Schedule of Reporting Units Goodwill Balances (Parenthetical) (Detail)	Nov. 01, 2016
Goodwill And Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Decrease in operating income percentage used for assessment of fair values	3.00%
Increase in discount rates used for assessment of fair values	1.00%

Percentage change in operating income used to evaluate fair value of reporting unit for goodwill assessment.

No definition available.

Name:	dva_PercentageChangeInOperatingIncomeUsedToEvaluateFairValueOfReportingUnitForGoodwillAssessment
Namespace Prefix:	dva_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration