v2.4.1.9

Accounts Receivable - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014 | Dec. 31, 2013
Accounts Notes And Loans Receivable [Line Items] |  |
Accounts receivable, percentage of balances more than six months old | 12.00%dva_PercentageOfAccountsReceivableSixMonthsOrMorePastDue | 14.00%dva_PercentageOfAccountsReceivableSixMonthsOrMorePastDue
Percentage of outstanding patient accounts receivables to be reserved as per Company's policy | 100.00%dva_PercentageOfOutstandingPatientAccountsReceivables |
Account receivable outstanding, number of months | 4 months |
Increased (decreased) in allowance for doubtful accounts | $ 5,531us-gaap_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsReceivablePeriodIncreaseDecrease | $ (7,979)us-gaap_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsReceivablePeriodIncreaseDecrease
Government-based Programs, Medicare and Medicaid | Accounts Receivable |  |
Accounts Notes And Loans Receivable [Line Items] |  |
Percentage of accounts receivable due | 80.00%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1 / us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByBenchmarkAxis = us-gaap_AccountsReceivableMember / us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByTypeAxis = us-gaap_GovernmentContractsConcentrationRiskMember |
Health Care Patient | Accounts Receivable |  |
Accounts Notes And Loans Receivable [Line Items] |  |
Percentage of accounts receivable due | 1.00%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1 / us-gaap_AccountsNotesLoansAndFinancingReceivablesByLegalEntityOfCounterpartyTypeAxis = us-gaap_PatientAccountsReceivableMember / us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByBenchmarkAxis = us-gaap_AccountsReceivableMember |

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- Definition Patient accounts receivable months outstanding to be reserved per company policy. + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | dva_
Data Type: | xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Percentage of Accounts Receivable , 6 months or More Past Due + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | dva_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Percentage of outstanding patient accounts receivables to be reserved when patient pay amounts due are outstanding for more than four months, as per the Company's policy. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | dva_PercentageOfOutstandingPatientAccountsReceivables
Namespace Prefix: | dva_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

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- Details
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Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Amount of increase (decrease) in the allowance for doubtful accounts. + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35750535&loc=d3e13537-108611 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6404-108592 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35750535&loc=d3e13531-108611 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 18 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6351-108592 + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Details
Name: | us-gaap_AccountsNotesLoansAndFinancingReceivablesByLegalEntityOfCounterpartyTypeAxis=us-gaap_PatientAccountsReceivableMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

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- Details
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Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |