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
Genetic Testing Continues to Grow in Volume and Complexity
This is an excerpt of a 1,333-word article in the July 26, 2021 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: Getting paid for genetic testing continues to be a challenge. This is true for both payers and the…
Artificial Intelligence Is Ready to Deliver for Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Artificial intelligence (AI) may be one of the most over-used terms to describe a host of different applications, software tools, and products. However, during the past year, some truly revolutionary digital tools are now in use by a small number of innovative clinical laboratories…
Genetic Tests Grow in Number, Complexity
CEO SUMMARY: Getting paid for genetic tests continues to be a challenge. This is true for both payers and the labs that perform the tests. Even physicians are dissatisfied with the status quo because they must deal with patients unhappy about the high cost of genetic tests. The prob…
CLIA Accreditation Market: More Competitive Now?
CEO SUMMARY: It’s been three decades since compliance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) became mandatory. During that time, there has been little competition among the major organizations with deeming status by the Medicare Program to accredit labs to CLIA…
How to Achieve Success with Genetic Test Prior Authorization
AS MANAGED CARE PAYERS INCREASINGLY REQUIRE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION FOC GENETIC TESTS, clinical laboratories should understand the ins and outs of what it takes to get reimbursed for testing they provide. Almost all payers now require prior authorization (P…
PacBio Beefs Up with Purchase of Omniome for $800 Million
FORWARD-LOOKING PATHOLOGISTS AND LAB ADMINISTRATORS understand that the next big game in medical laboratory testing will be assays built upon genome sequencing. They also know that several companies are racing to produce gene sequencing instruments that are faster, simpler, and less costly in order t…
July 26, 2021 Intelligence: Late-Breaking Lab News
Intermountain Healthcare of Salt Lake City announced that it plans to close 25 of its 26 retail pharmacies as early as next month. It cited declining business and a new business arrangement with CVS Health, the national pharmacy chain. Daron Crowley, Intermountain’s media relations di…
Genesis Lab Lawsuit Pursues UnitedHealth Over Unpaid Test Claims
This is an excerpt of a 1,946-word article in the July 6, 2021 issue of THE DARK REPORT (TDR). The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: New case law in how health insurers should reimburse for COVID-19 lab test claims might be one outc…
NJ Lab Sues UnitedHealth Over Unpaid Test Claims
CEO SUMMARY: New case law in how health insurers should reimburse for COVID-19 lab test claims might be one outcome if a New Jersey lab company were to prevail in a federal lawsuit it filed against UnitedHealthcare alleging non-payment of COVID-19 test claims. An interesting fact me…
Labcorp Now Using AI for Operations, Patient Care
CEO SUMMARY: In recent years, Labcorp invested significant sums to use artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies—often integrated with robotic systems—to improve work processes and gain real-time insights from vast amounts of data. In this exclusive interview, La…
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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