Condensed consolidating financial statements - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 3,575,638	$ 323,038
Restricted cash and equivalents	106,772	92,382
Accounts receivable, net	2,010,801	1,858,608
Other current assets	697,418	760,566
Current assets held for sale, net	0	5,389,565
Total current assets	6,390,629	8,424,159
Property and equipment, net	3,405,315	3,393,669
Operating lease right-of-use asset	2,790,885	0
Intangible assets, net	120,574	118,846
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Other long-term assets and investments	358,171	331,618
Goodwill	6,865,386	6,841,960	$ 6,610,279
Total assets	19,930,960	19,110,252
Current liabilities	5,706,944	3,647,402
Current liabilities held for sale	0	1,243,759
Intercompany payables	0	0
Long-term operating lease liabilities	2,689,249	0
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	6,105,965	9,186,052
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	1,185,733	1,124,641
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	4,049,298	3,703,442
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	193,771	204,956
Total equity	4,243,069	3,908,398
Total liabilities and equity	19,930,960	19,110,252
Consolidating adjustments
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Restricted cash and equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Current assets held for sale, net		0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use asset	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(14,489,753)	(13,474,200)
Intercompany receivables	(3,047,144)	(5,467,064)
Other long-term assets and investments	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	(17,536,897)	(18,941,264)
Current liabilities	0	0
Current liabilities held for sale		0
Intercompany payables	(3,047,144)	(5,467,064)
Long-term operating lease liabilities	0
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	0	0
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	544,986	526,566
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	(14,489,753)	(13,474,200)
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	(544,986)	(526,566)
Total equity	(15,034,739)	(14,000,766)
Total liabilities and equity	(17,536,897)	(18,941,264)
DaVita Inc. | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	3,374,887	60,653
Restricted cash and equivalents	1,007	1,005
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Other current assets	37,185	37,185
Current assets held for sale, net		0
Total current assets	3,413,079	98,843
Property and equipment, net	501,219	491,462
Operating lease right-of-use asset	105,137
Intangible assets, net	107	153
Investments in subsidiaries	11,304,840	10,102,750
Intercompany receivables	0	3,419,448
Other long-term assets and investments	80,491	53,385
Goodwill	0	0
Total assets	15,404,873	14,166,041
Current liabilities	3,767,482	1,945,943
Current liabilities held for sale		0
Intercompany payables	1,710,121	0
Long-term operating lease liabilities	133,349
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	5,103,876	7,918,581
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	640,747	598,075
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	4,049,298	3,703,442
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	0	0
Total equity	4,049,298	3,703,442
Total liabilities and equity	15,404,873	14,166,041
Guarantor subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Restricted cash and equivalents	12,181	12,048
Accounts receivable, net	1,352,844	1,264,290
Other current assets	545,881	601,318
Current assets held for sale, net		0
Total current assets	1,910,906	1,877,656
Property and equipment, net	1,613,193	1,624,835
Operating lease right-of-use asset	1,636,360
Intangible assets, net	37,272	42,933
Investments in subsidiaries	3,184,913	3,371,450
Intercompany receivables	1,563,270	259,573
Other long-term assets and investments	81,567	80,537
Goodwill	4,821,054	4,812,365
Total assets	14,848,535	12,069,349
Current liabilities	1,348,798	1,251,534
Current liabilities held for sale		0
Intercompany payables	0	0
Long-term operating lease liabilities	1,550,461
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	644,436	715,065
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	0	0
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	11,304,840	10,102,750
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	0	0
Total equity	11,304,840	10,102,750
Total liabilities and equity	14,848,535	12,069,349
Non- Guarantor subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	200,751	262,385
Restricted cash and equivalents	93,584	79,329
Accounts receivable, net	657,957	594,318
Other current assets	114,352	122,063
Current assets held for sale, net		5,389,565
Total current assets	1,066,644	6,447,660
Property and equipment, net	1,290,903	1,277,372
Operating lease right-of-use asset	1,049,388
Intangible assets, net	83,195	75,760
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivables	1,483,874	1,788,043
Other long-term assets and investments	196,113	197,696
Goodwill	2,044,332	2,029,595
Total assets	7,214,449	11,816,126
Current liabilities	590,664	449,925
Current liabilities held for sale		1,243,759
Intercompany payables	1,337,023	5,467,064
Long-term operating lease liabilities	1,005,439
Long-term debt and other long-term liabilities	357,653	552,406
Noncontrolling interests subject to put provisions	0	0
Total DaVita Inc. shareholders' equity	3,184,913	3,371,450
Noncontrolling interests not subject to put provisions	738,757	731,522
Total equity	3,923,670	4,102,972
Total liabilities and equity	$ 7,214,449	$ 11,816,126