A method for furnishing a therapeutic-agent-containing medical device is provided. The method comprises: (a) providing a reactive layer comprising a cross-linking agent on a medical device surface; and (b) subsequently applying a polymer-containing layer, which comprises a polymer and a therapeutic agent, over the reactive layer. The cross-linking agent interacts with the polymer to form a cross-linked polymeric region that comprises the therapeutic agent. Moreover, in certain embodiments, the polymer-containing layer does not comprise the cross-linking agent at the time the polymer-containing layer is applied over the reactive layer. Examples of medical devices include implantable or insertable medical devices, for example, catheters, balloon, cerebral aneurysm filler coils, arterio-venous shunts and stents.