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
Is Physicians’ Office Testing Evolving Toward an Oligopoly?
CEO SUMMARY: One of the most unpopular industries with consumers is the airline industry. At the national level, it is an oligopoly—dominated by seven carriers. But in many cities, it is a monopoly, with one airline flying 80% of the seats in and out of town. Ongoing consolidation of re…
THE DARK REPORT’S Annual Ranking of Public Laboratory Companies
Boom times continued during 2001 for both the clinical laboratory industry and anatomic pathology profession. Throughout 2001, almost every public lab company was able to post double-digit revenue growth. For a number of companies, this growth was accomplished b…
California Lab Regulators Are A Tough Bunch
CEO SUMMARY: By law, government regulators cannot comment publicly about the actions they take against the companies they regulate. That’s why the lab industry never learned that other public lab companies operating in California, following inspections by state authorities, were judged …
“May 13, 2002 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Guess whose DNA was used by Celera Genomics during its project to map the human genome back in 1999? It was primarily the DNA of J. Craig Ventor, Ph.D., who was Chairman of Celera at that time. The disclosure, made last week, has stirred some controversy. Defenders say it is in the t…
State, Federal Regulators Target Specialty Labs
CEO SUMMARY: Specialty Laboratories, Inc. has earned the dubious honor of being the first-ever publicly-traded laboratory to have its CLIA-88 license revoked by federal regulators, terminating its right to payment for services covered by Medicare and Medicaid. The revocation is slated to …
Quest Pays $1.1 Billion To Acquire Unilab Corp.
CEO SUMMARY: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is showing its muscle. The dust had hardly settled on its $500 million acquisition of American Medical Laboratories when the lab industry’s behemoth announced that it would pay $1.1 billion to buy Unilab, by far the largest lab testing company…
Ken Freeman Discusses Plans to Integrate AML and Unilab
CEO SUMMARY: Once again, Ken Freeman and Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is altering the national market for clinical laboratory testing. By acquiring American Medical Laboratories and Unilab, the nation’s largest lab company is expanding its presence in California, Nevada, and Washingto…
HMO Enrollment In Decline; PPOs Capture 48% of Market
ENROLLMENT IN THE NATION’S HMOS has declined in each of the last two years. Experts now believe the heyday of the classic closed-panel, gatekeeper model of the HMO has ended. “HMOs are in full retreat,†observed Bryant Armstrong, a healthcare consultant in the Dallas office of Hewitt Associate…
Dynacare, LabCorp, IMPATH, Visible Genetics, Abbott Labs
ACTIVITY AT DYNACARE HINTS AT POSSIBLE SALE, LABCORP MAY BE BUYER With Quest Diagnostics Incorporated snapping up independent lab companies right and left in recent months, the question asked by many is “Where’s Laboratory Corporation of America?†On …
“April 22, 2002 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Careside, Inc.’s point-of-care instruments for routine chemistry and hematology are moving into the clinical marketplace. (See TDR, November 22, 1999.) Through January, the company, based in Culver City, California, had placed 73 units, with another 17 on order. Careside 
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 11 – August 4, 2025
The Dark Report takes a look at new and more complex claims denials by payers, and suggests ways to battle this trend. Also, we offer 6 expert strategies for properly evaluating claims made by AI vendors.
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