Financial Information for the Company and Its Subsidiaries (Balance Sheets) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 106,058	$ 106,660	$ 187,422	$ 208,079
Restricted cash and marketable securities	12,794	13,506
Accounts receivable, net	424,895	337,330
Supplies inventory	22,505	21,406
Prepaid and other current assets	64,454	75,771
Total current assets	630,706	554,673
Property and equipment, net	227,213	189,168
Investments in and receivables from unconsolidated affiliates	111,006	169,170
Goodwill	4,300,102	3,970,210
Intangible assets, net	1,678,927	1,594,637
Other assets	48,985	21,450
Total assets	6,996,939	6,499,308
Liabilities and Equity
Current portion of long-term debt	22,020	20,377
Accounts payable	27,191	32,561
Accrued salaries and benefits	213,298	202,537
Accrued interest	18,577	30,480
Other accrued liabilities	101,625	119,237
Total current liabilities	382,711	405,192
Long-term debt	2,591,895	2,357,956
Deferred income taxes	760,504	699,498
Other long-term liabilities	129,897	96,183
Intercompany payable	0	0
Noncontrolling interests – redeemable	177,877	175,732
Equity:
Total AmSurg Corp. equity	2,419,720	2,293,463
Noncontrolling interests – non-redeemable	534,335	471,284
Total equity	2,954,055	2,764,747
Total liabilities and equity	6,996,939	6,499,308
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Restricted cash and marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(785)	0
Supplies inventory	0	0
Prepaid and other current assets	(13,024)	(8,076)
Total current assets	(13,809)	(8,076)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investments in and receivables from unconsolidated affiliates	(6,925,631)	(6,507,128)
Goodwill	2,074,691	2,013,469
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Other assets	(1,998)	(1,998)
Total assets	(4,866,747)	(4,503,733)
Liabilities and Equity
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	(3,689)	(3,852)
Accrued salaries and benefits	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	(10,120)	(4,224)
Total current liabilities	(13,809)	(8,076)
Long-term debt	(29,018)	(23,396)
Deferred income taxes	(1,998)	(1,998)
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Intercompany payable	(1,228,157)	(1,228,157)
Noncontrolling interests – redeemable	116,969	112,672
Equity:
Total AmSurg Corp. equity	(4,151,894)	(3,778,478)
Noncontrolling interests – non-redeemable	441,160	423,700
Total equity	(3,710,734)	(3,354,778)
Total liabilities and equity	(4,866,747)	(4,503,733)
Parent Company [Member]
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	3,858	20,437	68,730	134,351
Restricted cash and marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Supplies inventory	0	0
Prepaid and other current assets	33,733	28,739
Total current assets	37,591	49,176
Property and equipment, net	11,740	12,515
Investments in and receivables from unconsolidated affiliates	5,282,324	4,901,026
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, net	12,967	12,780
Other assets	6,828	4,653
Total assets	5,351,450	4,980,150
Liabilities and Equity
Current portion of long-term debt	8,700	8,700
Accounts payable	1,751	2,816
Accrued salaries and benefits	33,789	31,510
Accrued interest	18,565	30,463
Other accrued liabilities	12,563	13,962
Total current liabilities	75,368	87,451
Long-term debt	2,550,961	2,326,103
Deferred income taxes	297,788	268,573
Other long-term liabilities	7,613	4,560
Intercompany payable	0	0
Noncontrolling interests – redeemable	0	0
Equity:
Total AmSurg Corp. equity	2,419,720	2,293,463
Noncontrolling interests – non-redeemable	0	0
Total equity	2,419,720	2,293,463
Total liabilities and equity	5,351,450	4,980,150
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	7,287	27,507	56,647	23,471
Restricted cash and marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	277,535	223,434
Supplies inventory	0	0
Prepaid and other current assets	27,826	39,046
Total current assets	312,648	289,987
Property and equipment, net	36,855	14,601
Investments in and receivables from unconsolidated affiliates	1,754,313	1,775,272
Goodwill	2,225,411	1,956,741
Intangible assets, net	1,664,170	1,579,537
Other assets	22,558	1,717
Total assets	6,015,955	5,617,855
Liabilities and Equity
Current portion of long-term debt	20	0
Accounts payable	1,877	3,760
Accrued salaries and benefits	156,180	158,705
Accrued interest	0	0
Other accrued liabilities	43,242	76,590
Total current liabilities	201,319	239,055
Long-term debt	30	0
Deferred income taxes	464,714	432,923
Other long-term liabilities	98,324	71,509
Intercompany payable	1,228,157	1,228,157
Noncontrolling interests – redeemable	0	0
Equity:
Total AmSurg Corp. equity	4,023,411	3,646,211
Noncontrolling interests – non-redeemable	0	0
Total equity	4,023,411	3,646,211
Total liabilities and equity	6,015,955	5,617,855
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	94,913	58,716	$ 62,045	$ 50,257
Restricted cash and marketable securities	12,794	13,506
Accounts receivable, net	148,145	113,896
Supplies inventory	22,505	21,406
Prepaid and other current assets	15,919	16,062
Total current assets	294,276	223,586
Property and equipment, net	178,618	162,052
Investments in and receivables from unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, net	1,790	2,320
Other assets	21,597	17,078
Total assets	496,281	405,036
Liabilities and Equity
Current portion of long-term debt	13,300	11,677
Accounts payable	27,252	29,837
Accrued salaries and benefits	23,329	12,322
Accrued interest	12	17
Other accrued liabilities	55,940	32,909
Total current liabilities	119,833	86,762
Long-term debt	69,922	55,249
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	23,960	20,114
Intercompany payable	0	0
Noncontrolling interests – redeemable	60,908	63,060
Equity:
Total AmSurg Corp. equity	128,483	132,267
Noncontrolling interests – non-redeemable	93,175	47,584
Total equity	221,658	179,851
Total liabilities and equity	$ 496,281	$ 405,036