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
Court Orders Roche to Pay IGEN $505 Million in Damages
IT WAS A BIG COURT WIN for little IGEN International. On January 10, a jury in federal district court in Maryland decided that IGEN could terminate its licensing agreement with Roche Holding AG. The jury also awarded IGEN a total of $505 million, $105 million in com…
IMPATH Buys Tamtron In Surprise Decision
CEO SUMMARY: In an unexpected announcement, IMPATH, Inc. announced it would purchase Tamtron Corp., the largest remaining independent vendor of anatomic pathology systems. It was just months earlier that Cerner Corporation acquired Dynamic Healthcare Technologies, Inc. and its CoPath™ p…
Provider Performance Ranking Now Hitting Healthcare System
CEO SUMMARY: When 96 big corporations, employing 28 million people and spending $52 billion on healthcare, begin publishing hospital performance measurements so their employees can make informed choices, that’s big news! THE DARK REPORT predicts this is a major step toward detailed meas…
MedUnite, Bio-Reference Labs, X-Fin, Sunquest/Misys, Roche Holdings
MEDUNITE MOVES CLOSER TO ONLINE HEALTH TRANSACTION SERVICES MEDUNITE INC.’S PLANS TO USE the Internet for claims activity and other transaction services is moving forward. On January 17, it announced an agreement with Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. (BRL…
Cytyc versus TriPath: Pap Wars Will Intensify
CEO SUMMARY: Earlier this month, Cytyc Corporation announced that it had filed Pre-Market Applications (PMA) for two new product lines to complement its ThinPrep® liquid preparation kit. This is a sign that competition between the two major vendors is about to heat up. If so, it will hel…
“January 28, 2002 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
It may be a sign of change in how at least one national managed care company is willing to contract for laboratory services. During the last four weeks, UnitedHealthcare signed agreements with Dynacare, Inc. and Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. (BRLI). Dynacare operates labs in 21 st…
Path Trends For 2002 Show Future Direction
CEO SUMMARY: Even as pressures to squeeze costs and consolidate within the pathology profession ease, a different set of market trends is exerting influence. Collectively, these trends portend the end of the small pathology group’s dominance of its local healthcare marketplace. It will …
Histology Lab Goes Mobile To Serve Customers On-Site
CEO SUMMARY: During the 1990s, pathologists at Palm Beach Pathology recognized that more and more procedures were being done in ambulatory surgery centers and physicians’ offices. To maintain access to these patients, Palm Beach Pathology developed a strategic marketing plan with a uniq…
Pacificare, IBM, Keane, MedicaLogic/MedScape, WebMD, DrKoop.com
PACIFICARE BEGINS SERIOUS RESTRUCTURING TO SHIFT EMPHASIS NOT SO MANY YEARS AGO, PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. was considered the quintessential embodiment of all that was expected to be good with managed healthcare. The company’s business model was studied and copied in…
Patent Access Limits Rapid HIV Testing in USA
CEO SUMMARY: Diagnostic manufacturers will begin to face the same controversy over public access to diagnostic testing technology that has dogged pharmaceutical companies in recent years. Public health officials and the military are unhappy with how Bio-Rad and its HIV-2 licensees have fa…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 12 – August 25, 2025
In an exclusive interview, a laboratory industry M&A specialist discusses what’s driving lab outreach sales to national lab companies. Also, The Dark Report analyzes ways in which pathology and clinical labs can profitably partner with pharmaceutical companies.
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