v2.4.1.9

Noncontrolling Interests Subject to Put Provisions and Other Commitments - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Nov. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Other potential commitments to provide operating capital to several dialysis centers	$ 1,000us-gaap_OtherCommitment
Schedule of Joint ventures to dissolve	Certain consolidated joint ventures are contractually scheduled to dissolve after terms ranging from ten to fifty years.
HealthCare Partners (HCP)
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Required minimum cash balance	65,400dva_MinimumCashRequirement / us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis = dva_HealthcarePartnersMember
Epogen
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Long term purchase commitment, period		7 years
Long term purchase commitment, expiration date	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2018
Long term purchase commitment, origination date	Jan. 01, 2013
Dialysis Equipment, Parts and Supplies
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Long-term purchase commitment, time period	In January 2010, the Company entered into an agreement with Fresenius which committed the Company to purchase a certain amount of dialysis equipment, parts and supplies from Fresenius through 2013. However, this agreement has been extended through 2015.
Long term purchase commitment, expiration year	2013
Purchase commitment, purchase during the period	154,266dva_PurchaseCommitmentPayments / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_DialysisEquipmentPartsAndSuppliesMember		144,030dva_PurchaseCommitmentPayments / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_DialysisEquipmentPartsAndSuppliesMember	138,450dva_PurchaseCommitmentPayments / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_DialysisEquipmentPartsAndSuppliesMember
Dialysis Equipment, Parts and Supplies | Extended Expiration
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Long term purchase commitment, expiration year	2015
Hemodialysis Products, Supplies and Equipment
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Long-term purchase commitment, time period	The Product Supply Agreement committed the Company to purchase a significant majority of its hemodialysis products, supplies and equipment at fixed prices through 2015.
Long term purchase commitment, expiration year	2015
Purchase commitment, purchase during the period	$ 112,645dva_PurchaseCommitmentPayments / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_HemodialysisProductsSuppliesAndEquipmentMember		$ 124,555dva_PurchaseCommitmentPayments / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_HemodialysisProductsSuppliesAndEquipmentMember	$ 147,639dva_PurchaseCommitmentPayments / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_HemodialysisProductsSuppliesAndEquipmentMember
Minimum
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Scheduled dissolution term of joint ventures	10 years
Minimum | Epogen
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Long-term purchase commitment, percentage of quantity required		90.00%dva_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentPercentageOfQuantityRequired / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_EpogenMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember			90.00%dva_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentPercentageOfQuantityRequired / us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentByCategoryOfItemPurchasedAxis = dva_EpogenMember / us-gaap_RangeAxis = us-gaap_MinimumMember
Maximum
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]
Scheduled dissolution term of joint ventures	50 years

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+ References

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+ References

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+ References

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+ References

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+ References

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- Definition

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- Definition

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+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Period covered by the long-term purchase commitment, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Minimum amount of other commitment not otherwise specified in the taxonomy. Excludes commitments explicitly modeled in the taxonomy, including but not limited to, long-term and short-term purchase commitments, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, supply commitments, registration payment arrangements, leases, debt, product warranties, guarantees, environmental remediation obligations, and pensions.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Describes the nature of an unconditional purchase obligation that is not recognized as a liability on the balance sheet.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 440

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394976&loc=d3e25336-109308

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