Embodiments disclosed herein may include systems and methods for reducing power consumption of a pulse oximeter. The disclosure describes method for measuring oxygen saturation of a patient's blood with a pulse oximeter that switches between a high power mode of operation and one or more low power modes of operation based at least in part upon the data obtained from the patient or otherwise generated by the pulse oximeter. In one embodiment, the disclosure describes a operating a pulse oximeter in a high power mode, the pulse oximeter using a sensor to generate data indicative of the oxygen saturation of the patient's blood at a first resolution and switching the pulse oximeter to a low power mode upon detection of data indicative of a non-critical situation. The low power mode may be selected from a set of available low power modes based at least in part upon the data generated by the pulse oximeter.