Schedule of Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Asset Impairment Charges (Detail) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Total goodwill impairment charges	$ 192,834
Goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges	210,234
International Operations
Goodwill [Line Items]
Total goodwill impairment charges	4,065
HealthCare Partners (HCP)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Total goodwill impairment charges	188,769
HealthCare Partners (HCP) \| Nevada
Goodwill [Line Items]
Total goodwill impairment charges	181,253
Indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment charges	17,400
HealthCare Partners (HCP) \| Arizona
Goodwill [Line Items]
Total goodwill impairment charges	1,716
HealthCare Partners (HCP) \| Florida
Goodwill [Line Items]
Total goodwill impairment charges	$ 5,800

Total loss recognized during the period from the impairment of goodwill plus the loss recognized in the period resulting from the impairment of the carrying amount of intangible assets, other than goodwill.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillAndIntangibleAssetImpairment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13854-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13777-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of impairment loss resulting from write-down of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance and having a projected indefinite period of benefit to fair value.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26713463&loc=d3e16373-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=dva_InternationalOperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=dva_HealthcarePartnersMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=stpr_NV
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=stpr_AZ
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=stpr_FL
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: