The Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine

About the Customer

As one of the newest medical schools in the U.S., the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University makes countless committee decisions about its curriculum, programs, and processes — and every decision needs to be documented clearly enough to hold up under accreditation review.

Decisions helps bridge both sides of that work: the day-to-day process of running committee meetings and the long-term need to prove how decisions were made.

The Challenge: Manual Records, High Stakes

Before Decisions, Frist College of Medicine was tracking committee decisions in Excel and producing minutes manually. These processes were manageable at first, but as the college grew, the volume of decisions proved harder to support.

"It was becoming a struggle to track all the voting and details of subcommittee decisions," recalls Hope Terhaar.

As Director of Accreditation and CQI, Terhaar needed those decision records to be accurate and consistent. The accreditor for medical schools, LCME, can request one to two years of committee notes at any time — and if minutes aren't structured correctly or votes aren't tracked according to the college's bylaws, the college can receive a citation.

Image courtesy of Belmont University

The Solution: One Workflow for Every Meeting Record

Instead of trying to manage agendas, votes, and minutes across disconnected tools, the college began using Decisions to manage the full meeting record. Teams could create structured agendas, record decisions, generate meeting minutes with AI, and track follow-ups — all in a consistent meeting workflow.

For Terhaar, that meant people were no longer relying on their own formatting habits. "Decisions gave our coordinators and admins a template," she says. "And AI made them more concise."

For Lauren Gray, the college's Assessment and Evaluation Coordinator, Decisions' Microsoft integration makes those records easier to search and retrieve. In Microsoft Lists, she can quickly look up a decision and see the outcome. "You can go, 'Oh, we made that decision March 31st, and this is how many people said yes and no,'" Gray explains.

A Standard Process for Committee Work

Even with a mild learning curve for faculty, Decisions became part of Frist College of Medicine's regular committee process. Members could go to the agenda, find linked documents, add comments, and review minutes in one place. "It’s just brought us onto the same page," Gray notes.

Because official committee decisions rely on recorded votes, Decisions' formal voting functionality has become a favorite. Votes can be run as open or anonymous ballots, results are hidden until voting closes, and every outcome is logged as a formal decision. "Voting is what we use the most," says Gray. "We love it."

Image courtesy of Belmont University

The Impact: Faster Answers, Trusted Records

Terhaar saw the impact most clearly during a recent accreditation visit. When reviewers asked when decisions were made or how votes were handled, she could go directly to the relevant agenda item. "That’s 90% of my time saved," she says.

Gray sees the time savings with AI minutes. "Without Decisions, minutes would take 45 minutes to an hour. With Decisions, they take 10 to 15 minutes," she explains. "And they're usually really accurate. I just click, read it over, and say, 'Yep, that’s good.' Sync it, send it."

Image for illustrative purposes

Looking Ahead

As Frist College of Medicine continues to grow, Terhaar and Gray expect Decisions to remain central to how committees document and retrieve official decisions.

For Gray, the long-term searchable history is especially important. "We're always having to prove how we got to where we are," she says. "Decisions gives us a history we can go back to for years."

Terhaar is looking ahead to new ways of using Decisions data, including public reports and dashboards that make quality improvement and accreditation information available to everyone at the college.

And because these challenges are not unique to Frist College of Medicine, she has already recommended Decisions to other medical schools: "It's such a lifesaver."