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
Roche Diagnostics, Ventana Medical, Aetna, Medicare Competitive Bid Demo
NEW CEO NAMED AT ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS, VENTANA OFFER EXTENDED LAST WEEK, ROCHE HOLDINGS AG announced the appointment of Jürgen Schwiezer to become CEO of Roche Diagnostics, effective January 1, 2008. He succeeds Severin Schwa…
CDC Convenes Institute To Leverage Lab Testing
CEO SUMMARY: In convening the 2007 Institute “Managing for Better Health,” in Atlanta last week, the Division of Laboratory Systems of the CDC invited a broad spectrum of healthcare experts and policymakers to participate. The ambitious goal was to facilitate discussions involving sta…
Medicare Soon Won’t Pay Hospitals for Errors
CEO SUMMARY: CMS issued new rules, effective in October 2008, that it will no longer pay the extra cost of treating patients after preventable errors, infections, or injuries that occur in hospitals. It continues Medicare’s transformation from a “passive payer simply …
Laboratory Error Results In Mistaken Mastectomy
CEO SUMMARY: In New York, because of a laboratory error and wrong diagnosis, a woman underwent a needless double mastectomy. In reporting the case, New York newspapers discovered another case of lab error and both women are suing the labs involved. Each case is a reminder that the public …
October 8, 2007 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Evidence is accumulating that the Leapfrog Group is getting the attention of the nations hospitals. It reports that just over half (52%) of hospitals have adopted the Leapfrog Groups’ “Never Events” policy, a list of actions hospitals pledge to take whenever a rare medical erro…
Path Group Closes Its Lab After GIs Do In-Clinic Lab
CEO SUMMARY: Kettering Pathology Associates of Kettering, Ohio, built a thriving outreach pathology business in this Dayton suburb before three gastroenterology groups either sent biopsy work out of state or built their own lab, and asked the pathologists to provide contracted professiona…
An Economic Perspective On Discounted PC Deals
CEO SUMMARY: By opening their own in-office pathology laboratories, specialist physicians are undermining a long-established referral relationship with the pathology profession. Pathologists are debating the merits of this market-based trend and its effect on their profession. However thi…
Quest South Florida Wins Governor’s Award for Quality
CEO SUMMARY: It’s an important milestone for the clinical laboratory profession. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated South Florida, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, earned the 2007 Florida Governor’s Sterling Award for quality. This is only the second laboratory in this country to win a …
Cost of Health Benefits Outpaces Inflation in Ongoing, 7-Year Trend
PREMIUMS FOR EMPLOYER-SPONSORED health insurance rose 6.1% this year, as reported in the Employer Health Benefits Survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. The 6.1% increase was mixed news for the nation’s employers…
September 17, 2007 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Coming soon to a theater near you this fall is the movie Pathology, with Rutger Hauer in the starring role as a pathologist. The Internet Movie database says Pathology (www.enterpathologylab.com) is the story of how medical students decide which of them can commit the perfect murder without being det…
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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