Key Discussion Topics
- Practice Overview: Two locations: Columbus (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and Starkville (Mondays and Wednesdays), with staff in the office Friday mornings for admin. Dr. Starr has been the sole periodontist for nearly 40 years, and Kim has been with the practice for 19.
- Small, Close-Knit Market: Golden Triangle is the only periodontal practice in the Columbus / Starkville / West Point area, with the nearest periodontists in Tupelo, Jackson, Meridian, and Tuscaloosa. There are no SGA general practices nearby, so the referring network is smaller (about 49 providers, including some who refer occasionally from an hour and a half or more away). Mississippi State and Columbus Air Force Base add some volume, though military approvals can be tricky.
- Shifting Referral Landscape: Several long-time referring doctors have retired, and newer, younger dentists tend to work through lunch and be harder to meet with. Corporate and DSO groups in the area (Bright Smiles / Life Dental Group, Mitchell Dental, Aspen) are keeping more perio and implant work in-house.
- Local CE Competition: An oral surgeon in Starkville runs frequent CE courses for the same audience, so event timing needs to be planned strategically to avoid overlap.
- Team-Wide Referral Lab Use: The whole team works in Referral Lab: front desk for new-patient follow-ups, Kim and Alyssa for treatment conference follow-ups, and Julie for marketing tasks. New referring doctors entered in the system prompt Julie to follow up, and the data is considered accurate.
Marketing Initiatives Discussed
- Quarterly Education Events: The practice alternates a hygiene study club with a doctors-only event at Dr. Starr's home with a guest speaker. A hygiene study club CE event is happening this Thursday, and several doctors have also asked to attend.
- Go Orthodontics Speaker Event: The team is planning an event with an orthodontist from Go Orthodontics as speaker, targeted for around February 2027.
- Office Visits And Relationship Building: Julie stays in regular contact with 9–10 local offices (at least 5 visits per month), with broader rounds to Starkville, Columbus, and outlying towns like Louisville, Ackerman, and Eupora. Dr. Starr also meets referring doctors in person, including a recent get-to-know with a doctor who drove in from Fayette, Alabama.
- Doctor Lunches And Evening Meetups: Doctor lunches are set up when possible (an Aspen Dental lunch is in the works). For dentists who work through lunch, Dr. Starr has shifted to evening dinners at local restaurants.
- Holiday Campaign: Each Christmas the practice sends a card and gift to all 9 referring offices. Last year Julie stretched the budget across every office with sausage balls from a Starkville bakery instead of limiting gifts to the top 10. This year's gift is still being decided.
- New-Provider NPI Monitor: Jayme offered to set up a monthly NPI monitor that automatically flags new providers entering the practice's top zip codes, so the team can reach new dentists early without relying on word of mouth.
Wins & Opportunities
Dr. Starr's standing in the community is a major asset. He is a fourth-generation local, a former state dental board president, and served nine years on the IHL board, so nearly every referring provider knows him. Combined with Julie's consistent office visits, quarterly education events, and full-team use of Referral Lab, the practice has a strong relationship foundation. The biggest opportunity is getting in front of new and younger dentists early, through the NPI monitor, evening meetups, and the upcoming hygiene CE and Go Orthodontics events.
Action Items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|
| Email Jayme the top 10 zip codes around the Columbus and Starkville offices for the NPI monitor | Julie Stallings Gillis | TBD |
| Set up the monthly NPI new-provider monitor and send reports to the practice each month | Jayme Monroe | After zip codes are received |
| Send the calendar invite for the next quarterly check-in (Tuesday, January 12, 10:00 AM CT); Q2 meeting to follow in the second week of April | Jayme Monroe | TBD |
| Share the playbook for addressing GPs and DSOs keeping perio and implants in-house once it's complete | Jayme Monroe | TBD |
| Finalize the 2026 holiday gift plan for referring offices | Julie Stallings Gillis | TBD |
| Plan the Go Orthodontics speaker event | Kim Bell / Julie Stallings Gillis | ~February 2027 |
