Earnings Per Share - Reconciliations of Numerators and Denominators Used to Calculate Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Numerators:
Net income from continuing operations	$ 242,242	$ 150,113	$ 194,223	$ 120,254	$ 160,332	$ 73,371	$ 199,603	$ 191,015	$ 706,832	$ 624,321	$ 901,277
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations attributable to DaVita Inc.	2,629	(6,843)	79,328	29,035	(310,104)	(210,167)	67,673	(12,329)	104,149	(464,927)	(237,659)
Net (loss) income attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 244,871	$ 143,270	$ 273,551	$ 149,289	$ (149,772)	$ (136,796)	$ 267,276	$ 178,686	$ 810,981	$ 159,394	$ 663,618
Basic:
Weighted average shares outstanding during the period (in shares)									153,181,000	171,886,000	190,820,000
Weighted average contingently returnable shares previously held in escrow for DaVitaHealthCare Partners merger (in shares)									0	(1,100,000)	(2,194,000)
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share calculation (in shares)									153,180,908	170,785,999	188,625,559
Basic net income from continuing operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (in usd per share)	$ 1.87	$ 1.00	$ 1.17	$ 0.72	$ 0.97	$ 0.44	$ 1.16	$ 1.07	$ 4.61	$ 3.66	$ 4.78
Basic net loss from discontinued operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (in usd per share)	0.02	(0.05)	0.47	0.18	(1.87)	(1.26)	0.40	(0.07)	0.68	(2.73)	(1.26)
Basic net income per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (in usd per share)	1.89	0.95	1.64	0.90	(0.90)	(0.82)	1.56	1.00	$ 5.29	$ 0.93	$ 3.52
Diluted:
Weighted average shares outstanding during the period (in shares)									153,181,000	171,886,000	190,820,000
Assumed incremental shares from stock plans (in shares)									631,000	479,000	529,000
Weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share calculation (in shares)									153,812,064	172,364,581	191,348,533
Diluted net income from continuing operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (in usd per share)	1.86	0.99	1.16	0.72	0.96	0.44	1.15	1.05	$ 4.60	$ 3.62	$ 4.71
Diluted net loss from discontinued operations per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (in usd per share)	0.02	(0.04)	0.48	0.18	(1.86)	(1.26)	0.38	(0.07)	0.67	(2.70)	(1.24)
Diluted net income per share attributable to DaVita Inc. (in usd per share)	$ 1.88	$ 0.95	$ 1.64	$ 0.90	$ (0.90)	$ (0.82)	$ 1.53	$ 0.98	$ 5.27	$ 0.92	$ 3.47
Anti-dilutive stock-settled awards excluded from calculation (in shares)									5,936,000	5,295,000	4,350,000