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
IVD Companies Report Record Sales as 2021 Draws to Close
JUDGING BY THE THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE of the major in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers, the demand for COVID-19 testing continues to generate a substantial stream of revenue. During their respective conference calls with investo…
PAMA Test Price Cuts Deferred: It’s a ‘Huge Win’ for Labs
TWO BIPARTISAN VOTES IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE will save clinical laboratories from another year of deep payment cuts imposed under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). “This is a huge win for clinical labs,” s…
Payers Continue to Increase Coverage of Liquid Biopsies
SINCE THE FIRST BLOOD-BASED, circulating-tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing test for cancer became available in 2014, federal and private payer coverage of these so-called “liquid biopsy” tests has increased substantially. Now, clinical laboratory and pathology directors can expect additional coverage …
Theranos Lost $585 Mil. in 2015, Had Revenue of Just $500,000
AMONG THE BEST-KEPT SECRETS at Theranos during its glory days of 2013, 2014, and 2015—when the news media hailed now-disgraced founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes as a business genius to match Apple founder Steve Jobs—was the actual revenue the company was generating from its clinic…
December 20, 2021 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
In Europe, Switzerland-based Unilabs will be acquired by a Danish company. Unilabs owns laboratories in at least 11 European countries and posted revenue of €2 billion euros (US $2.26 billion) in the financial year ending September. The seller is Apax Partners, a private equity compan…
Congress May Soon Act on LDT, IVCT Regulation
CEO SUMMARY: Congress is gearing up for a debate on how to regulate laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) and other in vitro clinical tests (IVCTs). The VALID Act sets the stage for the FDA to take a greater role in pre-market review of LDTs, and the VITAL Act proposes to keep those tes…
Florida Laboratory Owner Gets 82-Month Jail Term
CEO SUMMARY: Federal prosecutors are sending a clinical lab owner to federal prison for almost eight years. Hopefully, this is a sign that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is ready to use criminal indictments more frequently against lab owners, lab managers, and lab sales reps who vi…
In Theranos’ Trial, CLIA Laboratory Director Has a Starring Role
CEO SUMMARY: Most clinical lab directors understand the risks that come with running a CLIA-licensed lab. Such risks are at the forefront of the criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes, founder of now-defunct Theranos. During the trial, federal prosecutors and defense attorneys question…
Major CLIA Deficiencies Found at California’s COVID-19 Lab Facility
MIGHT THERE BE DIFFERENT STANDARDS IN HOW government regulators enforce CLIA requirements on privately-owned clinical laboratories compared to a government-owned lab? This question is being asked after the California Department of Public Health (…
November 29, 2021 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Pathologists interested in ways to automate the various manual steps in the histology laboratory may want to watch the progress of an emerging company. Clarapath of Hawthorne, N.Y., says it is “automating processes around the way tissue is processed onto glass slides via ‘sectioning,’ or…
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.