While scrolling through TikTok, you may stumble upon amusing dance challenges, quirky pet videos, or bite-sized cooking tutorials—but you may not expect a pharmacist. The social media platform is where pharmacist David Randolph, R.Ph., shines. He uses his channel to educate people about topics like common medication interactions, perplexing medical conditions, and the best supplements.

The owner of Dave’s Pharmacy—which has locations in the towns of Hemingford and Alliance, Nebraska—even hosts live Q&As for followers. His use of social media platforms (he’s also on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram) allows him to reach viewers who may never step into his pharmacy but can benefit from his pharmaceutical expertise and commitment to improving health outcomes.

Under his pharmacy’s motto, “Where Advanced Care Meets Personal Service,” Randolph says he works to bring high-level services to the small western Nebraska communities he serves. As part of his business, Randolph has incorporated services like point-of-care testing, specialty vitamin lines, immunizations and allergy shots, medication therapy management, and long-term care consultations. He also requires his staff to volunteer in the community.

“We’ll participate in health fairs, and we’ve sponsored Alzheimer’s Walks,” he says. “It gets our staff out in the community where they can be seen and be a part of something bigger.”

It’s that commitment to providing personalized service that has led him to become a trusted source of information not only in the rural communities he serves but also for thousands across the country. One of his TikTok videos that shared information on the drug alprazolam (generic Xanax) has nearly 80,000 views, while another on the effects of long-term use of pantoprazole has nearly 55,000 views.

Yet his fame on social media platforms has not changed his down-to-earth and community-focused approach to patient care. In addition to serving his community and social media audience, Randolph also participates in pharmacy advocacy: He has traveled to Washington, D.C., for the National Community Pharmacists Association’s Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In, a time when pharmacists across the country meet with legislators and discuss pressing issues in the industry.

Randolph stands out in small-town Nebraska and on social media, which is why he was selected as a 2023 Best of the Best Pharmacy Award winner. Read on to see what drives him to go above and beyond for his neighbors and how he works to overcome some of the challenges he faces serving rural communities. 

What led you to open your own community pharmacy?

I was approached by an owner in my town who was looking to retire. I had worked for two independent pharmacies before as well as a retail chain, a hospital, and a veteran’s home. I was excited by the opportunity of owning an independent pharmacy because I could treat patients differently, such as setting up clinical programs.

My grandpa owned a couple of local businesses, and he always said, “Don’t chase the dollar, chase the customer.” And now I use that in my pharmacy: I say, “Don’t chase the dollar, chase the patient.” We try to take as good of care of patients as possible by treating everybody like they’re our mom and dad or grandma and grandpa. That means going out of our way to get things done, whether it’s getting a medication changed to something their insurance will cover, doing an after-hours delivery, or calling people on their birthdays.

And what inspired you to embrace social media?

My daughter was the instigator and is my marketing director. It can be a lot of work, but it’s fun. It was very awkward at first and at times it still can be. I do enjoy it a lot more now. I really enjoy the fun videos as well as doing the live shots. Our engagement has mainly been from areas outside of our community. It’s also cool to use social media to engage with other pharmacy providers.

What do you do to provide the best care for your community?

It stinks when you have to go to the doctor’s office or the pharmacy because most times you’re not feeling well. Even when they are feeling good, people may not want to come in to see us at the pharmacy because it’s a reminder that they have high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol and have to take a prescription. 

Some patients may have to drive 60 miles one way to the pharmacy. A patient may not be able to come in because they’re a rancher or farmer and they have cattle or crops to deal with. 

Patients may not like seeing us, but we want to be a smiling face. We want to provide guidance for them and make their life a little easier by getting their medication through insurance loopholes.

How do you encourage this same attitude in your staff?

I preach the fact that if it was your grandparents or mom or dad, how would you want them to be treated? For example, we had a gentleman come into our Alliance store. He didn’t know how to put in eyedrops, so I went out front, sat him down in a chair, and showed him how to put in the eyedrops.

That’s what we expect from our staff, and they do a wonderful job. That’s just our atmosphere at Dave’s. 

Even our delivery driver will take the time to take out somebody’s garbage for them if they aren’t. We had one instance where our delivery driver dropped off a medication to a woman and her dog got out, so he ended up having to chase a dog down the street and bring it back to the lady. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Number one: I love seeing my patients. When one of them goes away, for whatever reason, I am emotional about it. I also love the victories. For example, when I have a cancer patient come in and tell me that their lab work came back good, that’s huge. 

Could you share any memorable patient stories?

I was outside playing football in my yard with my boys once when somebody drove up and said, “My dad’s out of medicine, can you come down to the store?” He wasn’t even a patient of mine—he was getting his medications in the mail, but it hadn’t come—but I called the doctor and got a script and filled it for him. 

One thing that we did as a pharmacy during the COVID pandemic was send care packages. Our pharmacy services long-term care facilities. Because those residents couldn’t see their families at the time, we put together care packages and sent residents a card signed by our staff that said “Thinking of you.” We included either sudoku, a word search, or a crossword puzzle. I know it meant a lot to the residents. 

What drives you to go above and beyond for your patients?

Alliance has about 9,000 people, and Hemingford, where my other store is, has less than 1,000. So my patients are more than just my patients—a lot of them I’ve known forever. They’re friends and close friends. I grew up being taught to care for people, so that’s why I do what I do. And that’s why we do what we do at Dave’s Pharmacy: We take care of people.