Non-cash interest expense, deferred consideration

No definition available.

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of liabilities incurred by the acquirer as part of consideration transferred in a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 30
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+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) in the value of a contingent consideration liability, including, but not limited to, differences arising upon settlement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (a)
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the high-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements and indemnification assets recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the low-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of liability recognized arising from contingent consideration in a business combination.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
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-Paragraph 1
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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount of debt issuance costs that were incurred during a noncash or partial noncash transaction.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) recognized on the income statement for financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 10
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Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContingentConsiderationByTypeAxis=qdel_ConsiderationAMember
Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
Period Type:

Fair Value Measurement - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		12 Months Ended
	Oct. 06, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, Low		$ 256,000
Debt Issuance Costs Incurred During Noncash or Partial Noncash Transaction			$ 220,550	$ 0
Accretion of interest on deferred consideration		10,000	2,608	0
Level 3 [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Fair Value, Measurement with Unobservable Inputs Reconciliation, Recurring Basis, Liability, Gain (Loss) Included in Earnings		1,114	100	$ 500
Triage Business
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High		280,000
Contingent consideration—BNP Business	$ 19,700
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred	220,600
Debt Issuance Costs Incurred During Noncash or Partial Noncash Transaction		0
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Change in Amount of Contingent Consideration, Liability	19,700
Bio Helix
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Contingent consideration—BNP Business			$ 4,600
Immutopics, Inc
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Contingent consideration—BNP Business		300
Consideration A [Member] \| Triage Business
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, Low	$ 16,000
Contingent consideration—BNP Business		$ 24,000