Home Hemodialysis in Houston Without Placing Your Own Needles
You can have hemodialysis at home in Houston and never place a needle yourself. With Elik Home Dialysis, a licensed dialysis nurse places the needles, runs the machine, and stays with you for the whole treatment, three times a week. You need no care partner and no training. You stay home, and the needles are the nurse's job.
Why do most home hemodialysis programs ask you to place your own needles?
Most home hemodialysis programs are home dialysis you run yourself. The patient, or a care partner at home, places the needles before every treatment. Some people learn the buttonhole method (the needles go into the same small spots each time). Others rely on a spouse or an adult child to do it.
That leaves many people out. Hands that shake. Eyes that can no longer see small things. A fear of needles that does not fade. A spouse who cannot do it, or a person who lives alone.
At Elik, the nurse places the needles. That is the whole point of staff-assisted home hemodialysis.
What does the Elik nurse do at each treatment?
A licensed dialysis nurse performs every step of your treatment at home:
- sets up the machine (the machine and supplies are delivered to and stored in your home)
- places the needles
- runs your treatment to your nephrologist's orders
- watches over you, one nurse with one patient, from the first minute to the last
- takes the needles out, breaks everything down, and documents the visit for your nephrologist
You sit in your own chair. You never touch the machine or a needle.
What if needles frighten me?
You never have to hold a needle. The Elik nurse places the needles and takes them out at every treatment. You can look away, rest, or talk while the nurse works.
Which access you have is set by your nephrologist: a fistula or graft (usually in the arm) or a catheter (a soft tube, usually in the chest). The Elik nurse cares for the access your nephrologist prescribed, whatever form it takes.
Who does this help in Houston?
- People who live alone
- Seniors staying in their own homes
- Patients with vision, dexterity, or mobility limits
- Anyone who cannot or will not place their own needles
- Residents of assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, treated without leaving the building
- Patients leaving a dialysis center, and new patients starting at home from day one
Elik serves the Houston metro, from Katy and Sugar Land to Pearland, Pasadena, and Baytown, and north to Spring, The Woodlands, and Conroe.
How do I switch to home hemodialysis with Elik?
- Elik checks your commercial coverage in one free call.
- Elik coordinates orders with your kidney doctor's office.
- Once you are admitted to Elik's service, our staff visits your home to check the treatment space and confirm what equipment we bring.
- Your first home treatment is scheduled. If you dialyze at a Houston center now, those treatments continue until your home schedule begins, so there is no gap in care.
Most patients begin home dialysis within four to five days of insurance confirmation. Urgent clinical starts can move faster.
Your nephrologist stays in charge
Every Elik treatment runs under your own nephrologist's orders, one nurse with one patient for the entire treatment. Your doctor receives documentation after every visit. Elik changes where your treatment happens and whose hands perform it, never who your doctor is. 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.
Medicare and Medicare Advantage: the straight answer
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. Elik confirms your exact plan in one free, no-obligation phone call: (713) 861-7500.
Frequently asked questions
- Yes. Elik Home Dialysis provides staff-assisted home hemodialysis across the Houston metro. A licensed dialysis nurse places the needles and takes them out at every treatment, runs the machine, and stays for the whole treatment. You need no care partner and no training.
- No. With Elik, you never place a needle by any method, and no one in your family places them for you. A licensed dialysis nurse places and removes the needles at every treatment.
- With Elik Home Dialysis, you never handle a needle. A licensed dialysis nurse places the needles and takes them out at every treatment, in your Houston home. You can look away, rest, or talk while the nurse works.
- The Elik nurse manages the access your nephrologist prescribed, whatever form it takes, at every treatment: a fistula or graft (usually in the arm) or a catheter (a soft tube, usually in the chest).
- 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.
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.
Phones answered Monday to Saturday, 8 AM to 8 PM. Leave a message any other time and we call you back.
Elik Home Dialysis is a licensed Texas dialysis provider.
Last reviewed: October 2026