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
Pricing Models and RFP Terms For Web Orders and Results
CEO SUMMARY: Browser-based systems for lab test ordering and results reporting are now offered by a growing number of vendors. Early adopter labs are successfully acquiring these systems and offering them to their physician-clients. In this third installment of our special series, Cory Fi…
Certain Medicare Lab Reforms May Make It Through Congress
ONE CONSEQUENCE of the terrorist attacks on September 11 is that proposed reforms to Medicare lab reimbursement policies have assumed a lesser priority with the current Congress. Despite that fact, Congress must still address the day-to-day requirements of managing government functions. Thus, there …
Quest Buys New Jersey Lab, Lab Investors Cash In Stock
THERE’S LOTS OF BUYING and selling taking place among the public laboratory companies. On one side of the spectrum, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated announced the acquisition of Clinical Diagnostic Services, Inc., a private laboratory company based in Englewood, New Jersey. Clinic…
“November 5, 2001 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
It’s a milestone in the Pap smear testing marketplace. Cytyc Corporation, in its third quarter financial report, now claims its Thin-Prep® product has 51% of the national market for Pap testing. Estimates are that 55 million Pap tests are done annually in the United States. A 51% …
Nation’s Anthrax Cases Bring Bioterror to Labs
CEO SUMMARY: America’s clinical laboratories are soon to be enlisted in the war against terrorism. Concerns about chemical and biological terrorist attacks have reached high levels following the death of a Florida man from pulmonary anthrax and the discovery of letters containing anthra…
Washington G-2, AACC, Cerner, IBM, Visible Genetics, Bio-Reference Labs
LAB MEETINGS CONTINUE WITH STRONG ATTENDANCE DESPITE THE HASSLES that now come with cross-country travel, laboratorians throughout the United States continue to support industry meetings. Traditionally the largest lab meeting of the fall season, “Lab Institute 2001” expects good attenda…
NYC Lab Hand-Entered Reqs After Terrorist Acts
CEO SUMMARY: Crisis management was the watchword at Centralized Laboratory Services, Inc. of New York City following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Damage around the World Trade Center knocked out the communications link between the lab and a data server which transmitted electron…
“Lean” Management Helps Bay Care’s Lab Boost Quality
CEO SUMMARY: All laboratory managers and pathologists face the same challenge: do more testing with less money. This challenge is further complicated by the fact that there are inadequate numbers of trained laboratory professionals available to staff the nation’s laboratories. Now, earl…
“October 15, 2001 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
It’s a sign of the times for managed healthcare. Pacificare Health System, Inc. will offer its first preferred provider organization (PPO) health plan. the PPO is being marketed in California, Oklahoma, and Texas. Enrollment starts this month. Until now Pacificare’s business mode…
Terrorist Attacks Affect Many of Nation’s Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Following terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, the total shutdown of commercial air traffic in the United States for 48 hours disrupted the regular shipment of reference and esoteric lab specimens to national laboratories. Swiftly-implemented contingency eff…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXIII, No. 4 – March 23, 2026
A federal court ruling has established a safe harbor for clinical labs when they run tests ordered by physicians. Lab leaders should examine this briefing for pitfalls. Also, it turns out that providers may be ordering inappropriate vitamin D tests, according to one expert.
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