Short answer: One-on-one suits you if your condition is complex, your schedule is unpredictable, you are still working, or you want the pace set entirely by your own progress. A group suits you if you are motivated by other people, want lower cost, or your insurance only covers the group format. Neither is universally better. The honest answer depends on you.
What actually differs between the two
Both formats deliver the same core components: supervised exercise, breathing technique training, education and monitoring. The difference is attention and pacing.
Attention
In a one-on-one session your therapist watches only your numbers. If your oxygen saturation dips on the third minute of an exercise, they see it as it happens and adjust. In a group, the therapist is monitoring several people, and adjustments tend to be made between sessions rather than within them.
Pacing
A group moves at the pace the group can sustain. That is fine if you sit near the middle. It is frustrating if you are considerably fitter than the others and boring the hour away, and it is discouraging if you are the one falling behind.
Scheduling
Groups run on fixed times. One-on-one sessions can be moved. If you work, that difference decides whether you finish the program at all.
What you say out loud
Some people talk more freely alone. Others need to hear someone else say “I had to stop halfway up my stairs too.” Be honest with yourself about which you are.
When a group is genuinely the better choice
Isolation is common with chronic lung disease, and the social contact in a group is not a consolation prize. For patients who have withdrawn from activity and company, being in a room, even a virtual one, with people who understand the condition can be the part that keeps them coming back.
How Bloom Medical handles it
Commercially insured patients at Bloom Medical receive one-on-one sessions with a licensed respiratory therapist. Medicare Part B patients receive small group sessions, in New Jersey and California, because that is how the benefit is reimbursed.
We tell you which applies to you on the first call, before you enroll.
Frequently asked questions
That depends on your coverage rather than preference. Ask before you start.
Sessions typically run between 45 minutes and an hour, two to three times a week, over a course of several weeks.
Group-delivered pulmonary rehabilitation is the format used in most hospital programs and is well supported by clinical evidence. The format is not the deciding factor in outcomes. Finishing the program is.
Find out which applies to you
Call (866) 972-8228 or check your eligibility.
General information, not medical advice. Discuss your options with your physician.
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