Earnings per share - Reconciliations of Numerators and Denominators Used to Calculate Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Net income from continuing operations	$ 73,371	$ 152,870	$ 463,989	$ 745,067
Change in noncontrolling interest redemption rights in excess of fair value	98	0	0	0
Net income from continuing operations for basic earnings per share calculation	73,469	152,870	463,989	745,067
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	(210,167)	(367,346)	(154,823)	(384,845)
Net income (loss) attributable to DaVita Inc. for basic earnings per share calculation	$ (136,698)	$ (214,476)	$ 309,166	$ 360,222
Basic:
Weighted Average Number of Shares Issued, Basic	166,819	191,078	173,875	192,964
Contingently returnable shares held in escrow from the DaVita HealthCare Partners merger (in shares)	(48)	(2,194)	(1,471)	(2,194)
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share calculation (in shares)	166,771	188,884	172,404	190,770
Basic net income from continuing operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 0.44	$ 0.81	$ 2.69	$ 3.91
Basic net (loss) income from discontinued operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc.	(1.26)	(1.95)	(0.90)	(2.02)
Basic net (loss) income per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (usd per share)	$ (0.82)	$ (1.14)	$ 1.79	$ 1.89
Diluted:
Weighted Average Number of Shares Issued, Basic	166,819	191,078	173,875	192,964
Assumed incremental shares from stock plans (in shares)	443	330	473	582
Weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share calculation (in shares)	167,262	191,408	174,348	193,546
Diluted net income from continuing operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 0.44	$ 0.80	$ 2.66	$ 3.85
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation, Net of Tax, Per Diluted Share	(1.26)	(1.92)	(0.89)	(1.99)
Diluted net (loss) income per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (usd per share)	$ (0.82)	$ (1.12)	$ 1.77	$ 1.86
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount	5,281	5,201	4,987	5,239