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
PAMA, LDTs and Theranos Top 2014 Biggest News
CEO SUMMARY: Not in recent memory has a single calendar year brought such a cascade of news stories that have the potential to affect nearly every clinical lab and pathology group in the United States. Blame it on the lack of money to fund healthcare and how it is motivating government an…
Top 10 2014 Biggest News Stories
Story no.1 SGR Fix by Congress Spawns PAMA; Lab Industry Wary of Law’s Impact ON APRIL 1, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA signed into law the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). As written, it has the potential to be the most impactful federal legislation on the clinical lab industry s…
December 15, 2014 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
In certain respects, the noted physician and healthcare strategist Eric Topol, M.D., of Scripps Healthcare in La Jolla, California, can be considered a gadfly to pathology and the laboratory medicine profession. In his latest pronouncements on patient-centered healthcare, he warned c…
Labs Share Successes in Delivering More Value
CEO SUMMARY: As the number of accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes grows monthly, a handful of innovative labs are seizing the opportunity to develop and deliver lab testing services that add more value to physicians and patients. These early-adopter labs reco…
Level Two of Value Pyramid Defines Internal Benchmarks
CEO SUMMARY: In this second installment of our series on the laboratory value pyramid, we introduce “Level Two: Establish and Meet Standards of Value.” This second level continues the lab’s focus on its internal operations and activities. The goal is for the lab to develop the working cultu…
November 24, 2014 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Interesting things are unfolding in San Diego with Pathway Genomics, a company with a CLIA lab that offers genetic testing to physicians. On November 12, it was announced that the IBM Watson Group had invested in Pathway Genomics. The two companies said that they are…
UnitedHealth Answers Queries about Function of BeaconLBS
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED to UnitedHealthcare about the insurer’s laboratory benefit management program now coming into operation in Florida were provided by the company’s public communication officer. These answers are reproduced below: Q: Will BeaconLBS proces…
LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics Report Improved Q-3 Revenue
THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS at each of the nation’s two biggest public lab companies showed improved growth in revenue and specimen volume, as compared to recent years. Laboratory Corporation of America was first to release its financial report for the quarter ending September 30, 2014…
Alberta Picks Sonic Health for $3 Billion Lab Contract
CEO SUMMARY: For more than a year, Alberta’s C$3 billion RFP to develop an integrated laboratory testing service for Edmonton and surrounding regions has been the focus of intense interest. On October 17, health officials announced that Sonic Healthcare Limited was the preferred propone…
November 03, 2014 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
In response to the Ebola outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the use of two rapid tests to detect Ebola. The tests are manufactured by BioFire Defense LLC, a division of BioMerieux. The BioFire Defense Fil…
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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