When Dr. Dana Suskind takes a child from the arms of their worried parents and heads into the operating room, she knows the great responsibility of performing surgery on the delicate structure of the ear won't fall on her alone.

To conduct cochlear implant surgeries, the pediatric surgeon relies on a team. Nurses. An anesthesiologist. Everyone pitches in and has a critical role to play, checking instruments or monitoring vital signs. All work together for the good of their tiny patient.

So why, she wonders, are parents in America too often left to their own devices when it comes to the...