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
UK Postpones Mass COVID Testing Plan Due to Questions of Accuracy
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, A MASS COVID-19 TESTING PLAN called “Operation Moonshot” is on hold until at least the end of January. Under the plan, health ministers sought to increase daily SARS-CoV-2 testing from 430,000 to 10 million Englanders per day. …
OIG Says Medicare Spending On Testing Increased in 2019
CEO SUMMARY: Newly-released data indicates that Medicare officials are falling far short of their goal to decrease the total amount of money spent annually on Part B clinical laboratory tests. That is one finding by the federal Office of the Inspector General in its report of Medica…
THE DARK REPORT’s Ranking of 2019’s Top 10 IVD Companies
One trend continues to reshape the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry year after year: acquisitions. Since the 1990s, the biggest IVD companies have frequently used acquisitions to boost their revenue and keep shareholders happy. But acquisition…
Congress Passes Bill to Ban Surprise Medical Bills
Starting Jan. 1, 2022, out-of-network clinical laboratories may no longer be allowed to bill patients for lab tests performed in certain settings under a law both houses of Congress passed on Dec. 21. The COVID relief bill includes a ban on unexpected m…
New Federal Rule: Non-Physician Providers Can Supervise Testing
SUMMARY: It’s the latest example of how interim rules issued earlier this year in response to the pandemic are being made permanent by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Issued on Dec. 2, this new final rule allows certain non-physician practitioners—includi…
December 28, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Seattle is the latest city to open walk-up kiosks for COVID-19 testing that allow individuals to collect their own saliva, then hand the specimen to a worker in the booth for overnight testing. Three such kiosks are now in operation. Curative, based in San Dimas, Calif., performs the testing u…
NorDx Lab Started COVID Preparation in 2019
This is an excerpt of a 2,995-word article in the December 7, 2020 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: In a remarkable example of prescience, informed by decades-long experience in clinical lab testin…
One Genetic Test CPT Code Earns ‘Fraudomatic’ Title
CEO SUMMARY: Several genetic testing companies have noticed that some of the nation’s Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) pay about $2,000 for test claims billed with CPT code 81408. From 2018 through and 2019, the number of 81408 claims rose dramatically at just two of thes…
Surprise! Many Fewer Cases of Flu in US, Canada, Europe
IN NORTH AMERICA, THE INFLUENZA SEASON IS NOW UNDERWAY. But it is starting off much slower than in past years. What makes this significant is that the number of influenza cases as reported by Europe and countries in the southern hemisphere also has been much lower than in a typical year….
Memphis Path Lab Pivots to COVID, Pooled Testing
CEO SUMMARY: When routine testing volume declined sharply last winter and spring, one of the nation’s largest anatomic pathology groups added testing for COVID-19 and boosted revenue significantly. Since then, the laboratory has become the first in the nation to gain an Emergency …
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.
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.