CLAIMS AND LAWSUITS (Details) (USD $)					12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	17 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2013 Governmental Reviews item	Jan. 31, 2013 Kyphoplasty	Dec. 31, 2013 Kyphoplasty item	Jul. 31, 2010 Kyphoplasty item	Dec. 31, 2013 ICD item	Dec. 31, 2013 Hospital-Related Tort Claim	Aug. 31, 2013 Vanguard Acquisition Lawsuits item	Dec. 31, 2013 Ordinary Course Matters person	Dec. 31, 2013 Ordinary Course Matters Minimum person
Loss Contingencies
Number of hospitals under governmental review								7	52
Settlement amount						$ 900,000				$ 8,000,000
Number of hospitals under Medicare claims review							2		21
Number of hospitals under Medicare claims review of which estimated loss or range of loss is not being able to be calculated							4		31
Number of hospitals for which review of billing practices is not completed by clinical expert							2
Number of hospitals for which agreement with DOJ on appropriate review methodology has not been reached							2
Number of defendants					4
Litigation reserve	$ 46,000,000	$ 10,000,000	$ 66,000,000	$ 30,000,000	$ 27,000,000
Number of Hospitals under review of Billing Practices					23
Number of class action lawsuits filed											2
Number of persons in class action lawsuits													5,000
Number of persons identified in class certification process												8