Last month saw the release of research showing a nontrivial number of physicians quit the job soon after completing residency training. Now comes a separate study suggesting the reasons for the phenomenon are often deep, diffuse and knotty—and thus difficult to address in a strictly programmatic way. 

These programs may provide benefits in some cases. In others, however, there is a concern that they could actually lead to higher costs over time.

Patients who exercise and take all prescribed medications, for instance, experience better outcomes than those who do not.