Pediatric Vital Signs
A groundbreaking approach to measuring and improving the health of every child in our community
Pediatric Vital Signs is a pioneering initiative led by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in collaboration with community partners, to assess and improve the health of all children. It started in Franklin County, Ohio, and is expanding regionally to reach more families throughout Ohio.
Just as traditional vital signs like heart rate and temperature reflect an individual’s health, Pediatric Vital Signs uses eight community-wide metrics to measure child wellbeing—spanning health, education and social determinants.
“Pediatric Vital Signs is the first effort of its kind in the United States to measure and improve the health of every child.”
- Dr. Kelly Kelleher, Vice President, Community Health
The Eight Pediatric Vital Signs
- Infant Mortality: Decrease the overall infant mortality rate and disparity
- Kindergarten Readiness: Increase the percentage of kindergarteners who pass Ohio’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
- High School Graduation: Increase the percentage of students who graduate high school
- Teenage Pregnancy: Decrease the teen birth rate
- Obesity: Decrease the overweight or obesity rate among children 2-17 years of age
- Suicide: Decrease the suicide rate for children 5-19 years of age
- All-Cause Child Mortality: Decrease all-cause mortality rate for children 1-19 years of age
- Preventive Care Index (Hybrid measure): Increase well visits for children
Why Pediatric Vital Signs Matter
Health happens everywhere – not just in hospitals or a provider’s office, but in homes, schools and neighborhoods. Despite the best efforts of health care providers, many children are impacted by social determinants of health – factors outside of medical care that influence well-being.
Pediatric Vital Signs bridges the gap between clinical care and community health by addressing factors like housing, education and neighborhood safety.
“We now have these measures that will help us know exactly where kids are falling behind — in immunizations, in kindergarten readiness, in all the other areas — and allow us to creatively develop ways to catch them up. Social determinants of health and disparities have always been built into the Pediatric Vital Signs work, and we can only be successful if we’re successful in addressing them.”
- Dr. Alex Kemper, Division Chief of Primary Care Pediatrics
Leadership and Innovation
- Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH
- Alex Kemper, MD, MPH, MS
- Nick Jones, VP Community Wellness
- Christine Sander, MHA
