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) selecting a time interval for performing the step of calculating an acuity score; d) 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 customizable rule set applied to the alarm event data relevant to a care area in which the patient monitors are located; e) comparing the calculated acuity score to a threshold value for the acuity score; f) transmitting an alert if the acuity score exceeds the stored threshold value; g) re-calculating the acuity score upon expiration of each time interval; and h) transmitting an alert if the re-calculated acuity score exceeds the stored threshold value, wherein the step of calculating the acuity score comprises applying a weighting factor from the customizable rule set to the alarm event data, and wherein the step of applying a weighting factor to the alarm event data comprises: i) increasing a significance of a first portion of the alarm event data; and ii) decreasing significance of second portion of the alarm event data.