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
COVID-19 Pandemic Erodes Cash Flow at Clinical Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Every day, national news headlines scream about the shortage of SARS-CoV-2 lab tests needed to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, national news coverage has begun focusing on concerns about inaccurate or unreliable COVID-19 serology tests. But the story being…
June 1, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Daily, national news headlines call attention to the lack of adequate testing for COVID-19. News reporters question why clinical labs are unable to meet the demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests. One major reason is the lack of adequate supplies labs need to collect specimens, transport them, and per…
MAY 11, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Clinical laboratories in other countries have similar challenges in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the United Kingdom, the Independent reported last week that “Widespread testing for coronavirus has been suspended among staff and patients at hospitals and GP practices ser…
Lab, Path Finances Crash; Next Test Wave: Serology
CEO SUMMARY: For clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, the day-by-day impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding much like Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans in 2005. Every 24 hours, labs get unwelcome news, along with uncertainty about whether it will …
APRIL 20, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Not only did the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States show how unprepared the nation was for an event like this, but it exposed numerous problems and weaknesses in the federal agencies tasked with protecting the health and safety of the American public. One high-profile failure hap…
March 30, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Should consumers be allowed to collect their own specimens for a COVID-19 test? At least five companies announced plans in mid-March to sell COVID-19 tests directly to consumers and have them collect their specimens at home, then return the samples to the the labs doing the testing. This s…
Labs in Italy Moved Fast to Develop COVID-19 Tests
Part One in a Series ITALY HAS ONE OF THE WORLD’S SEVEREST OUTBREAKS OF COVID-19 INFECTIONS, based on the number of cases and the mortality rate. In response, clinical laboratories there moved quickly to launch laboratory-developed tests and to increase the volume of COVID-19…
This Coronavirus Outbreak Will Change Lab Industry
CEO SUMMARY: COVID-19 is causing a level of global disruption not seen since the influenza outbreak of 1918. This new infectious disease exposes flaws in the strategies and planning of public health officials and governments in the United States and abroad. In this country…
March 9, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Coronavirus, more specifically, the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease, currently dominates global news. This is the third novel strain of coronavirus to emerge as a threat to human health in the past two decades. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was identifie…
February 17, 2020 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Last month, Tech-Crunch reported that a data breach at Laboratory Corporation of America had exposed the protected health information (PHI) of thousands of patients. TechCrunch published its findings on Jan. 28, 2020. It wrote, “This latest secu…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
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