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
March 30, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Last Friday, at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania, members of the health systems’s authority board were given tours of the new $63.4 million clinical laboratory facility. It is scheduled to open on May 4 and will feature the latest state-of-the art analyzers and lab automation system…
UnitedHealth Sets April 15 to Start Claims Impact of Lab Program
APRIL 15 IS THE DATE when UnitedHealthcare will begin denying laboratory claims in Florida that do not meet the requirements of its unpopular laboratory benefit management program. The health insurer sent out notices last month to alert physicians and laboratories that it will implement what it call…
March 9, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Many laboratory professionals are closely watching the development of Theranos, the lab testing company based in Palo Alto, California, that claims it has technology and a business model that will disrupt the clinical laboratory testing market. Recently Forbes announced its annual li…
Gearing Up the Laboratory to Exceed Expectations of External Customers
CEO SUMMARY: This is the third installment of THE DARK REPORT’S description of the Laboratory Value Pyramid. It describes “Level Three: Deliver Value that Exceeds Expectations.” This is the level where the laboratory organization now shifts its emphasis from internal operation of…
February 17 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
GeneCentric is a new lab testing company in Durham, North Carolina that was started by former executives of Laboratory Corporation of America. It intends to raise $20 million in a Series B capital offering. GeneCentric’s business model is to license molecular diagnostic tests, then develop the…
January 26, 2015 Intelligence: Late Breaking News
Interesting things are happening in the commercial clinical lab testing market internationally. In New Zealand, district health boards continue a decadeslong trend of squeezing commercial lab companies with the goal of reducing laboratory testing costs and eliminating redundancies. Currently the dist…
Lab Industry to Confront Major Issues during 2015
CEO SUMMARY: Will 2015 turn out to be a watershed year for the clinical laboratory industry? Not only are two federal agencies pushing forward with initiatives that will touch nearly every medical lab in the United States in the next 12 months, but other equally powerful trends c…
‘Nanotainer’ vs. ‘Microtainer’: Theranos Sues Becton Dickinson
BY FILING A LAWSUIT IN FEDERAL COURT against Becton Dickinson, Theranos, the ultra-secretive lab testing company based in Palo Alto, California, has once again put itself in the headlines. In papers it filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, …
In Florida, UnitedHealth Delays BeaconLBS Claims Decisions
LAST WEEK, ONE PART OF THE Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions pilot program in Florida was postponed. A UnitedHealthcare spokesperson provided additional information about this decision. “We have lifted the January 1 claims impact de…
Why ‘Bad Actors’ Continue to Operate in Lab Industry
OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, pathologists and lab managers have regularly watched certain new lab companies burst on the scene and generate startling growth in revenue and profits by offering proprietary tests–often unsupported by published clinical studies that …
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 15 – October 27, 2025
The Dark Report examines the momentous decision by the VA to switch accreditors from The Joint Commission to CAP. Also, we analyze retractions in pathology journals to gain insight into scientific fraud.
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.