Instead Of HashTable

I am using the hashtable to my applications........
After collecting the values send it to data access layer like tht..............
Any alternate solution is there instead of hashtable?
(Is  hash table reducing the coding performance? Whats the uage of collection class...How can i use this collection instead of Hashtable? )
My Code
------------
Business Layer
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Dim hs As New hashtable
hs.add("@FirstName",txtFirstName.Text)
DataAccess.ExecuteDataCommand("ProcedureName",hsh)
DataAccess Layer
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Class DataAccess
    Shared Sub ExecuteDataCommand(ByVal sql As String, ByVal hsh As Hashtable)
   --------Process Here ----------------

 
 
 
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