ACQUISITIONS AND PRO FORMA RESULTS (Narrative) (Details)							3 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 02, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 17, 2015 USD ($) acquisition	Dec. 05, 2014 USD ($)	Oct. 27, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 15, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) intangible_asset	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Gain recognized, amount												$ 0	$ 1,111,000	$ 0
Number of businesses acquired | acquisition			2
TEI acquisition working capital adjustment												(174,000)
Cash used in business acquisition, net of cash acquired												$ (225,000)	328,888,000	$ 320,921,000
Discount rate												2.20%
Contingent consideration, liability							$ 21,831,000					$ 22,036,000	21,831,000
Supply Commitment, Current, Long-Term, and Above Market
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Discount rate												12.00%
Tekmed
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration transferred	$ 14,100,000
Revenue since acquisition date												$ 4,200,000	300,000
Net assets acquired												14,103,000
Salto and Futura
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenue since acquisition date												14,400,000	3,600,000
Payments to acquire business		$ 6,000,000
Net assets acquired												7,111,000
Salto and Futura | Other Income
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Gain recognized, amount													1,100,000
TEI
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration transferred			$ 312,200,000
TEI acquisition working capital adjustment			200,000
Cash used in business acquisition, net of cash acquired			312,400,000
Business combination, cash acquired			1,200,000
Contingent receivable			400,000									1,700,000
Contingent consideration, asset, revenue threshold to realize asset			$ 6,000,000
Discount rate			11.00%
Increase in fair value of contingent receivable												1,300,000
TEI | Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent receivable												1,200,000
TEI | Other Assets
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent receivable												500,000
TEI Biosciences Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration transferred			$ 210,900,000
TEI acquisition working capital adjustment			500,000
TEI Medical Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration transferred			101,300,000
TEI acquisition working capital adjustment			$ 700,000
Metasurg
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration transferred				$ 27,200,000
Payments to acquire business				$ 26,500,000
Discount rate				19.90%
Contingent consideration, liability				$ 700,000			0						$ 0
Contingent consideration arrangements, maximum payout				$ 38,500,000.0
Payment for contingent consideration liability												0
Adjustment on consideration transferred								$ 400,000
Net assets acquired												27,558,000
Metasurg | Selling, general and administrative
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, contingent consideration arrangements, change in amount of contingent consideration, liability							$ (700,000)
Medtronic MicroFrance
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire business					$ 61,600,000
Business combination, cash acquired												2,195,000
Adjustment on consideration transferred									$ 1,500,000
Net assets acquired												60,067,000
Confluent Surgical, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Discount rate						2.20%
Contingent consideration, liability						$ 20,900,000
Contingent consideration arrangements, maximum payout						30,000,000
Net assets acquired						255,900,000						$ 255,895,000
Payment for business interest						231,000,000
Payments for transitional supply agreement						$ 4,000,000
Arrangement extension period						2 years
Required number of days for extension (at least)						180 days
Period of contingent consideration arrangement						5 years
Period of transitional supply price increases						3 years
Number of assets impaired | intangible_asset												1
Impairment of finite-lived assets										$ 600,000		$ 600,000
Probability of event						95.00%
Incremental increase in liability						$ 300,000
Incremental decrease in liability						400,000
Confluent Surgical, Inc. | Deferred Tax Liability
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
TEI acquisition working capital adjustment											$ 12,400,000
Confluent Surgical, Inc. | Cash Consideration One
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration arrangements, maximum payout						25,000,000
Confluent Surgical, Inc. | Cash Consideration Two
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration arrangements, maximum payout						$ 5,000,000