Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details)	3 Months Ended							6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) reportablesegments	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill				$ 5,898,000,000					$ 6,678,000,000	$ 6,473,000,000	$ 5,898,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross									11,235,000,000	10,997,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization									(5,564,000,000)	(5,022,000,000)
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss				(9,900,000,000)					(9,900,000,000)	(9,900,000,000)	(9,900,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges									0	0
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)				5,606,000,000					5,883,000,000	6,194,000,000	5,606,000,000
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments									(3,000,000)	2,000,000
Goodwill, Acquired During Period									208,000,000	573,000,000
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges		$ 9,000,000		18,000,000	$ 12,000,000				11,000,000	19,000,000	195,000,000
Asset Impairment Charges						$ 110,000,000	$ 55,000,000
Goodwill, Gross									16,578,000,000	16,373,000,000
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs									(9,900,000,000)	(9,900,000,000)
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, including goodwill									16,790,000,000	16,592,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year One									535,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Two									525,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Three									523,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Four									519,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Five									$ 481,000,000
Number of Reportable Segments | reportablesegments									3
In process research and development					16,000,000	83,000,000	6,000,000
Core technology		8,000,000				$ 8,000,000	$ 64,000,000
Electrophysiology [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Hypothetical change in WACC								0.50%
Hypothetical change in revenue growth rates								1.50%
Cardiovascular [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill				3,426,000,000					$ 3,513,000,000	3,451,000,000	3,426,000,000
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss				(1,479,000,000)					(1,479,000,000)	(1,479,000,000)	(1,479,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges									0	0
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments									0	2,000,000
Goodwill, Acquired During Period									62,000,000	23,000,000
Rhythm Management [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill				290,000,000					290,000,000	292,000,000	290,000,000
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss				(6,960,000,000)					(6,960,000,000)	(6,960,000,000)	(6,960,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges									0	0
Level Of Excess Fair Value Over Carrying Value For Reporting Unit								70.00%
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments									(2,000,000)	2,000,000
Goodwill, Acquired During Period									0	0
MedSurg [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill				2,182,000,000					2,875,000,000	2,730,000,000	2,182,000,000
Goodwill, Impaired, Accumulated Impairment Loss				$ (1,461,000,000)					(1,461,000,000)	(1,461,000,000)	$ (1,461,000,000)
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charges									0	0
Goodwill, Purchase Accounting Adjustments									(1,000,000)	(2,000,000)
Goodwill, Acquired During Period									146,000,000	550,000,000
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Level Of Excess Fair Value Over Carrying Value For Reporting Unit			36.00%					28.00%
Allocated Goodwill								$ 292,000,000
In Process Research and Development [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Intangible assets reclassified from unamortizable to amortizable	$ 7,000,000	$ 10,000,000			88,000,000
Technology-related [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Intangible assets reclassified from unamortizable to amortizable	$ 4,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross									9,123,000,000	8,948,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization									(4,468,000,000)	(4,054,000,000)
Patents [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross									529,000,000	520,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization									(374,000,000)	(358,000,000)
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross									1,583,000,000	1,529,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Accumulated Amortization									(722,000,000)	(610,000,000)
Technology-related [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)									120,000,000	120,000,000
Indefinite-lived intangible assets, accumulated write-offs									0	0
Purchased research and development [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)									$ 92,000,000	99,000,000
2011 Acquisitions, excluding Sadra [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges					107,000,000
In Process Research and Development 2 [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
In process research and development			$ 6,000,000
In Process Research and Development [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges					4,000,000
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate							20.00%
IPR&D that was impaired [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill), Fair Value Disclosure										$ 0
Core technology [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Other intangible asset charges					$ 8,000,000
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate		10.00%				15.00%	15.00%
Minimum [Member] | In Process Research and Development [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate			16.50%		16.50%	16.50%
Maximum [Member] | In Process Research and Development [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate			20.00%		20.00%	20.00%
Vessix Charges [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Asset Impairment Charges						$ 67,000,000
Other In-process Research and Development Project Charges [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Asset Impairment Charges						8,000,000
Atritech Charges [Member]
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Asset Impairment Charges						$ 35,000,000