Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Accounts receivable	$ 1,957,583	$ 1,824,282
Medicare bad debt claims
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Accounts receivable	1,174,123	$ 1,101,837
Accounts Receivable
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Accounts receivable	$ 0
Percentage Of Accounts Receivable Six Months Or More Past Due	16.00%	17.00%
Accounts Receivable Period Outstanding	6 months
Accounts Receivable, Noncurrent, Threshold Period Past Due	1 year
Customer Concentration Risk \| Accounts Receivable \| Third-Party Payor
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Number of concentration risk customers	0	0
Concentration risk percentage	10.00%	10.00%

Patient accounts receivable months outstanding to be reserved per company policy.

No definition available.

Name:	dva_AccountsReceivablePeriodOutstanding
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number Of Concentration Risk Customers.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_NumberOfConcentrationRiskCustomers
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of Accounts Receivable , 6 months or More Past Due

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dva_PercentageOfAccountsReceivableSixMonthsOrMorePastDue
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after allowance for credit loss, of right to consideration from customer for product sold and service rendered in normal course of business, classified as current.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124259787&loc=d3e4428-111522

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124098289&loc=d3e6676-107765

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 9
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124259787&loc=d3e4531-111522

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsReceivableNetCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Threshold period for when accounts receivable, classified as noncurrent, is considered past due, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Excludes threshold period past due to write off as uncollectible.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 14
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124255953&loc=SL82919253-210447

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsReceivableNoncurrentThresholdPeriodPastDue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 42
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123359005&loc=d3e9054-108599

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 275
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 18
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99393423&loc=d3e6351-108592

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 20
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123594938&loc=d3e13531-108611

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 21
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123594938&loc=d3e13537-108611

Reference 5: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 275
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 20
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99393423&loc=d3e6404-108592

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueInitialApplicationPeriodCumulativeEffectTransitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_HealthCareOrganizationRevenueSourcesAxis=dva_MedicareMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByBenchmarkAxis=us-gaap_AccountsReceivableMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskByTypeAxis=us-gaap_CustomerConcentrationRiskMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_HealthCareOrganizationRevenueSourcesAxis=us-gaap_ThirdPartyPayorMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: