A system for providing expert care to a basic care medical facility (BCMF) from a remote location. The system facilitates real-time, continuous assessment of patients receiving care in a BCMF that is not generally equipped to provide expert medical care on a twenty-four basis. Patient monitoring equipment acquires monitored data elements from a patient monitoring station and transmits the monitoring data over a network to a remote command center. The remote command center also receives other patient data to the extent available from the BCMF. Alternatively, the patient monitored data is sent to a remote command center along with patient data at a pre-established time or when requested by remote command center. The delivery of stored monitoring data and patient data may be expedited if an urgent consultation is warranted. A rules engine continuously applies a patient-specific rule or rule set to the data elements selected from the assessment data from each BCMF monitored patient to determine whether intervention is warranted. Patient specific rules may be created that are consistent with the capabilities of the BCMF.