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
New Company Ready to Heat Up Slow Digital Pathology Market
CEO SUMMARY: There’s a new competitor in the digital pathology marketplace with ambitious plans to deliver a fully-integrated pathologist workflow solution. Inspirata, Inc., of Tampa, Florida, made its debut in March at an international pathology conference. In this exclusive i…
August 3, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Cerner Corporation is celebrating a big summer of contract awards from the Department of Defense. First up was a project to support further standardization of anatomic pathology within the laboratories operated worldwide by the DoD. Early in July, it was announced t…
July 13, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
In a milestone for advocates of digital pathology, n anatomic pathology laboratory in The Netherlands has been identified as the first in the world to “transition completely to digital diagnosis.” The laboratory is Laboratorium Pathologie Oost-Nederland (LabPON), located in Hengelo. In a pres…
Opko Pays $1.47 Billion to Buy Bio-Reference Lab
CEO SUMMARY: It’s a case of the little fish gobbling the big fish, as Opko Health – with revenue of $91 million – will be acquiring Bio-Reference Laboratories, with revenue of $832 million. But the more interesting aspect of the story is that the CEO of Opko Health is a physi…
LabCorp, Sysmex Will Collaborate To Develop Liquid Biopsy Tests
ANOTHER SIGN OF HEALTHCARE’S TRANSFORMATION came on June 1 when Sysmex Corporation of Kobe, Japan, and Laboratory Corporation of America in Burlington, North Carolina, announced a unique collaboration to develop blood-based molecular diagnostic tests for cancer. The collaboration call…
Are Clinical Labs and MACs Ready to Implement ICD-10?
ARE CLINICAL LABORATORIES and pathology groups prepared for ICD-10? Or, perhaps a better question to ask is this: Are Medicare administrative contractors prepared to switch to ICD-10 on October 1? A recent survey of clinical laboratories and pathology groups by McKesson Corporation showed th…
OIG Says It Is Ready to Target Physicians in Kickback Cases
PHYSICIANS WHO PARTICIPATE IN schemes that violate anti-kickback and fraud statutes will be at greater risk of prosecution by federal healthcare officials. This development comes following the June 9 release by the OIG of “Fraud Alert: Physician Compensation Arrangements May Result in Significant Li…
June 22, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Turf wars are breaking out among local pathology groups as consolidation involving hospitals and physicians’ practices continues to reshape many regional healthcare markets. The latest sign of this trend comes from Washington State, where CellNetix of Seattle announced an agreement to provide …
June 1, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
It’s a laboratory acquisition that is worth US$1.3 billion. In Europe, Cinven, a pri ate equity company, will acquire Labco SA of Paris, France. Labco operates medical laboratories in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. It reports annual revenue of US$714 mi…
New Lab Industry Trends Require Responses by Labs
CEO SUMMARY: One stark difference between the presentations delivered at last year’s Executive War College and this year’s presentations in New Orleans last week was near-unanimous recognition that the era of fee-for-service payment is soon to end! Speaker after speaker urged the…
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?
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.