A system and method for displaying a health status of hospitalized patients. Patient data associated with hospitalized patients is selected according to display rules. A display module selects selected patient data, applies display rules to the selected patient data, and displays the selected patient data. A smart alert module generates and applies patient specific rules to other selected patient data elements. If a patient-specific rule for a hospitalized patient has been contravened, an alert is issued from the remote command center. Graphical attributes may be assigned to patients for whom an alert has been issued and to selected patient data elements that fall outside of an acceptable range. The graphical attributes determine how selected patient data appear on a display screen.