1. A method of evaluating alarm events generated by patient monitors, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving a plurality of alarm events and associated alarm event data from one or more patient monitors at a central control unit; b) storing the alarm event data in an electronic storage medium; c) calculating an acuity score for the patient monitor from the alarm event data and a customizable rule set input into and stored in the control unit, the rule set applied to the alarm event data; d) comparing the calculated acuity score to a threshold value for the acuity score.