[Rhapsodie: a health network for the detection of chronic renal failure in the French population].

More than 2,000,000 subjects suffer from chronic renal disease in France. The prevalence of chronic renal failure is constantly growing in the French population. Detection of chronic renal failure frequently occurs at a late stage, essentially due to the lack of symptoms of this pathology. Several regional health networks have been recently created in France, that contribute to the screening of the general population in terms of renal function. The Rhapsodie network was developed in the région Ile-de-France, and its main goals are to favour the diagnosis of unknown low grade renal failure, to promote training of non nephrologist physicians, and to constitute an epidemiological database dedicated to chronic renal diseases. This paper describes both the organization and the actions of the Rhapsodie network to collaborate with clinical chemists and pharmacists, in order to encourage to a large screening of chronic renal diseases in the Parisian population.