Long-Term Debt (Details Textual) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Eurodollar Rate [Member] Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Base Rate [Member] Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Senior Subordinated Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Subordinated Notes [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Term Loan B [Member]	Mar. 05, 2012 Term Loan B [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Term Loan A [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Term Loan A [Member]	Mar. 05, 2012 Term Loan A [Member]
Long-Term Debt (Textual) [Abstract]
Debt instrument, face amount													$ 550,000,000			$ 200,000,000
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity								110,000,000
Aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes redemption											325,000,000	325,000,000
Effective interest rate									1.25%	2.25%	11.50%		6.50%	4.75%		6.25%	4.50%
Outstanding letter of credit	49,100,000			49,100,000		45,400,000
Unused and available borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement								60,900,000
Credit agreement interest rate	The Base Rate represents the highest of (x) the Bank of America prime rate, (y) the federal funds rate plus 0.50 percent or (z) the Eurodollar Rate plus 1.00 percent
Commitment fees							0.50%
Proceeds from the issuance of equity with step-downs based on leverage			50.00%
Excess cash flow with two step downs based on company leverage ratio		75.00%
Debt maturities in the next twelve months	12,500,000			12,500,000											6,300,000
Debt maturities in year two	25,000,000			25,000,000
Debt maturities in year three	81,300,000			81,300,000
Debt maturities in year four	466,400,000			466,400,000									466,400,000
Debt maturities after year five											325,000,000
Weighted average cash interest rate on outstanding borrowings	8.30%			8.30%		8.20%
Debt instrument, decrease, repayments															25,000,000
Principal prepayments term loan													13,800,000			25,000,000
Debt issuance cost		$ 4,100,000			$ 4,100,000
Consolidated leverage ratio	5.1			5.1
Consolidated interest coverage ratio	2.3			2.3
Pledge of capital stock to lenders percentage				100.00%
Debt instrument redemption price terms											Gentiva may redeem the Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at any time prior to the first interest payment of 2014, at a price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount of the Senior Notes redeemed plus an applicable make-whole premium based on the present value of the remaining payments discounted at the treasury rate plus 50 basis points plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption.
Percentage of senior notes to be redeemed											35.00%
Senior notes redemption price											111.50%
Redemption Clause One											least 65 percent of the aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes originally issued remain outstanding after the occurrence of such redemption
Redemption Clause Two											such redemption occurs within 180 days after the closing of a qualified equity offering.