A body worn patient monitoring device includes at least one disposable module including a plurality of electrical connections to the body. The body worn patient monitoring device also includes at least one communication-computation module, the communication-computation module having at least one microprocessor to actively monitor the patient and to perform a real-time physiological analysis of the physiological signals. A radio circuit communicates a raw physiological signal or a result of the physiological analysis at a predetermined time or on the occurrence of a predetermined event, via a radio transmission to a remote radio receiver, wherein the at least one disposable module is mechanically and electrically coupled directly to the at least one communication-computation module. The body worn patient monitoring device, including the at least one disposable module and the at least one communication-computation module, is directly non-permanently affixed to the skin surface of the patient.