Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Oct. 31, 2014 Class A	Oct. 31, 2014 Class B	Oct. 31, 2014 Class C	Oct. 31, 2014 Class D
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2014
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	UHS
Entity Registrant Name	UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000352915
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		6,595,708	91,681,078	664,000	29,181