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
LabCorp’s MacMahon Provides Insights About Lab Marketplace
CEO SUMMARY: Pathologists will be particularly interested in what Thomas MacMahon has to say about the evolution of laboratory medicine. As Chairman, President, and CEO of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, he has continuous access to some of the best strategic analysis about the…
SARS Challenges Met With New Technology
CEO SUMMARY: When SARS began to spread around the globe, the United States was fortunate to escape the type of outbreak which still dogs Hong Kong and Toronto. Had SARS cases appeared in the U.S. a week earlier, the first affected cities would have experienced widespread concern, reduced …
“April 14, 2003 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Lab executives and pathologists concerned about closed panel HMOs should closely study a recent Supreme Court decision. On April 2, the court issued a ruling that supports a state’s right to enact “any willing provider” laws. Kentucky had passed two laws requiring health plans to accept all out…
Why Patient Safety Is Change Agent for Labs
CEO SUMMARY: In the 1990s, managed care was the dominant change agent to the nation’s healthcare system. During the 2000s, it will be patient safety. However, unlike the unpleasant consequences of HMOs, capitation, and utilization risk, patient safety will prove to be a benevolent trend…
Medicare “Bill Back” Policies Vary By Lab
CEO SUMMARY: When it comes to the subject of Medicare medical necessity, the classic “compliance conundrum” is again at work. Laboratories with conservative, strict compliance policies believe they are at a disadvantage at retaining physician-clients and winning new accounts when comp…
Royal Free Hospital Is First Big British Lab Automation Project
CEO SUMMARY: To date, only a handful of total laboratory automation (TLA) projects have been implemented in Great Britain. One of those first TLA projects is at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, located in the northern suburbs of London. Design work started in 1998 and the first phase b…
Oldest “Working” Pathologist Dies at 104 on March 9
WORKING EIGHT-HOUR DAYS until a few weeks before his death on March 9, pathologist F. William Sunderman, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D., lived a remarkable life. During his 104-year life, Dr. Sunderman played a key role in founding the Pennsylvania Association of Clinical Pathologists in 1946 a…
Bio-Reference Labs, Quest Diagnostics, TriPath Imaging, Specialty Labs, SARS
BIO-REFERENCE LABS POSTS 20% INCREASE IN ANNUAL NET REVENUE LAST YEAR’S FRENZY of laboratory acquisitions left Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. of Elmwood Park, New Jersey as the nation’s third-largest public laboratory company focused primarily on physicians’ office t…
“March 24, 2003 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Wholesale prices for general acute care hospitals has climbed steadily in recent months. As tracked by the U.S. Labor Department’s Wholesale Producer Price Index, hospital prices increased 0.5%. For the 12 months ending in February, hospital prices were up 4.7%. This is almost doub…
Buyout of AmeriPath Riles Some Shareholders
CEO SUMMARY: Owners of the few remaining independent private laboratory companies closely watch prices paid by lab buyers. In the pending sale of AmeriPath to private equity investor Welsh, Carson, Anderson, & Stowe, dissenting shareholders disclosed several aspects of the valuation p…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 14 – October 6, 2025
The Dark Report examines increasing healthcare costs for employers and how clinical labs can help those employers. Also, an in-depth case study shows how one hospital system regained its outreach program after originally ceding it to a national lab company, adding millions to the system’s bottom line.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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