Consolidating Financial Statements - Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 508,234	$ 674,776	$ 1,244,917	$ 736,897
Accounts receivable, net	1,714,750	1,503,950
Other current assets	759,732	855,066
Current assets held for sale	5,761,642	960,956
Total current assets	8,744,358	3,994,748
Property and equipment, net	3,149,213	2,864,121
Intangible assets, net	113,827	73,504
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Other long-term assets and investments	330,516	555,893
Goodwill	6,610,279	6,015,375	5,896,215
Long-term assets held for sale	0	5,252,135
Total assets	18,948,193	18,755,776
Current liabilities	1,856,107	1,903,731
Current liabilities held for sale	1,185,070	807,233
Total current liabilities	3,041,177	2,710,964
Intercompany payables	0	0
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	10,009,590	9,792,928
Long-term liabilities held for sale	0	428,885
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	1,011,360	973,258
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	4,690,029	4,648,047
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	196,037	201,694
Total equity	4,886,066	4,849,741
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	18,948,193	18,755,776
Reportable Legal Entites | DaVita Inc.
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	149,305	549,921	1,186,636	698,876
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Other current assets	68,027	277,911
Current assets held for sale	0	0
Total current assets	217,332	827,832
Property and equipment, net	408,010	337,200
Intangible assets, net	250	487
Investments in subsidiaries	10,009,874	9,717,728
Intercompany receivables	3,677,947	3,250,692
Other long-term assets and investments	47,297	39,994
Goodwill	0	0
Long-term assets held for sale		0
Total assets	14,360,710	14,173,933
Current liabilities	238,706	303,840
Current liabilities held for sale	0	0
Total current liabilities	238,706	303,840
Intercompany payables	0	0
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	8,857,373	8,614,445
Long-term liabilities held for sale		0
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	574,602	607,601
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	4,690,029	4,648,047
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	0	0
Total equity	4,690,029	4,648,047
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	14,360,710	14,173,933
Reportable Legal Entites | Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	1,208,715	1,048,580
Other current assets	604,450	462,684
Current assets held for sale	4,992,067	514,407
Total current assets	6,805,232	2,025,671
Property and equipment, net	1,560,390	1,444,248
Intangible assets, net	50,971	42,037
Investments in subsidiaries	3,085,722	2,021,062
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Other long-term assets and investments	68,344	73,466
Goodwill	4,732,320	4,480,344
Long-term assets held for sale		5,066,453
Total assets	16,302,979	15,153,281
Current liabilities	1,181,139	1,343,748
Current liabilities held for sale	739,294	533,250
Total current liabilities	1,920,433	1,876,998
Intercompany payables	3,690,042	2,382,428
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	682,630	835,845
Long-term liabilities held for sale		340,282
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	0	0
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	10,009,874	9,717,728
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	0	0
Total equity	10,009,874	9,717,728
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	16,302,979	15,153,281
Reportable Legal Entites | Non- Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	358,929	124,855	58,281	38,021
Accounts receivable, net	506,035	455,370
Other current assets	87,255	114,471
Current assets held for sale	769,575	446,549
Total current assets	1,721,794	1,141,245
Property and equipment, net	1,180,813	1,082,673
Intangible assets, net	62,606	30,980
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivables	1,313,213	866,955
Other long-term assets and investments	214,875	442,433
Goodwill	1,877,959	1,535,031
Long-term assets held for sale		185,682
Total assets	6,371,260	5,284,999
Current liabilities	436,262	256,143
Current liabilities held for sale	445,776	273,983
Total current liabilities	882,038	530,126
Intercompany payables	1,301,118	1,735,219
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	469,587	342,638
Long-term liabilities held for sale		88,603
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	0	0
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	3,085,722	2,021,062
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	632,795	567,351
Total equity	3,718,517	2,588,413
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,371,260	5,284,999
Consolidating Adjustments
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Current assets held for sale	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(13,095,596)	(11,738,790)
Intercompany receivables	(4,991,160)	(4,117,647)
Other long-term assets and investments	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Long-term assets held for sale		0
Total assets	(18,086,756)	(15,856,437)
Current liabilities	0	0
Current liabilities held for sale	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Intercompany payables	(4,991,160)	(4,117,647)
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	0	0
Long-term liabilities held for sale		0
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	436,758	365,657
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	(13,095,596)	(11,738,790)
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	(436,758)	(365,657)
Total equity	(13,532,354)	(12,104,447)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ (18,086,756)	$ (15,856,437)