Health Minister Nicola Roxon has avoided another showdown with Australia's doctors by back-pedalling on a plan to give nurse practitioners and midwives greater power to prescribe drugs and order tests.

Federal Labor has introduced draft laws to parliament giving nurses and midwives a greater role in delivering health services.

Under the plan they'd be able to prescribe certain drugs and order diagnostic imaging and pathology tests.

But doctors have opposed the move, arguing it undermines their position as primary care providers.

On Thursday, Ms Roxon announced she planned to amend the draft laws to make it clear nurses and midwives would only have access to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) if they "render a service in a collaborative arrangement" with a doctor.

"This amendment will simply clarify in legislation that collaborative arrangements with medical practitioners will be required to access the new arrangements," Ms Roxon said in a statement.

"I thank the doctors, nurses and midwives for their constructive engagement to date to ensure these new opportunities for nurses and midwives are implemented in an integrated fashion for the benefit of patients."

Doctors immediately welcomed the policy shift.

Australian Medical Association president Andrew Pesce said the change protected the role of medical practitioners.

"The amendments impose a legal requirement for collaborative arrangements between medical practitioners and midwives or between medical practitioners and nurse practitioners," he said in a statement.

"These changes create a framework of quality primary care delivery that supports team-based care and ensures that the role of medical practitioners, particularly the patient's usual general practitioner, is not undermined."

Without the change there would be no safeguards to ensure "continuity of patient care" and protect against "the fragmentation of patient care", Mr Pesce said.

Last week, Ms Roxon stared down eye doctors over Labor's plan to halve the Medicare rebate for standard cataract surgery.

That fight is expected to heat up again when parliament resumes in 11 days time.