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
Rural Hospital Succeeds With Lab Outreach Service
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory administrators at rural hospitals generally believe there is no point in establishing a laboratory outreach program. Potential clients are few, and distances between small towns are great. But neither of these obstacles prevented Olympic Memorial Hospital from succ…
Scottsdale Pathology Gathering Targets Three “Money Tracksâ€
THE DARK REPORT’S Private Pathologist Income Symposium in Scottsdale on November 8, 1997 promises to be a uniquely candid, invaluable source of strategies, techniques and knowledge for preserving and enhancing pathologist income. It is restricted only to pathologists and their business …
Nominations Now Open For Laboratory Innovators
CEO SUMMARY: Nominations are now open as THE DARK REPORT seeks to identify laboratory executives who deserve recognition. Our annual awards program honors the innovators and leaders within the clinical laboratory industry who push the boundaries of management change and show us how to bes…
“October 6, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Michael J. Bechich, M.D., Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is hosting his second annual conference in Pittsburgh next week. Anatomic Pathology Informatics, Imaging and the Internet is scheduled for October 16-18 at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center…
How AmeriPath Will Alter Pathology Marketplace
CEO SUMMARY: Few pathologists realize how much impact AmeriPath’s business activities will have upon the profession of pathology. Regardless of AmeriPath’s ultimate success or failure, it will bring about irrevocable change to the pathology industry. As the harbinger of such change, A…
Providing Direction Leads To Happier Docs, Lower Costs, And Outreach Success
CEO SUMMARY: Some of the best stories in laboratory management are found in the unlikeliest of places. In this case we travel to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, where a 120 bed rural hospital has developed an energized laboratory team. It wasn’t easy and it didn’t happen qu…
Path Income Strategies Subject Of Symposium
CEO SUMMARY: Public discussion of pathology income and compensation has been taboo for a good reason: the reality is one of contract cutbacks and declining reimbursement for pathology services. THE DARK REPORT is inviting a select group of astute pathologists to Scottsdale on November 8 t…
LabCorp Hosts DARK REPORT For Burlington Site Visit
CEO SUMMARY: During the years of sustained bad financial news that dogged the major laboratories, there was a reluctance to speak publicly about any aspect of the laboratory business. That era seems to be ending, as LabCorp and the other national laboratories become friendlier and more ac…
“September 15, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Here’s another sign of financial improvement in the clinical laboratory industry. WDI Capital Markets publishes a quarterly list of healthcare industry earnings. Through 1995, “laboratory services†was always included. But consistently disastrous results in the laboratory indus…
Issues At Columbia/HCA Exist At Other Hospitals
CEO SUMMARY: Even as federal regulators attract big headlines in their investigation of Columbia/HCA, laboratory administrators in a variety of hospital settings may be surprised in the future to find federal investigators scrutinizing the billing practices at their institution. Columbiaâ…
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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