Discontinued Operations Narrative (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 16, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014 Strategic Alliance Agreement Assets [Member]	Apr. 16, 2014 Strategic Alliance Agreement Assets [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Hooper Holmes Services [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Portamedic Service Line [Member] holdback_component	Jun. 30, 2014 Portamedic Service Line [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Portamedic Service Line [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Purchase and Sale Agreement Property [Member]	May 13, 2014 Purchase and Sale Agreement Property [Member]	Aug. 07, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Purchase and Sale Agreement Property [Member]	Jul. 18, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Purchase and Sale Agreement Property [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] Heritage Labs and Hooper Holmes Services [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] Heritage Labs and Hooper Holmes Services [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration amount						$ 3,700,000		$ 8,400,000				$ 3,050,000
Net book value of assets to be sold					1,100,000
Agreement period	5 years
Additional agreement period	5 years
Inventory															400,000	800,000
Property, plant and equipment															700,000	800,000
Operating cash flow from discontinued operations		900,000
Changes in working capital from discontinued operations		600,000
Non-cash operating activities							200,000
Non-cash charge for remaining operating lease payments							600,000
Proceeds from the sale of Portamedic		743,000	0					8,100,000	700,000	700,000
Holdback amount								2,000,000
Number of holdback components								2
Holdback amount, component one								1,000,000
Holdback release, business days after closing								3 days
Holdback amount, component two								1,000,000
Assets held for sale		1,866,000		2,302,000							700,000
Escrow deposit														300,000
Cash proceeds from sale closing													$ 2,540,000