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
December 16, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
John M. Mattsen, III, MD, one of the founders of ARUP Laboratories of Salt Lake City, died on November 9, at the age of 86. As a pathologist and an executive leader, he was at the forefront of laboratory medicine for many decades. A graduate of Brigham Young University…
November 4, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Pharmacogenetic testing is gaining acceptance by a growing number of health insurers. On Oct. 1, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) began coverage of genetic tests that help physicians identify the anti-depressant drugs most likely to benefit their patients. UHC’s policy also extends coverage …
October 14, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Two interesting partners are working on a project to map the human immune system with the goal of creating a knowledge base that can be used to develop diagnostic tests. Microsoft and Adaptive Biotechnologies of Seattle are collaborating on this project. “Google c…
September 23, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Spectra Laboratories, a division of the national dialysis company Fresenius Medical Care, will soon open a new 200,000 square foot laboratory facility in Memphis. The new lab will employ more than 300 people and will be located only 15 minutes from the Memphis Intern…
September 3, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Two more clinical laboratory organizations that used American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA) to handle their lab test claims announced in July that their patients’ data was breached. Inform Diagnostics of Irving, Texas, disclosed that the data of 173,716 patient…
After Two-Year Battle with CMS, True Health on Verge of Collapse
CEO SUMMARY: In 2017, an auditor for CMS alleged that True Health filed fraudulent claims and the federal Medicare program cut all payments to the lab company and one month later reduced the cut to 35% of the billed amount. Two months ago, CMS ended all payments again. These facts became …
August 12, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Add eight more laboratories to the list of lab companies whose patient data were breached when the American Medical Collection Agency was hacked. According to HealthITSecurity, in recent weeks, these labs reported breaches of their patient records: Natera …
July 22, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Another clinical laboratory company disclosed a major breach of its patients’ protected health information (PHI). On July 15, Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL), a division of Sonic Healthcare, issued a press release and disclosed that it estimated as many as 2…
July 1, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
In Houston, news outlets report that MD Anderson Cancer Center was cited for serious deficiencies and the potential for patient harm, following inspections by officials from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Texas Department…
June 10, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Digital pathology is coming in a big way to two regions in two different nations. In the United Kingdom, it was announced on May 30 that the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation in the north of England signed a five-year contract with Sectra of Linköping, Swed…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 10 – July 14, 2025
This issue is strong on different flavors of enforcement that clinical laboratories, whether they want to or not, will need to contend with. Lab stakeholders provide insights that medical labs need to brace for more action to counter pending test reimbursement rate cuts under PAMA. Also, this issue provides the legal and regulatory landscape for clinical labs’ use of AI and how it evolves with the technology. AI is creating legal uncertainty for clinical labs, especially around data privacy and FDA oversight of AI tools in diagnostics.
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