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, 2022	Jun. 30, 2021	Jun. 30, 2022	Jun. 30, 2021
Numerators:
Net income attributable to DaVita Inc.	$ 224,809	$ 293,820	$ 386,931	$ 531,223
Weighted average shares outstanding during period	94,457,000	106,364,000	95,382,000	107,606,000
Assumed incremental from stock plans	3,315,000	5,059,000	3,739,000	4,949,000
Weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share calculation	97,772,000	111,423,000	99,121,000	112,555,000
Basic net income	$ 2.38	$ 2.76	$ 4.06	$ 4.94
Diluted net income	$ 2.30	$ 2.64	$ 3.90	$ 4.72
Anti-dilutive stock-settled awards excluded from calculation	1,201,000	141,000	686,000	84,000