Business	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Business
Business	(1) Business HCP, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a Maryland corporation that is organized to qualify as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") which, together with its consolidated entities (collectively, "HCP" or the "Company"), invests primarily in real estate serving the healthcare industry in the United States. The Company acquires, develops, leases, manages and disposes of healthcare real estate and provides financing to healthcare providers.

The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings).

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 275

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6003-108592

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher AICPA

-Name Statement of Position (SOP)

-Number 94-6

-Paragraph 10

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Name:	us-gaap_NatureOfOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration