The use of videoconferencing for psychiatric involuntary commitment hearings is not a recent development. The courts ruled on the constitutionality of these proceedings as long ago as 1993. In 2004 University of Michigan Hospital began videoconferencing involuntary commitment hearings with Washtenaw County Probate Court. The experience of the University of Michigan Health System and the Washtenaw Probate Court with telecourt hearings for involuntary commitment has proven to benefit the safety and dignity of patients as well as the financial health of the medical center.