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
Medicare Managed Care Is Poised to Double in Size
MEDICARE MANAGED CARE PLANS are poised to double in size. This can be both a threat and an opportunity for regional laboratories. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently reported that it had received 141 applications for new local Medicare Advantage plans for 20…
OIG May Be Investigating AP Laboratory Condos
CEO SUMMARY: Attorneys for one of the companies which sells and manages anatomic pathology condominium laboratories have recently sent correspondence to owners of these lab condos. This correspondence discloses that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is examining the company. Knowl…
Labs in United Kingdom Pressured to Change
CEO SUMMARY: Across the United Kingdom, the physical lay-out, instrumentation, and operation of laboratories is very close to that of laboratories in the United States and Canada. The source of most differences is how the healthcare system in the United Kingdom funds clinical services and…
Year-end Financials Released For Quest, LabCorp & LabOne
In RECENT WEEKS, public laboratory companies have released earnings reports for the year-ending December 31, 2004. It was generally a good year for the three largest lab companies that have a major emphasis on providing lab testing services to office-based physicians. In this year’s review, THE DA…
“March 28, 2005 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
For lab managers and pathologists tracking the growth of e-commerce, here’s a revealing statistic. The Federal Reserve Bank released numbers showing that 2003 was the first year where the number of electronic payment transactions exceeded the number of trans- actions paid by check….
FL Medicaid Gives Up On Statewide Lab Contract
CEO SUMMARY: With the withdrawal of the December 13, 2004 “Invitation to Negotiate” (ITN), Florida’s Medicaid bureaucrats seem to have thrown in the towel—at least for the moment—on the effort to give a single laboratory company an exclusive three-year contract to provide labora…
Spectrum Owns MEDex, Comments on Trends
CEO SUMMARY: Spectrum Laboratory Network recently completed its acquisition of MEDex Laboratories, Inc. of Kingsport, Tennessee. It is becoming a regional laboratory powerhouse, challenging Laboratory Corporation of America in North Carolina and establishing a sales base in Atlanta, long-…
Profit Squeeze Pressures Specialty Laboratories
CEO SUMMARY: Despite much success and milestones at Specialty Laboratories during the past 36 months, it has yet to achieve the most important goal of all: net profits. One reason is familiar to all laboratory administrators and pathologists: with its existing fixed overhead and cost stru…
Medicaid’s Exploding Costs Threaten Tight State Budgets
MEDICAID FINANCING in Tennessee has reached a crisis point. But Tennessee is not alone. Soaring Medicaid costs are stressing state budgets across the country. According to figures issued by the National Association of State Budget Offices, total state and federal spending on Medicai…
National Reference Labs Undergoing Changes
CEO SUMMARY: Maybe it’s a coincidence. More likely it is a response to changes in the reference/esoteric marketplace. Specialty, Esoterix, ARUP, and Mayo have each recently reassessed their core strategies and are shifting their business emphasis. Because three of these four companies a…
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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