Supplemental Guarantor and Non-Guarantor Financial Information (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 125,968	$ 5,141	$ 142,621
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of fixed assets	(11,779)	(19,231)	(16,184)
Proceeds from sale of businesses	9,220	146,315	9,796
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired	(22,335)	(320)	(834,919)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(24,894)	126,764	(841,307)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	3,980	7,901	8,618
Windfall tax benefits associated with equity-based compensation	88	192	948
Proceeds from issuance of debt	0	0	1,075,000
Borrowings under revolving credit facility	0	0	30,000
Repayment of borrowings under revolving credit facility	0	0	(30,000)
Repayment of long-term debt	(52,943)	(63,438)	(260,437)
Repayment of Odyssey debt	0	0	(108,822)
Debt issuance costs	(4,125)	(15,460)	(58,577)
Repurchase of common stock	(4,974)	0	(4,985)
Repayment of capital lease obligations	(135)	(267)	(645)
Other	(825)	(673)	(72)
Net payments related to intercompany financing	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(58,934)	(71,745)	651,028
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	42,140	60,160	(47,658)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	164,912	104,752	152,410
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	207,052	164,912	104,752
Gentiva Health Services, Inc. [Member]
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net cash provided by operating activities	(18,089)	(46,730)	(13,150)
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of fixed assets	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of businesses	0	0	0
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	0	0	0
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	3,980	7,901	8,618
Windfall tax benefits associated with equity-based compensation	88	192	948
Proceeds from issuance of debt			1,075,000
Borrowings under revolving credit facility			30,000
Repayment of borrowings under revolving credit facility			(30,000)
Repayment of long-term debt	(52,943)	(63,438)	(260,437)
Repayment of Odyssey debt			0
Debt issuance costs	(4,125)	(15,460)	(58,577)
Repurchase of common stock	(4,974)		(4,985)
Repayment of capital lease obligations	(135)	(267)	(645)
Other	4,673	0	(72)
Net payments related to intercompany financing	113,564	178,087	(796,095)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	60,128	107,015	(36,245)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	42,039	60,285	(49,395)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	124,101	63,816	113,211
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	166,140	124,101	63,816
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net cash provided by operating activities	138,316	51,221	156,227
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of fixed assets	(11,609)	(19,053)	(15,947)
Proceeds from sale of businesses	9,220	146,261	9,796
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired	(22,335)	(320)	(834,919)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(24,724)	126,888	(841,070)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0	0
Windfall tax benefits associated with equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of debt			0
Borrowings under revolving credit facility			0
Repayment of borrowings under revolving credit facility			0
Repayment of long-term debt	0	0	0
Repayment of Odyssey debt			(108,822)
Debt issuance costs	0	0	0
Repurchase of common stock	0		0
Repayment of capital lease obligations	0	0	0
Other	(28)	(22)	0
Net payments related to intercompany financing	(113,564)	(178,087)	793,665
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(113,592)	(178,109)	684,843
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0	0	0
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net cash provided by operating activities	5,741	650	(456)
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of fixed assets	(170)	(178)	(237)
Proceeds from sale of businesses	0	54	0
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(170)	(124)	(237)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0	0
Windfall tax benefits associated with equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of debt			0
Borrowings under revolving credit facility			0
Repayment of borrowings under revolving credit facility			0
Repayment of long-term debt	0	0	0
Repayment of Odyssey debt			0
Debt issuance costs	0	0	0
Repurchase of common stock	0		0
Repayment of capital lease obligations	0	0	0
Other	(5,470)	(651)	0
Net payments related to intercompany financing	0	0	2,430
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(5,470)	(651)	2,430
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	101	(125)	1,737
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	40,811	40,936	39,199
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	40,912	40,811	40,936
Eliminations [Member]
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net cash provided by operating activities	0	0	0
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of fixed assets	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of businesses	0	0	0
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	0	0	0
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	0	0	0
Windfall tax benefits associated with equity-based compensation	0	0	0
Proceeds from issuance of debt			0
Borrowings under revolving credit facility			0
Repayment of borrowings under revolving credit facility			0
Repayment of long-term debt	0	0	0
Repayment of Odyssey debt			0
Debt issuance costs	0	0	0
Repurchase of common stock	0		0
Repayment of capital lease obligations	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0
Net payments related to intercompany financing	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	0	0	0
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0