Reconciliations of Numerators and Denominators Used to Calculate Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Basic:
Income from continuing operations attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.										$ 269,732	$ 723,114	$ 620,197
Discontinued operations attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.												13,249
Net income attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. for basic earnings per share calculation										$ 269,732	$ 723,114	$ 633,446
Weighted average shares outstanding during the period										214,062,000	214,496,000	212,128,000
Vested stock units												5,000
Contingently returnable shares held in escrow for the DaVita HealthCare Partners merger										(2,194,000)	(2,194,000)	(2,194,000)
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share calculation										211,867,714	212,301,827	209,939,364
Basic income from continuing operations per share attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.		$ (0.03)	$ 1.02	$ 0.80	$ (0.52)	$ 0.98	$ 0.87	$ 0.70	$ 0.87	$ 1.27	$ 3.41	$ 2.95
Basic income from discontinued operations per share attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.												0.07
Basic net income per share attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.		(0.03)	1.02	0.80	(0.52)	0.98	0.87	0.70	0.87	$ 1.27	$ 3.41	$ 3.02
Diluted:
Income from continuing operations attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.										$ 269,732	$ 723,114	$ 620,197
Discontinued operations attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.												13,249
Net income attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. for diluted earnings per share calculation										$ 269,732	$ 723,114	$ 633,446
Weighted average shares outstanding during the period										214,062,000	214,496,000	212,128,000
Vested stock units												5,000
Assumed incremental shares from stock plans										2,190,000	2,432,000	2,631,000
Weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share calculation										216,251,807	216,927,681	214,763,887
Diluted income from continuing operations per share attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.		(0.03)	1.00	0.78	(0.52)	0.96	0.85	0.68	0.85	$ 1.25	$ 3.33	$ 2.89
Diluted income from discontinued operations per share attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.												0.06
Diluted net income per share attributable to DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.		$ (0.03)	$ 1.00	$ 0.78	$ (0.52)	$ 0.96	$ 0.85	$ 0.68	$ 0.85	$ 1.25	$ 3.33	$ 2.95
Anti-dilutive stock-settled awards excluded from calculation	[1]									1,365,000	1,715,000	4,194,000

[1] Shares associated with stock-settled stock appreciation rights and stock options excluded from the diluted denominator calculation because they are anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.