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
Why Toronto Is Site of Global Digital Path Center
CEO SUMMARY: GE Healthcare and Omnyx chose Canada to be the location of their new Global Pathology Innovation Centre of Excellence (PICOE). PICOE’s mission is to demonstrate that digital pathology can improve patient outcomes in a cost-effective manner. GE and Omnyx will use PI…
WellSpan’s Lab Designs the “Ideal” Phlebotomy
CEO SUMMARY: Lengthy wait times for patients at phlebotomy sites is a common problem for labs across the country. But the laboratory at WellSpan Health System in York, Pennsylvania decided to apply Lean methods to change this situation. Their Lean projects at two pilot patient se…
Hospital Lab Operations Expert H.W. “Bud” Gandee, Jr., Dies
IN BRENTWOOD, TENNESSEE, the family of H.W. “Bud” Gandee, Jr., reported his death on April 30, at the age of 69. Gandee was an early master of hospital laboratory operations and management. He trained as a medical technologist and had graduate training in immunohematology. Early in his career, h…
Mid America Clinical Laboratories Discusses Recent Lab Errors
IN FOLLOWING UP THE DISCOVERY of false positive results for Chlamydia tests it had performed on a limited number of patients, Mid America Clinical Laboratories (MACL) found itself the subject of news coverage. This included interviews with an irate patient who told one television ne…
May 23, 2011 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
The first sequencing of the whole human genome back in 2000 unleashed a tidal wave of research and development. Recently, Fast Company Magazine quantified the dollar impact of the Human Genome Project and now says it totals $800 billion! Their reporter communicates this so succinctly that TH…
Lawyers Provide Insights About Top Legal Concerns
CEO SUMMARY: After conducting the first-ever survey of the most important legal, compliance and managed care concerns for clinical labs and pathology groups, THE DARK REPORT asked leading lab industry attorneys who participated in the survey to say a few words about these topics….
False Positive STD Tests Get News Coverage in Indy
CEO SUMMARY: After going public with the discovery that it had reported false positive lab test results for Chlamydia to eight female patients, Mid America Clinical Laboratories (MACL) found itself the subject of stories broadcast by a local television news program. The news cove…
Analysis of Lab Test Error Offers Lessons for Labs
CEO SUMMARY: As happens now and again, a rather typical example of an error in lab testing has made the nightly news in Indianapolis because of one justifiably irate patient who got a false positive test report for an STD. One pathologist, asked by THE DARK REPORT to assess the p…
May 02, 2011 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Another laboratory information system (LIS) product has received certification as meeting stage 1 meaningful use (MU) measures. On March 31, McKesson Corporation announced that the Drummond Group’s ONC-aTCB 2011-2012 (ATCB 2011/2012) certification as a compliant EH…
Seven Deadly Sins of Lab Management Are Much Too Common
CEO SUMMARY: Pity the poor laboratory manager of today. Lab budgets are shrinking. It is difficult to staff adequate numbers of skilled medical technologists. Baby boomers are now retiring. At the same time, accreditation and licensure inspections are becoming tougher. Recently, …
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?
Lab leaders rely on THE DARK REPORT for actionable intelligence on important developments in the business of laboratory testing. Maximize the money you make-and the money you keep! Best of all, it is released every three weeks!
Sign up for TDR Insider
Join the Dark Intelligence Group FREE and get TDR Insider FREE!
Never miss a single update on the issues that matter to you and your business.