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
Dr. Bruce Friedman Identifies Market Dynamics Driving Evolution of Lab Information Services
CEO SUMMARY: Probably no one is better positioned to identify the evolution of laboratory information services than Bruce Friedman, M.D., Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. For almost 20 years, he has hosted the pre-eminent meeting in laborat…
Qualigen’s POL PSA Test Cleared for Sale by FDA
CEO SUMMARY: Qualigen, Inc. gained FDA approval to sell its FastPack™ System for PSA testing in the United States. Qualigen is one more example of a technology company that expects to shift diagnostic testing out of core laboratories and closer to the patient. Initially Qualigen will se…
“July 31, 2000 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Medical Management Programs, Inc. (MMP) of Southfield, Michigan is the new owner of the TPA (third party administrator) business formerly held by Universal Standard Medical Laboratories. MMP purchased the TPA business involving lab testing and home health services from USML’s Chapt…
Lab “Home Brews” Web Solution for Test Results
CEO SUMMARY: Internet-enabled lab test ordering and results reporting may help independent commercial labs and hospital laboratory outreach programs become more competitive against the two blood brothers. In eastern Pennsylvania, Clinical Laboratories, Inc. introduced Web-based lab test r…
Neurology is Test Focus For Athena Diagnostics
CEO SUMMARY: There are few examples of laboratory companies focused on a single medical specialty,a business model that is expected to become more common in coming years. One such company is Athena Diagnostics. For 12 years, this company has concentrated on providing diagnostic testing fo…
Beckman Coulter’s Strategy Reflects Consolidation Trends
CEO SUMMARY: Rapid changes to the clinical laboratory industry had equally profound impact upon the major diagnostic companies. At Beckman Coulter, Inc., market forces triggered a decade of acquisitions and internal consolidation.The company looks very different today than it did ten year…
Insurers Dropping Medicare HMO Programs in Various Regions
Several of the nation’s largest health insurance companies will cease offering Medicare HMOs in certain regions of the United States. Almost 800,000 of the nature’s seniors will be dropped from Medicare +Choice plans as Aetna/US Healthcare, Foundation Health Systems, Oxford Health System…
Express Scripts, InformInvestor.com, UroCor, Bio-Reference Laboratories
PRESCRIPTION DRUG SPENDING HITS A RECORD INCREASE OF 17.4% IN 1999 Just-released data from Express Scripts, Inc. indicates that spending on prescription drugs increased by a record 17.4% during 1999. This compares to a 9.6% spending increase for drugs in 1998. As most lab e…
“July 10, 2000 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
When it comes to laboratory information services, the Internet may indeed be a competitive leveler. THE DARK REPORT is tracking a host of small software companies that already have working solutions for Web-enabled lab test ordering and results reporting installed and operating in the field. It seems…
Merger Creates “New” Pathology Competitor
CEO SUMMARY: Pathology business consolidation and regionalization continues. Pathology Consultants of America, Inc. (PCA) and PathSOURCE, Inc. announced their intention to merge last month. The combined company will be called Inform DX, Inc. and will compete nationally for anatomic pathol…
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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