Real Estate Transactions - Impairments of Real Estate (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) property
Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of properties classified as held for sale \| property	13
SHOP
Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of properties classified as held for sale during period \| property	2
Impairments of real estate recognized during period \| $	$ 6
Life science
Real Estate [Line Items]
Impairments of real estate recognized during period \| $	$ 8

The number of properties held for sale at the reporting date.

No definition available.

Name:	hcp_PropertiesHeldForSaleNumber
Namespace Prefix:	hcp_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Real Estate, Properties Classified As Held For Sale During Period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcp_RealEstatePropertiesClassifiedAsHeldForSaleDuringPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	hcp_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The charge against earnings in the period to reduce the carrying amount of real property to fair value.

+ 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 (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226691&loc=d3e2921-110230

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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

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

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=hcp_LifescienceMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: