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
My Visit to Walgreens for Theranos Lab Tests
CEO SUMMARY: One of the biggest unknowns in the lab testing industry today is Theranos, the lab testing company based in Palo Alto, California. It says its proprietary technology is poised to transform the lab testing experience for patients and physicians. It says it can perform hundreds…
Incyte to Develop New Ways For Pathologists to Add Value
CONSOLIDATION OF PRIVATE PRACTICE PATHOLOGY GROUPS in Washington State has been ongoing. Because of their acquisitions, CellNetix and Incyte Diagnostics are now the state’s two largest pathology groups. The next challenge for these two pathology super-groups will …
August 11, 2014 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
There is a new case of crime involving a private pathology group practice. In Stockton, California, the Stockton Record reported on August 9 that pathologist Elvira Milano, M.D., was expected to post bond and be released from jail on that date. She faces charges of embezzlement while serving…
July 21, 2014 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Consolidation of private pathology group practices continues. On July 8, NeoGenomics of Fort Myers, Florida, announced that it had acquired Path Logic of Sacramento. Then, one day later, Incyte Diagnostics of Spokane, Washington, disclosed that it wa…
Lab Copay on the Table, But for Now, It’s Australia
CEO SUMMARY: Patient copayment is the idea that always appeals to government health officials who want to control healthcare costs. In Australia, Parliament has yet to vote on a bill that would, starting in July 2015, institute a patient copayment of $7.00 Australian for …
Local Labs vs. Central Labs Assessed in HER2 Test Study
WHEN IT COMES TO HER2NEU TESTING, a study of accuracy just published by the journal Cancer may raise interesting questions for pathology groups across the nation. “Assessing the discordance rate between local and central HER2 testing in women with locally determined HER2- negative breast …
June 30, 2014 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Will microbiologists soon be testing a patient’s cellphone for clinical diagnostic purposes? Researchers at the University of Oregon recently conducted a study and determined that cellphones have a similar microbiome to the skin of the person who owns the device. The study determin…
Could Health Insurers Be at War with Clinical Labs?
CEO SUMMARY: It may sound ridiculous to assert that the nation’s largest health insurers are now “waging war” against clinical labs. However, some very smart people in the profession of laboratory medicine are expressing this opinion. To support such a conclusion, they point to paye…
BRLI-Horizon BCBS Lawsuit Is Window to Payer Actions
CEO SUMMARY: Do “actions speak louder than words?” In New Jersey, one lab company sued a major health insurer for “breach of contract and fraud.” Court documents include claims describing how one health insurer became ever more sophisticated in how it played one public lab company…
Calloway Labs Settles with Feds, West Virginia
CEO SUMMARY: West Virginia is the second state in recent years to settle claims of Medicare and Medicaid fraud filed against Calloway Laboratories of Woburn, Massachusetts. Last month, the pain management lab company agreed to pay $4.675 million to resolve that case, while not admitting l…
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.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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