What to ask before you start dialysis
Elik Home Dialysis recommends asking any dialysis program seven questions before you start: where treatment happens, who performs it, what is expected of you and your family, what happens if nobody is home to help, how your insurance is confirmed, whether you keep your own nephrologist, and how many patients your nurse cares for at once.
Dialysis becomes part of every week, so the answers matter more than any brochure. Ask each question the same way of every program you consider, including Elik, and write the answers down.
1. Where will my treatments happen?
Dialysis happens three times a week, every week, so the place shapes your whole schedule. Ask whether treatment happens in a center, in your home, or in the facility where you live, and who travels to whom. A clear answer names a specific place and a specific arrangement, such as a center address, or your living room with the nurse coming to you.
2. Who performs each treatment?
Setting up the machine, placing the needles, watching you during treatment, and cleaning up afterward are all real work, and someone does each step every time. A clear answer names who does each step: a licensed dialysis nurse, you, or a family member.
3. What is expected of me and my family?
Some programs ask the patient to learn to operate the machine, ask for a helper at every treatment, or need space for supplies and help with deliveries. Knowing this up front tells you whether the plan fits your household. A clear answer is a written list of tasks, who does each one, and how often.
4. What happens if there is nobody at home to help me?
Many home dialysis programs depend on a care partner, often a spouse or an adult child, at every treatment. If you live alone or your family works, you need to know whether that rules you out. A clear answer is a plain yes or no on whether a care partner is required, and what takes that person's place if not.
5. How will my insurance coverage be confirmed?
Coverage depends on your exact plan and on the type of dialysis, and a plan can pay for one kind of treatment and not another. You want the answer before you start, not after the first bill. A clear answer is a check of your exact plan and a plain statement of whether it pays for the treatment being offered.
6. Do I keep my own nephrologist?
Your kidney doctor knows your history. Some changes in where you dialyze also change who directs your care. A clear answer is a direct yes or no, and an explanation of how your doctor receives your treatment records.
7. How many patients will my nurse care for during my treatment?
In a dialysis center, one nurse oversees several patients at the same time; Texas permits up to twelve patients per nurse. At home, the arrangement can be one nurse for one patient. A clear answer is a number, said in words: one nurse for one patient, or one nurse for several patients.
How Elik Home Dialysis answers these questions
- In your home, apartment, assisted living community, or skilled nursing facility, across the Houston and Dallas metros. A licensed dialysis nurse performs every step of your treatment at home: one nurse, one patient, the entire treatment.
- A chair or bed near reliable power and water, which the Elik nurse assesses before the first treatment. No care partner and no patient training are required.
- That is exactly who Elik exists for. The Elik nurse is the care partner, so living alone rules you out of nothing.
- 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: Houston (713) 861-7500, Dallas (972) 238-7788.
- Yes. Every Elik treatment follows your own nephrologist's orders, and your doctor receives documentation after every visit.
The team leading Elik Home Dialysis brings more than 80 years of combined experience in dialysis, 45 of them in staff-assisted home hemodialysis.
Your nephrologist stays in charge. Elik changes where your treatment happens and whose hands perform it, never who your doctor is.
Last reviewed: September 2026