Long-Term Debt (Details Textual) (USD $)	12 Months Ended										0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Oct. 18, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Federal Funds [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Eurodollar Rate [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Eurodollar Rate [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Base Rate [Member] Minimum [Member]	Oct. 18, 2013 Loans Payable [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Loans Payable [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Subordinated Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Term Loan B, dated October 18, 2013 [Member] Loans Payable [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Term Loan C, Dated October 18, 2013 [Member] Loans Payable [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolver, Dated October 18, 2013 [Member] Letter of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolver, Dated October 18, 2013 [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolver, Dated October 18, 2013 [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolver, Dated October 18, 2013 [Member] Same-Day Borrowing [Member]	Oct. 18, 2013 Term Loan A, Dated August 17, 2010 [Member] Loans Payable [Member]	Oct. 18, 2013 Term Loan B, Dated August 17, 2010 [Member] Loans Payable [Member]	Oct. 18, 2013 Revolver, Dated August 17, 2010 [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Long-Term Debt (Textual) [Abstract]
Debt instrument, face amount															$ 670,000,000	$ 155,000,000					$ 200,000,000	$ 550,000,000
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity						100,000,000											80,000,000	100,000,000	100,000,000	15,000,000			110,000,000
Repayments of Debt											585,182,000										118,750,000	466,432,000
Deferred debt issuance costs, write off	16,085,000	461,000	3,559,000	19,100,000	500,000
Payments of debt issuance costs	24,200,000
Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date																			Oct. 18, 2018
Outstanding letter of credit	52,000,000	45,400,000
Unused and available borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement				21,000,000
Maturity, repayments of principal in 2014												18,325,000			6,700,000	11,625,000
Maturity, repayments of principal in 2015												26,075,000			6,700,000
Maturity, repayments of principal in 2016												29,900,000			6,700,000
Maturity, repayments of principal in 2017												37,700,000			6,700,000
Maturity, repayments of principal in 2018												76,450,000		325,000,000	6,700,000
Maturity, repayments of principal thereafter												$ 636,500,000			$ 636,500,000
Weighted average cash interest rate on outstanding borrowings	7.70%	8.20%
Excess Cash Flow With Two Step Downs Based on Company Leverage Ratio	75.00%
Effective interest rate							0.50%	1.00%	1.25%	2.25%			11.50%		6.50%	5.75%		4.69%	4.69%		6.25%	6.50%
Line of Credit Facility, Unused Commitment Fee Percentage																		0.50%
Consolidated Leverage Ratio	5.5
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.