Community pharmacists, by virtue of their location, are thought to be among the most accessible health care workers in the delivery system. To estimate the importance of this assertion it is necessary to understand the communication habits of pharmacists, especially their interactions with patients.Since verbal communication is the most frequent form of patient interaction, this study attempts to specify the type and amount of all pharmacist communication with emphasis on the pharmacist-patient process. Using a modified work sampling technique, communication data were collected on community pharmacists practicing in chain pharmacies. Data are presented in the context of a causal model The strongest pathway in the model is found to be the inverse relationship of prescription department staffing to the percentage of time pharmacists devote to communication with patients. Prescription volume is seen to have a moderately positive effect on the level of communication. However, further analysis reveals staffing to be the limiting factor. The findings suggest that changes in the environment of the community pharmacists studied would do much to increase pharmacist-patient contact. An educational effort also is indicated to assure that patients receive quality communication.