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
“September 15, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Here’s another sign of financial improvement in the clinical laboratory industry. WDI Capital Markets publishes a quarterly list of healthcare industry earnings. Through 1995, “laboratory services” was always included. But consistently disastrous results in the laboratory indus…
Issues At Columbia/HCA Exist At Other Hospitals
CEO SUMMARY: Even as federal regulators attract big headlines in their investigation of Columbia/HCA, laboratory administrators in a variety of hospital settings may be surprised in the future to find federal investigators scrutinizing the billing practices at their institution. Columbia…
Tennessee Lab Network To Become Operational
CEO SUMMARY: Although news of regional laboratory networks disappeared from the pages of lab industry publications, the movement is far from dead. In Tennessee, 13 hospital laboratories are about to launch the Middle Tennessee Healthcare Network. Organizers believe they have solutions to …
Private Insurers Sue SmithKline, Feds Pursue Labs In Six States
FRAUD AND ABUSE for laboratory billing is an issue which refuses to disappear. Private insurers filed a lawsuit against SmithKline Beecham last Thursday, seeking unspecified damages related to overcharging for laboratory testing during the years 1989-1995. At the same time, news eme…
Innovative Approach Promises Integration of Clinical Lab Data
CEO SUMMARY: Any laboratory executive with several years in the business has confronted the limitations of laboratory information system (LIS) software. For a variety of reasons, LIS software seldom delivers the full range of benefits and cost-effectiveness sought by laboratories. But in …
Lab Industry Briefs
MONOLAYER PAP SMEAR TEST In travels to laboratories around the United States, THE DARK REPORT is getting interesting, but anecdotal, feedback about Cytyc Corp.’s ThinPrep® monolayer Pap smear test. Pathologists and laboratory directors are noticing two perceived benefits …
“August 25, 1997 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Meris Laboratories continues to be a turnaround challenge. The company announced on August 4 that CEO and President Denis Simon had resigned. Appointed by the board on March 25, Simon stayed less than 18 weeks in the position. Like several other California labs, the San Jose-based co…
Quest Diagnostics, Sonora Join Phoenix Operations
CEO SUMMARY: When Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and Sonora Laboratory Sciences announced their joint venture, it confirmed that Quest Diagnostics is the first of the national laboratories to begin serious restructuring of its national network of regional laboratories. Such restructuring …
Joint Venture In Phoenix To Be Copied Elsewhere
CEO SUMMARY: Look for the Quest-Sonora joint venture to be followed by others in coming months. Competition and marketplace realities are forcing the three national laboratories to respond with groundbreaking strategies. Hospital laboratory partners in these deals can reap significant ben…
Big Hospital-PPM Alliance Announced For New York
CEO SUMMARY: This alliance involves PhyCor and the New York and Presbyterian Hospitals Care Network. Like the MedPartners/Tenet deal in California reported in our last issue, this joint venture will have far-reaching impact upon the local healthcare marketplace it serves. H…
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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