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
Are Two Blood Brothers Using Economic Clout?
CEO SUMMARY: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and Laboratory Corporation of America now dominate the national marketplace for testing referred by physicians’ offices. Release of their second quarter earnings reports provides the first look at their performance following the acquisitions i…
“State of Industry” Report On Molecular Diagnostics
CEO SUMMARY: Enterprise Analysis Corporation has launched an ambitious survey that will include 150 laboratories performing molecular testing in the United States. Last week it released information about the first 51 labs contacted in this effort. The survey provides an intriguing look at…
Kaiser Permanente NW Incorporates ISO-9000 In Regional Lab Design
CEO SUMMARY: After achieving its ISO-9000 certification, Kaiser Permanente Northwest’s laboratory division accomplished another distinction. It became the first lab in the nation to use the principles of ISO-9000 to design, build and operate a new, state-of-the-art, automated laboratory…
AACC and CAP Meetings Generate Useful Insights
IT WAS A BUSY TIME LAST WEEK on the lab industry meeting circuit. THE DARK REPORT made the rounds and uncovered some valuable intelligence for lab directors and pathologists. First on the meeting tour was Philadelphia, site of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) a…
“July 28, 2003 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
In recent weeks, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated lost both a key executive and a major client. Vicki DiFrancesco, Vice President of Hospital Sales and Marketing, submitted her resignation earlier this month. She is leaving to pursue personal interests. DiFrancesco became part of Quest…
Boost for Labs: Study Reveals Big Care Gap
CEO SUMMARY: This research project involved 13,000 patients and a detailed review of medical records. The startling conclusion: the health system provides proper diagnosis and treatment only 55% of the time! Because of the study’s depth, it provides a compelling argument that the nation…
HHS Plans to Encourage National EMR System
CEO SUMMARY: Last week, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced two major steps toward the universal electronic health record. One project involves the licensing of CAP’s SNOMED CT system to make it available to all healthcare providers in the United States. T…
GE Medical Systems To Buy Triple G Systems Group
HERE’S AN ACQUISITION with interesting ramifications for both clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology group practices. GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, (GEMSIT) a business division of General Electric Company, will acquire Triple G Systems…
Online Distance Training Helps Labs Recruit & Retain More MTs
CEO SUMMARY: One surprise about online distance learning (ODL) programs for medical technologists (MT) is that even small hospital laboratories can use them to recruit and train more MTs. Across the United States, a growing number of labs are experiencing a shortage of MTs in their local …
New York Labs Fight Medicare 20% Co-Pay
CEO SUMMARY: Participating laboratories in the New York State Clinical Laboratory Association (NYSCLA) generated a flood of calls to their state’s congressional delegation in recent weeks. Included in their bill for lab testing, patients got a flyer telling them about pending legislatio…
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.
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