Fair Value of Financial Instruments Fair Value of Financial Instruments (Details 1) (USD $)		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member]		Dec. 31, 2013 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] Advocate Hospice Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] Advocate Hospice Llc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] Harden Healthcare Holdings Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] Accrued Liabilities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] Accrued Liabilities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Financial and Nonfinancial Liabilities, Fair Value Disclosure							$ 8,110,000	$ 1,100,000	$ 0
Fair Value, Measurement with Unobservable Inputs Reconciliation, Liability, Transfers Into Level 3				900,000	1,100,000	8,081,000
Fair Value, Measurement with Unobservable Inputs Reconciliation, Liability, Transfers out of Level 3		(2,062,000)
Fair Value, Measurement with Unobservable Inputs Reconciliation, Recurring Basis, Liability, Gain (Loss) Included in Earnings		91,000	[1]
Financial and Nonfinancial Liabilities, Fair Value Disclosure							8,110,000	1,100,000	0
Sensitivity Analysis of Fair Value, Transferor's Interests in Transferred Financial Assets, Impact of 20 Percent Adverse Change in Discount Rate	$ 200,000

[1] (1)Accretion of the present value of the contingent liability is recorded in interest expense and other on the Company's consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income. A 1 percent change in the discount rate would have an impact on the fair value of the contingent liability of approximately $0.2 million.