FOLLOWUP VS. FOLLOW-UP VS. FOLLOW UP

Followup (noun -- and sometimes an adjective) -- Transcribed as one word

The patient will have home health followup for more...

He was seen in followup for his broken wrist...

Follow-up (adjective) -- Transcribed hyphenated (the hyphen is no longer necessary; it is acceptable, but not the preferred way of transcribing it according to the AAMT BOS. However on Cook since they want limited hyphens, we type the adjective 'followup' as one word.)

He will return for a followup visit... On accounts other than Cook, it would be okay to transcribe, 'He will return for a follow-up visit…'

He was given a followup appointment.... On accounts other than Cook, it would be okay to transcribe, 'He was given a followup appointment…'

Follow up (verb) – Transcribed as two words, no hyphen

The patient will follow up after....

The patient will follow up on Tuesday...

The patient will follow up with her PMC...

He will follow up in two weeks....

TIP: The check yourself with the above terms, try saying the phrase with an "s" on the word "follow" (i.e., she follows up). It doesn't make sense to say "she comes in for a follows-up visit" – it must be she comes in for a follow-up visit. It doesn't make sense to say "the patient follows up will be in three weeks" – it must be the patient's followup will be in three weeks, right? However, it does make sense to say "she follows up in three weeks" – in this case two words would be correct because it is used as a verb.

You can use the above tip for similar terms such as "workup vs. work up vs. work-up" and "makeup vs. make-up vs. make up," etc.

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Followup or follow up?

In a sentence, if you want to find out whether followup is one word or two, just try to putting an "a" before "followup". If it is grammatically correct with the "a", then followup should be one word. Now let's see how it works:

Example #1: The patient will ?followup/follow up? in my clinic in 2 weeks.

Ask yourself, does this make sense?

· The patient will a followup in my clinic in 2 weeks!!!

No…so here it should be "follow up" (two words)

Example #2: The patient is to have followup with Dr. Jones.

Ask yourself, does this make sense?

· The patient is to have a followup with Dr. Jones.

FOLLOWUP VERSUS FOLLOW UP

Followup (Noun/Adjective)

Follow up (Verb)

The patient has a followup appointment next week.

Followup will be in my office to remove staples.

We will have a followup CT scan to ensure there is no growth.

The patient will follow up to have her staples removed.

We are going to follow up her tumor to ensure there is no growth.