Legislators yesterday shelved a plan to increase individual control over online medical records.

The measure had backers from both sides of the aisle in the House, but hospitals and medical associations opposed it. Debate raised questions over the measure’s unintended consequences and uncertain costs.

The bill would have allowed people to restrict access to their own records and to obtain an “audit trail” to see who has had access for the previous three years.

“We want to be in control – not the hospitals, not the doctors, not Washington, D.C.,” said Rep. Neal Kurk, a Weare Republican and staunch privacy advocate who supported the bill. “We want to be in control of our records.”

But opponents said the measure would complicate the work of doctors, who already must follow federal privacy regulations, and would bring with it an unknown price tag.

“This bill would create another level of confusion with its own bureaucracy,” said Rep. Alida Millham, a Gilford Republican who said she is on the board of Lakes Region General Healthcare but was not speaking in that capacity.

The measure failed in a narrow vote, 150-166, before it was sent for interim study on a voice vote.

Also yesterday, legislators in the House killed a bill that would allow dental hygienists to hang out a shingle and open their own practices. The vote was 196-68. However, legislators also voted to establish a commission to study dental care access and to look into a model for registered dental hygienists. http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080313/NEWS01/803130360/1043/NEWS01