Services & Clients

Ries Consultants provides services in health law and privacy law to a wide range of clients in health, government, academic and not-for-profit sectors. Services include:

• Research and policy analysis
• Writing for professional, academic or public audiences
• Education and training in health law and privacy law
• Lectures, workshops and other public engagements

Research and Analysis
 

We provide comprehensive research and analysis on health law and policy topics, such as:

• Legal aspects of health system reform, including public and private health care topics
• Public health law and policy, including legal issues in infectious and chronic disease control
• Confidentiality duties and privacy of patient records, including electronic health records
• Liability issues in health care practice
• Legal and ethical governance of health research
• Regulation of health care professionals
• New technologies in health care, including genetic technologies
• Food and drug law and policy
• International health laws and policies, including jurisdictions such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand

We also offer services to help clients understand and address privacy issues relevant to patient information, health care practice, and health research. Services include:
• Research on privacy laws and practices
• Privacy impact assessments
• Development of privacy policies

Writing
 

Lead consultant, Nola Ries, has extensive experience writing for a wide variety of purposes and audiences. She is co-editor of three books and has published over 40 articles, book chapters, commentaries and reports. She also writes print and web articles aimed at the general public. She is skilled at communicating legal topics to non-lawyer audiences. Please visit the Portolio page to see sample publications.

Education & Training

Ries Consultants is available to provide education and training for professional groups, post-secondary and continuing education students, and public groups. Nola Ries is an experienced educator and uses case study approaches and problem-based learning to assist course participants to understand complex legal issues. Nola is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria where she regularly teaches courses on health and privacy law. She has developed educational tools for academic and public sector clients and has also taught Web-based courses to distance learners.

Students have had this to say about Nola’s courses:

"Wonderful person. Very respectful and knowledgeable. Provides different forms of learning experiences. Very enthusiastic and down-to-earth."

"Always well prepared with relevant and interesting material."

"Incredibly well organized. She is also extremely vibrant with a real energy and sense of humour."

Lectures & Workshops

Nola Ries is a regular speaker at health and privacy conferences in Canada and she has presented at events in the United States, England, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. A full list of her presentations is available here. She is also experienced in organizing and facilitating workshops and meetings. Her audiences have included a wide range of health professionals, scientists, lawyers, judges, academic researchers, and members of the public.

Clients

Clients include:

British Columbia Cancer Agency
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Council on Donation and Transplantation
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Orthopaedic Association
Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Conference Board of Canada
Department of Justice, Government of Canada
Health Canada
Information Access and Privacy Program, University of Alberta
Interagency Secretariat on Research Ethics
Public Health Agency of Canada
School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria
… and more …

Fees
 

Fees are negotiated with clients on a per-project basis. Typically, a fixed price is negotiated to reflect the work required to complete a project, rather than billing on an hourly basis. To discuss rates specific to your needs, please contact nola@riesconsultants.com.