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
“State of Lab Industry” Reveals Radical Change
CEO SUMMARY: Pick your trend: declining reimbursement, consolidation, clinical integration, downsizing, and capitated reimbursement. These trends all continued to shape the way laboratories organized to provide services. But 1997’s wildcard was the federal government. Between investigat…
Quest Announces Major Restructuring for 1998
CEO SUMMARY: Recognizing the reality of laboratory over-capacity in the marketplace, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated intends to align its laboratory capacity with existing specimen volumes. In so doing, it’s taking a progressive step and moving more aggressively than its two national com…
Physician Solutions Gets Venture Capital Funding
CEO SUMMARY: Physician Solutions becomes the second pathology-based physician practice management company to receive venture capital funding. The company is poised to acquire a number of pathology practices in cities throughout the United States. It is another sign that traditional pathol…
UroCor, Inc.; Histology & AP.
UROCOR, INC. MATCHES THERAPEUTICS WITH DIAGNOSTICS With the recent signing of a co-promotion agreement with Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, UroCor, Inc. is positioned to offer therapeutics as a complement to its diagnostic testing. Based in Oklahoma City, UroCor is a fast-growing c…
“December 8, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Fast-growing specialty test provider SpectraCell Laboratories, Inc. of Houston, Texas announced the acquisition of Southwest Hemostasis and Oncology Consultants, Inc. (SHOC) of Dallas, Texas. SpectraCell offers assays that perform functional intracellular analyses of…
Tenet, SBCL Discussing 33 Hospital Lab Contract
CEO SUMMARY: Tenet Healthcare’s decision to entertain proposals for improving laboratory operations in its Southern California division triggered a year-long discussion with national laboratories. If a deal results, it would represent one of the largest “re-engineering” projects bet…
Pathology As A Business: Experts Highlight Issues
CEO SUMMARY: A select group of business-minded pathologists broke new ground last week in Scottsdale, Arizona. Candid discussion about the profession’s most sensitive issues provoked a variety of strategies. Among the topics were declining reimbursement, arbitrary contract pricing for A…
Regional Tox Laboratory Shows Sustained Growth
CEO SUMMARY: Over a three-year period, this regional substance abuse laboratory has shown dramatic growth in revenue and operating profits. Strong leadership combined with good implementation skills fuel this lab’s success. HERE’S ANOTHER QUIET SUCCESS story about a reg…
Niche Markets Boost Earnings For Both DIANON And LabOne
THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS at DIANON Systems and LabOne, Inc. demonstrate that niche market strategies can be growth engines for clinical laboratories, even in the face of declining reimbursement. As the crunch in clinical testing hit the laboratory industry in recent y…
“November 17, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Neuromedical Systems’ PapNet® procedure is included in the new CPT codes covering automated cytology. The CPT codes take effect on January 1, 1998. Expect to see a flurry of announcements that selected managed care plans will reimburse for automated cytology procedures. MORE …
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.
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