Business Development and Discontinued Operations	12 Months Ended
Business Development and Discontinued Operations	Dec. 31, 2012
Business Development and Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS	COMPANY AND ORGANIZATION Advocat Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Advocat” or the “Company”) provides long-term care services to nursing center patients in eight states, primarily in the Southeast and Southwest. The Company’s centers provide a range of health care services to their patients and residents. In addition to the nursing, personal care and social services usually provided in long-term care centers, the Company’s nursing centers offer a variety of comprehensive rehabilitation services as well as nutritional support services. As of December 31, 2012, the Company’s continuing operations consist of 48 nursing centers with 5,538 licensed nursing beds. The Company owns eight and leases 40 of its nursing centers. The nursing center and licensed nursing bed count includes 90 beds at the Company’s recently opened West Virginia nursing center. This new nursing center is licensed to operate by the state of West Virginia and obtained its Medicare and Medicaid certifications in the first quarter of 2012. During the Medicare and Medicaid certification process, the nursing center had limited the number of patients it accepted. The nursing center and licensed nursing bed count also includes the 88-bed skilled nursing center in Clinton, Kentucky for which the Company entered into a lease agreement in April 2012. The Company had limited its number of patients while it completed the Medicare certification process which was obtained in the fourth quarter of 2012. The Medicaid certification for the Clinton, Kentucky center was obtained in the first quarter of 2013. The nursing center and licensed nursing bed count also includes the recently leased 154-bed skilled nursing center in Louisville, Kentucky that the Company has operated since September 24, 2012. The Company's continuing operations include centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
Business Development and Discontinued Operations
Business Development and Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS	BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS Lease Agreements In April 2012, the Company entered into a lease agreement to operate an 88-bed skilled nursing center in Clinton, Kentucky. The center is subject to a mortgage insured through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The current annual lease payments are approximately $373,000. The lease has an initial ten-year term with two five-year renewal options and contains an option to purchase the property for $3.3 million during the first five years. The center had not had residents since April 2011 after being de-certified by Medicare and Medicaid. The lease agreement called for a $125,000 lease commencement fee and the transaction is considered a lease agreement. Separate from the above lease transaction, in September 2012, the Company announced it entered into a lease agreement to operate a 154-bed skilled nursing center in Louisville, Kentucky. The nursing center is owned by a real estate investment trust and the lease provides for an initial fifteen-year lease term with a five-year renewal option. This additional skilled nursing center increases the Company's footprint in Kentucky to eight nursing centers and was already operating and treating patients on the transition date. There was no purchase price paid to enter into the lease agreement for this skilled nursing center. Pharmacy Partnership The investment in unconsolidated affiliate reflected on the interim consolidated balance sheet relates to a pharmacy joint venture partnership in which the Company owns a 50% interest. The joint venture partnership is accounted for using the equity method. An equity method investment is the Company’s investment in an entity over which the Company lacks control but otherwise has the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies. Under the equity method, the investment, originally recorded at cost, is adjusted to recognize the Company’s share of the net earnings or losses of the affiliate as they occur. During 2012, the Company and its partner provided the initial funding and the joint venture began operations. The pharmacy joint venture began initially providing pharmacy services to certain of the Company’s nursing centers and has begun the process of expanding to nursing centers not affiliated with the Company. The investment in unconsolidated affiliate balance relates to this partnership and was $420,000 at December 31, 2012 and $0 at December 31, 2011 . Discontinued operations Effective September 1, 2012, the Company sold an owned skilled nursing center in Arkansas to an unrelated party and has reclassified the operations of this facility as discontinued operations for all periods presented in the Company's accompanying consolidated financial statements. The operating margins and the long-term business prospects of the nursing center did not meet the Company's strategic goals. This skilled nursing center contributed revenues of $3,463,000, $5,249,000 and $4,537,000 and net income (loss) of $171,000, $(249,000) and $8,000 during the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively. The net income for the nursing center included in discontinued operations does not reflect any allocation of regional or corporate general and administrative expense or any allocation of corporate interest expense. The Company considered these additional costs along with the centers future prospects when determining the contribution of the skilled nursing center to its operations. The gain on disposal, net of income taxes, of $174,000 was primarily the amount of cash sales price in excess of the net carrying value of the fixed assets sold. The assets and liabilities of the disposed skilled nursing center have been reclassified and are segregated in the consolidated balance sheets as assets and liabilities of discontinued operations. The current asset amounts are primarily composed of net accounts receivable of $36,000 and $563,000 and the current liabilities are primarily composed of accrued payroll and employee benefits of $10,000 and $218,000 at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The Company expects to collect the balance of the accounts receivable and pay the remaining accrued payroll and trade payables in the ordinary course of business. The Company did not transfer the accounts receivable or liabilities to the new owner. In addition, the property, equipment and related accumulated depreciation of the sold skilled nursing center have been reclassified, resulting in a net reclassification of fixed assets of $3,467,000 at December 31, 2011. Along with the $1,053,000 in real estate the Company owns in North Carolina, discontinued fixed assets totaled $1,053,000 and $4,520,000 at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Effective March 31, 2010, the Company terminated operations of four nursing centers in Florida under a lease that, as amended, would have expired in August 2010 and transitioned operations at these leased facilities to a new operator. The operating margins of the four facilities subject to this lease did not meet the Company's long-term goals. These four homes contributed revenues of $6,852,000 and net income of $169,000 in the year ended December 31, 2010. Included in the loss on disposal and impairment is a loss of $273,000 ($185,000 net of tax) on lease termination primarily related to severance, legal and other costs incurred to facilitate the transition as well as the transfer of inventory. While the results of discontinued operations reflect the direct expense related to the Florida regional office which has been closed, they do not reflect any allocation of corporate general and administrative expense or any allocation of corporate interest expense. The Company owns land related to a North Carolina assisted living facility it closed in April 2006. The net assets of discontinued operations presented in property and equipment on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet represent the real estate related to this assisted living facility. The Company is continuing its efforts to sell this land. Based on an evaluation of the fair value of the property during 2010, the Company determined the carrying value exceeded the fair value. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $402,000 ($273,000 net of tax) to reduce the carrying value of the land during 2010 to fair value less cost to sale. The fair value of the subject property was determined based on comparable properties in the area and considered a level 2 calculation under the fair value hierarchy as discussed in Note 2.