A remote command center for providing services to geographically dispersed hospitalized patients. A datastore accessible to the remote command center receives patient data from geographically dispersed hospitalized patients. Monitored data elements of geographically dispersed hospitalized patients are also received at the remote command center and stored in the datastore. A smart alert module generates and applies patient specific rules to selected data elements. If a patient-specific rule for a hospitalized patient has been contravened, an alert is issued from the remote command center. A patient care module displays selected data elements of the hospitalized patients at the remote command center. A decision support module applies decision support algorithms to selected data elements of a hospitalized patient and to user input to provide patient care advice. Patient care advice comprises a diagnosis, a method of treatment, and a laboratory protocol. The decision support module may also write orders for medication, laboratory protocols and surgical procedures.