REVENUES	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Revenue From Contract With Customer [Abstract]
REVENUES	2. REVENUES Revenue is recognized when obligations under the terms of a contract with a customer are satisfied; generally this occurs with the transfer of control of the company’s products or services. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the company expects to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer, and is the unit of account in the contract. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. Some of the company’s contracts have multiple performance obligations. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, the company allocates the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation using its best estimate of the standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract. The majority of the company’s performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time. This includes sales of the company’s broad portfolio of essential healthcare products across its geographic segments including acute and chronic dialysis therapies; sterile IV solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; inhaled anesthetics; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; and surgical hemostat and sealant products. For a majority of these sales, the company’s performance obligation is satisfied upon delivery to the customer. Shipping and handling activities are considered to be fulfillment activities and are not considered to be a separate performance obligation. To a lesser extent, in all the company’s segments, the company enters into other types of contracts including contract manufacturing arrangements, equipment leases, and certain subscription software and licensing arrangements. The company recognizes revenue for these arrangements over time or at a point in time depending on its evaluation of when the customer obtains control of the promised goods or service. Revenue is recognized over time when the company is creating or enhancing an asset that the customer controls as the asset is created or enhanced or the company’s performance does not create an asset with an alternative use and the company has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed. On March 31, 2018, the company had $2.8 billion of transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations related to executed contracts with an original duration of one year or more which are primarily included in the Americas segment. Some contracts in the United States included in this amount may contain index-dependent price increases, which are not known at this time. The company expects to recognize approximately 25% of this amount as revenue in 2018, 27% in 2019, and the remaining balance thereafter. Significant Judgments Revenues from product sales are recorded at the net sales price (transaction price), which includes estimates of variable consideration for reserves related to rebates, product returns, sales discounts and wholesaler chargebacks. These reserves are based on estimates of the amounts earned or to be claimed on the related sales. Management's estimates take into consideration historical experience, current contractual and statutory requirements, specific known market events and trends, industry data, and forecasted customer buying and payment patterns. Overall, these reserves reflect the company’s best estimates of the amount of consideration to which it is entitled based on the terms of the contract. The amount of variable consideration included in the net sales price is limited to the amount that is probable not to result in a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized in a future period. Revenue recognized in the current period related to performance obligations satisfied in prior periods was not material. The company’s contracts with customers sometimes include promises to transfer multiple products and services to a customer. Determining whether products and services are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately versus together may require significant judgment. Judgment is also required to determine the stand-alone selling price for each distinct performance obligation and whether there is a discount to be allocated based on the relative stand-alone selling price of the various products and services. Contract Balances The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in billed accounts receivable, unbilled receivables (contract assets), and customer advances and deposits (contract liabilities) on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Net trade accounts receivable at March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018 were $1.7 billion, respectively. Generally, for certain contract manufacturing and software arrangements, billing occurs subsequent to revenue recognition, resulting in contract assets. These assets are reported on the condensed consolidated balance sheet on an individual basis at the end of each reporting period. The contract asset balances at March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018 were $68 million and $73 million, respectively. The contract assets as of March 31, 2018 are presented within accounts and other current receivables, net ($41 million) and other ($27 million) on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. The decrease from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018 was due primarily to net billings under the company’s contract manufacturing programs. The company had no contract liabilities as of March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018, respectively. Practical Expedients The company applies a practical expedient to expense costs as incurred for costs to obtain a contract with a customer when the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs include the company’s internal sales force compensation programs as the company has determined annual compensation is commensurate with annual sales activities. The company does not disclose the value of transaction price allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with an original expected length of one year or less. The company has elected to use the practical expedient to not adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component if it is expected, at contract inception, that the period between when the company transfers a promised good or service to a customer, and when the customer pays for that good or service, will be one year or less. Additionally, all taxes assessed by a governmental authority that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction and collected from a customer are excluded from revenue. The company adopted ASC 606 using the modified retrospective method. The impact to net sales and cost of sales as a result of the adoption was insignificant for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

2. REVENUES

Revenue is recognized when obligations under the terms of a contract with a customer are satisfied; generally this occurs with the transfer of control of the company’s products or services. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the company expects to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer, and is the unit of account in the contract. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. Some of the company’s contracts have multiple performance obligations. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, the company allocates the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation using its best estimate of the standalone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract.

The majority of the company’s performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time. This includes sales of the company’s broad portfolio of essential healthcare products across its geographic segments including acute and chronic dialysis therapies; sterile IV solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; inhaled anesthetics; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; and surgical hemostat and sealant products. For a majority of these sales, the company’s performance obligation is satisfied upon delivery to the customer. Shipping and handling activities are considered to be fulfillment activities and are not considered to be a separate performance obligation.

To a lesser extent, in all the company’s segments, the company enters into other types of contracts including contract manufacturing arrangements, equipment leases, and certain subscription software and licensing arrangements. The company recognizes revenue for these arrangements over time or at a point in time depending on its evaluation of when the customer obtains control of the promised goods or service. Revenue is recognized over time when the company is creating or enhancing an asset that the customer controls as the asset is created or enhanced or the company’s performance does not create an asset with an alternative use and the company has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed.

On March 31, 2018, the company had $2.8 billion of transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations related to executed contracts with an original duration of one year or more which are primarily included in the Americas segment. Some contracts in the United States included in this amount may contain index-dependent price increases, which are not known at this time. The company expects to recognize approximately 25% of this amount as revenue in 2018, 27% in 2019, and the remaining balance thereafter.

Significant Judgments

Revenues from product sales are recorded at the net sales price (transaction price), which includes estimates of variable consideration for reserves related to rebates, product returns, sales discounts and wholesaler chargebacks. These reserves are based on estimates of the amounts earned or to be claimed on the related sales. Management's estimates take into consideration historical experience, current contractual and statutory requirements, specific known market events and trends, industry data, and forecasted customer buying and payment patterns. Overall, these reserves reflect the company’s best estimates of the amount of consideration to which it is entitled based on the terms of the contract. The amount of variable consideration included in the net sales price is limited to the amount that is probable not to result in a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized in a future period. Revenue recognized in the current period related to performance obligations satisfied in prior periods was not material.

The company’s contracts with customers sometimes include promises to transfer multiple products and services to a customer. Determining whether products and services are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately versus together may require significant judgment. Judgment is also required to determine the stand-alone selling price for each distinct performance obligation and whether there is a discount to be allocated based on the relative stand-alone selling price of the various products and services.

Contract Balances

The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in billed accounts receivable, unbilled receivables (contract assets), and customer advances and deposits (contract liabilities) on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Net trade accounts receivable at March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018 were $1.7 billion, respectively. Generally, for certain contract manufacturing and software arrangements, billing occurs subsequent to revenue recognition, resulting in contract assets. These assets are reported on the condensed consolidated balance sheet on an individual basis at the end of each reporting period. The contract asset balances at March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018 were $68 million and $73 million, respectively. The contract assets as of March 31, 2018 are presented within accounts and other current receivables, net ($41 million) and other ($27 million) on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. The decrease from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018 was due primarily to net billings under the company’s contract manufacturing programs. The company had no contract liabilities as of March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018, respectively.

Practical Expedients

The company applies a practical expedient to expense costs as incurred for costs to obtain a contract with a customer when the amortization period would have been one year or less. These costs include the company’s internal sales force compensation programs as the company has determined annual compensation is commensurate with annual sales activities. The company does not disclose the value of transaction price allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with an original expected length of one year or less. The company has elected to use the practical expedient to not adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component if it is expected, at contract inception, that the period between when the company transfers a promised good or service to a customer, and when the customer pays for that good or service, will be one year or less. Additionally, all taxes assessed by a governmental authority that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction and collected from a customer are excluded from revenue.

The company adopted ASC 606 using the modified retrospective method. The impact to net sales and cost of sales as a result of the adoption was insignificant for the three months ended March 31, 2018.