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
Bankruptcy at Universal Standard Brings End to Detroit Laboratory
ANOTHER OF THE EARLY 1990’S wunderkind laboratory companies is now defunct. On August 13, Universal Standard Healthcare, Inc. (UHCI) filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy action in federal court and ceased business operations. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Universal Standard was o…
KC Regional Lab Network Makes Steady Progress
CEO SUMMARY: In Kansas City, members of the Regional Laboratory Alliance (RLA) had a common purpose in forming their network four years ago—to preserve their status as laboratory provider for a major managed care plan in their area. After successfully attaining that goal, RLA’s member…
“August 30, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
There’s a new for-profit hospital player out there which probably needs a good laboratory leader. Iasis Corp. of Nashville, Tennessee just spent more than $800 million to buy 15 hospitals. Iasis is a hospital management company. It expects both deals to close in October. Odds are t…
West Hills Hospital Lab Hits Outreach Home Run
CEO SUMMARY: Popular wisdom says that California’s managed care market is a financial disaster for clinical laboratories. Yet here’s an exciting story about a community hospital that launched a brand-new laboratory outreach program in 1997 and found solid success. During the last two …
Outsourcing Lab Outreach Leads to Better Service
CEO SUMMARY: Many hospital laboratories continue to endure non-stop cutbacks to staffing and funding. The success of the recently instituted laboratory testing outreach program at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center validates that the market continues to reward labs willing to offer ad…
California Assesses Fines After Needle Reuse by SBCL Employee
ONE CHAPTER HAS CONCLUDED in the story about the phlebotomist who was discovered last March to be reusing butterfly needles in Palo Alto, California. California’s Department of Health Services (DHS) fined SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories (SBCL) a total of…
Ten Myths of Lab Management That Led the Clinical Lab Industry Astray
Part One of a Special Series CEO SUMMARY: One of our most popular series ever was the “13 Perilous Parallels” of laboratory management. This four-part story appeared in 1996 and chronicled similar management strategies used by various national laboratories during the…
Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp Face an Evolving Marketplace
TWO OF THE THREE BLOOD BROTHERS reported continued improvement in their financial condition as second quarter earnings reports were made public. This news, however, was overshadowed by speculation about the failure of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated to consummate its purchase of …
“August 9, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Contrast the double digit premium increases demanded by HMOs for 1999 and 2000 with the recent Medicare announcement. Medicare will add 1.1% to hospital payments for overnight stays as this year’s inflation adjustment. With annual inflation under 2%, it certainly causes one to wonder what HMOs real…
Quest Holds Off on SBCL, Leaves the Door Open
CEO SUMMARY: It’s a cryptic situation as of press time. Quest Diagnostics issued a public statement on July 1 stating that its acquisition of SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories would not close on July 2, as expected. Since that date, there’s been no further comment on the situat…
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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