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Health system intelligence profile

Center for Pediatric Innovation

Children's Mercy Kansas City

Last reviewed August 30, 2026

Intelligence summary

Program at a Glance

Program mandate
The Center for Pediatric Innovation turns discoveries and clinical ideas from Children's Mercy staff into marketable pediatric products and services. It runs a three-phase process of need validation, solution validation and market validation, with in-house expertise in product development, software, intellectual property and go-to-market strategy.
Organizational model
Children's · Nonprofit
Location
Kansas City, Missouri
Program types
Innovation centerEntrepreneurship
Commercialization pathways
Strategic partnership
Focus areas
ClinicalPediatricDigitalWorkforceOperational
Public scale or maturity signals

Established 2015

Documented successes: SPARK Employee Innovation Bash has drawn more than 135 entries over roughly ten years and funded multiple products that reached the marketplace; launched PedsMarket, a marketplace for pediatric innovations; commercialized products including the CHAMP app for single-ventricle heart disease, MyHeartArt, PedsGuide, HearPlay and Black Cloud Game

Official engagement route
Program website ↗Health system website ↗
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026

Mandate and remit

What This Program Does

The Center for Pediatric Innovation turns discoveries and clinical ideas from Children's Mercy staff into marketable pediatric products and services. It runs a three-phase process of need validation, solution validation and market validation, with in-house expertise in product development, software, intellectual property and go-to-market strategy. The center serves clinicians, nurses and staff across the hospital through programs such as the annual SPARK Employee Innovation Bash pitch competition, and it commercializes finished products through PedsMarket, its own online marketplace for pediatric innovations. It also partners with startups, entrepreneurs and established companies on co-development and commercialization of pediatric solutions.

Areas of Focus

ClinicalPediatricDigitalWorkforceOperational

Commercialization Pathways

These routes appear in the program's sourced public record.

Strategic partnership

Publicly Reported Outcomes

  • Documented successes

    SPARK Employee Innovation Bash has drawn more than 135 entries over roughly ten years and funded multiple products that reached the marketplace; launched PedsMarket, a marketplace for pediatric innovations; commercialized products including the CHAMP app for single-ventricle heart disease, MyHeartArt, PedsGuide, HearPlay and Black Cloud Game

Leadership and Structure

Organizational home: Center for Pediatric Innovation, Children's Mercy Kansas City

  • Krista Nelson — Director of Innovation Development

Contact the Program

Use the program's published contact route for partnership, licensing, innovation, or program inquiries.

Program email
innovation@cmh.edu
Official contact page
Open contact page ↗

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Sources and Updates

Reviewed August 30, 2026. External source links open in a new tab.

  1. Center for Pediatric Innovation official source ↗ — childrensmercy.org. Accessed August 30, 2026.
  2. Center for Pediatric Innovation source 2 ↗ — childrensmercy.org. Accessed August 30, 2026.

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