a coating comprised of a polymeric material and a bioactive agent where the properties of the casting solvent dictate the dispersion of the embedding bioactive agent . in preferred embodiments , controlled release of the bioactive agent is achieved by homogeneous dispersion of the bioactive agent within the coating . a further aspect of the invention is directed to formulations where the heterogeneous dispersion of the bioactive agent provides an initial rapid release of the bioactive agent . methodology for production of coating formulations of the desired properties and the application of the coating to an article are also described .