Uses her reliever about twice a week, more in wildfire smoke. One prednisone course in August 2024; no emergency visits since 2018. Followed here. 2. Generalized anxiety disorder, since 2021: GAD-7 15 at diagnosis, 6 today. On sertraline; finished 12 sessions of CBT with a psychologist in Calgary in 2022. Followed here.
Tonsillectomy at 6. Fractured left wrist at 12, treated in a cast. Wisdom teeth removed, 2014. No hospital stays as an adult. No pregnancies.
Mother: breast cancer at 41, treated, alive at 63; never had genetic testing. Maternal aunt: ovarian cancer at 52, died at 55. Father: hypertension, alive at 66. Brother, 31: asthma. No known Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.
Lives with her partner in an apartment; no children. Works from home. Never smoked; doesn’t vape. Alcohol 3 or 4 drinks a week. A cannabis edible about once a month for sleep. Runs 3 times a week. Stressors: the move, a new job, and being far from her mother.
Budesonide-formoterol 200/6 mcg, 1 inhalation as needed for symptoms. Sertraline 100 mg once a day, since 2021, started by her Calgary family physician. Copper IUD, inserted June 2022. Vitamin D 1,000 IU daily. Checked against her inhaler, her bottles, and a printout from her Calgary pharmacy; her BC fills will show on PharmaNet from now on. No known drug allergies. Cats: wheeze and itchy eyes, an asthma trigger rather than a drug allergy.
Childhood series complete, including 2 doses of MMR. Hepatitis B series in the school program. Tdap as her adult dose, 2016. COVID-19, October 2025. Influenza, October 2025; this season’s dose given today. Source: her Alberta immunization record, printed from the provincial portal.
Possible hereditary breast and ovarian cancer: her mother had breast cancer at 41 and a maternal aunt had ovarian cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing discussed today. Testing her mother first would give the clearest answer, and her mother will ask her own family physician in Alberta. With her consent, referral sent to BC Cancer’s Hereditary Cancer Program. Asthma triggers: wildfire smoke, cats, and colds.
Cervical screening: last Pap normal, March 2023 in Calgary, so due now; HPV self-collection kit requested through BC’s cervix screening program. Breast screening: to be set after the genetics assessment; with her mother’s diagnosis at 41, imaging may start before 40. Asthma: written action plan updated today, with steps for smoke days. Records: request sent to her Calgary family physician with her signed consent.
Psychologist in Calgary: CBT, 2021 to 2022, finished. Would like a counsellor in Vancouver; a list of local options given. Pharmacy: a community pharmacy near her home. No specialists yet; BC Cancer’s Hereditary Cancer Program pending.
Built November 10, 2026, at her first visit, from her own history, her Alberta immunization record, and her pharmacy printout. Pending: her Calgary records, the genetics appointment, and the HPV result. Next review when the Calgary records arrive, or at her 6-week visit for mood and asthma, whichever comes first.
Each provincial college sets its own medical records standard. British Columbia, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador name the cumulative patient profile and what it holds; Ontario’s documentation obligations ask for records that are complete and patient-specific. Check your own college’s current standard.
Who the patient is and who to call. A locum or on-call clinician should find the emergency contact and the substitute decision-maker without searching the chart.
Avoid: An emergency contact from 8 years ago. Confirm contacts at each full review, and again after a move or a separation.
The conditions the patient lives with now, one line each, with enough detail for someone who has never met them to act on.
Avoid: A bare diagnosis. “Diabetes” tells a reader far less than the year it began, the latest A1c with its date, and the medicines that treat it.
The background that changes risk and care, kept short and dated, so the profile stays readable after 20 years of visits.
Avoid: Social history frozen at the first visit. Jobs, partners, housing, and smoking change; ask again at each full review.
What the patient takes on an ongoing basis, and what they react to. Short courses, such as a week of antibiotics, belong in the visit notes.
Avoid: Listing only what you prescribe. Check the pharmacy record or the provincial drug record, such as PharmaNet in BC, for what other prescribers started.
Each vaccine with its date, and the risks that change screening, prevention, or referral.
Avoid: “Vaccines up to date” with no dates. Write each dose, so the next clinician can see what is due without calling around.
What is due and who else is involved, so nothing depends on someone’s memory.
Avoid: A reminder with no date. “Colon screening” can’t be acted on; “FIT negative February 2025, next due February 2027” can.
Resolved problems sit beside active ones until the list runs to 20 lines and the 4 that matter are lost. Move what has resolved to past history, and keep each ongoing problem’s status and latest measure.
A medicine a specialist stopped, or one the patient quit, stays on the profile and gets renewed. Check the list against the pharmacy record at each review, and keep the stopped medicines that matter, with the reason.
An allergy label follows the patient for life and steers prescribers to other antibiotics. Write what happened and when, mark intolerances as intolerances, and note it when testing rules an allergy out.
“Mother, breast cancer” doesn’t tell you whether to refer to genetics or start screening early. A mother diagnosed at 41 changes the plan; one diagnosed at 78 usually doesn’t. Write the relative, the condition, and the age at diagnosis.
A locum can’t tell whether the profile was checked last month or 5 years ago. Date each change and each full review; the Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador standards ask for the date it was last updated.
Vero Scribe drafts the profile in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation. You review and edit every section, then copy it into your EMR or export it to Word or PDF. Vero works in 60+ languages.
A cumulative patient profile, or CPP, is the summary at the front of a Canadian family practice chart. It holds what any clinician needs before reading a single visit note: ongoing problems, past and family history, social history, long-term medications, allergies, immunizations, risk factors, and what is due. Each visit adds to it, so it grows with the patient. The colleges in British Columbia, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador ask family physicians to keep one. It has nothing to do with the Canada Pension Plan, which shares the initials.
Patient details with an emergency contact and substitute decision-maker; ongoing health problems with their status; past medical and surgical history; family history with ages at diagnosis; social history; long-term medications and the stopped ones worth remembering; allergies with reactions; immunizations with dates; risk factors; reminders and preventive care due; other care providers; advance care planning; and the date it was last updated.
A visit note records one encounter: why the patient came, what you found, and the plan. The CPP is the standing record above all those notes, and visits update it. A patient summary is a dated document written from the CPP for one handover, such as a move or a referral; the CPP stays in the chart and keeps changing.
Whenever something changes: a new diagnosis, a medicine started or stopped, a new allergy, a vaccine, or a screening result. Review the whole profile at least once a year, often at a periodic health review or a chronic disease visit, and again when a new patient’s old records arrive. Date each change.
Yes. Copy it, or download it as a Word or text file. No account needed.
The preventive visit: interval history, screening and vaccines due, full exam, and counseling.
The Medicare AWV, G0438 and G0439: health risk assessment, cognition, screening schedule, risk factors, and the prevention plan.
The one-time IPPE, G0402: history, depression and safety review, exam with visual acuity, end-of-life planning, and the written plan.
Screening, vaccines, and counselling due at an adult periodic health review, by age and sex, with a next due date on every line.
The first visits after arrival: interpreter, journey, IFHP coverage, catch-up vaccines, screening by region, mental health, and social needs.
Visit notes and chart updates, drafted from the conversation for your review.
Chronic care, prevention, and follow-up, documented in one place.
The Canadian preventive visit for ages 6 to 17, with Ontario and BC examples.
The codes used most often in family medicine and primary care.
Vero writes your notes and letters in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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