Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Income [Abstract]
Net service revenue	$ 158,055	$ 161,015	$ 316,816	$ 322,798
Cost of service revenue	92,218	86,216	182,077	175,172
Gross margin	65,837	74,799	134,739	147,626
Provision for bad debts	2,647	3,143	5,408	5,704
General and administrative expenses	50,967	52,154	101,849	107,195
Operating income	12,223	19,502	27,482	34,727
Interest expense	(208)	(195)	(567)	(290)
Non-operating income (loss)	(51)	4	14	177
Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interest	11,964	19,311	26,929	34,614
Income tax expense	4,092	6,549	9,318	11,710
Net income	7,872	12,762	17,611	22,904
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	1,909	2,974	3,907	5,422
Net income available to LHC Group, Inc.'s common stockholders	$ 5,963	$ 9,788	$ 13,704	$ 17,482
Earnings per share - basic:
Net income available to LHC Group, Inc.'s common stockholders	$ 0.32	$ 0.54	$ 0.75	$ 0.96
Earnings per share - diluted:
Net income available to LHC Group, Inc.'s common stockholders	$ 0.32	$ 0.53	$ 0.74	$ 0.95
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic	18,385,783	18,278,479	18,357,362	18,247,238
Diluted	18,423,258	18,346,441	18,396,453	18,338,605