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
“February 17, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Meris Laboratories of San Jose, California settled government claims of Medicare and MediCal fraud with an agreement to pay $5.2 million. The announcement, on February 12, closes another whistleblower suit. MORE ON: Meris Labs… Besides the cholesterol and serum iron tests…
AmeriPath To Go Public, Files SEC Registration
CEO SUMMARY: AmeriPath’s Initial Public Offering will make it the first publicly traded physician practice management company specializing in pathology. It represents a unique attempt to restructure traditional pathology practices to meet the needs of managed healthcare organizations….
AmeriPath’s Strategies For Business Success
CEO SUMMARY: Two fascinating aspects about the AmeriPath story are: 1) the strategy to boost share values; and 2) the strategy to develop profitable pathology revenues. With managed healthcare transforming pathology at an astounding rate, will AmeriPath succeed in both strategies?…
Three Public Laboratories Choose New Presidents
CEO SUMMARY: Three public laboratories experiencing serious financial pressure enter the new year with a change in presidents. It is a sign that stockholders and creditors are growing increasingly restless with these organizations’ inability to earn satisfactory profits. …
Laboratory Trade Group Launches New Activities
CEO SUMMARY: Long overlooked by most of the laboratory industry, ACLA may be in the process of revolutionary change. Since David Sundwall, M.D., became President, ACLA has taken a more assertive stance on a wide variety of issues which affect all laboratories, not just ACLA members….
Cytyc Corp. Raising $48 Million To Fund ThinPrep Sales Effort
CEO SUMMARY: Armed with FDA premarket approval, Cytyc must now overcome significant obstacles to introduce its ThinPrep Pap smear system into widespread clinical usage. ANOTHER WELL-FINANCED competitor will soon enter the Pap smear marketplace. Cytyc Corporation…
“January 27, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Persistence can pay off. After years of struggle, Epitope, Inc. of Beaverton, Oregon received a big “shot inthe arm” when the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported this month on a clinical study involving Epitope’s OraSure HIV test. The study involved 3,570 patien…
1997’s Most Interesting Laboratory Innovators
CEO SUMMARY: During the next year, the clinical laboratory industry faces some of its toughest business challenges in history. Here are eight individuals who possess a unique combination of spirit and grit and seek to transform their laboratory organizations into winners. E…
Lab Services In Canada Undergo Radical Changes
CEO SUMMARY: Canada’s single-payer healthcare system is undergoing transformation. Rising costs now compel individual provinces to re-engineer their existing healthcare arrangements. In Alberta, commercial laboratories were forced to merge and cooperate with hospital-based laboratories….
Alberta Lab Regionalization Teaches Four Important Lessons
CEO SUMMARY: When the Province of Alberta sliced more than 30% from the healthcare budget in less than two years, it was borrowing a trick from high performance turnaround experts. Laboratory executives in the United States can use these same management principles in their own laboratory….
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.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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