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
Pathology Boot Camp to Address Three Trends
CEO SUMMARY: Anatomic pathology groups across the nation must develop effective strategies to address challenges in pricing, intensifying competition, and expensive new technologies. That’s the assertion of three pathology practice administrators who have organized a boot camp in Dallas…
October 20, 2008 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Once again, laboratory test unbundling is on the radar screen of federal regulators. Included in the 2009 work plan for the federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a review of laboratory test unbundling and a review of the extent of variation in laboratory test payment rates amo…
iTunes Business Model For Digital Path Scans
CEO SUMMARY: If BioImagene’s CEO is to be believed, the company is ready to deliver a digital pathology system that is robust and affordable, even in settings with just two or three pathologists. One key to the BioImagene strategy is “per scan” pricing that avoids the need for upfro…
Illinois Pathologists Dodge Medicaid CP Payment Cut
CEO SUMMARY: Pathologists in Illinois acted swiftly to this month’s announcement that the Illinois Medicaid program would cease to directly pay pathologists directly for clinical pathology professional services. The new policy was to take effect on October 1, 2008. As t…
DeVry University, Retail Walk-In Clinics, NeoGenomics, Clarient, Clinical Lab Partners, Patient ID Theft
MED TECH SHORTAGE CAUSES DEVRY UNIVERSITY TO OFFER MT DEGREE IN RESPONSE TO THE GROWING SHORTAGE of skilled lab scientists and medical technologists, DeVry University of Phoenix, Arizona, is offering a new bachelor’s degree program in Clinical Laboratory Science (…
Implementation Date For ICD-10 Is Proposed
CEO SUMMARY: Even though the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 will not be required until 2011, laboratories and pathology groups should have a transition plan in place. ICD-10’s 155,000 seven-digit codes will replace the 17,000 five-digit codes of ICD-9. Because of major…
Current Review of CLIA Standards Intended to Address Laboratory PT
EFFORTS ARE UNDER WAY TO REVIEW existing requirements for laboratory certification under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA). CLIA legislation was a response by Congress to widely-publicized failings in the quality and performance of certain cytology and office laboratories during …
Phlebotomy Automation Likely To Be Next Trend
CEO SUMMARY: Here’s a prediction that automation of work processes for phlebotomy, specimen collection, and specimen transport may be the next trend. Unfolding developments in the United States are creating a situation parallel to what was seen in Japanese hospital laboratories more tha…
September 29, 2008 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
It’s been a productive year for Michigan Co-Tenancy Laboratory (MCL) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which performs reference and esoteric testing for its members. During 2008, four hospital systems have come aboard as new co-tenants. They are: Baptist Health, Montgomery, …
Labs in British Columbia Meet Tough PT Standards
CEO SUMMARY: Facing a crisis due to several highly publicized deficiencies in lab testing, pathologists in Canada are using proficiency testing (PT) to improve standards. In British Columbia, PT is mandatory and every lab is evaluated every quarter. Pathologists in BC recommend that every…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
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