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
“November 22, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
UroCor, Inc. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is losing its long-time Chairman and CEO. Effective December 31, 1999, William A. Hagstrom will leave the company to pursue “new business start-up activities.” Hagstrom joined UroCor back in 1989, and helped it emerge from a Chapter 11 bank…
Internet-Based Lab Info Racing Into Marketplace
CEO SUMMARY: It’s another roller coaster ride for clinical laboratories and pathology practices. Within 24 months, virtually all physician offices will be using web-based technology to order lab tests and receive test results. Web-based ordering/reporting of laboratory testing will driv…
Physicians Demand Web Solutions From Clinical Labs
CEO SUMMARY: As physicians gain personal familiarity with the Internet and its potential to enhance their medical practice, they logically begin to want their clinical laboratory to offer web-based solutions. Physicians are driving this impending marketplace shift away from proprietary PC…
New Internet Companies Target Clinical Lab Services
CEO SUMMARY: During the coming transition from proprietary PC-based to web-based lab test ordering/reporting systems, it will be Internet start-up companies that have the competitive jump over traditional LIS vendors. There are many reasons why this is true. Here is a first look at the ma…
Advanced Health Targets Integrated Health Networks
“The question that every clinical laboratory must now ask is this: will my lab be a technology differentiator or a technology enabler?” Rob Alger, Advanced Health Technology CEO SUMMARY: Many hospital-based laboratories have a different missio…
Healtheon Already Choice Of Public Lab Companies
CEO SUMMARY: Probably no single individual has greater insight about the changes now occurring to web-based laboratory test ordering and results reporting than Healtheon Corporation’s Nancy Ham. As Vice President of Connectivity & Institutional Services, Nancy is responsible for Hea…
“November 1, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Well-run hospital laboratory outreach programs continue to thrive. Last week THE DARK REPORT was in Chicago to visit Genesis Clinical Laboratory. Located in Berwyn, Illinois, Genesis is a for-profit subsidiary of McNeal Hospital. During the last two years, Genesis Pr…
California’s Physicians Face Financial Meltdown
CEO SUMMARY: It’s a what-if scenario that may come true. Healthcare providers in the Golden State are going broke at an astounding rate. Physicians seem to be the hardest hit, but signs indicate that hospitals are also heading toward serious financial difficulties. In a nutshell, a deca…
Lab Venture in Houston To Include a New Partner
CEO SUMMARY: For months, lab industry rumors said the Memorial-Hermann merger had killed the Dynacare-Hermann Hospital laboratory joint venture, despite its sustained profitability. Now comes news that the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and Dynacare will expand the laboratory joint ve…
Revamped Houston JV Validates Industry Trend
CEO SUMMARY: Change is notoriously slow in both the hospital and the clinical laboratory industry. The announcement of a revamped laboratory joint venture between Houston’s Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and Dynacare demonstrates that market pressures continue to encourage the ratio…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXIII, No. 4 – March 23, 2026
A federal court ruling has established a safe harbor for clinical labs when they run tests ordered by physicians. Lab leaders should examine this briefing for pitfalls. Also, it turns out that providers may be ordering inappropriate vitamin D tests, according to one expert.
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