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
“March 28, 2005 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
For lab managers and pathologists tracking the growth of e-commerce, here’s a revealing statistic. The Federal Reserve Bank released numbers showing that 2003 was the first year where the number of electronic payment transactions exceeded the number of trans- actions paid by check….
FL Medicaid Gives Up On Statewide Lab Contract
CEO SUMMARY: With the withdrawal of the December 13, 2004 “Invitation to Negotiate” (ITN), Florida’s Medicaid bureaucrats seem to have thrown in the towel—at least for the moment—on the effort to give a single laboratory company an exclusive three-year contract to provide labora…
Spectrum Owns MEDex, Comments on Trends
CEO SUMMARY: Spectrum Laboratory Network recently completed its acquisition of MEDex Laboratories, Inc. of Kingsport, Tennessee. It is becoming a regional laboratory powerhouse, challenging Laboratory Corporation of America in North Carolina and establishing a sales base in Atlanta, long-…
Profit Squeeze Pressures Specialty Laboratories
CEO SUMMARY: Despite much success and milestones at Specialty Laboratories during the past 36 months, it has yet to achieve the most important goal of all: net profits. One reason is familiar to all laboratory administrators and pathologists: with its existing fixed overhead and cost stru…
Medicaid’s Exploding Costs Threaten Tight State Budgets
MEDICAID FINANCING in Tennessee has reached a crisis point. But Tennessee is not alone. Soaring Medicaid costs are stressing state budgets across the country. According to figures issued by the National Association of State Budget Offices, total state and federal spending on Medicai…
National Reference Labs Undergoing Changes
CEO SUMMARY: Maybe it’s a coincidence. More likely it is a response to changes in the reference/esoteric marketplace. Specialty, Esoterix, ARUP, and Mayo have each recently reassessed their core strategies and are shifting their business emphasis. Because three of these four companies a…
Baylor University Lab Serves ED Needs With STAT Lab
CEO SUMMARY: Throughout the United States, hospital laboratories are working to meet ever-increasing lab testing demands by emergency department physicians. In response, many labs debate the benefits of a point-of-care testing (POCT) solution versus operating a rapid response lab in or ne…
“March 7, 2005 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
It was good news for the nine-year old boy with the rare brain tumor he named “Frankstein.” On midnight, Monday, February 14, 2005, the family received a telephone call from the surgeon who performed the biopsy on February 2, 2005. He confirmed that the biopsy was negative for cancer. What is int…
Five Lab Acquisitions Over the Past Ten Weeks
CEO SUMMARY: Many lab executives and pathologists will be surprised to learn that five independent laboratory companies were acquired between December 1, 2004 and February 11, 2005. Only one acquisition was announced to the public. The other four were private sales and both buyers and sel…
Review of 2004 Lab Sales Identifies Buyer Interest
CEO SUMMARY: Laboratory acquisition activity was surprisingly high during 2004. One reason is that new buyers appeared in the marketplace. However, all buyers have specific acquisition criteria. When a selling lab meets that criteria, it can expect multiple bidders and a strong purchase p…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 15 – October 27, 2025
The Dark Report examines the momentous decision by the VA to switch accreditors from The Joint Commission to CAP. Also, we analyze retractions in pathology journals to gain insight into scientific fraud.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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