Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012
Income Statement [Abstract]
Service revenues	$ 89,603	$ 72,844	$ 179,552	$ 139,478
Product revenues	31,312	32,370	71,100	77,446
Total net revenues	120,915	105,214	250,652	216,924
Cost of services	66,965	43,321	136,238	90,727
Cost of products	17,332	15,950	42,839	39,098
Gross profit	36,618	45,943	71,575	87,099
Operating expenses:
Research, development and engineering	9,087	10,306	18,377	18,032
Marketing and sales	8,968	8,654	16,948	16,071
General and administrative	11,793	14,011	27,557	28,381
Total operating expenses	29,848	32,971	62,882	62,484
Income from operations	6,770	12,972	8,693	24,615
Interest expense, net	(2,756)	(1,364)	(3,822)	(2,882)
Equity in earnings of investments	(6,338)	3,777	(5,222)	6,245
Other income (expense)	(107,118)	895	(106,091)	209
Income before income taxes	(109,442)	16,280	(106,442)	28,187
Income tax expense	(38,705)	4,184	(37,504)	7,629
Net income	(70,737)	12,096	(68,938)	20,558
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	(59)	281	17	394
Net income attributable to ION	(70,796)	12,377	(68,921)	20,952
Preferred stock dividends	338	338	676	676
Net income applicable to common shares	$ (71,134)	$ 12,039	$ (69,597)	$ 20,276
Net income per share:
Basic	$ (0.45)	$ 0.08	$ (0.44)	$ 0.13
Diluted	$ (0.45)	$ 0.08	$ (0.44)	$ 0.13
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic	156,910	155,631	156,689	155,587
Diluted	156,910	162,575	156,689	162,594