HIPAA Onboarding and Installation

This article provides onboarding resources and installation steps for Secure Email and Vault to help you get started.

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Overview

HIPAA regulations aim to protect the privacy and security of people’s health information and give them certain rights over their information. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It is a United States law that was passed in 1996 to protect the privacy of people’s Protected Health Information (PHI).

Using XQ’s Secure Email and Vault products, you can protect PHI from unauthorized access throughout its lifecycle.

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Onboarding Resources

Contact Support

The XQ support team is dedicated to helping you troubleshoot issues, providing resources, and answering any questions you may have about the platform.

See How to Contact Support for more information on the types of support we offer and tips for contacting support.

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Step 1 – Setting up XQ

1. Create an XQ account and log in to your XQ Dashboard.
2. Send your team ID to your XQ account representative or to support@xqmsg.com in order to be granted your software licenses.
3. After logging into your XQ Dashboard, we recommend adding team members.
   1. This step and the next can also be done via an Entra (AD) Integration.
4. Assign your team members the required licenses for both Email and Vault.

Note

Note: An active XQ license is required for future steps (using Vault specifically), so it is recommended that you wait until they are available before proceeding further.

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Step 2 – Setting up Secure Email

XQ Secure Email works with Outlook (desktop and web) and Gmail, so your team can keep using the email client it already has. Follow Email Installation for Admins to deploy it.

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Step 3 – Deploying Vault

The XQ Vault allows you to store PHI on your own infrastructure and track who accesses it. Vault helps you meet HIPAA requirements in the following ways:

• Protect each file with its own separate quantum-resistant encryption and keep it stored on your cloud
• Store your data in a desktop folder synced to the cloud
• Store large files and large amounts of data: Vault sets no limit on file size or total storage, and keeps encrypted files on your own storage.
• Track and audit every interaction with your data in one place

To use Vault, you can have an administrator deploy the product broadly or have end-users download and install it themselves. Once installed, users will need to log in to the product.

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Step 4 – Configure the Vault folder

Vault can be used with Sharepoint/OneDrive, Google Drive, or even a local folder.

Sharepoint/OneDrive

• With Vault, files can be stored securely and synced to each team member with Sharepoint/OneDrive. To do this effectively, files need to be stored in a OneDrive Shared Library or a SharePoint Site. In order to sync files from SharePoint/OneDrive to team devices, the OneDrive app must be installed. Instructions can be found here for individual deployment.
• Once your file location is configured and the Sync App is on team devices, it is important to “Sync” this new location with the device so it is accessible on each device. This can be done by each individual or via admin control. Microsoft has guidance on this for Windows devices as well as Mac devices.

Google Drive

• With Vault, files can be stored securely and synced to each team member with Google Drive. To do this effectively, files need to be stored in Google Drive. In order to sync files to team devices, Drive for desktop must be installed. Instructions can be found here for individual deployment.

Local Folder

• Personal folders work well with Vault, but cannot be synced to the devices of other team members.

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Step 5 – Set up HIPAA-Specific Data Policies

We recommend using our Data Loss Prevention and Data Access Policies to implement business practices that support HIPAA within the inbox of each team member.