Robert Michel

Robert Michel, President at The Dark Intelligence Group in Austin, Texas.

President

The Dark Intelligence Group
Austin, TX

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.

The 28th Annual Executive War College will be held April 25-26, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel New Orleans. 

Join our carefully selected line-up of clinical laboratory and pathology leaders, along with your peers, at Executive War College — the premier conference focusing on the best ideas, newest lab technologies, and most innovative management strategies now reshaping the clinical laboratory industry! 

Stay up to date on the latest news about Executive War College, confirmed speakers and topics, and related Dark Report events. Subscribe now!

WHAT OUR ATTENDEES ARE SAYING

"Thank you for the Executive War College. This year was my first opportunity to attend and I was truly impressed with how well it was run, the quality of the speakers, and the accommodations. It is easy to see why attendance is growing every year."

Who Attends the Executive War College

Health Systems and Hospital Clinical Laboratory and Pathology Leadership

Hospital C-Suite Administrators

Laboratory Vice Presidents

Pathology Lab Directors/Administrators

Laboratory Directors

Molecular and Genetic Lab Leaders

Precision Medicine & Genetic Program Directors/Administrators

Laboratory Section Managers/Leaders/Supervisors

Representative Labs:

  • ACL Laboratories/Advocate Health
  • Cleveland Clinic Laboratories
  • Medical University of South Carolina
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine
  • Baptist Health South Florida
  • Banner Health
  • Intermountain Health Outreach Labs
  • Baylor Scott & White Health
  • Cedars Sinai
  • Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center
  • Fabric Genomics
  • Kaiser Permanente

Independent Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Laboratory Owners/C-Suite/Vice Presidents/Directors

Pathology Group Owners/Directors

Pathology Group Practice Administrators

Physician Group Lab Owners/Directors

Public Health/Population Health VP’s/Directors

Life Sciences/Research Labs

Representative Labs:

  • Mayo Clinic Laboratories
  • ARUP (Reference Lab)
  • LabCorp (Reference Lab)
  • TriCore (Reference Lab)
  • GeneDx
  • Sonic Labs (Reference Lab)
  • Michigan Pathology Specialists (Pathologist Group)
  • Pacific Pathology Labs (Pathology Group)
  • NorDX (Animal Reference Lab)
  • Novartis (Research Pharm (Life Sciences)
  • AstraZeneca (Pharm/Life Sciences)
  • Caris Life Sciences (Pharm/Life Sciences)
  • Sonora Quest (Population Health Division)

Partners and Suppliers to Laboratory and Pathology Groups

In Vitro Diagnostic Manufacturers

LIS/Pathology LIS/LIMS/RCM/IT

Diagnostic Instrument, Product & Technology

Informatics Products and Services

Suppliers of Automation, Analyzers, and Assays

Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), Coding, Billing, and Collections

Legal, Regulatory & Compliance

Representative Companies:

  • Abbott (Diagnostics)
  • Epic Corporation (EMR/LIS)
  • Clinisys LIS
  • Cerner LIS
  • Telcor (Technology)
  • XIFIN (Technology/Informatics)
  • LifePoint Informatics
  • Change Health Care (RCM/billing)
  • HC1 (RCM)
  • Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc. (RCM)
  • COLA (Regulatory)
  • College of American Pathologists (Regulatory)
  • Beckman Diagnostics (Diagnostics)
  • Bio-Rad Laboratories (Diagnostics)
  • Hologic (Diagnostics)
  • Cardinal Health (Product & Technology)
  • Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (Legal)