My Healthcare Champion

Choosing Those You Trust to Speak for You

At Novant Health, we care about you. We believe that healthcare is a partnership between you and your healthcare providers. We also understand the importance of involving those who are important to you in your care. Choices and Champions® gives you the opportunity to tell us who you want to help champion your healthcare decisions.   

A champion is someone who stands up for and supports another person. There are many types of champions who take care of us when we are sick. For example, family and friends who drive us to our appointments, bring us food and keep us company in times of need are champions. So are our doctors and nurses. There are also champions we trust to speak for us when we are not able to make our wishes known.  

Selecting your healthcare champion

If you are ever unable to make your own healthcare decisions, your healthcare provider will need a champion, or healthcare agent, to speak for you. This should be someone who knows you well and understands your health goals. Ideally, this person should:   

  • Know about your health condition, symptoms and medical history
  • Pay attention to all important facts and details when making decisions, and be available to help follow up with treatment plans
  • Understand his or her duties, and be seriously committed to fulfilling them
  • Work well with others who may be involved in your life and care
  • Be trusted to do his or her best to honor your wishes
  • Respect your beliefs and values, even if they differ from his or her own
  • Be willing to stand up for your rights
  • Be available when needed 

Learn more about who is the best person to be your healthcare agent »

Learn more about who is the best person to be your healthcare agent (Spanish version) »

Choosing a healthcare champion is the first step. Once you have decided who you trust to speak for you, we encourage you to name this person as your healthcare agent.

What is a healthcare agent?

A healthcare agent has the legal authority to make decisions for you if you cannot. Without this authority, the person you’ve picked to be your champion may not be recognized as your legal decision maker. That’s because, legally, any medical decisions would be made by only those family members or other individuals determined by state law.

Understand the North Carolina hierarchy of decision-making order

Understand the North Carolina hierarchy of decision-making order (Spanish version)

By choosing your champion and designating him or her as your healthcare agent in advance, you get to decide who makes decisions for you, not the state. In addition, a healthcare agent can more easily obtain medical record information and sign documents related to your care. 

Learn more about choosing a healthcare agent »

Learn more about choosing a healthcare agent (Spanish version) »

Before formally naming a healthcare agent, be sure that person understands what the roles and responsibilities would be:

Roles and responsibilities of the healthcare agent »

Roles and responsibilities of the healthcare agent (Spanish version) »