Earnings per share Earnings per share - Reconciliation of numberators and denominators used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2021	Jun. 30, 2020	Jun. 30, 2021	Jun. 30, 2020
Numerators:
Net income from continuing operations attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 293,820	$ 201,602	$ 531,223	$ 431,215
Net income from discontinued operations attributable to DaVita Inc.	0	0	0	9,980
Net income attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 293,820	$ 201,602	$ 531,223	$ 441,195
Weighted average shares outstanding during period	106,364,000	122,074,000	107,606,000	123,485,000
Assumed incremental from stock plans	5,059,000	1,994,000	4,949,000	1,994,000
Weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share calculation	111,423,000	124,068,000	112,555,000	125,479,000
Basic:
Basic net income from continuing operations	$ 2.76	$ 1.65	$ 4.94	$ 3.49
Basic net income (loss) from discontinued operations per share	0	0	0	0.08
Basic net income per share attributable to DaVita Inc.	2.76	1.65	4.94	3.57
Diluted:
Diluted net income from continuing operations	2.64	1.62	4.72	3.44
Diluted net income from discontinued operations per share	0	0	0	0.08
Diluted net income per share attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 2.64	$ 1.62	$ 4.72	$ 3.52
Anti-dilutive stock-settled awards excluded from calculation	141,000	3,216,000	84,000	3,211,000