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
Lab Integration At Geisinger Contributes to Better Outcomes
CEO SUMMARY: There have been two benefits from the use of sophisticated laboratory informatics at the laboratory division of Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania. Benefit one is a standardized, fully-integrated lab information system that collects all lab test results, includ…
Payers Begin Speeding Up Payment to Physicians
CEO SUMMARY: Labs and pathology groups have always found it tough to bill patients and collect a high proportion of those obligations. That situation is about to change, and fast! Payers recognize that, as more consumers are required to pay higher deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket e…
“November 14, 2005 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Home screening for colon cancer is about to commence on a large scale in the United Kingdom. Beginning in April 2006, two million people between the ages of 60 and 69 will be sent test kits every second year. Consumers will receive Fecal Occult Blood (FOB) test kits. They will collect their own speci…
Payer Consolidation: WellPoint Buys into NYC
CEO SUMMARY: Acquisition by acquisition, the health insurance industry is consolidating. Wellpoint, Inc., already the nation’s largest health insurer at 28 million members, is acquiring WellChoice, Inc. and adding another 5 million members to its total. One consequence of this consolida…
OML Graduates First Distance-Learning MTs
CEO SUMMARY: Faced with staffing shortages and a ready pool of B.S. graduates in the local community, two years ago, Oregon Medical Laboratories decided to use long-distance learning programs to recruit and train employees interested in earning certification as MTs and MLTs. This business…
Medi-Cal Abandons Lab Contract Scheme
CEO SUMMARY: Another threat to limit all laboratories’ access to Medicaid patients has ended. Just as the Medicaid lab contracting initiative proposed last year in Florida collapsed from its innate complexity, so also has a similar contracting initiative collapsed in California. In both…
NYC Collects Lab Results To Monitor Diabetics
CEO SUMMARY: With an estimated 780,000 diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetics in their city, officials at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene decided to take proactive action. Labs will now electronically report HbA1c test results electronically to city health officials…
Lab Tests in Pharmacies, Genzyme, Healthe, Singing River Hospital, VA
IT IS OFTEN SUGGESTED that pharmacies are a logical place to combine laboratory testing with prescription services. Such an arrangement would be consumer-friendly and has the potential to improve patient care while lowering costs. In Great Britain, the National Health Service has launched a pilot pr…
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Trial Generates Huge Headlines
THIS IS AN UPDATE ABOUT THE RACE to be first to market a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. Merck & Co. is currently in the lead. On October 6, 2005, Merck released results of a trial that is part of a phase III study of its vaccine, called GARDASIL™ (a “quadrivalent human …
Canadian Lab Confab Reveals Useful Insights
CEO SUMMARY: Last month, a group of Canadian early-adopter pathologists and laboratory directors came together for the first-ever Executive Edge forum to share best practices and other cutting-edge developments in laboratory management. Among the noteworthy developments is Canada Health I…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 12 – August 25, 2025
In an exclusive interview, a laboratory industry M&A specialist discusses what’s driving lab outreach sales to national lab companies. Also, The Dark Report analyzes ways in which pathology and clinical labs can profitably partner with pharmaceutical companies.
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