Long-term Incentive Compensation - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Long-term incentive program (LTIP) expense	$ 30,946	$ 50,647
Stock-based compensation expense	17,504	23,717
Estimated tax benefits recorded for stock-based compensation	5,912	8,160
Unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding LTIP awards	149,543
Unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested stock-based compensation arrangements under equity compensation and stock purchase plans	$ 84,475
Unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested stock-based compensation arrangements under performance-based cash component of LTIP costs, weighted average remaining period (in years)	1 year 2 months 12 days
Unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested stock-based compensation arrangements under stock-based component of LTIP costs, weighted average remaining period (in years)	1 year 6 months
Tax benefits from stock award exercises	$ 5,693	$ 23,658
Stock Appreciation Rights
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock granted (in shares)	1,426
Aggregate grant-date fair value	$ 20,865
Weighted-average expected life (in years)	4 years 2 months 12 days
Restricted Stock Units
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock granted (in shares)	387
Aggregate grant-date fair value	$ 25,517
Weighted-average expected life (in years)	3 years 4 months 24 days
Cash Settled Stock Based Awards
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock granted (in shares)	15
Aggregate grant-date fair value	$ 204
Weighted-average expected life (in years)	4 years 3 months 18 days

Employee service share-based compensation estimated tax benefit from compensation expense.

No definition available.

Name:	dva_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationEstimatedTaxBenefitFromCompensationExpense
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Unrecognized cost of LTIP awards granted.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_LongtermIncentiveProgramAwardsCompensationCostNotYetRecognizedNet
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted average period over which unrecognized compensation is expected to be recognized for the long-term incentive program, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of Long-term Incentive Program compensation cost.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_LongtermIncentiveProgramCompensationCost
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Share-based compensation arrangement by share-based payment award, grant date fair value of options granted.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardGrantDateFairValueOfOptionsGranted
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Unrecognized cost of unvested share-based compensation awards.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationNonvestedAwardsTotalCompensationCostNotYetRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted average period over which unrecognized compensation is expected to be recognized for equity-based compensation plans, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationNonvestedAwardsTotalCompensationCostNotYetRecognizedPeriodForRecognition1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Disclosure of the aggregate tax benefit realized from the exercise of stock options and the conversion of similar instruments during the annual period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationTaxBenefitRealizedFromExerciseOfStockOptions
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate amount of noncash, equity-based employee remuneration. This may include the value of stock or unit options, amortization of restricted stock or units, and adjustment for officers' compensation. As noncash, this element is an add back when calculating net cash generated by operating activities using the indirect method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Net number of share options (or share units) granted during the period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsGrantsInPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Expected term of share-based compensation awards, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (f)(2)(i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 14.D.2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27013229&loc=d3e301413-122809

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardFairValueAssumptionsExpectedTerm1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_StockAppreciationRightsSARSMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_RestrictedStockUnitsRSUMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=dva_CashSettledStockBasedAwardsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: