Robert Michel
Until Robert L. Michel came along and founded The Dark Intelligence Group (DIG) two decades ago, the clinical laboratory industry and the anatomic pathology profession lacked a trustworthy source for information about the management and operations of medical laboratories. From its inception in 1995, The Dark Report quickly became the “go to” source of industry intelligence, innovations in lab management, and strategic market analysis.
This excellence in reporting has earned recognition from his peers. For example, twice Michel and The Dark Report have won national awards for best investigative reporting by the Specialty Information Publishers Association. In 2005, the award was for Michel’s coverage about how the anatomic pathology condominium laboratories (pod labs) operated by urologists and gastroenterologists came to be, who operated them, and how these owners marketed the AP condo labs to other physician groups. In 2009, Michel’s award for best investigative reporting resulted from his published interviews with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated when the company admitted that, for a period of 18 months, it had been reported inaccurate Vitamin 25(OH) D results because of problems with its laboratory-developed test methodology. The Dark Report’s story was picked up by The New York Times and was in the national news cycle for several days.
In his role as Editor-in-Chief, Michel brought unique capabilities to DIG and The Dark Report. His management training and diverse business experience—along with his skills as a concise writer and analyst—proved to be a winning combination for readers of The Dark Report. For that reason, Michel’s story has many intriguing elements.
Immediately prior to founding DIG, he had served in several executive positions for Nichols Institute based in Portland, Oregon, and San Juan Capistrano, California. This was during the time that Nichols Institute was an independent public lab company with annual revenues of about $280 million (prior to its acquisition by MetPath, Inc., now Quest Diagnostics Incorporated). He traveled extensively to many of the clinical lab business units owned by Nichols Institute in different regions of the United States and played a role in formulating effective market strategies in response to the emergence of closed-panel HMOs, capitated pricing, and full-risk managed care contracts, among other successful management initiatives.
Prior to his service at Nichols Institute, Michel served at three different Fortune 100 companies. These were Procter & Gamble, Centex Corporation, and Financial Corp. of America. Each was an opportunity to master new management techniques and apply them in different industries. Between these positions, he gained experience as an entrepreneur, having founded a real estate development firm and a general contracting company in the Southeastern United States.
Robert Michel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he played rugby, a sport he participated in for another 22 years. He is a native of California and grew up in Santa Ana.
Articles by Robert Michel
Trump Signs Executive Order on Price Transparency
ON FEBRUARY 25, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER targeted at driving price transparency requirements for hospitals and insurers. The order aims to strictly enforce a previous rule, signed during his first term, intended to provide patients with cl…
The Role of Price Transparency During Pathology Contract Talks
Pathology groups have a much better opportunity to turn the tables on payers and other third parties during contract negotiations if they come armed with the data and other information recommended by two well-respected pathology experts. In this final installment of our four-part series…
COLA Summit to Address Lab Staffing Shortages
CEO SUMMARY: An upcoming gathering of COLA’s Workforce Action Alliance will focus on three staffing challenges: improving data needed to understand the current clinical laboratory workforce; promoting career paths for new professionals in the field; and identifying ways …
March 31, 2025, Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
As this issue went to press, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced wide workforce reductions across several agencies that fall under the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They include the Food and Drug Administration…
Medical Robotics Developer Believes It’s Time to Transform Phlebotomy
Phlebotomy and collection of veinous blood is one important procedure in clinical laboratory testing that continues to be primarily a manual process. That is about to change. Netherlands-based Vitestro has obtained a CE mark in the European Union for its novel autonomous robotic phlebotomy device (AR…
The Dark Report Acquired by LabX Media Group
CEO SUMMARY: One of the clinical laboratory industry’s longest-running sources of business intelligence, market trends, and management developments has a new owner. LabX Media Group completed its purchase of The Dark Intelligence Group, Inc. (TDIG) on Feb. 28, 2025. This transaction pav…
Quest Acquires ‘Select Assets’ of Fresenius Medical Care
FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE AND QUEST DIAGNOSTICS AGREED TO A DEAL in which Quest will provide laboratory testing services for the latter’s dialysis clinics in the United States. Separately, Quest Diagnostics will acquire “select assets” of Spectra Labora…
Medical Robotics Developer Says It’s Time to Transform Phlebotomy
“Our innovation aims to make blood draws fully autonomous, safer, faster, more accurate, less painful, and more accessible.” —Brian Joseph, co-founder, Vitestro CEO SUMMARY: Phlebotomy and collection of veinous blood is one important procedure in clinical…
Some Health Plans Drop Deductibles as Response to New Consumerism
It may surprise many pathologists and clinical laboratory administrators to learn that one major health insurer’s best-selling plan has only copays and no deductible, no coinsurance, and no cost-shifting! That plan is Surest, a group plan offered by UnitedHealthcare in recent ye…
March 10, 2025, Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Genetic testing is coming to a cruise ship! The New York Post reported that the MV Narrative will be launched this year by Storylines. CruiseCritic describes this vessel as “a residential ship that will create a floating ‘neighborhood’ for a community of up to 1,000 people, including f…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
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