Pediatric healthcare has long struggled with innovation gaps, leaving children underserved by the rapid advancements seen in adult medicine. While digital health solutions are transforming care in other areas, pediatrics remains fragmented — hospitals operate in silos, funding is limited, and startups can face major roadblocks in scaling solutions.

Recognizing these barriers, Children’s Mercy Kansas City launched PedsMrkt, an initiative designed to break down these silos and accelerate the adoption of digital health solutions for children. Through strategic collaboration with DiMe, Children’s Mercy is now expanding PedsMrkt’s impact and driving a more connected, scalable future for pediatric digital health.

A fragmented, underfunded ecosystem

For years, Children’s Mercy has been on the front lines of pediatric digital health innovation. Still, systemic barriers have made it challenging to bring promising solutions to scale. 

“Pediatrics is already a niche market, and within every institution, it’s structured differently,” explained Sallie Guezuraga, Director of Business Development. “That makes collaboration difficult—not just between hospitals, but between startups, funders, and regulators as well.”

Beyond fragmentation, pediatric R&D is typically more expensive than the adult space. The smaller patient population for pediatric diseases means fewer commercial opportunities, making investors hesitant to fund new solutions. As a result, startups struggle to gain traction, and hospitals often reinvent the wheel rather than scaling what already works.

“We saw how even within our organization, getting awareness for digital solutions was a challenge,” said Krista Nelson, Director of Innovation Development. “And, even though we have peer relationships across the pediatric ecosystem, there are hundreds of hospitals that serve pediatric patients. That’s where PedsMrkt comes in.”

Introducing a hub for pediatric innovation 

PedsMrkt was born out of a need to centralize and scale pediatric digital health solutions. Unlike traditional marketplaces, PedsMrkt is not just a buying-and-selling platform—it’s a digital ecosystem where hospitals, startups, and investors can collaborate to bring solutions to market faster.

“We built PedsMrkt to address three core challenges in pediatrics,” said Guezuraga. They are:

1. Fragmentation – Breaking down institutional silos by connecting hospitals, startups, and industry leaders.
2. High R&D Costs – Encouraging early-stage collaboration so organizations don’t waste time and resources duplicating efforts.
3. Scalability – Creating a shared space for solutions to gain visibility, funding, and adoption across the pediatric landscape.

“In just seven months, we’ve onboarded multiple startups and continue growing each week,” Nelson shared. “We’re also engaging with venture capitalists and grant funders who see the potential for faster innovation cycles in pediatric health.”

Startups accessing PedsMkt no longer have to build connections hospital by hospital—they can showcase their solutions directly to decision-makers across institutions. Venture capitalists and grant funders are engaged and eager to support initiatives that can move from concept to market faster.

Unlike traditional health marketplaces, PedsMrkt adapts to how digital health solutions are actually adopted in pediatrics. “If a startup needs a licensing agreement, we connect them directly to a hospital’s tech transfer office,” said Nelson. “If they have an app, we take users straight to the App Store. If they need research partners, we facilitate those connections. It’s not just an e-commerce site—it’s a scalable, community-driven platform for digital pediatric health.”

Taking it one step further with The Playbook: Pediatric Digital Medicine

As Children’s Mercy worked to scale PedsMrkt, they recognized the need for stronger cross-industry collaboration—which made a partnership with DiMe a natural next step.

The Playbook: Pediatric Digital Medicine project brought together leading hospitals, startups, and industry experts to develop real-world solutions for scaling pediatric digital health. The resource is designed to help innovators overcome adoption barriers and navigate the complexities of bringing pediatric digital health solutions to market.

“The playbook is more than just a roadmap—it’s a tool to facilitate action,” said Guezuraga. “DiMe has done an incredible job fostering dialogue among different stakeholders, ensuring that the insights we discover move people to action and actually get implemented across institutions.”

For Children’s Mercy, The Playbook reinforced their work with PedsMrkt. “PedsMrkt isn’t just about buying and selling,” Nelson explained. “It’s a community-driven platform that helps innovators connect, share research, and co-develop solutions rather than competing for limited resources.”

By participating in DiMe’s playbook project, Children’s Mercy further validated the need for such a platform. “We always knew there was a need, but DiMe’s work helped us see how significant the demand really is,” Nelson said. “Through the playbook, we’ve connected with new hospitals, startups, and funders who are eager to collaborate.”

As The Playbook continues to build momentum, the focus now shifts to expanding partnerships and strengthening collaboration across pediatric healthcare.

“The Playbook was the beginning,” said Ian Miller, Program Lead, DiMe. “Now, we need to translate these insights into action. How do we get more hospitals, startups, and funders to work together to accelerate pediatric digital health innovation? That is the next question.”

For Children’s Mercy and DiMe, we know collaboration is the key to progress. “We can’t afford to keep innovating in silos,” Miller explains. “If we want to see real change in pediatric digital health, we need to work together—hospitals, startups, funders, and regulators alike.”

Driving collective action

Through PedsMrkt and its collaboration with DiMe, Children’s Mercy is paving the way for a more connected, scalable, and impactful future for pediatric digital health.

“This is about more than just innovation,” Guezuraga said. “It’s about making sure that every child has access to the best digital health solutions possible—and that we, as an industry, work together to make that happen.”

With PedsMrkt growing and new collaborations forming, one thing is clear: the era of pediatric digital health is gaining speed—and Children’s Mercy and DiMe plan to continue the charge.