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
Market Assessment Leads Quest To Do Several Deals
CEO SUMMARY: Quest CEO Ken Freeman is moving rapidly to restructure Quest’s regional laboratory system. Using the financial head-start provided by the January spin-off from Corning, Inc., Quest purchased one laboratory and seeks to do joint venture deals in several cities. Quest’s act…
President Of SmithKline Lab Unit Respected As “Tough Competitor”
WITH troubles at Corning/Quest and LabCorp attracting publicity during the previous 18 months, few people observed a discreet but important change at SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL). John B. Okkerse, Jr., Ph.D. has quietly assumed fu…
Pap Smear Technologies Battle For Market Share
CEO SUMMARY: Cytyc, NeoPath and Neuromedical each tapped the public capital markets during the past 18 months. Now investors expect to see earnings growth and dividends as soon as possible. Clinical laboratories should expect intensified sales and marketing efforts from these three compan…
Shareholders Hugely Oversubscribe LabCorp’s $500 Million Offering
COMMERCIAL LABORATORIES may be regaining favor on Wall Street. Laboratory Corporation of America’s $500 million convertible stock offering not only sold out, but was over-subscribed by a huge amount. In addition to the 10 million convertible shares offered, subsc…
“June 23, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Joint Venture Hospital Laboratory network (JVHL) of Detroit added a not her hospital system to its growing regional laboratory network. M-Labs, the laboratory division of the University of Michigan Health System, joined JVHL. This is the eighth hospi…
National Labs Cut Costs Using Radical Strategies
CEO SUMMARY: All three national laboratories are dumping unprofitable accounts and unprofitable lines of testing. It ends the era when commercial labs “gave away” testing to any client willing to open an account. The three national laboratories are enacting stiffer requirements for ne…
National Lab Strategies Will Impact Competitors
CEO SUMMARY: Not since the era of commercial lab consolidation ended has such a significant trend emerged. As the three national labs eliminate service to unprofitable accounts, profound changes will occur to the market for laboratory and pathology services. How quickly this leads to impr…
Smythe Teaches Methods To Lift Operating Profits
CEO SUMMARY: Efforts by national laboratories to improve profit margins will affect all laboratories. Consequences of this initiative will actually benefit competitors. It provides all laboratories with the opportunity to increase profits. Mark Smythe demonstrates how this can be accompli…
Lab Information Systems Meeting Highlights Innovation, Ideas
CEO SUMMARY: Managed care’s pressure to create clinically integrated healthcare delivery systems changes the way laboratories report, use and warehouse clinical data. Dr. Bruce Friedman’s annual laboratory information systems conference in Ann Arbor provided graphic evidence that tech…
Roche Holdings, Ltd. Acquires Boehringer Mannheim In Merger
CEO SUMMARY: Roche will pay $11 billion to buy Corange Ltd., parent company of Boehringer Mannheim, the world’s number two diagnostics company. Wall Street expects this deal to quicken the pace of consolidation in the healthcare industry. The surprise move will impact clinical laborator…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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