Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 Y D	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Term Loan	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan and Senior Note	Dec. 31, 2012 Credit Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Amended Purchase Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Noncompete Agreements	Dec. 31, 2012 Franchise Rights and Acquired Names	Dec. 31, 2012 Segment, Continuing Operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Segment, Continuing Operations	Dec. 31, 2010 Segment, Continuing Operations	Dec. 31, 2012 Cap Year 2010 - 2013	Dec. 31, 2011 Cap Year 2010 - 2013	Dec. 31, 2012 Cap Year 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Cap Year 2011
Revenue Recognition, Multiple-deliverable Arrangements [Line Items]
Episode of care as episodic-based revenue, days	60
Percentage of total reimbursement of outlier payment	10.00%
Low utilization payment adjustment, maximum number of visits	5
First threshold of therapy services required, visits	6
Second threshold of services required, visits	14
Third threshold of therapy services required, visits	20
CMS therapy assessment requirement interval minimum, days	30
Historical collection rate from Medicare	99.00%
Episodes of progress that begin during reporting period, days	60
Hospice Medicare revenue rate accounted for routine care	99.00%	99.00%	99.00%
Estimated amounts due back to Medicare													$ 4,800,000	$ 3,100,000
Settlement of the Federal cap															900,000	100,000
Payment of federal cap	500,000
CMS hospice face-to-face requirement prior to third benefit period, days	30
Days in hospice recertification third benefit period	180
Percentage of patient receivables outstanding	10.00%
Minimum days for accounts receivable outstanding to be fully reserved	365
Portion of accounts receivable derived from Medicare	68.00%	73.00%
Revenue adjustment to Medicare revenue	10,400,000	11,800,000	6,500,000
Rate of request for anticipated payment submitted for the initial episode of care	60.00%
Rate of request for anticipated payment submitted for subsequent episodes of care	50.00%
Maximum days to submit final bill from the start of episode	120
Maximum days to submit final bill from the date the request for anticipated payment was paid	60
Depreciation expense										37,000,000	34,300,000	26,200,000
Non-cash goodwill impairment charge	157,900,000	570,800,000
Non-cash other intangibles impairment charge	4,200,000	9,100,000
Deferred tax benefit related to estimated goodwill and other intangibles impairment charge	37,000,000	141,500,000
Intangible assets estimated useful lives								3 years	5 years
Amortization of deferred debt issuance costs	1,442,000	1,576,000	1,576,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs	2,500,000	2,200,000		2,500,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs, weighted-average amortization period, years	4.3
Unamortized debt issuance costs	573,000				600,000
Deferred debt issuance costs						2,000,000	300,000
Net deferred tax asset	92,800,000	68,600,000
Deferred tax liabilities	5,600,000	11,700,000
Share-based compensation	7,217,000	8,292,000	10,634,000
Share-based compensation, tax benefit recognized	1,300,000	1,800,000	4,100,000
Advertising expense	$ 4,600,000	$ 4,600,000	$ 4,900,000