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
“July 7, 2003 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Employers should brace for another round of higher health insurance costs. The early sign of more double-digit premium increases comes from California. Directors of CALPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System) voted to raise member HMO premiums by an average of between 16….
Med Tech Training Via Long-Distance Programs
CEO SUMMARY: Students from as far away as Oregon and Hawaii are using the online distance training program at the Medical College of Georgia, located in Augusta, to get their Bachelor of Science degree and medical technologist certification. Because many regions do not have a local MT tra…
Doc “Bill-Back” Policy Rewritten at LabCorp
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory compliance continues to evolve. In response to changes it sees in the lab marketplace, Laboratory Corporation of America instituted a fundamental change in its policy toward billing back physicians who fail to provide documentation necessary for the lab to successf…
“Pay for Performance” Starts For California Docs
CEO SUMMARY: California is a bellwether state for healthcare innovations. Six of its largest payers are collaborating on “Pay For Performance,” a program which pays financial incentives to physician group practices which achieve measurable outcomes in clinical care, patient satisfacti…
Lab Acquisitions in 2002 Changed National Market
NEVER IN THE PAST THREE DECADES has there been so few laboratory companies—public and private—competing to offer lab testing services to office-based physicians. At the end of 2002, THE DARK REPORT’S annual ranking of public laboratory companies showed just 11 firms. Of these, two (Uni…
Genomic Health, LabCorp, DIANON Systems
GENETIC ANALYSIS FROM TISSUE BLOCKS UNVEILED IN CHICAGO IT WAS A SPECTACULAR DEBUT for a Northern California company now developing technology to allow genetic analysis of tissue blocks as a way to classify tumors. The company is Genomic Health, Inc., based in Redwood City,…
“Companion Diagnostics” Enter Lab Marketplace
CEO SUMMARY: Although the field of pharmacogenomics is still in its infancy, it has begun to develop sub-specialty areas. “Companion diagnostics” describes the marriage of a therapeutic drug with a specific diagnostic assay that can identify which patients will benefit from a prescrip…
“June 16, 2003 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Not all segments of the laboratory testing industry are pushing intensely to oppose an expected attempt to reintroduce legislation restoring the 20% patient co-payment for Medicare Part B lab testing services. (See …
New Lab Management Directions Now Visible
CEO SUMMARY: Seat-of-the-pants laboratory management is on its way out, replaced by numbers-driven methods. Judging by the presentations given at this year’s Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management, a growing number of laboratory administrators and pathologists are activel…
‘Health Lawyers News’ Attacks Pathology Part A
CEO SUMMARY: Pathologists should take time to read the cover story in the May 2003 issue of Health Lawyers News. Although the story nominally addresses questions involving how hospitals should reimburse physicians for administrative duties, it deals mostly with clinical pathology…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 15 – October 27, 2025
The Dark Report examines the momentous decision by the VA to switch accreditors from The Joint Commission to CAP. Also, we analyze retractions in pathology journals to gain insight into scientific fraud.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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