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
Outsourcing Lab Outreach Leads to Better Service
CEO SUMMARY: Many hospital laboratories continue to endure non-stop cutbacks to staffing and funding. The success of the recently instituted laboratory testing outreach program at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center validates that the market continues to reward labs willing to offer ad…
California Assesses Fines After Needle Reuse by SBCL Employee
ONE CHAPTER HAS CONCLUDED in the story about the phlebotomist who was discovered last March to be reusing butterfly needles in Palo Alto, California. California’s Department of Health Services (DHS) fined SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL) a total of…
Ten Myths of Lab Management That Led the Clinical Lab Industry Astray
Part One of a Special Series CEO SUMMARY: One of our most popular series ever was the “13 Perilous Parallels” of laboratory management. This four-part story appeared in 1996 and chronicled similar management strategies used by various national laboratories during the…
Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp Face an Evolving Marketplace
TWO OF THE THREE BLOOD BROTHERS reported continued improvement in their financial condition as second quarter earnings reports were made public. This news, however, was overshadowed by speculation about the failure of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated to consummate its purchase of …
“August 9, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Contrast the double digit premium increases demanded by HMOs for 1999 and 2000 with the recent Medicare announcement. Medicare will add 1.1% to hospital payments for overnight stays as this year’s inflation adjustment. With annual inflation under 2%, it certainly causes one to wonder what HMOs real…
Quest Holds Off on SBCL, Leaves the Door Open
CEO SUMMARY: It’s a cryptic situation as of press time. Quest Diagnostics issued a public statement on July 1 stating that its acquisition of SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories would not close on July 2, as expected. Since that date, there’s been no further comment on the situat…
McKesson on HBOC, PAML, Medicare Coding, Abbott Laboratories
SCANDAL AT HBO & CO. TAINTS MCKESSON HBOC FIVE EXECUTIVES WERE SACKED by McKesson HBOC Inc.’s Board of Directors last month in response to allegations of financial improprieties. All five were employed by HBOC prior to its acquisition by McKesson last year. The termin…
Associated Pathologists Laboratories Pursues Drugs of Abuse Testing
CEO SUMMARY: Since 1994, Las Vegas-based Associated Pathologists Laboratories has carved a thriving business from drugs of abuse testing. Its fast-growing toxicology business is built around a full-service menu of testing services. This includes a patented drug screen based upon testing h…
Wedding Between AutoCyte and NeoPath Will Spawn A Single Prep/Screen System
CEO SUMMARY: Various technologies that automate cytology and Pap smear screening entered the clinical marketplace during the last four years. Because managed healthcare views new technology with a more skeptical eye than fee-for-service healthcare, THE DARK REPORT has provided extensive a…
Healtheon and WebMD Merger Portends Changes to Lab Testing
SO FAR CLINICAL LAB EXECUTIVES have yet to see any profound changes that Internet-based services might cause to existing laboratory practices and procedures. That situation may change, however, with the merger of Healtheon Corporation of Santa Clara, California and WebMD, In…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 15 – October 27, 2025
The Dark Report examines the momentous decision by the VA to switch accreditors from The Joint Commission to CAP. Also, we analyze retractions in pathology journals to gain insight into scientific fraud.
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.