All open positions have been filled. A new hygiene team member started today, and an additional dental assistant will join in two weeks. With full staffing restored, the practice schedule is expected to stabilize and operational capacity to improve, addressing the challenges caused by the recent period of understaffing.
Referrals declined in March and April, unlike other offices that rebounded after the January dip. A contributing factor was Dr. Toms' absence for nearly two weeks due to surgery, which resulted in the loss of a new patient day in April and impacted referral numbers. Teresa completed 29 office visits in March — including St. Patrick's Day deliveries and additional outreach — maintaining consistent touch points throughout the dip. Jayme noted that referral momentum typically returns four to six weeks after outreach activity, and both agreed to monitor the impact of March initiatives as April progresses.
Teresa plans to resume hot lunches for referring offices, with catering options for larger practices and personalized orders for smaller ones. At least three to four offices will be prioritized by end of month, focusing on those showing increased referrals.
Teresa identified a referring office approximately 90 minutes away that has not been visited in two years. A personal visit is being planned — at minimum one visit this year — to re-establish the relationship and acknowledge their referral contributions.
Dr. Toms is planning a rooftop Reds firework party at his home for Base Camp and Seattle Study Club members and their significant others. This will replace the May study club meeting.
The final Seattle Study Club session of the year is June 4th. There is no meeting in May. The group will return in September, with fall dates still pending confirmation based on speaker availability.
The team discussed options for marking retired or inactive providers in Referral Lab, such as adding "retired" or "-R" next to their names. Jayme will follow up with Christy to explore whether a system-level solution is available before manual updates are made.
Outreach will be prioritized toward yellow providers with potential to convert to green, while maintaining relationship with orange and red providers based on referral activity and growth potential. This tiered focus maximizes the impact of Teresa's available outreach time.
Several providers were identified for personalized outreach, including a provider who recently opened a new practice and had a baby — Teresa will deliver a combined baby and office warming gift to acknowledge these milestones and reinforce the relationship. Additional providers experiencing notable life or practice events were also flagged for continued personalized engagement as part of the broader targeted outreach strategy.