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
June 14, 2021 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Is it possible to use a genetic test to predict an individual’s risk of severe infection requiring hospitalization or death from SARS-CoV-2? That is the claim of Australian-based molecular diagnostics company Genetic Technologies Limited. It recently announced an agreement with U.S.-based …
Predicting Future Demand for COVID-19 Testing
CEO SUMMARY: After 15 months of the pandemic, the nation’s clinical laboratories are at an interesting crossroads. Is the COVID-19 outbreak diminishing and close to disappearing? Or might it intensify again, particularly when the traditional influenza season arrives next fall? The…
Ransomware Attackers Target Health Providers
CEO SUMMARY: Both malware and ransomware have been around for a number of years. But the attacks launched today against healthcare providers are more sophisticated and better at achieving the total shutdown of targeted hospitals, doctor groups, and clinical laboratories. For this re…
$400,000 Settlement in VA Wrongful-Death Case
CEO SUMMARY: Did “the system” fail patients and physicians at one Veterans Health Administration center? The public disciplinary records of pathologist Robert Morris Levy over several decades show that any laboratory employing Levy had reason to monitor closely the accuracy of h…
Lab Briefs
University of Miami Settles Lab Qui Tam Lawsuit for $22 Million EARLIER THIS MONTH, THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) announced a settlement with the University of Miami that resolves allegations that the university ordered medicall…
Pandemic Complicates Sales for Lab Info System Companies
HEALTHCARE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) COMPANIES serving clinical laboratories and providers with laboratory information systems (LISs) and electronic health records (EHRs) shared recent financial reports on their businesses. It is challenging to obtai…
May 24, 2021 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
With little fanfare, the company that was incorporated as Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings rebranded itself. It is now officially called Labcorp (with a lower case c). This won’t be much of a change for the clinical laboratory profession, which has long seen the company use …
Millennials’ Healthcare Demands Will Be Radically Different from Others
This is an excerpt of a 1.620-word article in the May 3, 2021 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: In just 42 months, Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce, according to U.S. Department of Co…
Millennials Set to Reorder Healthcare & Lab Testing
CEO SUMMARY: In just 42 months, Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce, according to U.S. Department of Commerce statistics. As consumers and patients, they are already triggering changes, reforms, and innovation in healthcare. It is timely for clinical lab administrators and…
Federal Judges: Paying Commissions Violates AKS
CEO SUMMARY: Health Diagnostic Laboratory and its marketing partner, BlueWave Consultants, were back in the news recently after a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court denied a challenge from the former principals of those companies to an earlier court ruli…
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.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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