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
Leica, Aperio, Myriad, AMP, Hologic, Gen-Probe
LEICA BIOSYSTEMS TO ACQUIRE APERIO FOR THE SECOND TIME IN AS MANY YEARS, a global leader in histology systems and products has announced that it will acquire one of the leading digital pathology companies. This time it is Leica Biosystems of Nussloch, German…
August 27, 2012 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
How big is the market for laboratory testing in China, with its 20,000 hospitals and population of 1.3 billion people? A new report estimates that the independent clinical laboratory industry in China currently generates about 2 billion Yuan Renminbi per year in revenue. This is equal to about US $31…
CLIA PT Enforcement Ensnares Top Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Think it can’t happen to you? Think again. Following self-disclosure of inadvertent referrals of proficiency testing (PT) specimens, the laboratory at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) was visited by officials from the Ohio Department of Health and the Ce…
Digital Pathology Enables UCLA–China Lab Connection
CEO SUMMARY: Digital pathology holds the promise of interconnecting pathologists around the globe in ways that advance diagnostic accuracy and improve patient outcomes. One pioneering digital pathology collaboration involves the pathology departments at the medical schools of the Universi…
Lab Site Visits in NZ Show Impact of Lab Contracting
CEO SUMMARY: In some ways, the story of the New Zealand’s health system’s 15-year strategy to reduce the cost of clinical laboratory testing is a cautionary tale for public laboratory companies in the United States. During THE DARK REPORT’S site visit to several private labs in New …
July 16, 2012 “Intelligence : Late Breaking Lab News”
It is with sadness that we report the death of pathologist Joel A. Sonnier, M.D. A victim of murder, his body was discovered in his home in Lubbock, Texas, on July 10. The housekeeper and the gardener made the discovery and called the police. Lubbock police announced the murder, but have no suspects …
Well-Funded Buyers Put Hospital Labs in Bull’s-Eye
CEO SUMMARY: In less than 12 months, two big private equity firms have each launched a lab company with the goal of acquiring and/or managing the clinical labs of hospitals and health systems. In the case of aLabs, it has signed one laboratory management services contract with Aurora and …
aLabs Now Manages Labs for Major Health Systems
CEO SUMMARY: Established with a unique business plan unseen to date in the lab testing industry, aLabs has already entered into laboratory management services contracts with major health systems in Milwaukee and San Diego. This is an impressive start for a newly-formed company that has no…
June 25, 2012 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Earlier this month, the clinical laboratory at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) was sent a letter by federal CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act) officials declaring that the laboratory was in violation of proficiency testing (PT) regulation…
Lab Restructuring Moves Ahead in United Kingdom and Ireland
IT IS TOUGH TIMES FINANCIALLY for pathology and clinical laboratories in the British Isles. In both the nations of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the budget woes of the respective national governments are driving major changes in the organization and delivery of laboratory testing services. In the …
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 14 – October 6, 2025
The Dark Report examines increasing healthcare costs for employers and how clinical labs can help those employers. Also, an in-depth case study shows how one hospital system regained its outreach program after originally ceding it to a national lab company, adding millions to the system’s bottom line.
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