DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	8 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	21 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	May 04, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012 Pharmacy Services Assets Sale [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Pharmacy Services Assets Sale [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Pharmacy Services Assets Sale [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Pharmacy Services Assets Sale [Member]	May 04, 2012 Community pharmacy [Member] pharmacy	May 04, 2012 Mail order [Member] mail_service_centers mail_order_location	Sep. 30, 2013 Employee Severance [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Exjade Litigation [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds							$ 173,800,000
total purchase price at closing, including the value of inventories on hand attributable to the operations subject to the Pharmacy Services Asset Sale.	158,800,000
Proceeds Subsequent to Close for Retention of Certain Business								15,000,000
Amount the company may be required to refund related directly or indirectly to the Buyers' retention of certain business after the closing					6,400,000
Contingent consideration, period	14 months
Litigation settlement expense							800,000									15,000,000
One time costs related to pharmacy services asset sale reserve, Beginning balance					134,000									45,000	89,000
Restructuring costs, transaction costs, and other one-time charges as a result of the transaction, Expenses					17,088,000									93,000	1,995,000
One time costs related to pharmacy services asset sale reserve, Cash payments					(1,688,000)									(9,000)	(1,679,000)
One time costs related to pharmacy services asset sale reserve, Non-cash charges and adjustments					(79,000)									(36,000)	(43,000)
One time costs related to pharmacy services asset sale reserve, Ending balance		15,455,000			15,455,000		134,000							93,000	362,000
Loss contingency accrual																15,000,000
Amount the company received as the result of an agreement which provided that BioScrip ceased to be the sole fulfillment pharmacy for customers who came through the drugstore.com website				3,000,000
Change in Amount of Contingent Consideration, Liability				2,900,000
Number of locations												27	3
Number of locations with assets acquired												3
locations not tranferred as part of sale													2
Inventory	30,560,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	299,000
Total current assets	30,859,000
Property and equipment, net	1,592,000
Goodwill	11,754,000
Intangible assets, net	2,503,000
Total assets	46,708,000
Interest Expense			0			900,000
Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation		0	2,100,000		0	7,200,000
Revenue		(3,000)	289,000		(58,000)	466,829,000
Gross profit		580,000	315,000		503,000	30,353,000
Gain on sale, before income taxes		6,550,000	0		6,550,000	100,012,000			6,500,000	101,600,000	108,100,000
Accrued estimated potential loss (see Note 10)		(15,000,000)	0		(15,000,000)	0
Impairment costs, employee severance and other benefit-related costs and other one-time charges		0	(13,032,000)		0	(13,032,000)
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		$ (11,645,000)	$ (10,931,000)		$ (12,866,000)	$ 64,448,000