v2.4.1.9

Accounts Receivable - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	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

X

- Definition

Patient accounts receivable months outstanding to be reserved per company policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_AccountsReceivablePeriodOutstanding
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Percentage of Accounts Receivable , 6 months or More Past Due

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_PercentageOfAccountsReceivableSixMonthsOrMorePastDue
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- 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

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsNotesAndLoansReceivableLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) in the allowance for doubtful accounts.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsReceivablePeriodIncreaseDecrease
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- 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

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

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

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByTypeAxis=us-gaap_GovernmentContractsConcentrationRiskMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: