Can You Do Dialysis at Home Without a Family Caregiver?
Yes. With staff-assisted home hemodialysis from Elik Home Dialysis, a licensed dialysis nurse performs every step of every treatment in your home, so no family caregiver, care partner, or helper is ever required. Patients who live alone, across the Houston and Dallas metros, are the rule here, not the exception.
Why most home dialysis programs assume a helper
Most home hemodialysis programs are built on training: the patient, or a family member, learns to run the machine and place the needles, and someone has to be there for every treatment. That model quietly disqualifies the people who need home treatment most: people who live alone, seniors, and families who cannot staff a treatment three days a week, forever.
The model that removes the requirement
Staff-assisted home hemodialysis removes the helper from the equation entirely. A licensed Elik dialysis nurse arrives at your home, sets up the machine, places the needles, runs the full treatment to your nephrologist's exact prescription, monitors you one-on-one from first minute to last, breaks everything down, and documents the visit for your doctor. You are the only person who needs to be home.
What this means if you live alone
Living alone stops being a barrier and becomes one of the most common reasons patients choose Elik. There is no one to train because there is nothing for a family member to do. The household stays a household; nobody's spouse, son, or daughter becomes a dialysis technician.
Who stays in charge of your care
Your own nephrologist. Serving Texas since 2007. The team leading Elik Home Dialysis brings more than 80 years of combined experience in dialysis, 45 of them in staff-assisted home hemodialysis. Every treatment runs under your doctor's orders, and your doctor receives documentation after every visit. Dialysis at home without a care partner in Houston Dialysis at home without a care partner in Dallas
Frequently asked questions
You stay his wife, not his nurse. With staff-assisted home hemodialysis, a licensed dialysis nurse comes to your home three times a week and performs every step of every treatment: setting up the machine, placing the needles, staying for the whole treatment and cleaning up. Neither of you runs the machine, and he does not need a care partner. His nephrologist stays in charge of his care.
Elik provides staff-assisted home hemodialysis for eligible patients with BCBS, Cigna, or UnitedHealthcare/UHC commercial coverage, including when Medicare is the primary insurance. Medicare-only, Medicare Advantage (including BCBS, Cigna, or UHC Medicare Advantage plans), Medicare supplement (Medigap) plans, and Medicaid do not pay for this service through Elik.
Call Elik to see if he qualifies: Houston (713) 861-7500, Dallas (972) 238-7788. Elik confirms whether his commercial plan covers it in one free call.
- Yes, a nurse can do all of it. Elik Home Dialysis sends a licensed dialysis nurse to your home three times a week to perform every step of hemodialysis: setting up the machine, placing the needles, staying for the whole treatment and cleaning up. You never run the machine, and you need no care partner and no training. Your nephrologist stays in charge. Elik provides staff-assisted home hemodialysis across the Houston and Dallas metros.
- Yes. With Elik Home Dialysis, a licensed dialysis nurse places the needles at every treatment and takes them out at the end. You never learn to place them, and no one in your family has to. Elik provides staff-assisted home hemodialysis across the Houston and Dallas metros.
- No. The Elik nurse performs the complete treatment at every visit. No family training exists in this model because no family task exists.
- You qualify exactly the same. The nurse is the care partner; you are the only person who needs to be home.
- No. Original Medicare does not pay for staff-assisted home hemodialysis, by law. Medicare Advantage plans follow Medicare's reimbursement rules, so they do not pay for it either. Elik provides staff-assisted home hemodialysis for eligible patients with BCBS, Cigna, or UnitedHealthcare/UHC commercial coverage, including when Medicare is the primary insurance. Medicare-only, Medicare Advantage (including BCBS, Cigna, or UHC Medicare Advantage plans), Medicare supplement (Medigap) plans, and Medicaid do not pay for this service through Elik. If you have Blue Cross Blue Shield, including all Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) commercial plans, Cigna, or UnitedHealthcare commercial insurance, on its own or as a secondary plan alongside Medicare, you qualify. Elik confirms your exact plan in one phone call.
- Call Elik. We confirm your plan in one call, coordinate orders directly with your kidney doctor's office, and schedule your first home treatment.
Check if you qualify for staff-assisted home hemodialysis
A licensed dialysis nurse performs your entire treatment at home. Elik confirms whether your commercial plan covers it in one free call.
Elik Home Dialysis is a licensed Texas dialysis provider.
Last reviewed: October 2026